I am finally within the confines of Sabbath—Hallelujah! I need the rest on many levels! It has been a tiring and trying week in the AZ Conference. For purposes of full disclosure, not all the stress was related to the AZ Conference. The week began in Prescott, Arizona, where I had a marvelous time with some friends from the Paradise Valley SDA Church who asked me to speak for their family retreat in beautiful Camp Yavapines. It was a great day—made even more special because my wife, Penny arrived early enough on Friday to travel up to camp with me in time for me to speak for the Friday evening vespers service. She stayed!
The next day was equally stimulating. Their hospitality was extraordinary; the accommodations were excellent (The Helmer Hilton!); and the messages were anchored to the theme, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” It was about relationships—God, couples, families, and humans. I had a great time. The end of the weekend in Prescott was a bit premature, since the winter storm of the year was heading our way and was anticipated to arrive in Prescott at about 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. (The PV people sent me picture the next morning—beautiful snow covered scenes!) Well, we had to get out, since I had to be in Calexico, California at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. I had to somehow squeeze dropping Penny off in Riverside before the orientation meeting for a WASC accreditation meeting on the campus of Calexico Mission School.
We barely got out! We went through some thunder and lightning and rain and hail, but we got off the mountain and arrived in Riverside in the wee hours of the morning. I was off to Calexico by about 10:00 a.m. (which was cutting it pretty close, but out of my control!). The three-day visit was a good experience and the visiting committee did its job. The report was submitted to the administration right after lunch on Wednesday and I was on the road (special dispensation from the committee chair) to Tucson by about 2:30 p.m. Considering I had a 6:30 board meeting in southern Tucson, it was not a possibility without stretching the laws of time and space. My Prius is not built for warp speed!
I pushed the proverbial envelope more than I should have and arrived late—a little before 7:00 p.m. to the meeting. It was a productive but long meeting that ended somewhere about 10:00 p.m. I hit the road headed back to Scottsdale—without considering for a moment that I was slated to be back in Tucson the next day (a scheduling anomaly!) for a pastor’s meeting, some classroom observations and another school board meeting at a sister school. If not for a phone call to a friend who questioned the sanity of traveling late to Scottsdale only to return early the next morning to Tucson, I would have done it out of habit. Alas, I located a hotel and spent the night.
The next day was hectic, but I was refreshed! The observations went well. The pastor’s meeting was productive. The school board went long, but sufficient personal preparation had taken place to deal with the difficult items for discussion. I got home about midnight and enjoyed a good night’s rest. This brings me to Friday—today. Let’s just call it mostly a “mom” day. I am scheduled to preach in Gilbert tomorrow. I will be dropping my mom off at the Dear Valley Spanish SDA Church on my way to my commitment in the southeast of Phoenix. My mom’s “adoptive children” will be taking charge of her for the day while I am gone to Gilbert.
I have not even begun to scratch the surface of all that is going on in the conference—perhaps I can catch up next week. In the meantime—have a great Sabbath!
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