Friday, September 10, 2004

10:52 PM A nice surprise tonight. Just before I left the motel to go to the conference, I got a call from Nick at Samford University in Birmingham. “Dad, I’m thinking about coming over to see you tonight.” It’s about a three-hour drive from Birmingham to Canton, Georgia. When I got back to the motel after the service tonight, Nick was waiting for me in the lobby. We went out for a late supper, and then talked over how Ole Miss can beat Alabama tomorrow night, the Bears, the Colts, and then we watched a bit of the Miami-Florida State game. It’s been a great father-son time. He’ll drive back to Birmingham tomorrow morning. 4:35 PM I had a good flight to Atlanta. It’s hot here in Georgia—over 80 degrees. The airport is south of Atlanta, and the Word of Life conference is in Canton, which is far north of Atlanta, so it took us almost 80 minutes to drive to the motel. Along the way, we passed lots of kudzu, a lovely, leafy plant that grows by the roadside and covers everything in its path. I used to see a lot of it when I was growing up in Alabama. I’m getting ready for my first message later this evening. The Word of Life folks expect 185 youth leaders for the conference. That’s excellent considering that Georgia is still relatively new territory for this ministry. They are having another conference next week in Tampa, but Hurricane Ivan may change those plans. 6:26 AM I’m heading to the airport in a few minutes for a quick trip to Atlanta where I’ll be speaking three times tonight and tomorrow at a Word of Life Leadership Conference. This is the essence of a quick trip. I’ll speak tonight, then twice tomorrow, then back on the plane, and God willing, I’ll be back home before 8 PM tomorrow night. 6:24 AM The countdown continues … 2 days until “God Speaks Today” begins. 13 days until “First Watch” begins. 6:24 AM Today’s entry in the Crosswalk weblog is called A Letter from Rosalie.