Grapes of Wrath

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. We flew to Seattle on August 21st in order to preach at the Seattle Aurora Church of the Nazarene. Since we were also scheduled to preach there on the 29th we took advantage of the week and stayed with Staci and her boys in Lacey, Washington, which is about 65 miles from the church.

The Aurora church is in that transitional time between pastors. Pastor Jim Manker resigned recently and the church has not started the process of finding their new shepherd. As a result, while we were there they asked if Jane and I would be willing to spend some time there as an interim pastor while they conduct their search. We said yes.

We flew home on August 30th in order to put things in order here at our cabin in paradise and pack some things into the car and then drive back to Seattle.

Well, when we got home we became aware of the fact that the IRS wants to review some of our tax returns from a previous year. So, we contacted an accountant to represent us as the meeting since we'll be in Seattle and then we started digging for documentation for the audit. I'll be FOREVER grateful for a wife who keeps OUTSTANDING records. Even so, we spent the past two days - I repeat TWO DAYS - in our home office trying to get the necessary proof together for our accountant.

Have you ever had a colonoscopy? Well, I have. On more than one occasion. Let me consider. Colonoscopy/Audit? Colonoscopy/Audit? I'll take a colonoscopy ANY day. They, at least, give you meds to make you sleep. An audit provides no pain relief. Just pain.

Then there's the fact that we drive from here to Montana. That's right, Montana. We've been scheduled for almost two years to speak at the District Laymen's Retreat there. As a result, we're driving a vehicle packed to the gills with "stuff" for our Seattle stay as we head to Montana. The Escalade is going to look like the Jode family's Model A in Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath."

But, there's good news. We get to serve at a church with a great legacy. We get to meet and make new friends. We get to live close to Staci and her family for the first time in her married life. We will probably still be there when she and Josh welcome their third child, scheduled to arrive December 31st.

And then there's this. Josh arrived home today after being deployed in Qatar where he was piloting a C-17 for the past four months.

It's a good day, but we're going to miss our cabin in the corner of Glory Land