Proud Dad

Here is the program from my daughter's symphony concert last night. Notice the list of Violin 1 players, and look at who is at the top of the list! A first semester sophomore as concertmistress. Pretty awesome. #ProudDad

Labor Day

Well, it's been a long hiatus from blogging. Some of that was vacation, some busyness, some lack of incentive to post anything. I'm going to try to catch up.

First up, here's what I did on my Labor Day holiday:

I labored! :-)  We have a bunch of these large, overgrown, part dead, part rotten, all ugly bushes behind our house, next to our deck. Wanting to do something with our deck, we figured the first step is getting rid of these monstrosities. Without them, the whole backyard opens up and is much nicer. But what a lot of work! So many branches so densely grown together. I got the first three out - the first two were the biggest and toughest. There are three left - we may leave the last one, not sure yet. But also have to think about the stumps now. I'll try to dig them out, but if that's too hard, we'll just saw them off down below dirt level. Then we're thinking of putting a raised garden there. Anyway, that was my Labor Day!

More Post-Storm Pictures

Just got back from the church. Here are some more pictures of the tree which fell upon our little church . . .

View from the east side of the building, the top of the tree over the roof.

View from the west side, the main trunk of the tree.

View from the neighbor's yard. A pretty big tree! Probably fortunate it didn't go farther into the church and cause more damage.

Red tagged building.  :-(

Storm Damage

Last night during the storms that blew through our area a tree came down onto the church building that we rent for use. So the building will be unusable for a time. Hopefully we will be able to get in today and move what we need out of our closet there. Please keep us in your prayers.

Special Guest

Athanasian (can't say "former Athanasian" because "once an Athanasian, always an Athanasian!") and missionary Chris Yang and his family are in town on furlough from their work in Asia and visiting friends and supporters. He will be at Saint Athanasius to preach this Sunday and present what he is doing to the congregation afterward.

Yesterday, however, he made the time to visit my father. My father supported Chris through Seminary and corresponded quite often with the family, even after they left the Seminary. When they arrived, it was great to see his face light up - he knew them right away. We had a great visit. Here's a picture . . .

One BIG Weekend!

This weekend we got one of our seminarians both ordained and married! Not sure I would advise that for others, but it made for both a busy and joyous weekend. Some pictures . . .

Me and my former seminarian!

A good group of pastors present. A great big THANKS! to Pastor Esget and the folks of Immanuel for allowing us to use their church for this day.

The happy couple with the pastors who participated in the service.

So as I said after the service . . . I have now catechized, baptized, ordained, and married George. There's only one thing left! Let's hope I do not have to do that one.  :-)

Rest in Peace, My Friend

I was going to post this a few weeks ago, but life got busy . . .

About a month ago, a good friend of mine, Bill Hecht, was suddenly taken from us and called home to be with his Saviour. This is a picture of us from 2003, when I received my STM and he received the Miles Christi award from Concordia Theological Seminary. How great that we could receive these together.

As soon as I arrived in Virginia, Bill befriended me and took me under his wing. He was always a good friend, would go out of his way to do anything I asked if I had a problem or need, and was always encouraging and supportive. He invited my wife and I to several happenings on Capitol Hill - where I usually remember looking around at all the dignitaries there and thinking, "I don't belong here!" 

Bill was a pastor for several years before going into politics, but continued to pastor our congressmen in Washington whenever he had the chance. He would not only talk politics, but religion with them, and tell them of his Saviour. He was a true gift to me, my church, our synod, and to so many. He will be greatly missed. But thank you, Lord, for giving him to us as long as you did.

Bill wrote a book which was published a couple of years ago. I learned a lot from it. In it, you can not only find out more about him and his life, but the threats facing our country today. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to do so.