Back In The Saddle Again

"I'm back in the saddle again."
Come on now, sing along with me. You know the words
"I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again."

Very good. Shall we try the chorus. It's easy. All together...
"Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
I go my way
Back in the saddle again."

Good singing and thanks for the support. Yes, you've probably guessed we are indeed back in the saddle again. It all happened very fast. Monday and Tuesday I was innocently working on my taxes. Yes, the 2008 taxes! I forgot to take my tax stuff with me when we went to Arizona so I filed an extension. Jana, Korak and kids are coming next week so I knew I had to get the taxes done NOW. No more procrastination. So anyway... I calmly -- well, mostly calmly -- got the taxes done and mailed. Wednesday I was on a conference telephone call with the Ministerial Appointments Committee and it happened: "Gene how about going to Lebanon to work with Trevor to get him off to a good start." Joyce said it's probably a good thing it happened so fast; if we had time to think about it we might have said no.

We don't even know how the whole thing is going to look because we are still working on the details, but here is a brief overview. Trevor and Shannette are a mid-twenties couple who are going to the the pastoral team at the Lebanon FM Church. But they have no pastoral experience and are still in school. Trevor has about 2 years at 8-10 credits a semester to graduate from George Fox Evangelical Seminary; Shannette will graduate from George Fox University in December. Because we want them to succeed we are paring them with an "experienced, mature, pastor with lots of wisdom and knows where the pitfalls are." (Those words were actually used!) Isn't that a kick? I'm not even sure who they are talking about but I'm scared to death they are talking about me. Pray for me. Often. This is to begin Sunday, July 19 and go for 6 to 9 months, maybe a year. Joyce is right in there with me as she always is.

Friday we met with our Superintendent and Trevor and Shannette (Joyce and I had met Trevor before but not his wife) in Eugene for lunch. It gave us an opportunity to get acquainted and begin to make some plans. We decided Trevor and I will be co-pastors with the greater balance of the responsibility being mine at the beginning and then switching to Trevor as time goes on. Friday evening our Annual Conference began; continued on Saturday until about 3:30. Then we drove to Lebanon to meet with the the Lebanon board -- of course, Trevor and Shannette were there also. After that meeting the four of us went to a Taco Time for some planning and prayer. Then we drove back to Eugene. We stayed the night with Jack and LuWayne. Jack is Joyce's brother. We were physically beat but mentally hyped. This morning I preached my "final" sermon at Springfield, had lunch with Jack and LuWayne and drove home.

Right now we are wondering how we are going to fit Lebanon into all our summer plans -- and of course they have to take priority. But many of our plans can't be changed. We'll figure it out. We believe God is in this so he has a plan and he'll give us the guidance we need. Needless to say, stay tuned. There is a LOT more to come.