Weekend Roundup

Well, it was quite a weekend here in river city... for us... for our church family... for the city as well.

The biggest story is the heat. We are in a record heat wave for the Bay Area. Saturday it was 111 at our house and 113 yesterday... not sure what the official temps were, but much of our fair city was without power on Saturday and then again on Sunday. We feel very blessed that our particular section of town has not lost power thus far. People seem to be not only surviving but even making the most of the situation. Ruth told me much of her family spent a good part of last night out in the back yard, under the hose mister, listening to the kids play the guitar. The last 3 nights Virginia and I have slept on a mattress on the floor downstairs just because it's been so hot upstairs... even with the air on. I think lots of folks just went to the movies... but at least one of the big theaters near us was without power Saturday. Let's just say it's hot!! However, it is supposed to cool down into the 90s as the week goes on. :-)

Yesterday, people were at church with smiles on their faces... even the ones without power. Quite a few stayed overnight with someone else... maybe even doing breakfast together before coming. It was a really good morning in many ways. We got lots of good feedback about Kyle Sapp, our youth minister candidate. Also, it was Children's Ministry Sunday, so our kids read and prayed and sang... Jarrod did a "children's sermon" that kept all our attention. Really good spirit for the whole morning. That positive feeling continued even into a difficult segment of the service. Jarrod announced that he has accepted a position as the preacher for the Riverside Church in the Dallas area, and he and Lauren will be leaving sometime in September.

It was a really hard thing for our church to hear, but a couple of things made it easier. The church Jarrod is going to is trying to take some purposeful steps to be a "different kind" of church... and his training and skill set will help them get there. Knowing that almost helps people feel like they are part of a bigger Kingdom purpose. I think the other thing was the way leadership and others in the congregation responded... pretty much with love and support in the midst of tears. There is also some anger and disappointment and hurt mixed in... certainly legit emotions in these circumstances... but this church is too loving to let those emotions own the day.

Finally, Virginia and I got to spend a couple of hours with Diane and Mel Sunday evening. This week they are staying at a resort near Tahoe off Hwy 88, so Sunday afternoon we drove across the valley and up in the foothills to Jackson to meet them for supper... about 1/2 way timewise for both of us. We enjoyed a couple of hours visiting at Mel's Diner (How about that!) Good food and an even better visit. As we left, they headed back up a winding Hwy 88 to 75 degree highs and a view of snow on the mountain. And we headed back to... well, let's just say that there aren't any frosty mornings in our immediate future.