Vocare rocks!
In case you don’t know, Vocare is a spiritual retreat weekend for young adults. It’s modeled somewhat after the Cursillo / Happening model, but quite different in some ways. The talks center around calling – what is a Christian, how do you respond to Christ, lay ministry, ordination, single, married, etc. The staff is usually all young adults.
I was privileged to be one of the spiritual directors for Vocare 38 in our diocese last weekend. This was also the last Vocare for the Reverend Tim Jones of Corinth, MS, who is returning to his native England TODAY, as Vicar of a church in the Diocese of York. Tim is amazing, and we will greatly miss his wit, his energy, his intelligence, and especially his great desire to work with young adults. Godspeed, Tim.
I really like working with this age group and look forward to more opportunities to do so. They are amazing and give me great hope for our church and the world. I am looking for how to continue to support other young adults in my area with a Cornerstone group or the like. If you want in – let me know!

In southern Mississippi, we don’t get a lot of pleasant days. But this last Saturday was one. Clear blue skies, humidity lower than usual, temps around 80.
We setup a canopy with some tables and chairs and a porta-let on our new property. A good ole fashioned picnic, with lots of great food.
We ate well and then our Bishop joined us for a blessing of our property. We swung some “holy smoke”, sprinkled some holy water, sang some songs as we walked along the property. We stopped in the center, and said some prayers of thanksgiving, of blessings, and of challenge – to BE the church, to live into our mission calling, to celebrate and serve in this spot that God has led us to.
The atmosphere was wonderful in every way – our people were relaxed and happy and positively glowing as they thought about our new home.
And best of all was the kids – we have a LOT of kids. It was so moving to see them running, frolicking, laughing, playing on our new land. They went for rides in an Argo around the grounds, played tag, ran and giggled and just had a blast. Their laughter was music to our ears.
Thank you Lord, for this day and this opportunity to continue to learn how to be your church.

Back home for now. Pretty exhausted. My daughter is recovering from the surgery. It was a long couple of days but she is tough and has had to learn a lot about living with pain.
We don’t have any pathology reports yet. Maybe Friday, if not Monday. We go back to Jackson on Monday either way, to get her stitches out and pick up her car so she can return to school.
Thanks for your prayers.

I have a WHOLE LOT to report on some happenings at St Patrick’s, all good stuff. But for now I am focused on my daughter’s health and I covet your prayers.
The results of her bronco scope biopsy were mixed. They have eliminated cancer from the equation, thanks be to God. But the rest was inconclusive.
So this coming Tuesday she will undergo surgery for an open lung biopsy. This should allow the proper amount of tissue to be gathered so we can get it analyzed and get closer to figuring this mess out. She continues to be strong, but is in much pain and discomfort.
Thanks for your support and prayers.

I reported on here a while back about my daughter’s strange health issues this summer. They are not resolved. It’s a long, long story, but we have now had her admitted to the University Medical Center in Jackson, mainly for some advanced testing and to get the various specialists in the same room (like that is REALLY going to happen), or at least in the same vicinity, so we can figure this out.
So far no diagnosis, other than everyone agrees “something is wrong” and “we need to figure it out”. Leading candidates are pulmonary or rheumatilogical problems (I know I made at least one of those words up). I was there yesterday until late, it’s a 3 hour drive one way, came home by 1 this morning so could get my son to school and various activities today. My wife is staying in the hospital with Mackenzie, and I will return on Wednesday.
Please keep her in your prayers.