Sunday in Phoenix

I’m sitting at the Flying J, I-10 exit 1, AZ. I stayed out this weekend because Peggy is not at home. She went to Kansas City to spend time with a sick uncle. Uncle Mike has cancer. Peggy’s cousin Dana also drove out from Dallas. I’m picking up a load east of L.A. bound for central FL, which will keep me busy through Thursday.

It’s been a very long time since I posted to my blog. It’s not that nothing is happening. I’ve just gone through a dry, lazy season. Or it’s way down my priority list; I’ve been busy. But today I’m taking a long break before going the last 200 miles to L.A. for my 8:00 appointment tomorrow morning. This will be brief as I ease back into blogging…

This morning (Sunday) I woke up before 7:00, parked in the lot of a Lowe’s under construction north of Phoenix, delivered a trailer, and departed. In the early morning sun, I began to observe some small unusual objects in the sky up ahead. Was that one of those balloons, tethered to the ground, that car dealers fly high above their car lots? No, as I got closer, I saw that these were huge hot air balloons. I was fascinated. What a spectacular sight. There were about 7 of them. I arrived at the launch site, just next to the road I was traveling on, just as the last two were leaving the ground. Serendipitous! It’s still only about 7:30. I had decided to go to church, and I prayed God would direct me to a good one, since I was not near a hot-spot, could not get on the internet and didn’t get any good leads from the Lowe’s workers. So I left it up to God to lead me, and He came through nicely. My route took me south from Carefree, AZ to the NE corner of Phoenix, across HY 101- the loop around Phoenix, down to I-10 and west. Half-way around the 101-loop I took the Peoria exit, knowing the area a little. Peggy & I had parked there a couple times. There, a couple years ago, we had our first experience with “Cheesecake Factory.” About a mile past Peoria’s famous sports complex heading south, my eye caught sight of a sign in passing - “Lighthouse Church.” I did a U-turn and went there. Perfect timing. It was a little after 8:00, and early service was 8:30. I changed clothes and ate a little breakfast before going in. I had no idea what to expect. I was greeted and met a few people including Pastor Paul Owens upon entering. The music is rock-style. The new church is very modern. I could tell it was a Bible teaching church. It reminded me a lot of Urbana Assembly (now renamed “Stone Creek“,) which we often visit when we’re in Urbana. Both are high-tech, contemporary, Bible oriented, multi-cultural and ‘hip‘... The experience was good - I was made to feel welcome, it was fun. And it was slightly amazing that I had landed at a church where the father & son pastors know Pastor Ernie Moen, retired from Rockford, who has been a guest speaker in our church many times. Our pastor was a youth pastor in Moen’s big church in Rockford and has held him in high regard as a father-figure and mentor ever since. They have a very close relationship. The Moens retired to Peoria, AZ and live very close to Lighthouse Church. It would’ve been perfect if Pastor & Mrs. Moen had been there, but my serendipity didn’t extend quite that far…