Let me apologize in advance for any incoherence in this post. I'm nearly unconscious from exhaustion. Here's a little update on life. I've traveled a bit lately . . . Like I mentioned before, after my opening shift at work (my alarm is set for 3:40a.m.) on Friday, I got in the car with Michelle and a good friend of ours, and we drove about 7 hours to Gilroy, CA - it's about an hour south of San Jose. Long drive. When we got there, we saw some friends, and then went to the wedding rehearsal dinner at a local Mexican restaurant - it rocked! I was pretty wiped out, so we went back to our hotel and crashed. Saturday afternoon was the wedding, and then we got back in the car to drive home. I got to bed at about 3:00am Saturday night/Sunday morning.

In the middle of that road trip, I was in contact with my father, mother, and sister, who had flown to Oklahoma for my uncle's funeral. My dad was asked to do the funeral, which was really hard for him. Hard enough that he asked me to come and help him by doing the graveside service. So on Sunday morning, on pretty short sleep, I got on a plane for Oklahoma City. Didn't sleep much that night, and then the funeral was yesterday. It was pretty trippy to be back there after not having gone for almost 15 years. Both services went well, and my Uncle Carl would have been pleased with what was said. I'm proud of my dad for being able to do so well. My dad and I shared some beautiful moments of prayer together, and I was really glad I came, in order to be there for him.

After the funeral, we got changed, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the airport for the return trip. It was horrible. Weather problems all over the place, diverted flights, complete incompetence and deception by the airline. After almost five hours in delays in Dallas, we finally got in the air, and touched down in San Diego at about 2a.m. I got to bed at about 3:15. I had to get up at 7a.m. for work today.

Just got home. I'm numb. Barely conscious. But I want to be awake for my wife. I miss her. It bums me out that we spent almost 14 hours together in the car this past weekend, but didn't get much "us" time, because of our guest passengers. I loved being with our friends, but I do miss my favorite person right now. After being at the funeral yesterday, and then reading Mark Palmer's blog about having saying goodbye to Jennifer, I realize what a gift I have in Michelle.

I've got some other writing to finish up now, so I'll stop here. I do want to post a story that my dad shared during the funeral yesterday about him and Uncle Carl, but I'll come back for that later, when I can reasonably do justice to it.

Peace friends. Please pray for Mark and Micah Palmer. I wish I could have known Jennifer. I hope I can meet Mark. They are precious gifts of God to the church.