Beautiful Leaves

Bre and I drove up to Annapolis recently. We caught the leaves at near peak color I would say. Some of them were magnificent, and the bright sun magnified the effect.

We had a little color south of B’ham. The color got better and better all the way to our detour in NC. From there northward it was terrific. This same time last year we were driving between Charleston, SC and Eu Clair, WI. We had great leaves that trip too.

G^d made a beautiful world indeed. Who would have thought to hide these colors under green chlorophyll, and make the reds come alive with the waning sunlight. I have heard it said that one of the most frustrating things for atheists is to feel grateful and have no one to whom to express it.

Well, Thank you L^rd for the beautiful Fall colors.

And yes, we got NO photos of leaves!

Just Another Honeymoon

Bre and I just did two trips back-to-back. We think of these trips as “just more honeymoon”. As I have recounted before, we travel a bit more than most, I’d say. We are right now driving back from Annapolis, which was preceded by a trip to NC, which was shortly preceded by a trip to Panama City Beach. Before that we were in southern OH, and before that in Milwaukee.

But, if we look back we have many, many more trips as part of our honeymoon. What prompted this was driving by Sweetwater, TN where is the “Lost Sea” and underground lake. We went there on our first honeymoon.

We do love traveling together. We both feel our favorite travelers are each other—and after 50 years that’s pretty sweet! Mostly we drive these days. Rather, mostly Bre drives and I work on this laptop. But we both enjoy it and make the most, pretty much, of what G^d has given us.

After 50 years of marriage, we know how to honeymoon much better than we did right after our weeding. Heck we were total rookies. Now we are veterans!

So, here’s to many more honeymoons.

50th Class Reunion

 Wow! I went to US Naval Academy with a bunch of OLD guys! Indeed, I could recognize about half my company fellow alumni. We had a lot of good events at our 50^th college reunion. Quite a few of them—in fact most—had been to previous reunions. For us, likely our first and last.

It was great to see our classmates and learn about where they are and what they are doing. It was a little sad that about all we had in common was USNA and our brief service afterwards. It was great seeing these old friends, with whom I had endured Plebe summer tortures and Plebe year annoyances. And, that is not an insignificant bond.

On the other hand, with only a few exceptions, I have had very little contact with them over the ensuing 50 years. Together 4 years and apart 50 years means that I felt pretty distant—surprisingly so. But what would you expect?

It was great to see them and also to see the grounds and buildings in which I had studied and learned much. We shared that our time there had impacted the rest of our lives for the better. I had to fight back tears on couple of occasions. Memories are a very good thing—when I have them still in the “file”.

Beautiful North Carolina

In October we had the pleasure of spending a day and a bit with good friends Pete and Nancy. They have a condo at Sugar Top, NC. These are dear friends and we always enjoy being with them. We had a great time on this stopover on our way to my 50^th reunion in Annapolis.

This area is a MAJOR tourist destination, and we can see why. We visited Blowing Rock, NC, which was the real town described as “Mitford” by Jan Karon in her Series of books. The town was full of old tourists because those with children are back at school.

We also drove to the top of Grandfather Mountain. It was cloud-covered at the top, but was still great fun. We went to Boone, where Appalachian State University is located. We also visited Banner Elk, NC where Lees-McRae University is located. The high winds made it cold, but the great friends made it warm.

We hope to return for another visit—it was definitely worth the detour!

G^d made a beautiful world indeed.

Note, yes, these are from USNA, but we didn't take many leaf picts on the highway.

Speaking to a Responsive Audience

I’m guessing that I have written about this before, but for speakers, the audience can make or break the experience. Recently I had the joy of speaking 6 times to a good, reactive audience. They made eye contact with me, they smiled, they laughed at the jokes. I may have mentioned this, but I once had 52 Professors from the University of Herat, western Afghanistan in an audience for several lectures. I was shocked at their responsiveness. Likewise I was surprised, pleasantly so, at this latest group.

I taught undergraduates for many years at UA. In most every class (except one) there were a couple of responders, but it was rare to have a whole class. In fact, I only recall one such group in 33 years of professing.

Zoom seems much worse than live speaking. In Zoom, even the normally responsive folks are subdued. So, if you are in a ZOOM audience, give a big smile—bigger than usual—and gives a thumbs-up or other indications. Be a friend to the Zoom speaker—respond!

So, the next time you are in an audience—respond! Smile, nod, clap if appropriate. Respond!

“How much time have you spent preparing for forever?”

Steve Douglass, former President of Cru (2001-2020), was once invited to share the gospel with a young lady's father. Steve began to "engage her Dad in conversation and soon shared his story of how he had come to faith in Jesus. Steve then pulled out a little booklet, called “The Four Spiritual Laws.”

Her Dad quickly responded that while he meant no disrespect – he was not interested. So Steve put the booklet back in his pocket and continued to engage the man in conversation. He discovered that he had just retired at age 65 and had started saving for his retirement at age 22 and had been very disciplined in putting money aside every month and wisely investing it. Steve commended him for his efforts.

