Wednesday, October 1, 2003

10:01 PM Encouraging report from Mary Gaskill, our Director of Children’s Ministries, regarding the first night of Awana (without adult classes and without the usual Wednesday night supper—both postponed until January):

We had 292 children tonight wuth 93 leaders. Overall things went very well. There were a good amount of parents who showed up and do not go to this church that were very disappointed that Pastor Ray’s class was not meeting. We have 15 Moody students…a real blessing! I am very thankful for how things flowed. Of course, I am e-mailing this at 8:20 before dismissal! Mary

Note: I happened to catch a few minutes of the children running relay races in the Dining Room/Parlor under Erlene Hartman’s direction. Even though they weren’t in the gym, it looked like the kids were have a blast. And yes, the church was chilly tonight but not unbearable. John Sredl reports that if things go well, we hope to have the heat restored by Sunday. 11:48 AM Just ordered a face cord of firewood to be delivered to our house before Saturday. It’s chilly in Oak Park today and they say the temp will go down to 25 tonight—that’s cold even for Chicago this time of year. Ordering firewood always seems like a symbolic thing—an official self-reminder that summer is definitely over and colder days and nights are on the way… . That leads me to mention that right now the heat is not turned on at the church, which means things will be cool at Awana tonight. Make sure your children wear a sweater or a jacket. The boilers aren’t turned on because of work we had to do relating to the renovation project. As I write this, we have some workers preparing to do the insulation necessary to turn on the boilers, but the heat will not be on tonight. Hopefully, we’ll have the buildings warmed up by Sunday morning. 10:48 AM I will be portraying the famous evangelist Billy Sunday on Sunday, October 19 as part of the “Tale of the Tombstones” sponsored by the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest at the Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park. I’ll be standing in front of Billy Sunday’s tombstone telling the amazing story of his conversion to Christ and how he started as a professional baseball player in the 1880s and became a world-famous evangelist. Pastor Andrew Irvin will portray his famous songleader, Homer Rodeheaver, and we will feature live music by the “Billy Sunday Singers.” We’ll do 12-14 presentations to approximately 400 people from 1:20-4 PM that day. Volunteers are welcome. We need singers, trumpet players, banjo, guitar, maybe a violin, how about a saxophone, a tuba would be great, and I would love to have a couple of trombone players. Plus we need volunteers to be in the audience and “walk the sawdust trail” at the end of each presentation. If you can help, send Pastor Irvin an e-mail. 9:07 AM Received the following e-mail:

Hi Pastor Ray, This is Jeff McQueary in Costa Rica. I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your blogs everyday, it’s a great way for me to stay connected to the Calvary family. I also share your passion for cycling and I ride several kilometers everyday. It’s a little more difficult now because it’s the rainy season, but that’s no excuse, I just have to ride through. The mountains here are pretty challenging, a lot different than flat Chicago. You’ll have to come and visit someday and we can ride together. Muchas bendiciones, Jeff

Thanks for invite, Jeff, and I’ll be glad to take you up on it one of these days, although those Costa Rican mountains would probably wear me out. Your note shows how the Internet is shrinking the world and turning it into a true global village. Say hi to Michelle for us. Greetings to the whole family from all of us at Calvary. We’re glad to be on your support team. (Note: Jeff and Michelle are missionaries in Costa Rica serving with Son Life.) 7:08 AM Gary Bauer makes a persuasive case for a constitutional amendment preserving the traditional definition of marriage as one man and one woman. Here’s an excerpt:

America does have a stake in preserving marriage and the natural family (one man, one woman and children) as the bedrock of society. If passing a federal marriage amendment is the only way to stop tyrannical judges from forcing Americans to recognize gay “marriages” as the real thing, then our citizens need to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. That’s not discrimination. It’s common sense.