Road Trip Redux

We left for our niece Katie's wedding last THU 10/18 & returned on MON 10/22. [Katie's parents are Lois' brother David & his wife, my cousin, Carmen, which makes Katie our niece & my 2nd cousin or 1st cousin-once removed . . . I can never remember.] Other than a delay out of Omaha, our flights were uneventful. As always, I was impressed by the lavish mini-mini-pretzels served by Southwest.
          Highlights of the long weekend included, of course, Scott & Katie's wedding, which was in a former oil baron's(?) mansion on SAT, just outside Nocona, TX. Other highlights:

• Getting to spend lots of quality time with our kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews.
• The rehearsal dinner at a steakhouse in Montague.
• A birthday party for Faith, our great-niece, at a pizza place in downtown Nocona.
• The wedding ceremony, which was conducted by a close family friend who got his "certification" on-line. [It was a great message that he gave.]
• The dinner & reception, which included lots of dancing--by Lois with the grand-kids, not me. [I offered one slow dance with Lois but was turned down.

Our next road trip will be to Washington, D.C. in DEC, for a memorial service for a brother-in-law who passed away last November. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Dept. of Shameless Joke-Stealing *

"Adam & Eve:  the first people not to read the Apple Terms & Conditions."

* Source:  Reader's Digest, Oct. 2018

Divine Multitasking *

"We will never be perfect neighbors to those inside or outside our homes. Still, there is a perfect Multitasker, Neighbor & Friend: 'the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Him? (Jer. 32:27). He is mindful of us, forgives us & works through us to serve our families, congregations, neighborhoods, governments & ultimately all creation.

          "Our God uses our paltry efforts, & He restores the building blocks of family stability, healthy culture, neighborly charity, honorable government & the spread of His Kingdom. As we make our feeble attempts to multitask or single-task, our Lord serves for us, with us, in us, outside us & through us without any pause or hesitation at all, as our gracious Maker, our only Savior, the Lord of Life--the Perfect Neighbor, Husband, Father, Brother, King & the answer to our every need.

          "No matter how this day may appear, it is His day. Let us rejoice as we receive & be glad as we serve!"

* Source:  "Getting It Done," by Mary Moerbe in The Lutheran Witness, Sep. 2018.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:  WISDOM HIDDEN IN MYSTERY 

“Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your waterfalls.” Ps. 42:7

“God’s cataracts [or ‘waterfalls’] are the preachers of the Gospel. The Lord has opened them up & has poured down in abundance the rain of saving doctrine. And by the public proclamation of such a one the faithful are multiplied.”  Martin Luther Psalm by Psalm, Concordia Publishing House, 2017.