The Journey Ends -- and Begins

With this posting "The Carpenter's Journey" comes to an end. After being gone so long I wondered how it would seem coming back to church, but I felt right at home. I got to church early to see Jason and the music team rehearsing. They were awesome!! Then I did a check of my sermon slides with the help of Dan Adams and Derrik Baer. Then it was off to the coffee shop before Sunday School to interact with people. It all seemed very natural and very good to be home.

When it came time for church, the music was wonderful. Jason and Annie did a musical special, "Lifesong," that was fabulous. Mick Bunn introduced me as the "guest speaker" for the day and what's the old saying -- "With friends like that who needs . . . ." Mick took a lot of good natured shots at me which means he knows me pretty well. I would prefer that kind of ribbing to a mushy introduction any day.

I shared a lot of pictures from the three churches I was involved in during the sabbatical: the Island Family Christian Church in Honolulu, the Good News Church of Christ in Hong Kong, and the Christian Deaf Church in Colorado Springs. It felt very much "like home" to be sharing with my church family again.

At invitation time we had two young families come forward and place membership with the church. That was the most exciting part of the day for me to see with my own eyes that the work of the church had continued strong in my absence, including preparing families for church membership.

Following services we had a church-wide fellowship meal and afternoon activities. Although the picture below was taken when the crowd had begun to thin out, our multi-purpose room was packed for the fellowship lunch.

We had some inflatables brought in for the kids that included a big slide; a very large combination slide/tunnels/bouncing unit; a smaller bouncing unit for the little kids; and a very large inflatable climing wall. Here you can see me trying and failing to make much progress on the climbing wall.

We also had some adult games available, but it was so hot, the only one that really materialized was Corn Hole. In the picture below, Linda really isn't lifting her hands to the Lord, but displaying that wonderful follow-through after throwing one of the bean bags. It was was a great time of fellowship.

When I arrived at church early in the morning, I was preoccupied with what I needed to do and didn't notice the church sign. Being the last one to leave after all of the activities in the afternoon I drove past the sign and smiled. I did indeed feel loved and warmly welcomed back to the Judson Road church family.

So "The Carpenter's Journey" has ended. But in many respects it is actually just beginning anew. It will be interesting to see how the Lord will use the sabbatical time to provide not only ongoing blessings for me, but important direction for the work of Christ's kingdom at Judson Road. For everyone's love and support, I am very grateful. With all my love, signing off, Gary.

North Carolina

One of the emphases of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal is to connect with family in important ways. I am so grateful that I was able to reward Linda and my sons and their families with a week in North Carolina for their years of hanging in there with me in the ministry. We stayed in an incredible home big enough to house all sixteen of us and which was within walking distance of the ocean beach.






Linda and I got up early several mornings to take liesurely strolls along the beach, catching beautiful sunrises as well as interesting shots of good looking creatures like the guy pictured here.

It was an adventure when the whole clan headed for the beach. The Carpenter army took up considerable space.

What would a trip to the beach be without trying my hand at some body-board surfing? It was fun, tiring, and a skill I still haven't got the hang of.

In between times to the beach, I didn't forget the importance of practicing my sign language. In fact, with Britney hamming it up next to me, I am actually practicing the sign for "practice."

A big blessing of the week was a visit from our nearby Virginia relatives. Julie (my niece) and her husband, Jim, came down with their two boys, Evan and Jared. Eric (my nephew), who had flown in for my other nephew's heart transplant, was also able to come. We were glad that we could share our vacation house and hang on the beach with them if only for a day.

Evan was having a great time in the surf, while Eric was helping Jared with body-boarding.

Before the week was over, we wanted to get a family picture. I had told Linda three weeks earlier that I needed a haircut and still did not have one. Melody and Stacey jumped to the rescue. Being the daring guy I am, I let them have at me as Mel cut my hair and Stace went for my eyebrows.

On Thursday evening, we all headed to the beach to get that family shot. From left to right are Josh, Britney, Jeremy, Melody holding Claire, Gabe in front of Melody, me, Linda, Stacey holding Joel, Dan holding Cale, Nathan standing, Julie holding Seth, and Scott. We treasure those times when the entire family can be together.

When we returned to the house, the boys had a surprise in store for me. They had planned a sabbatical salute for me. Each of them had written a letter concerning what it meant to have me as a dad and the lessons they learned from me about Christ, marriage & family, and life. We all gathered around the kitchen table and one by one each of the boys read their letters. It was so personal, humbling and overwhelming. It was definitely an experience I will never forget. Then when they were done, they wanted to lay hands on Linda and I and pray for our remaining years in the ministry. It was the highlight of the trip for me.

After a great week, we packed up and headed for home. On the way, Linda and I had the opportunity to stop at Norfolk and visit with my nephew, Tim, who had a heart transplant just 11 days earlier. It was a moving and awesome hour. At 35, Tim seems way too young to need a heart transplant. But after several years of battling a heart that had finally grown three times the size of a normal heart, nearly collapsing his left lung, it had to be done. He is doing remarkably well and you can see he hasn't lost his sense of humor. Some nearby forest fires have created problems with smoke, and at times even in the hospital. When he has needed to wear a mask, he wanted to make sure people could see him smiling. His recovery will be long and we hope that everyone will continue to pray for his complete healing.

We then went up to Newport News to stay the night with RJ and Janie (Linda's sister), Tim's parents. I don't know how they missed the camera, but they had kept our dog, Shadow, for the week. We had a great evening of fellowship with them, and then left bright and early for the long, 13 hour drive back to Kokomo. As we did, we couldn't forget the message I left in the sand with my "Jesus Loves You" sandals. And we love you too!!

