The Roadie

This past week was full of driving and interviewing and driving and baseball games and driving and family and, well, more driving. Here's a quick recap of the week's events.



Stage 1: Interview at Vincennes Free Methodist Church.
Megan and I left Tuesday afternoon to have our second interview at the church. It was a pleasent experience as all the people there were extremely nice and treated us so well. After the interview was over Pastor Don told us that the church has decided to offer me a position on staff as an associate pastor. I will primarily be in charge of the youth group but also have other responsibilities that come with being on a two-pastor staff. We look to give the church an answer this week.

Stage 2: St. Louis Cardinals Game
We figured that since we were already south a bit we might as well swing by St. Louis and catch a Cardinals game. My cousin and her husband, Sarah and Josh Johnson, live about a half hour west of downtown. We stayed with them and their son Andrew for the night. We went to the Royals-Cardinals game. Our tickets offered a great view at a better price, trumped further by the fact that the game went into 14 innings. Josh had an exam early the next morning so we only stayed through the 11th inning. We listened to the game on the drive home and even made it back in time to see the game ending homerun by the Cardinals in the bottom of the 14th, a mere 5+ hours after the first pitch. (No hard feelings Josh!)

Stage 3: Family time in Illinois
My parents figured that since we were in St. Louis we might as well swing by the house in Illinois for a few days. Megan and I loved the idea and stayed at my parents' house from Thursday night through Sunday morning. We were able to visit my grandparents as they camped at Dawson Lake, visit with my sister in Chicago over supper, enjoy a Cardinals game on the TV, clean out my old room, and enjoy Friday (1 of our 2 days without driving). After church Sunday we packed it up and left for New Paris.





Stage 4: Family time in Indiana
We next rolled into New Paris to stay with Megan's family for a few days. The highlight and main purpose of the trip was to celebrate with Megan's grandparents as they marked 60 years of marriage. It was so fun to see a room full of people who have been impacted by and love her grandparents so much. We also were hired on to paint a couple rooms in the Replogle household on Tuesday. With two youngsters running around (well, one runs the other just eats/sleeps a lot) they haven't found much time to color the walls. Megan and I were glad to lend a hand. After the paint dried we left on the final leg of the trip.

Stage 5: Home Sweet Home
We finally arrived back in Marion on Tuesday night, a full week after we had departed. The odometer read 915 miles. 3 states had been visited. The luggage was unpacked. And a good night sleep was had by all...

A little map showing our route around the midwest.