April 2019 Update

Last month there were no pictures, but this month there are lots!

There was only one birthday or anniversary to remember this past month, and that was Carissa’s birthday on 3/23.  But next year we’ll be remembering two, because Beatrice Danelle Rhode was born to Kortney, Mat, and Daisy on March 24 at 4:55AM.  She weighed 8 lbs 2 ozs and was 21.5 inches long.  The whole family is delighted with her, and Krista and I were able to visit them this past week so we could meet her personally, and see Kortney, Mat, and Daisy again.

But before we went on that trip, I went on a different trip, so I should tell you about that first.  Every year lately, our church has been sending a group to a conference put on by The Gospel Coalition.  This year, Kevin (Hannah’s husband) and I were talking and decided to join the group going to Indianapolis.  Nine others from our church also went, although we all drove in separate groups, with Kevin and I driving ourselves.  Usually when we take long trips, I end up doing most if not all of the driving, which I really don’t mind, but it was very nice to let Kevin do all the driving so I could just be lazy and ride along!

We left Sunday morning 3/31, and stopped at a barbecue place Kevin had heard about in Columbus, Ohio.  It was just a food truck, but there was a bar next door that you could take your food into, which was nice because it was cold in Columbus that day!  We got a BBQ platter that we shared, and I’m glad we shared it!  Maybe I could have eaten that much by myself once upon a time, but not anymore!  But it was really delicious!

BBQ ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and sausage.  Mmmmm!

We got to our hotel in Indianapolis at a reasonable time, but we had problem after problem at the hotel.  Our church groups had stayed in this hotel for the past few years and had no issues, but that wasn’t the case this year.  The first room they assigned to us hadn’t been cleaned, the first morning there was no breakfast, the hotel was generally not very clean and was outdated, the towels smelled like cigarettes, and I came down with a strange and nasty cold which I’m blaming on them too since it hit me the day we left.

Anyway, despite all of that, the conference itself was excellent in every way.  The speakers were a “Who’s Who” of solid biblical teachers.  Some examples:  John Piper, Tim Keller, Ligon Duncan, H.B. Charles, Kevin DeYoung, Trip Lee, David Platt, Don Carson, Nancy Guthrie, Jen Wilkin, Paul Tripp, Ben Watson, Jackie Hill Perry, Shai Linne, Jared Wilson, Colin Smith, Tim Challies, Ray Ortlund, Jonathan Leeman, and Al Mohler.  And that’s not even all of them, although just that sample is more than I was able to personally hear.  They had Keynote sessions that we all attended where Piper, Keller, Duncan, Charles, DeYoung, Lee, Platt, and Carson spoke, and then they also had Breakout sessions where many of the Keynote speakers and other men and women led.

The view out our hotel window. The curved roof in the center is Lucas Oil Stadium where the Indianapolis Colts play

Our church group at the conference

Indianapolis had a Tesla electric car parking and charging area!

I took these pictures for my sons Zach and Levi who like Tesla cars

I came away with pages and pages of notes and much encouragement for my own Christian walk and for my leadership as an Elder of my church.  I also attended three extra sessions, one on the church and politics, one on complementarianism, and a prayer session for China.  The prayer time for China grabbed my attention because of my heritage as a great-great-grandson of Hudson Taylor.  I went in not planning to drop names, but the couple I was sitting next to asked me why I decided to go, so I told them.  They were so excited that they introduced me to a Chinese pastor who was there.  He said he had met JHT IV once, and he would tell him if he ever saw him again that he had met his 2nd cousin in Indianapolis.  I’ve only met JHT IV once when we were both teenagers when his sister, Signe, lived with my parents while I was still at home, so I doubt if he’ll really remember me.  Anyway, I highly recommend the TGC conferences if you ever have a chance to go!

Kevin and I drove home (yeah, I mean Kevin drove and I lazed along for the ride) on Wednesday 4/3, stopping to eat at Steak N Shake, because we don’t have those anywhere near our house, and it’s delicious.  We made it home pretty late that night, tired, but encouraged by the conference.

I had a couple of days back at work and home before Krista and I left for Minneapolis.  Our visit with the Rhodes was wonderful in every way except for me dealing with the cold the Indianapolis hotel gave me.  Even the surprise 8 inches of snow Minnesota decided to have right after we got there couldn’t ruin our fun.  Bea is a beautiful little baby who changed before our eyes in the week we were there.  And we were able to spend lots of time with Kortney, Mat, and Daisy as an extra bonus.  The last time we visited, it took a long time for Daisy to warm up to me, but this time we had tons of fun together right from the start.  Krista and I took her to a park one afternoon after the snow had mostly melted, and we were able to help with cleaning and snow shoveling around the house, and entertaining Daisy and snuggling Bea.

At the Baltimore airport on the way there, we enjoyed Cinnabon for breakfast

Beautiful Bea

 

Daisy and her Mommom

Watching the spring snow build up!

Daisy loves spring snow!

Daisy enjoying the spring snow

 

She said she was playing soccer. You wear socks on your hands to do that, right?  Socker?

Silly Daisy

Silly Beatrice

Sisters!

Grandpa holding Bea on National Barbershop Quartet Day (notice my shirt)

 

Kortney, Mat, Bea, and Daisy Rhode

Swinging at the park

Daisy's excited swinging!

Playing in puddles at the park

Puddles are magnetic

Our flight home this past Tuesday was delayed a bit because of mechanical problems on the plane, so instead of getting home around midnight, it was about 2AM, and both Krista and I had to work the next day.  I’m sure we weren’t 100% at our jobs that day, but we both managed to get through without causing any major problems for our employers, at least none they can prove were our fault.

Last night, we went over to Ella and Cody’s for a hot dog dinner, so we could see the local families that we had missed while we were in Minnesota, but we didn’t stay late at all.  I think we were both in bed by 8:30 or 9:00PM.  I don’t know about Krista, but I feel almost normal today.

Regarding my work situation that I mentioned in last month’s update, I still don’t have a solid path forward.  I’m still looking within my company and waiting to hear if Xerox wants to keep me, and looking outside my company.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

Until May!