on the ground in Seattle...

... and breathing that lovely cool West Coast air! The flight crew on our last plane was from Orlando. They thought it was cold here. Very strange people!!!

We made it safely, all our luggage made it, we will hit the ferry sometime tomorrow (today by the time you are reading this), and we will be home.

We are looking forward to seeing you all. I'll keep this blog going for a bit, posting some pictures next week.

We are almost home!

BTW, we think we have the duplex sold, too!

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

getting ready for Sunday

We are at Debbi's sister's place in Nashville. Nashville is built around the Cumberland river. About five miles below the house the river has been dammed and a man made lake lies at our feet. Debbi's brother-in-law, Neal, took us out on a boat ride on the Cumberland lake produced by the dam the other day. This morning I was up early helping Neal repair his lift at the dock. One of the bolts had snapped off, so he wanted to replace it before putting his boat in the lift. As we were out there, the fish were jumping like mad. I was sort of wishing for a license, rod and reel and a chance to actually go fishing instead of my usual casting.

Now I am sitting on their deck, overlooking the lake, enjoying the birds and thinking about Sunday.

I am going to steal a message I heard a friend of mine preach last Sunday evening. I plan to split it into two parts and use it for both morning and afternoon services. For the Bible Study time, I want to take some time for us all to look back and review our Thru the Bible series. I would like those of you who are reading this to perhaps think back over our survey of Old and New Testaments and jot down one or two things that stood out to you as major lessons or insights on the Bible that you learned as we have gone through. We may extend some of this to the following week. I plan to get back to the Basic Theology study we left off when we began the Thru the Bible series. That will probably start the second Sunday in June.

[If you are talking to someone who doesn't have computer access, you could pass on this assignment to them!!]

We also want to build up our Sunday School. Pray for wisdom as we organize. Also, think about contacts you have who could be recruited.

Looking ahead, we have several events in the summer that you should keep in mind and pray about. We have Family Camp rapidly approaching, then we have a week with an evangelist in July. Both events can be a great blessing if you are able to participate. I would encourage you to think about Family Camp if you have not been able to attend in the past. You would find it relaxing and uplifting, I believe. The evangelist who is coming has a different approach than other evangelists we have had in the past. His whole family will be with him to provide special music (he has several daughters who are friends of our kids at school). I believe they use puppets and other things oriented to children to make the whole service have something for everyone, so I would encourage you to be inviting folks with children for these meetings.

Well, we are heading off for a visit of a Civil War battlefield. Yesterday we saw The Hermitage, the home of the seventh US President, Andrew Jackson. He wasn't one of my favorites, but it is interesting to see the place he lived and think about how much has changed since then. I'll post some pics later.

ESV Philemon 1:4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,

Regards
Pastor Don
Jer 33.3

a catch up day

we are in Nashville on the last leg home. Debbi's brother and sister live here now, so the other siblings came down for a bit of a family reunion yesterday. Some of us will be around for the rest of the week. We wanted to share a few pictures with you so you could know what was up.

Here is the car my dad and I bought Duncan and Meg. It's a 2006 PT Cruiser, standard shift. Only a small hurdle, since neither of them have ever driven a "stick". I spent a good deal of time practicing with Duncan the week before the wedding. He got better every day...


Of course, Duncan and Meg called on the first day of their honeymoon to tell us that when they left, Meg promptly got sick... in the car... She said it had nothing to do with Duncan's driving!!!


Actually, I think it was just nerves - the weather was hot and muggy (as usual for SC) and the wedding itself was quite exciting/emotional/etc., for all of us, so it is no wonder that she reacted.

Cullen was in our pictures, but unable to participate, as he had a 24 hour bug and was throwing up and running a fever the day of the wedding. We were all disappointed, but the wedding went off without a hitch in any case. There were about 250 folks in attendance.

The next pictures are of the front of BJU campus. The entrance is slated for renovation this summer, with the Welcome Center about to come down, reconfiguring everything to make it safer.


