October and November catch up

OCTOBER
I started October by taking a red-eye flight on Friday night from Seattle to JFK to Pittsburgh so that I could be home early Saturday morning for my wife and kids.  This was on the heels of a very packed 9 days that included 2 bishops being consecrated, 4 priests ordained and a College of Bishops meeting.

I had 3 days off at home before taking off to Cairo for a missions consultation for Sudan (more here and here).  I got home and crashed hard after a wonderfully exhilarating trip.  I was quite glad to return to the US where I gobbled up a bacon cheeseburger on a layover in JFK - something tough to find in Cairo.

Attended and participated in my first Anglican Relief and Development Fund trustee meeting as a National Trustee.  (Thankfully, this was held at a hotel just a few minutes away from my house - it was a huge help in getting over some massive jet lag!)

NOVEMBER

Flew to Victoria, British Columbia to represent Archbishop Duncan at the Anglican Network in Canada Synod.  It was my honor to bring greetings for the Archbishop and to meet leaders from our church in Canada.  It was a joyful time in a beautiful place with great people.

Got a few days off before flying to Dallas for Forward in Faith Council Meeting.  It was another great opportunity to represent Archbishop Duncan at this gathering.  I was only in Dallas area for one night to be here for a 2 day meeting.  I'm starting to get used to this fly in - head to the meeting - fly out routine.

The rest of the month was the start of my stretch at home - no anticipated travel until mid-January.  It was so great to finally settle in at home!

Wrapped up the end of the month with Thanksgiving and 7 days off ... in a row!  This has been a tough commodity to come by in my former work as a solo, bi-vocational pastor.  It took me no adjustment time at all to get into the groove of vacation as it has been a very long time in coming.