STROLLING INTO SUMMER

Monday, April 17, 2006

Spring has sprung. Easter has come and gone. Spring breaks are now memories.

It’s now time to stroll on into summer.

It’s time to put the sweats up on the top shelf and move the shorts and swim suits down.

In May, members of the Churches of Christ from all over the world will assemble on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California for the Bible Lectureship. Charlotte and I have been attending this annual event for almost fifty years. I was the Senior Minister at the Central Church of Christ in Stockton, California for almost twenty years. During that time we took large groups to the lectureship. For several years we filled a complete dorm. We were the only congregation to do that. That was quite an accomplishment and should have received more attention than it did. Having over fifty people to take their vacation time, take off work, leave their children and other responsibilities and attend lectures on the Bible is no small thing. It didn’t just happen. It had to be promoted. Like almost everything worth while, it takes promotion.

In June the Ditmores from all over the country will gather in San Antonio, Texas for a family reunion. This is an annual event but my immediate family has only been able to attend one. We went to the one in Monrovia, California two years ago. These are fun events and I hope all of those who bear your name, whatever it is, will do something similar.

Immediately after the Ditmore reunion in Texas the North American Christian Convention will take place in Louisville, Kentucky. We attended a convention in that same city a few years ago and it was wonderful. It was of special interest to my family because that is where my mother and father were from. We enjoyed visiting distant relatives and wandering through cemeteries.

Yes, summer is coming but it is not here yet. It’s too cool to jump into the pool and too early to start packing for trips in May and June.

Maybe I’ll just take a nap!