Stress Free living

On Sunday February 14 - the day after my birthday - I tearfully read my letter of resignation to the church family of North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.  As I have described to many others who care for us, we have once again stepped into God's Waiting Room.  We trust God for our future and the door of ministry opportunity He will open for us.  A family that recently left our church wrote me a letter as the departed and commented in that letter that when I leave North Raleigh there are lots of churches looking for a pastor with the experience and preaching skill that I have.  Well, I have not heard from any of those churches yet, but trust God in the process.

The first few days after reading my letter was filled with text, emails and Face book postings about my decision. On Wednesday Sharron and I departed for a family trip we planned over Christmas. This trip could not have come at a better time as we needed a few days of stress free living and responsibilities. The trip delivered!  Here are a few pictures that tell the story:

It was a little difficult to explain to our 8 year old grand daughter that we had resigned.  Here is the letter she wrote for me.

On Wednesday afternoon we headed to the mountains of North Carolina.  We had arranged to go snow tubing and I was ready to escape and laugh.  It began by climbing the top of the slope and I would hold the belts attached to the tubes to "launch" Alyse and Breeley.

 Then they would "fly" down the hill.  Laughter filled the air along with the "screams of delight."


Here is Breeley hitting a small bump that caused a great response.

Breeley arrived safely at the bottom of the hill.

And so did Alyse!

And then Papa came down and knocked everyone down!  The girls picked up snow balls to throw at me and then decided to give me a hug and have a picture.

As you can tell - I was having a great time!  The cold weather and the snow with family was perfect.

It was a beautiful day on Thursday February 19th as we walked through the Biltmore Estate.  For the first time we have visited - personal pictures are now allowed inside the house.  It was amazing!

Friday morning we made our way to a "go to" restaurant in Asheville, NC - Biscuit Head. I especially enjoyed the homemade raspberry - chocolate jam on my biscuit. It was a fun experience!

Then we headed for a few antique shops and stepped back into the past to see items I remembered being in my house when I was young.

We closed our family trip at Double D's coffee bar in a double decked bus. Sharron and I enjoyed our hot chocolate and watching the "girls" eat their dessert.

It had been a great time away and exactly what Sharron and I needed to catch our breathe after a very full few weeks.

 Our car ride home would be filled with conversation and prayers about our future. We were confident that our girls would enjoy their ride home and nap time was not far off.


I am so thankful for family and the healing it can bring to a wounded soul.  I look forward to seeing Alyse and Jayden the beginning of next month as we connect for family time again to celebrate their birthdays which are only one day apart.