Barnabas International asks all staff members to try to attend an annual staff conference every year in June. For the past several years, that conference has been held at Judson University in Elgin, IL. We took the opportunity to hook up our little tear-drop trailer and have a bit of a road-trip wrapped around that conference.
First stop was Nancy’s hometown of Beatrice (stress the SECOND syllable), Nebraska, where her brother and his family still live. Beatrice (stress the SECOND syllable) is home to the Homestead National Monument because that is where the first homestead was registered under the Homestead Act after the Civil War. And every June Beatrice (stress the SECOND syllable) celebrates Homestead Days with many exciting events including a parade and fireworks. Believe it or not, the parade includes more tractors than classic convertibles.
Then we went on to central Missouri to try out the Katy Trail, a bicycle trail that my brother had discovered which follows the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad grade for 225 miles, much of it along the Missouri River. The trail turned out to be as good as advertised and we rode about 48 miles on our tandem bicycle the next couple of days. But what caught us by total surprise was Missouri heat and humidity. Back home, June had been uncharacteristically cool and rainy. Twice we had seen overnight lows of 38 degrees. So we left home with blankets and jackets, not even imagining a night too hot to sleep. But we found one. Our first night in Missouri it was about 95 degrees and 95% humidity even after the sun went down! We camped that way one night, but we didn’t sleep very much. The next two nights we sought air-conditioned motels!
Then we went on to Chicago where we spent a couple of nights camping in the driveway of in-laws. Fortunately the weather had cooled off and dried out by then. Nancy’s niece introduced us to a great Ethiopian restaurant. And along with her sister-in-law, we rode a bit on the Green Bay bicycle trail in Highland Park.
Then we joined our colleagues for the Barnabas staff conference. We had a great time getting to know some colleagues for the first time, getting better acquainted with those we had met and talking about what core values hold us together as an organization. We had some great times in the Word of God together and some great fellowship and strategy discussions over meals. We are already looking forward to next year.
Right after the conference we went a little bit out of our way to reconnect with my best friend from Littleton High School for one evening. Bruce and I hadn’t seen each other since 1966, so we had a bit of catching up to do. He now lives on several beautiful acres near Indianapolis along with his wife, three teenagers, two horses, one cat and nineteen, (yes, 19) dogs. To be fair, they aren’t all his. He and his family provide shelter for dogs that would otherwise be put down and they help to find new families who will adopt abandoned dogs.
Then it was time to turn tail and head for Colorado. But when Chris and Wendy Tuey, who serve with IDEAS, found out that we were going to be coming right through Iowa on the way home, they invited us to stop and celebrate the 4th of July with them at Chris’ mom’s place in his old hometown of Exira. That we were only too happy to do. So we had another small-town tractor parade and a lot of good food and fellowship, followed by yet another fireworks display. And all three nights in Iowa were cool enough to enjoy our queen-sized bed in the little tear-drop trailer.
Now we have only 24 sleeps until we leave for Taiwan and China. We have to finish preparing a mini-retreat for some diligent westerners who serve in remote places. We have to plan the details of a workshop on “Your Story, His Glory” for a conference of hundreds of expatriates working all over the country. And we need to recruit more people to be on our prayer and support team before we go. Are you on board yet?
4 comments:
would that be a 'short a' or a long 'a' when i stress the 2nd syllable of BeAtrice?
You are a cutie!
Did you know there is a National Park site devoted to telling the story of the Homestead Act of 1862? To learn more about what may be the most influential piece of legislation this country has ever created go to www.nps.gov/home or visit Homestead National Monument of America. Located in Nebraska, the Monument includes one of the first 160 acres homestead claims but tells the story of homesteading throughout the United States. Nearly 4 million claims in 30 states were made under the Homestead Act and 1.6 million or 40 percent were successful. The Homestead Act was not repealed until 1976 and extended in Alaska until 1986. Homesteads could be claimed by “head of households” that were citizens or eligible for citizenship. New immigrants, African-Americans, women who were single, widowed or divorced all took advantage of the Homestead Act. It is estimated that as many as 93 million Americans are descendents of these homesteaders today. This is a story as big, fascinating, conflicted and contradictory as the United States itself. Learn more!
Thanks for sharing Ranger Doris. I was born in that very town in Nebraska! It's very interesting indeed.
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