A great weekend ended quite sadly. First, I’ll share the good news. Penny came home for the weekend. Our kindred spirits had been pried apart by circumstance for five days. Not an ideal situation at all, but it's what it is for the time being.
Penny's arrival came at the end of a great week that provided me the opportunity to share a Week of Prayer Light (Wednesday through to Friday) with the kids at Thunderbird Academy. Connecting with kids is my calling. I fear losing total contact with the ones I believe God has called me to serve. God gave me a reminder this week of why I am here. Just a taste. Friday gave me a triple helping, though: 2 services with the high school kids and one elementary worship service sandwiched in-between. It was great leading song service with the elementary kids. So much energy!
I would have preached at Thunderbird on Sabbath, except I had already committed to preach at the Peoria-Sun Cities SDA Church. That was a change of pace, but it was a great opportunity. I got to see Jim and Bonnie Heinrich (from Orangewood days long ago!). That was awesome. Bonnie seemed happy to see me. She gave me a big hug! I reacquainted myself with Les Park, the 1st principal of Orangewood Academy. He is story-teller par excellence. Penny and I had the opportunity to make new friends at the Snarr's home. We ate tasty food while laughing and sharing. After lunch Phil Draper volunteered me to sing to the group by myself and then with his wife Joey, who has a great voice. I felt honored and very inadequate. In the end, it was a great afternoon!
Sunday was not the highlight of the weekend, except for breakfast at the Good Egg Restaurant. Too much food! Too much good stuff! Penny ordered something healthy. I made up for her temperance. Their full stack of pancakes is a full stack of pancakes. I had enough carbohydrates for the week! My stomach was not happy.
The rest of the day only deteriorated after that. The only good thing is that Penny was a part of it. On the other hand we spent the afternoon traveling all over the city of Phoenix looking for housing. The houses were not even close to being something we would enjoy living in. No tub in one. Smokers in the next. One house has a great back yard but the inside was like a playhouse with furniture and facilities that looked like they had been rescued from a swap meet. And that was before the owner showed us the caved-in garage roof and the non-working garage door opener! One house needs a full time maintenance worker to bring it up to par. It was hard to keep going, but we were in the realtor's car. Mercifully, the list of homes was finite.
Sadly, less than an hour remained before I had to take Penny back to the airport to return to Riverside for the week. I saw her off with her mini-backpack and her gargantuan handbag that requires two people to carry. She threw it over her shoulder with much effort. I don't know how the plane was able to take off with the bag on board. I am not surprised that Penny told me her hands hurt when she got back to California. It a wonder her hands were not snapped at the wrist!
Not a good Sunday when all is said and done. I don't see the need to find a house other than the one Penny and I share already stretched between two states. Where our hearts come together-- that's our home. So...who needs a house when you already have a home?
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