Day 1. It's Monday!

Following the observing a Sabbath on Saturday, Gene and Sam travelled to Dodgeville on Sunday a.m. Gene led worship and spoke in both a.m services at Hidden Valley Community Church. Sam went along and learned about Jesus' healing power and tie dyed a shirt. Spencer and Juli hung out, went to McDonalds, shopped at the Farmer's Market, played and read. It was a nice weekend, a busy one for Gene.

Monday:

We began the day by attempting once again to convince the boys that reading is much more fun than any TV show or video game. We read, fed Freddie the Fish and ate breakfast. Juli and Gene then, as a part of a normal routine, check emails for inquiries, responses to invitations... Gene checks his Garage band.

By 8:45a.m. Gene was out mowing the lawn. (we'll see how fast the grass grows while we are at this.) Juli and the boys were doing some much needed house cleaning. Once done with these chores and a trip to the grocery store, it was time for a weekly strategy and month end goal setting talk. We set our course for the month of August and September. We will begin a blog for spriitual growth conversations, declare our house "open" and specifically on Thursday nights, and set aside a Sunday afternoon time for those in our community to come for a time of prayer and worship. We will try this out and see where it leads, while plannning for our first public meeting (a preview) on Sun. Sept. 24.

At noon, following some prep. time, the door bell rings. It's the Hawley family. Lance, Laura, Clay, Sage and Lydia are here for a visit and lunch. They are church planting in the Atwood neighborhood here in Madison, leading the Christan community, Emmaus. We are excited to meet new friends that we consider partners in the Kingdom, with whom we share a similar calling. While we are speaking of the Hawley family, please pray for them as they just received notice that their financial support has been discontinued. Lance is looking for a job and trusting God with what He would have Him do.

The Hawleys left about 2:30 or so and the Reynolds Fam, joined by Bailey from across the street jumped in the pool! Much encouraged, now refreshed.

After a quick dip in the pool, Gene had some catching up to do - exchanging emails with his songwriting partners in Nashville. He is in the process of producing a demo, and gotta check the garage... The phone rings, it's someone from the church in Darlington wanting to make plans for the weekend. Gene gets to planning another weekend service. While the boys are playing, Juli catches up on some reading, some correspondence for a writing project and works on a blog entry for Just Between Us Magazine.

At 4:30, the phone rings. It's Lisa. Her and the boys, Jack and James are on their way over to join us for a swim. We had some catching up to do after a couple of trips out of town and not seeing much of one another since vacation began. It was good to have the time before dinner to chat - and swim. Kate arrived after 5 sometime, Jeff arrived after biking home from work and we enjoyed a meal together. The boys played, the grown ups talked.

Kate and I shared with Lisa our plan to begin a physical training of some sort tomorrow. And now we have a trainer. Lisa, Kate and I have set our goals and commited to one another to do this. Stay tuned for more on that...

Our day closes having spent time working, playing and sharing meals, goals and dreams with friends. The boys are in bed now, Gene is downstairs on the computer, I'm upstairs.... we are thanking God for our day and praying that He will give us the wisdom, the spiritual insights, the favor, the courage, the opportunity to be part of what He is doing in Madison. May we live our lives in such a way that God is honored and our friends will all enjoy the Peace and the Life of the Kingdom of God!