Ready to hitch up and a prayer for safe travel

Where did seven weeks go? We are on the eve of our return to the frozen tundra of Michigan. It is our hope that we have missed the majority, but certainly not all, of the winter weather that we want to avoid.

Today we arose early, me earlier than Joan because I always struggle with sleep as the time to hitch up and drive gets closer, and got cleaned up for church.

We returned to The Mission Anglican Church in Pensacola because we enjoyed it so much last week. They were starting a new study series on married couples, but because we won’t be here for the final 11 weeks of the study we decided not to go early for that.

Like last week we were warmly greeted at the door and made to feel right at home. The priest, Rev. Browning, stopped by our pew to welcome us again and talked to us for a few minutes.

Last week Rev. Browning spoke on “Diversity” and this week his sermon was on “Service.” Both were very good and gave us a lot to think about. The sermon series was “UPWARDS,” which involved sermons on Unity – Prayer – Worship – Accessible – Relational – Diversity – Service. We missed the UPWAR, but enjoyed the DS.

After church I took a couple photos so we could share with our church family back home and Rev. Browning was happy to pose with Joan and I on the steps of the church. We told him our pastor required proof that we had been attending church while we were away. That, of course, is a joke.

Rev. Browning was also kind enough to offer us a prayer for safe travel tomorrow. We'll take all the help we can get.

When I was a kid, the priest at St. Luke’s of the Mountains always gave families an attendance card to be filled out by the priest of a church near where you were vacationing to show that you had visited a church while on vacation. “God doesn’t take a vacation from us, we shouldn’t take one from him,” Fr. Sadler always said.

After church we went shopping for some Florida oranges to bring home at an outdoor Farmer’s Market and then we did a little grocery shopping for our three nights on the road as we return to Michigan. Back at the trailer, I put the extension mirrors on the Tahoe, stowed the tire covers (protects them from UV rays of the sun) and installed the trailer hitch on the car. All I need to do in the morning is disconnect the power supply, sewer line and hose, back up about five inches and hitch up.

We’ve had a wonderful Florida visit, but we are both ready to sleep in our bed. We wouldn’t mind if some of this warm weather followed us home and we’re sure our friends in Michigan wouldn’t mind either.