Home Again - Off Again

I asked myself,"Would people rather see a picture of me or of Linda?" Well that was pretty much of a no brainer. After flying home to Kokomo late on Monday evening, June 16, I was able to enjoy three days at home with Linda. Then we packed up to head out for our home away from home for a week in Corolla, North Carolina. Our vacation home is about 100 yards off the beach, behind the row of homes you see pictured. The house is awesome and big enough to hold all of my boys and their families--16 of us in all!





We arrived at the beach on Sunday. Josh and Britney, pictured below, were here along with Dan and Stacey and Cale and Joel, and Scott and Julie and Nathan and Seth. Jeremy and Melody and Gabe and Claire were in transit, getting in very late Sunday evening.

Actually, before we went to the beach, we enjoyed the pool at our house. Cale and Joel were obviously taking all in stride.

Of course, I take my grandfatherly responsibilities seriously. Here I am showing them how to perform a flawless "can opener" into the pool.

After the pool, we then went to the beach where the boys had a great time.

By the time the day was over, my hair was standing on end, but this time it was due a wonderful day the Lord had given.

Before the evening was over, though, those of us who had arrived took time to celebrate the Lord's Supper together as a family. We drew names and each of us served another family member communion. Although small children remain active and noisy, which we expected, it was still special to remember what Christ has done for us and to serve one another in our own family.

And my goal this week is to keep my eyes open for Jesus, both what he has done and what he continues to do in the creation and in our own lives. Below you see the imprint in the sand from the sandals that Stacey found for me. They are a good reminder that this week and every week is all about Jesus! Sending my love to you from North Carolina!

Colorado Week Eight

As I began my final week in Colorado, I couldn't help thinking about my sign language instructors, including my niece Dani's son, Hayden. From day one I saw him signing and thought, "Well, I can't let a baby outdo me." Hayden was good motivation :-). Below he is moving his finger to just below his lips to make the sign "red" and bringing his hands together to sign "more." Those are just two of the many signs he knows.

Of course, I naturally thought about my sign language boot camp director :) -- Tim. He works full time for the post office, and ends up being called in on many of his days off. Inspite of working long days and coming home tired, as well as his work as the minister of the Deaf Church, he invested a massive amount of time into my instruction, something for which I am very grateful.

On Tuesday of the final week, I decided I needed to test my ability to hike at higher elevations. Saturday Danette, Donna, and I were planning to attempt to hike Mt. Bierstadt, with most of the hiking done on a steep trail from 11,000 ft. to over 14,000 ft. All of my hiking had been at elevations lower than that, and I had been nursing a strained calf muscle for weeks. So I drove to the summit of Pikes Peak and hiked down to 10,000 feet and back up to 14,000 feet. There was more snow on the trail than I had anticipated, and being at elevation didn't keep me from doing business with Scott and Linda by cell phone. But when I got back up to the summit, I felt encouraged that I could at least give Mt. Bierstadt a try on Saturday.

Wednesday I met for the final time with the Deaf Church midweek Bible study. We met at Tim and Tami's house for a cookout, and then Tim took to us to his basement where he had a projector set up to show everyone my blog. It was a good way of showing the deaf people what an important part they played in my sabbatical time. After we watched and talked about the blog, everyone met in front of Tim's house for a group picture where they signed their love to us back in Kokomo.

On Thursday I holed up in a hotel at Castle Rock for some private time with the Lord and to prepare for the hike on Saturday. Although Tami graciously did laundry for me a few times, there were several times I needed to do laundry on my own. I discovered that the laundry room of a hotel is a perfect place to practice sign language.

Early Saturday morning Danette, Donna and I met to drive to the trailhead of Mt. Bierstadt. We weren't sure that the trail would be good enough to try it because there was still a lot of snow on many of nearby mountains. As it turned out, the trail was very doable, and the snow we ran into was reasonably easy to negotiate. Here you see us ready to hit the trail.

It took us about four hours of steady hiking to reach the summit of Mt. Bierstadt. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. From the summit you could see the snow capped Rockies to the west and north, and Pikes Peak to the distant south. It was simply impossible to miss the power and majesty of God in such a setting.

Below I am showing the sign for "song" or "music." The Lilly Clergy Renewal theme has to do with what "makes your heart sing" and I wanted Tim to see that I was practicing my signs on the summit :) !!

On the way down, at the encouragement of my two mountain guides, I couldn't resist making a snow angel. Let's see, when are we supposed to start acting our age?

On Sunday I was back in Colorado Springs for my final Sunday with the Deaf Church. The ladies prepared a wonderful Father's Day breakfast and then to give Tim a break from the pulpit, they secured a really good Scripture video to use for the sermon time. It was excellent.

At the end of the service, to my surpise, Tim presented me with a couple of going away gifts. One was a handheld fan that lights up with varying messages, and the other was a special hat acknowleding that I had successfully graduated from sing language boot camp :). It was a touching moment as the Deaf Church poured out their love on me.

As I headed to the airport on Monday to fly back to Kokomo, I carried a lot of mixed emotions. I was obviously very excited about getting home to Linda for a few days before the Carpenter clan heads out to North Carolina. But I was also a little melancholy at the thought of leaving my Deaf Church family and Linda's family behind. It was an amazing time in my life filled with both anticipated and surprising blessings from the Lord!