One Sunday this summer, I came up to Schaumburg by myself leaving Cheryl to represent us at a special service in Galesburg. (And, of course, that was the weekend the hotel upgraded us to a two-bedroom suite!) After the fact, we realized those thirteen days Cheryl spent at home represented the longest consecutive stretch she’d been home since October, 2023.
A couple of days ago I realized, I can’t remember where my toiletry bag gets stored at home, to say nothing of the last time it was put away there.As most of you know, September 14th will be our final Sunday in worship at Covenant Church of Schaumburg. There will be more to say in next week’s newsletter about how much we’ll miss all of you (and we will!). This week, however, I’ve been thinking about the relief it will be not to spend every Saturday packing stuff and loading everything into the car only to unload and unpack three hours later at the hotel … and then to go through the same routine again to go home every Monday. We’ll miss all of you (greatly), but we will most definitely not miss schlepping luggage back and forth every weekend. And consider — we’ve only been on the road for 22 months. Can you imagine how the people of Israel felt after living in “temporary shelters” and wandering across the wilderness for forty years?!
On Sundays this summer we’ve been looking at Moses’ valedictory address to the people of Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy. Surprisingly, he doesn’t dwell much on the relief they’d feel for not having to be on the move all the time. If it’d been me writing Deuteronomy, at least half of it would have been about remembering that God’s promise meant not having to live in a tent and out of rucksacks on the backs of packs of animals anymore! I like to travel as much or more than the next person, but forty years would have done me in!
We have been greatly blessed to be part of CCoS for this time, and we thank God for this experience — and all those safe miles traveled. We pray God’s richest blessings on all of you as he continues to lead you forward together in mission and ministry, providing for your needs and guiding your work. (And I trust at just the right time, God will help me remember where my toiletry bag is supposed to be stored.)
