First Stop: Colorado Springs

We’re up early this morning because we’ll be traveling all the day, partly because we’ve got a long way to go and partly because there is no quick way to get from Tupelo to Colorado Springs. All week long we (I mean Marlene mostly) have been packing and getting things ready for this first leg of our summer conference schedule. We leave at 6:45 AM and drive to Memphis where we catch a Delta flight to Cincinnati. There we change planes for a flight to Denver where we pick up a rental car and drive to our hotel in Colorado Springs. All of that will take about 12 hours. Tomorrow the MEF Bible Conference begins with an all-day seminar.

You tend to forget the little details. In this case we’re packing for a week in Colorado, a week in New York and two days in North Carolina. So you have to figure out what clothes you need plus you have to pack things like extra books (we shipped three boxes to Colorado Springs but one of them burst en route and never made it), KBM refrigerator magnets, the camera, two laptops, various meds, notes, a Bible, and boarding passes for today’s flights and a printed itinerary. Plus we bought an Express Card for the printer (wi-fi on the road), washed the car, loaded the iPod, filled up our car and Mark and Vanessa’s car (not a small thing these days), and I bought a watch. We both have some new clothes for this trip. Of course we have to do something about the dogs because Mark and Vanessa have been gone all week leading a team of young people working with a church in Dallas. They will return this evening. So our friend Linda Hale will come by and put Dudley and Gary outside for a while after church this morning. That should take care of them until Mark and Vanessa return. Marlene is in charge of the packing—it always works out better that way. The last time we were at the MEF conference (two years ago), our bags got lost and we ended up shopping for clothes at Wal-Mart in Colorado Springs at 1:30 AM. This time we’re carrying a change of clothes in our carry-on.

Things are always hectic the last few days before any big trip, and you feel rushed and a bit frazzled. Yesterday a friend wrote a newsy email that ended this way:

Have a good trip and know when you are tired and just out of energy for ministry – remember that it is not your strength but His and that you have a host of friends praying for you, and a host of the saints who have gone before cheering you on!

That’s the sort of encouragement that puts a smile on your face at the front end of a long trip. Marlene says that Gary and Dudley (our very smart basset hounds) know when we’re leaving. I think she’s right. They stay right next to us, and at this moment Gary is curled up on the rug three feet away and Dudley is outside my door.

I just checked the list and will check it again, but I think we’re as ready as we can be. We leave for Memphis in about 45 minutes.