Thank You

On the eve of our departure I am just an internal wreck.  I have two 50 pound bags to check plus a carry on that weighs about 35 and a 20 pound backpack.  My neighbor, David Dippel, has been kind enough to drive me and BJ to the airport at 5:15 AM tomorrow.  With the Formula 1 race concluding and Thanksgiving holidays, the airport is going to be a circus tomorrow.

Anyway,  I want to say thank you to everyone who made this trip possible.  To all of our families who are sacrificing as well as we leave during Thanksgiving, thank you.  All of the wonderful people who gave us all kinds of gifts; money, laptops, candy, and letters of support, thank you as well.

I see the trip as a bridge.  Last year, it was our first trip and we really didn't know what to expect.  Next year, I think there is going to be a huge crew and we may even have to break it into two shifts.  This year however is a bridge.   New and old projects, new and old friends.  Valpo and Oak Hill.  The bridge connects us.

The last couple of weeks have been very tough for the Oak Hill UMC family as we have had too many funerals including a few very close to home.  Therefore, I conclude with the following verse and realize that we must carry on in the mission.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10