Connections

Right now, I am sitting on my front porch, enjoying the cool evening air and some tasty frozen grapes. If you have never tried frozen grapes, try them.

Over the last few days, I have had amazing opportunities to connect with friends and acquaintances from many circles. On Thursday morning, my doorbell rang at 6:22 AM. Two groggy high school kids were standing at the door ready to go bike-riding. Earlier in the week, I had made a comment to one of the kids about going bike riding in the mornings. He seemed interested so I said come by on Thursday. Sure enough, he showed up with a buddy in tow. We rode 14.3 miles (the lake route from my house). I am so proud of these guys.

On Thursday evening, Richard and Sara met me out at the farm (we needed firewood) and we headed to meet Nick down at Saint Joseph's. It was so great to sleep again on campus. It was like being home again. After my morning run, I headed over to the administration building and was able to meet with my former freshman advisor. We chatted and renewed our friendship.

Big Joe met up with those mentioned above (Richard, Sara, Nick) and we all headed down to Shades State Park. Ultimately, we were joined by 7 others for the M.O.B. (Men of Bennitt) camping weekend. All the men in the group share the common characteristic of having resided in Bennitt Hall at Saint Joseph's. We had a blast and there is more to follow in a few lines. I'll put up some pictures from a hike at some point soon.

Anyway, I ended up back in Bremen in the middle of the afternoon and headed over to a wedding reception for one of my first childhood friends and his wife. We haven't talked in several years and we spent some time catching up.

So anyway, we were out on the river canoeing on Saturday. The river was low and rocks were a problem. Nick and I struggled but after some practice became experts at getting back into the canoe. Other people struggled, too. There was a family that tipped several times. Another pair sunk their canoe. These people needed help. They needed some assistance. You could see (and hear) their frustration - even from a distance. Fortunately, some members of our group were available at the right times and they helped the family get going again. They helped get the sunk canoe back afloat and to shore. I spent some time reading in Mark this weekend. I was really struck by Mark 1:37, "and when they found him [Jesus], they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" You know what? The capsized canoers were looking... for help - for restoration. My friends stepped out there and restored the canoes (and the canoers) to the preferable positions.