:. A Fruitful Trip

I just returned from a trip to Arizona. I had the opportunity to meet some cool new people with Mission to the Americas and Damascus Road, plan a ministry conference, spend time with family and hang out with friends.

All in all, a great time.

My trip began with a mother trying to hook me up with her daughter on the plane. After we hit the flight deck, I pulled out my PowerBook and began working on a project for church. Nancy (the mom) noticed it from across the aisle and asked me if it had wireless. this began a conversation about her daughter’s (Allie) iBook and the problems they’d had trying to get it wireless.

Throughout the conversation Nancy kept throwing the ball to Allie to explain things about how she used her computer or to ask me other things. After about 5 – 10 minutes, Allie turned to her mother and said, “Mom, leave him alone – he’s married.”

She then turned to me and said, “I’m sorry about this, my mom really wants me to find a guy and get married.”

Nancy blushed and tut-tuted Allie’s comment and would have gone on, but for the beverage cart moving between us. When we landed we walked together through security and wished each other well.

My first few days in Arizona were spent planning the Campus Ambassadors Staff Forum for MTTA. We worked on the overall plan and started hashing out details. It's going to be June 10 – 15, 2007 in Oregon. I think our approach will be a lot of fun and provide ample opportunity to learn from each other. It was wonderful seeing Val & Jackie again and awesome getting to know Ben & Jeff.

Next, I had the chance to spend the day with my sister Connie and her husband Tim (yes, Tim) in Phoenix. They showed me around town and we had a fun evening hanging out with their neighbors Matt & Kerri. Matt & Kerri both teach autistic children and we swapped stories of breakthroughs and letdowns over dinner and then spent the rest of the evening in an intense game of Scategories.

In this picture of their living room, you can see a set of paintings Tim painted specifically for the space hanging over Connie's inpulse purchase couch and chair.

The next morning Connie and Tim introduced me to their pastor Jim Bauer at Mesa Baptist Church. It’s quite a ways from their house, but it’s worth the drive. After church they drove me down to Tucson where I met up with Ryan & Liz Miller.

After the normal catching up, the Damascus Road Steering Team met for the first time all in one state (web cams, IM and cell phone just aren’t the same). After a good meeting, we headed to worship.

DR meets for worship Sunday evenings at Espresso Art, a coffeehouse right next to the main entrance to the U of A campus. Liz’s brother Chris led worship and Ryan spoke on recognizing and using your gifts. The service started with a clip from the Worst of American Idol DVD (not recognizing and using your gifts) and ended with a clip from American Inventor (recognizing and using your gifts to help others). It was a good night.

The space is free for groups to use, as long as you buy drinks or food from Espresso Art. One thing that was kind of different was the featured artist Yoni whose art was displayed around the room. Her show featured black and white pictures of pregnant women and their families. It was the kind of art that my wife loves.

The next day brought great conversation with Ryan and Colin over lunch and the ride to the airport and a longer than necessary (layovers – Come On!) flight back to KC.