Disney Time

 I have Cabinet meetings most of this week in Lakeland. I arrived in the afternoon on Sunday after some meetings nearby. So I took a quick run over to Disney for some time at Epcot - it's still Food and Wine Festival. I got lots of great eats and then was able to ride Frozen and the new updated version of Test Track. 

It's Fall Ya'll

We got some pumpkins from Grace's patch and used some old decorating kits for a quick fix. 

And on Sunday night, Daryl went to the church's Trunk or Treat to hand out lots of candy to the neighborhood kids. 

 

Behind the Scenes

Amy and I got to be part of the filming for the Disney Christmas special online (airs November 30th). We were part of the crowd extras in the part filmed at Animal Kingdom - we were there for filming from 2:30-5am on Friday morning!  

Afterwards we caught a little nap in the parking lot and then went over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma. We visited the animals outside (lots of flamingos)

And then we popped by Cast connection to shop. No good deals we couldn't live without - but new fun props were in the lobby. 

 

Charge Conference Season Has Begun

Sunday started out with three charge conferences. First up was worship and charge conference at Good Shepherd UMC in North Fort Myers. 

Then back to Tice UMC in Fort Myers - nice to see some old friends. Judy and Eddie Morgan are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this week. 

And the last charge conference of the day was at First UMC in Bonita Springs. 

Monday was charge conference at Harvest UMC in Lakewood Ranch. 

On Tuesday I went to Lakeland to spend time with the Residents in Ministry. This is the part of the group from the South West district - 1 team member and 3 provisional elders. And then the whole group. 

Wednesday morning I got up and drove to camp to participate in Shade and Fresh Water's first ever Advent Planning retreat. It was held on Zoom and in person with a seminary professor giving a week by week breakdown of the lectionary Scriptures. 

I got to walk the camp labyrinth and do a little rocking on the camp porch. 

Later in the day, I led a labyrinth meditation - several people were new to walking the labyrinth. 

And I preached too! It was nice to hang out with Rev. Lenora Rousseau while at camp; she was facilitating the retreat in person. 

 

Another Trip to the SEA

We took Wesley and Davis to the new Mote Marine Aquarium on Saturday. They really enjoyed it. 

 

A Picture Worth A 1,000 Words

 

Lynn and I had a great coaching conversation this week with the pastor and leadership of Gulf Cove UMC in Port Charlotte. This church was severely damaged in Hurricane Ian just over three years ago. They are still navigating repairs to their building (still have a bare concrete floor and they haven't gotten back any of their classrooms yet). But they have never given up. They weathered disaffiliation when most of the churches around them left. And they have welcomed refugees from those congregations that left and have fully integrated them into the life and leadership of the church now - three of those people from two other congregations are now in leadership. 

Against all odds, they are growing and there is such a sweet spirit present here. It's such a beautiful thing to see how God works it all out when people are willing to be open to the Holy Spirit moving. 

And as if all of that was not enough, the icing on the cake was that one of the leadership board made me the most delicious allergy friendly maple donut muffins. What a treat! 

New Spectacles

 Davis' new spectacles arrived this week. He looks great! 

His cool new specs are actually RayBans. 

And he now happens to twin with another member of the family.