Steve then asked him how long he expected to live.  He said he hoped to be at least 85.

Steve then asked him, once you die how long do you expect to be dead? The man smiled and said, “I think that will be forever.”

Steve then asked him this question: “If I understand correctly you prepared for 42 years for your retirement which you hope will be at least 20 years. Am I correct?” The man confirmed that was true!

Steve then asked him this profound question: “How much time have you spent preparing for forever?”

The man was silent for quite a while. He then asked if Steve still had that little booklet, “The Four Spiritual Laws,” handy – as he was now interested in hearing!"

Think about it!

This post was adapted from a blog post by Cru staff, Bob Tiede.

Wellness Week #5

 

Here were the Wellness Week talks for 2022.

22 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on  Communicating Better

21 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on Problems and Possibilities of Pain

20 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on Reducing Stress

19 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on  Following the Christ, or Just Good Church Member

18 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on Better Beach Bodies

17 Oct Spoke at LBAV Wellness Week, Panama City Beach, FL on Leaving a Legacy that Lasts

The talks seemed to go over better than usual this year. These were new talks with just a hint of previous talks. I enjoyed doing them, though giving this many talks is a bit tiring. Even as a professor, I seldom gave 6 talks like this in one week. It was a good week, and I hope that many happy habits and memories result.

Authentic Italia

 

Authentic Italy 2022

The Birmingham airport was deserted! I had caught it in a rate lull between crowds and walked up to the ticket desk, then breezed through TSA without a pause. Thank you Lord!

But that was the end of the peace and quiet. For my flight to Rome they were overbooked by 3 seats and I was sorely tempted to take the $1400, free dinner and hotel in Atlanta. The packed plane was preparation for the packed streets of Rome and Florence. I don’t think I can recall such crowds even in summer months. But that didn’t slow us down. The excellent preparations that Ceil Wilson had done meant that the entire trip went smoothly.

Our Group was Matt and Melissa, Vickie and Scott, Justin and Marit, Trey and JK, and me and Ceil and Daryl Wilson. Kenneth from Agape Italia Bologna traveled with us. We experienced the reality of the Refugee Ministry in Rome where we heard Tori tell us about his life after fleeing Afghanistan. We heard about the family life ministry in Italy, and I had the joy of filming a video for them on Family Wellness and on investing in people. One of the highlights of Rome wasn’t the Pantheon, but a terrific lunch in the apartment of Amy and Joel who lead the Agape Italia campus ministry in Rome.

From Rome we took the train to Florence where not only saw the beautiful sights, but got to meet the beautiful Agape staff of Florence. I spoke to the Psych student at the University of Florence on Time Management.

From Florence we made a day trip to Bologna where most of our super group got to work with the super team of Agape Bologna. I gave a professional talk on Exercise in the Heat at the oldest European University, the University of Bologna. Some of these team members were here when Bre and I made our first trip to Bologna in 2013.

The Authentic Italy group left on Saturday and Sunday the Wilsons and I journeyed to Trento to meet a Christian Prof there who chairs the Dept of Economics. We took the prof and his wife to dinner and he was genuinely blown away by the thought of impacting his University for the Christ. It was exciting to see him slowly catch a vision for ministry where he had great impact. Please pray for Prof. G in Trento and Prof N in Florence. It’s tough when there isn’t a team ministering with you.

My last talk was to a group of Medical and Pharmacy students at Tor Vergata University in Rome. In this program I met students from Israel, Iraq, Syria, and Iran who live and study together and support each other through lectures and exams. Because of the stress of their school, I spoke on Wellbeing in the University. The group was large and receptive and we planted some seeds for Christianity. Pray that the Lord provides the increase.

The history of Italy in the Scriptures is large. The sights in Italy are amazing. Perhaps you know someone who would like to travel with a Christian group and see Italy through a Christian ministry lenses. Invite them to investigate Authentic Italy, 2023.

Italia Bologna

 The first place Brenda and I visited in Italy was Bologna in 2013. I wrote about it back then, but in review, we were living in Botswana and got an invite from Cru to visit Italy. The Air Traffic Controllers in Europe had just gone on strike and we prayed intently whether it was wise--in any way--to embark on air travel with a known major impediment to travel.

But after a rather enjoyable delay in Charles De Gaulle airport, we made it just a few hours late to Bologna airport where there was no one to even check our passport. And, we had a delightful time then and in 2021 and a few weeks back.

Bologna is the "city of porticos" because the streets are covered over much of this city. As is my habit, I arranged through my Univ. of Bologna buddy, Sandro, to give a professional talk to Grad students and profs at the University. The group was very responsive and I really enjoyed speaking with them.

After the talk we went over to the streets of Bologna where our team was passing out tracts to students. I got to talk to two room mates--both "Julias". Neither were Christians. We had a nice chat and tried to plant the seed of the gospel.

I didn't get to see very much of Bologna, but enough to bring back sweet memories of the 6 or 7 visits there. It is a beautiful quiet, University town. Make a visit.