Higher Things "From Above" Day 4

Well, the last day of a Higher Things gathering is both the easiest and the hardest. The easiest for it is the shortest and the least "full;" the hardest because it is the hardest to wake up and get going! :-) However, up we got, and the day started with Matins, at which I had the privilege of preaching. Here is our group after the service:

After Matins was the final plenary session, followed by lunch and the closing Divine Service. Everything went very well and the kids had a great time of learning and fun. The drive home was uneventful. Dinner at Cracker Barrel was good, as usual. Home was dirtier than we had hoped. Why? We had painters in while we were gone and while they did a good job of painting, they didn't do such a good job of cleaning up. I'm not sure if my expectations were too high or not, but I expected to come back to the house and find it exactly as we left it, except with nice, newly painted walls! But we'll have to spend a good deal of today cleaning stuff up. Sigh.

My only complaint about Higher Things this year was that they juggled and changed (without always announcing very well) the times and locations of so many of the breakout sessions that it was very confusing to know what was offered when and where. As a result, some were missed and some were not so well attended. That's too bad. Hopefully it will be a bit better next year . . .

And yes, we're excited for next year! We'll either be going to Mequon, WI or Gainesville, FL. A bigger trip with probably two days of travel. My vote is for Mequon, but we'll see what the kids want to do. It's for them, after all.