Recovering from Panic

I’m going to try to be better about blogging, if for no reason than to keep some of you checking in on the off-chance that I may write something worth reading. 

We have now been back in the U.S. for one month.  I think I can best describe my feelings upon our return as—panic.  It suddenly hit me that I had a family of four to care for with no car, no insurance, no house, and no long-term, secure job.  I had preached about the virtues of being a “stranger and a pilgrim” in this world—suddenly, being a stranger and a pilgrim did not feel so virtuous.

My response to all of this was to go into task-orientation mode.  I spent hours on the phone and the internet trying to get some basic “necessities”—a car, medical, life, and car insurance, travel plans, a social security card for Maureen—worked out.  It’s strange that all of these seem like such necessities when they are not at all a part of the life of the Togolese.

In Africa, even though you don’t expect things to go smoothly, it’s still stressful when they don’t.  It’s even more stressful when you expect things to be painless and they aren’t.  Some of my biggest frustrations have been with airlines and trying to redeem frequent flyer miles and travel vouchers for a couple of unexpected trips that I’ve made since returning.

So…what have we been up to?

In addition to some time with my family (not nearly as much as my mom would like), Maureen and I made a trip to the Dallas area to work with Mission Alive!, a church-planting ministry, in an assessment lab for new church planters.  We were also assessing ourselves to see whether we might have a future role in this ministry.  It truly is a wonderful ministry and we were able to be with some great people, including Gailyn and Becky Van Rheenen for a few days.  In the meantime, our boys stayed with my parents and got to know their grandparents better.

Oh yeah, just before making this trip, I spoke at Homewood, our sponsoring church.  I had contracted a terrible cold so I was sounding very nasal that day.  Also, I had shortened my Power Point presentation so that it would be more pulpit friendly.  Only when I got up to speak did I realize that I had given the office the long version—and my notes matched the short version—so that was a big awkward.  I was told that I “recovered nicely,” so that made me feel better.

Back to Dallas—when we arrived in Dallas, Gailyn met us at the airport and broke the news about Cyndi Chowning’s death.  We waited as plans developed for her memorial service, which eventually was planned for Denison, near Dallas, but after we had planned to return to Alabama.  We had also planned to visit friends in Atlanta the following week.  Eventually we worked it out that I was able to travel back for the funeral while Maureen and the boys stayed with our friends there.  Maureen and I truly regretted that she was not able to attend the funeral.  I was happy, however, that she was able to attend a Women of Faith conference with our friend Lanita Henderson.  While in Atlanta, we were also able to spend time with Andrew, Pulcherie, A.J., and Nikki Gordon who were in town for some training for Andrew’s job.  The Gordons were our teammates in Benin and are now planning to return to Africa to serve the Djoula people of Burkina Faso with Christian Missionary Fellowship.

Since our return from Atlanta, we have been in Birmingham, enjoying the hospitality of Steve and Amy Castleman and their girls, Emily, Erin, and Elyse.   Next week we’ll hit the road again, going to my parents’ for the 4^th, then to Nashville for Lipscomb University’s Summer Celebration and to visit our former teammates the Bunners.  The following week I have a D.Min. course at Trinity in Chicago.

As this month has passed, my feelings of panic have eased.  I seem to have most of the major “necessities” taken care of, and God has worked out a million details already.  I have several “irons in the fire” looking for a long-term ministry.  We do feel a need to be temporarily settled into our own place, but we also want to take advantage of this time to reconnect, which requires travel.  Some folks here at Homewood are helping us look for some affordable, short-term housing, so hopefully we’ll be able to get into something not long after I return from Chicago.

Please drop us a line to say hi or call us—my cell phone is (256) 226-0445.