Summer has been busy!

Wow - life has been busy since the end of the school year! I have enjoyed time with friends and colleagues at the end of the year staff party and a retirement party, spent four days at the Iowa Annual Conference for the UMC, worked with a curriculum team preparing for next school year, finished 2 books, played with William and was able to take Anna on a date.

My four days returning to the Iowa Annual Conference after several years off helped me get a better understanding of what is going on around the state and some issues our church is dealing with. While I belong to a church that is growing, our denomination at the state and national levels is shrinking. Though I belong to a church that seems to accept all people, there are churches that are denying access to some of our brothers and sisters due to their sexual orientation. The United Methodist Church is divided on this issue and I pray that we can find wholeness and find a way to love one another as Christ loves us. One of my favorite parts of Annual Conference is the artwork done by our conference artist and my former pastor in Indianola, Ted Lyddon-Hatten. Ted challenges us each year with his art. One of his challenges this year was to seek out our antipode (the person who’s beliefs are opposite to ours) and work together to finish this statement: “Transform the World with…”. I would love to complete this challenge, but I have a hard time finding an antipode that will have a conversation with me. When we do, I have a hard time remaining antipodes after the conversation is over.

The two books I finished recently were: This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women which was a PBR series and Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy. This I Believe was inspiring, but a long read.  Quiet Strength really helped me get a better understanding of Tony Dungy and I loved how it challenged me to be a better person, Christian, father, husband, leader, etc. I learned a lot from the book and would highly recommend it. Below is my affiliate link you can use to buy the book from amazon if you want to own it, if not I am sure you can find it at the library since it is an older book.

Anna and I were able to go on our first date of summer in between curriculum meetings and my conference. We first went out for lunch at Spaghetti Works then went for a walk downtown while talking about life and summer. We also went to my conference and I showed her Ted’s artwork. It was great to be able to connect with Anna during the day while William was at school. I am looking forward to carving out more time in the near future to spend with her.

I have some time to relax for the next few days before summer school begins again. Thank you for everyone who has helped in keeping me accountable to live a balanced life.