Nine days ago I left the state of Washington for an extensive adventure. I got back home yesterday afternoon. I couldn't think of a single title that would capture the whole experience, so you can choose from the following possibilities:
a) Planes, buses, and automobiles
b) Oh well, whatever, nevermind
c) On the road again
d) I've seen fire, and I've seen rain

The story goes a little something like this. I was scheduled to attend a collegiate event for my denomination, just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico - Glorieta to be exact. O.k., fine, just book a plane ticket to Albequerque, right? Well, not so fast. Turns out, there's a church near Dallas, TX that has been wanting to donate a van to a new church start here in Seattle . . . except they didn't know how to get the van from there to here. Sooooooo, I became the designated driver. Last Thursday, Michelle drove me to a bus transfer station to jump on the bus to the airport. Interestingly, I met a lady on the bus who was on her way to Fuller Seminary to present a lecture on spiritual care aspects of medical missions efforts. Very cool. Once at the airport, I flew to Dallas, was picked up by a kind gentleman who took me to the van, and I hit the road. I stayed the night in Amarillo, then drove to Glorieta on Friday. I was there primarily to do some recruiting for inter::mission, but I was really stoked to be able to hang out with my counterparts from around the Northwest. We work together in the same network, but don't get to see each other that often. That was fun.

The conference was kind of hit and miss for me. Some very good content at times, some so-so content at times, and unfortunately some poor and even some downright offensive content at times. I did get to meet and spend time talking to some very cool campus ministers and missionaries from Mexico and Canada. Overall, I think part of the big reason I stayed sane was that I spent a good lot of time reading N.T. Wright's "Jesus and the Victory of God." Finally finished that sucker . . . dang, that's some good stuff.

The event ended on Wednesday night, and early Thursday morning I jumped back in the donated van, and began the long drive home to Seattle. My route covered New Mexico, a little bit of Colorado, practically the whole state of Utah, then Idaho, Oregon, and my own fair Evergreen State. I did the entire trip with the radio off - which I thought would be really hard, but actually wasn't. It was a good time of prayer, thinking, and listening.

O.k., now for a brief explanation of the potential post titles:
a) Planes, buses, and automobiles: the aforementioned modes of travel incorporated in the trip.
b) Oh well, whatever, nevermind: an obvious reference to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" . . . OR my reaction to Southern cultured mainstream Christian blah. Let's just say that I got my fill of that stuff.
c) On the road again: o.k. that one's self-explanatory.
d) I've seen fire, and I've seen rain: another musical reference, this time to James Taylor. While driving, I went through a good bit heavy rain. But while going across Idaho, there were random wild fires - one of which had flames several feet high, right up to the road. Hot stuff.

I'll post some pictures of my drive home later. I'll probably throw down on some thoughts about the week as well. Now I just need to recover and catch up on some e-mail. Peace friends.