Why California . . . twice in one summer?
It's Saturday night, 9:30, and we're all packed and ready to pull out early Sunday morning for our second trip to California in as many months. Since we won't be in church in the morning, we had a worship service tonight as a family. We sang a couple of songs, and had a devotion from Psalm 107:35 - (NIV) "He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs." We wanted the kids to see that a God who can put springs in the middle of the desert is powerful enough to meet our needs wherever we are. As a family, we're going to share devotional thoughts about the desert throughout the week.
I have had many people ask why we're going back to California, so I wanted to address the issue here. It does seem surprising for a couple of Missourians who have never been west of Colorado before this summer to hit the Golden State twice in a short period of time.
We regularly vacation one week per summer by trading our timeshare (we own a week at Mount Amanzi in South Africa) for some location in America. In the past, we've visited Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, and Branson. Last s ummer, we thought it would be nice to see California, so we traded for a week in Palm Springs, California.
In a different strain of thought, I was encouraged by Mike Worstell to take a trip to Taiwan with a student group from Central. That was the plan until after Christmas time, when we started to count the cost of me being gone from my family for 14 days. I called Jon Ralls and asked if it would be ok for me to come some other time, and he suggested that I could bring the whole family over.
Sandy and I liked that idea, so our first plan was to do it at the same time as our Palm Springs trip, thinking that since we were already going to California, it would make sense to go ahead and fly from there. When we saw how much Taiwan flights cost at the end of June, we decided it wasn't worth it to go then. But when we checked a month earlier, we saw that it was much more reasonable. So we pulled the triger and ordered tickets for both trips.
So that tells you why we are going twice in one summer. Now, the final question to answer is one that has actually been brought to me on several occasions: Are the Finchers thinking about moving to California?
I once thought California would be a nice place to live. Maybe I watched too much TV as a child. Then I knew of several large churches and ministries in California, and I thought it would be interesting to be in the middle of that area. In fact, I once told my parents that my plan after Bible College was to move to California and attend John MacArthur's seminary (The Master's Seminary). At some point, Sandy and I decided Lincoln sounded a lot more practical and affordable.
Since being married, I've heard horror stories of what it's actually like to live in California and have lost the desire to live there. But it does sound like a great place to visit. Looking at the different features in the state have led me to believe that you really need three weeks in three locations to see it all. We'll be seeing the southeastern area, with the desert and Palm Springs. Maybe in a few years, we can spend some time in the Northern LA area and see stuff all around there. Then we can hit Northern California and see the Redwoods, San Francisco, and other things on a third trip. But those will be a few years in the future.
This time tomorrow night, I'll be driving the freeway to Palm Springs. The resort has wireless Internet in a couple of places, so I'll take advantage of it and keep you posted. Sandy made me promise to only spend 30 minutes per day on the blog, so don't expect it to be as long and detailed as the Taiwan blog.
Next Time: Day 1 - Sunday afternoon at Saddleback
I have had many people ask why we're going back to California, so I wanted to address the issue here. It does seem surprising for a couple of Missourians who have never been west of Colorado before this summer to hit the Golden State twice in a short period of time.
We regularly vacation one week per summer by trading our timeshare (we own a week at Mount Amanzi in South Africa) for some location in America. In the past, we've visited Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, and Branson. Last s ummer, we thought it would be nice to see California, so we traded for a week in Palm Springs, California.
In a different strain of thought, I was encouraged by Mike Worstell to take a trip to Taiwan with a student group from Central. That was the plan until after Christmas time, when we started to count the cost of me being gone from my family for 14 days. I called Jon Ralls and asked if it would be ok for me to come some other time, and he suggested that I could bring the whole family over.
Sandy and I liked that idea, so our first plan was to do it at the same time as our Palm Springs trip, thinking that since we were already going to California, it would make sense to go ahead and fly from there. When we saw how much Taiwan flights cost at the end of June, we decided it wasn't worth it to go then. But when we checked a month earlier, we saw that it was much more reasonable. So we pulled the triger and ordered tickets for both trips.
So that tells you why we are going twice in one summer. Now, the final question to answer is one that has actually been brought to me on several occasions: Are the Finchers thinking about moving to California?
I once thought California would be a nice place to live. Maybe I watched too much TV as a child. Then I knew of several large churches and ministries in California, and I thought it would be interesting to be in the middle of that area. In fact, I once told my parents that my plan after Bible College was to move to California and attend John MacArthur's seminary (The Master's Seminary). At some point, Sandy and I decided Lincoln sounded a lot more practical and affordable.
Since being married, I've heard horror stories of what it's actually like to live in California and have lost the desire to live there. But it does sound like a great place to visit. Looking at the different features in the state have led me to believe that you really need three weeks in three locations to see it all. We'll be seeing the southeastern area, with the desert and Palm Springs. Maybe in a few years, we can spend some time in the Northern LA area and see stuff all around there. Then we can hit Northern California and see the Redwoods, San Francisco, and other things on a third trip. But those will be a few years in the future.
This time tomorrow night, I'll be driving the freeway to Palm Springs. The resort has wireless Internet in a couple of places, so I'll take advantage of it and keep you posted. Sandy made me promise to only spend 30 minutes per day on the blog, so don't expect it to be as long and detailed as the Taiwan blog.
Next Time: Day 1 - Sunday afternoon at Saddleback
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
9:30 PM
