A few Silver and a few Gold

 Tonight a few friends gathered with us at French Creek to share hot dogs, a birthday, and our new back yard.  Some from our more distant past, and a couple from yesterday.

 Brian and Carol (Boose) Lawrence have been friends, though often far away, since our early years at Lititz UMC. Home on a brief furlough and visit to home church friends, they are currently serving as missionaries in Hamilton, Ontario for their 11th year, I believe, to former Kurdish Muslims who are starting new Christian Churches in their immigrant communities.

The Choudhry's, Tony, Jenn, Chase, Cayden and Skyler came over to celebrate Cayden's 4th birthday and eat hot dogs.  I will never forget the first Sunday Jenn and Tony visited Hope Church.  They were planning their marriage, and to live in our area.  And before that happened, they were looking for a church to attend. That's putting first things first!

We all got to enjoy some of Jenn's fantastic vegetarian baking and Mona and I (surprise, surprise!!) got to intro Jenn to TOFU hot dogs.  At 60 calories compared to the chicken dogs 170 they allow me to hold out for extra veggie cookies, and later, ICE CREAM!


Skyler Choudhry enjoyed some of Mommies home made veggie baby food.  She'll soon be digging into a TOFU hot dog herself!  Ahhh, life IS good.






Tony and the boys fired up some 20 year old plus boxes of sparklers we found while cleaning out our house at 100 Holly Drive.  The boys first chance in life to play with fire; under CLOSE parental supervision, I assure you!

 Millie and LeRoy Snader, who you met in last night's post, walked down from their site to join us as well.  My we had fun again!

Audrey Dunekack, our wonderful back door neighbor at 100 Holly for the past 17 years, and Hope Churches Trustee Team Leader, drove over from Douglassville.

You know, it will be hard to leave so many friends in 3 1/2 weeks, just as it was to leave so many 17 years ago when we left Graystone Road, Manheim and Stauffer's of Kissel Hill for full time ministry. But oh, the new friends we will meet!  And through God's gift of the internet, we will be able to stay in touch with all of them, all the time.

"Oh no!" I can hear Jenn Choudhry saying as she reads this, "You mean I'll STILL get tons of emails from Pastor Ken??"  Yeah!  No one ever truly retires from pastoring, you know!  :)

-Ken