Yes, I know the saying is “young man,” but I am neither. My trip to Midland in West Texas so soon after getting a new hip sure did remind me that I am not young any more.

But it was well worth it. I had a wonderful visit with the congregation at Midland Lutheran Church on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday afternoon I met with the church council to have some wonderfully open and challenging conversation about future opportunities. After a little down time to rest, I was back again for a potluck dinner with the congregation. Yum!  Forgot to take pictures on Saturday but I made up for it on Sunday.

One of the unique things about this congregation is that they share their space with a fast growing Chin congregation (Burmese). The Chin congregation worships in the original sanctuary and have been packing their space. It’s a good partnership for now.

Sunday morning I led the adult forum to talk about synod happenings, followed by worship in their beautiful sanctuary. Pr. Bob Barndt has been serving in Midland for 17 years and they sure do love him.  So it was my pleasure to preach and preside at Communion to allow him the opportunity to actually be fed for once and to come to the table with his family.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Midland and the warmth of this congregation. I’m looking forward to more viable with them in the future.  Maybe next time I’ll have more time to explore the community too, but I needed to allow for a little more healing time to take on that much ambition. It was a very good start though. Thank you to them for the warm welcome!