Capital District, February 2009 Day 01

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Anticipating the near-ending of my tenure as District Supervisor, I scheduled this trip several months ago as a practical and emotional statement to the pastors. I wished to convey my dedication to and love for each of them—not to mention the sheer delight I have in being with them and watching their lives/ministries develop. Not knowing if we’d have little or lots of business to conclude, I set apart several days without a predetermined schedule or agenda.

As it’s working out, the divisional leaders handle so much of the load and invest themselves in their pastors; consequently, I am somewhat like the old commercial featuring the Maytag Repairman: the loneliest guy in town. Lonely, yes. But successful in my dream for the district. In short, no one has a compelling need to see me. I’m sure most of them would be pleased to spend some time with me, but there is no compelling need for anything supervisorial!

Since I make so many trips back East (and around the world), I try to secure the best bargains I can find for airfares and hotels, etc. This trip was no exception, but that means I book rooms and flights months before, and the rates I get are almost always non-refundable. I booked an economy ticket to Baltimore for less than $300 (and I was upgraded to 1st Class, thank you very much). I also booked two hotels (3 nights each) on Priceline.com at killer rates. But the catch is that they are all non-refundable. So, my dilemma was whether or not to cancel the “unnecessary” trip. Obviously, I elected to come anyway.

Here is a picture of my gorgeous daughter; we went to dinner, as we usually do my first evening in Baltimore. I get a chuckle out of the looks we get—and the comments—as though this old guy has a trophy-girl to take out on the town. Lorrel and I both try to drop comments into our conversation with people about her “father” and my “daughter who looks just like her mother” (so quit thinking I’m some kind of a cradle-robber).

Interestingly, en route back East, my itinerary “filled up” with email questions and requested meetings, so it looks like I’ll be busy. I hope to work on my book, God Wants You to Be You. A year ago in Australia, I wrote the first half of the book during a similar stretch of plans-have-changed days. If I grind away at it, I might be able to write a few chapters this week. I’ve been trying to get to it for the last year, so I’m going to believe that these are the days to forge ahead.

My travel journal will, therefore, include some snippets from the new book (I hope). In the meantime, I thought I’d share with you the first half of an article I’m writing about the current financial crisis.

Click on the PDF link below to read this article:

Kingdom Perspectives on the Financial Meltdown, Part 1