Old Friends

Yesterday was a busy one. We drove to Aliquippa where I preached for the morning service. We saw an old friend and his wife. Ed had retired from the ministry about 12 years ago. He looked great. The church sanctuary was a long one with cushioned seats and a carpet down the middle aisle. It seemed as if all the sound was absorbed and thus didn't carry well. Also most of the people sat way in the back of the sanctuary so it was hard to make eye contact and feel you were connecting with them. They could help their pastor be a better preacher just by moving up near the front. I tried to keep the people engaged in the message and with the text. Afterward they seemed to indicate that I connected with them. God is good. I'd used the same sermon that I'd preached at Monroeville the week before with a few tweaked changes. That's the first time in my career that I preached the same sermon two weeks in a row. (Interesting expereince.) But the message was relevant to both groups. However, I'm planning something different for Franklin Park since they use AV equipemtn for their service. I plan to use a video clip as part of the message then.

Dee and I commented on the way there that finding these churches from our home in Mars isn't always easy. We follow maps I print out, but sometimes the roads aren't that well marked, and thus there's more stress getting there than preaching when I get there. (But, next time I'll know the way better.) However, we made it there in plenty of time.

When we left there we went to Trader Joes in East Liberty. Dee has been wanting to go there for some time. It was a very nice market and since it was enroute to Dan Fisher's High School graduation party near Edgewood this was the perfect time to stop there.

We arrived at Dan's party on time and were among the first to arrive. Tom and Eleanor seemed so proud of him and welcomed us with open arms. The Fishers were members of our Wilkinsburg Church when we served there as pastor. It was great seeing them and their boys Dan and Dave. Dave graduated earlier from Temple University and is now job hunting. Here's a pic of Dan that I took with my cell phone.

It was a great party. We met a lot of Tom and Eleanor's friends and neighbors. Dee knew a lot of the people one gal knew from Butler. She'd graduated about 3 years after Dee, but lived on a street where some of Dee's friends lived. They had plenty of food as well. We saw the Skeers arrive at just about the time we were leaving. The weather was beautiful there. But as we drove home, we came upon some rain, and then it rained the rest of the evening.

We finished out the evening watching TV and thoroughly enjoyed our new surround system with it. It really makes the sounds pop and come alive. It is a whole different experience watching TV now. Amazing.