I recently had a conversation with a missionary who told me she was asked the same questions we’ve been asked – “What do you do when you’re stateside? Do you just relax and watch TV and stuff?” Today that might be somewhat true, viagra but most days that is not the case.
Last night Corey and I finished touring the Michigan District through Sectional Councils. What does that mean? We drove to different parts of the state of Michigan on nine afternoons to meet all the pastors in those areas. These councils – from the time we arrived at the venue until the time we left – lasted about five and a half hours each night (plus a drive of anywhere between one to three hours each way). During the business portion of the meetings we were given a two minute window to present our ministry. One of my favorite parts of sectional tours is the time we get to spend with other missionaries and ministry leaders. By the end of the nine nights we all had each others presentations memorized as well as the main presentation. We joked that should anything happen to anyone presenting there were plenty of understudies ready to step in and keep the meetings going!
That’s just a portion of what’s been going on. March has been incredibly busy for us. Outside of sectional councils we’ve been speaking in churches on the weekends and Wednesday evenings. Outside of driving and meeting new congregations we spend hours calling pastors trying to book more services, ed sending out newsletters and follow-up correspondence, etc. I assure you, we are not just sitting around watching TV! Today, however, may be an exception. Today is the only day in an eight day span that we are not adding another 100 plus miles to the car and we have no speaking engagement. We’ll do some follow-up, take some time to get the house back in order since it quickly falls apart when we’re constantly running in and out and catch up on the paperwork sitting on our desks before the kids get home from a half day of school. Then, we will spend this day relaxing and renewing for a weekend of travel and speaking engagements.
~Tona
Hey, Tona. Do the kids go with you? Is the half-day because of home schooling or is that the system in Michigan? Just curious. We’ll be back in June. Dave did sectional councils on his own 4 years ago. I don’t know if that was because of cost, logistics, or simplifying things.
Hey Kelly,
We left the kids with my mom while we went on the tour. It was pretty hectic. We’d see them in the morning and then she’d get them after school until we got back, usually around 11pm. It was nice for both of us to go because I make a lot of our calls so some pastors were more familiar with my name. It was also nice that Corey didn’t have to drive all over the state by himself. The kids are in public school this year, but we’ll be heading to Atlanta this summer and will no longer have mom a mile away to step in whenever we’re gone so we’ll be homeschooling next year. That should make things much more interesting! lol!
~Tona