The pillar you see below came down before the wedding. Rory tried to get them to give him an "R" and a "J" off the pillar, but they have other plans for the letters. The pillar had been in place for over 40 years.


The last picture today goes back to Sunday, the 3rd, when we visited with the church in Georgia where Duncan and Meg serve on the weekends. We wanted to go down and visit the church and get a sense for what the kids are doing on the weekends.

On the left is the pastor, Dave Wood, an acquaintance from many year's back. (Debbi's brother had Dave in his youth group many moons ago.) Next to him is Andy Efting, a deacon and a fellow I correspond with on the internet a good deal. He is a really solid guy. It was great to finally meet him and put a face to the name. The rest of the folks there you know... This was on the Sunday that Debbi stayed back with her mom.

Well, I have to beat it, but I did want to give you this update. We may have a bit more soon. I'll see if I can scare up some other wedding pics. With both boys in the wedding, they were not thinking about pictures, so we don't have many good ones...

I think Duncan plans to put some pictures up on his site later, duncanandmeg.org, but that will be after the weekend sometime.

BTW, for those wondering, our smoked salmon for the reception made it down and was a big hit! A taste of the island in Greenville!

ESV Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.

God bless...

See you soon

Pastor Don
Jer 33.3

what you've all been waiting for...

pics of the wedding events...

rehearsal dinner

















The rehearsal itself (no pics allowed in chapel during actual wedding... I'll explain later)




The wedding party on the day of...
















getting away...

a quick one .... pics from BJU graduation

Hi all

Here is a picture that was published in the Greenville News of the BJU graduation. One of them was a picture of our Meg, with a happy smile as she is marching in to the auditorium to receive her degree.


You can see more pictures here.

We are going a bit like mad here... I bought Duncan a car on Monday, we have been visiting many friends, lots of news to report, but we just haven't managed to get a long enough time in the library to type it all up. With the wedding Saturday, I don't know if I will be able to get caught up on the news for you, but I'll try. Maybe I can type everything up tonight and then send it in the morning.

Note to Harry: I tried to send you an e-mail several times today, I tried again just now and it looks like it went through.

To all... will try to reply to e-mails as soon as possible!!

And... it is toooooo hot here! Right now I think it is pushing 80, way too hot for this cold blooded Canadian.


More to come...

ESV 1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Pastor Don
Jer 33.3

one more thing...

I should have mentioned that Debbi's mom did indeed come home from the hospital yesterday. Debbi is with her and trying to keep her on her schedule, making sure she eats, etc. The bug she has makes her feel like not eating, but that is just what she needs to do, at least a little, to keep up her strength as her medication fights the bug.

Debbi should be able to join us by Tuesday, we will keep you posted.

Regards
Pastor Don
Jer 33.3

catching up on the pics

Hi all,

This first one is for Harry, especially. We were driving along in Maryville TN when we noticed this car in front of us:

We were quite intrigued by this vehicle. Cully said, "Hey, it's a car with a ...."















"...a car with a stroke!" Notice how the lights are burned out on one side of the car only, both at the top and the left! We thought this was the perfect car for Harry. We highlighted the pic on the right because we weren't sure how well Harry would be able to pick out the colours.

Thank you all for your your notes and cards regarding my advancing age. Very funny! The best way to look at age is with joy, because we are getting closer to the day we will never age again, with the Lord. Hopefully we can endure the aches and pains that may come with grace and faith.

We also saw this on the way to Greenville:



Who knew??

And now for some pics from today, Meg's graduation. We have more on other cameras, but these are all from Cullen's:


Ok, that's all for today. We are going to Georgia tomorrow to the church where Duncan and Meg serve. I probably won't be able to report on that until Monday.

Harry, if you are reading this, I need to hear if you have received an e-mail from me concerning the schedule of recitals at the church next week.

ESV Numbers 6:24 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Regards
Pastor Don
Jer 33.3