The past month has been a month of wonderful family time and regular preparation time. Living almost next door to Emily, Steve and the two grandchildren gives Nancy and me plenty of opportunity to spend time walking and playing with a 3 year old (when asked her age she says she is 18) and an 18 month old. Countless words have been spent describing the difference between being a parent and being a grandparent, and I guess many of them are true. You get to enjoy the best and avoid some of the problems. And that makes it a good time—a very good time. I often take Colette to preschool, we take walks and she plays with the same toys our girls played with when they were the same age. Jacques and I walk around our pond (I carry him most of the way), he throws rocks in the little stream that empties out of it, and we throw a ball back and forth—actually he rolls it in random trajectories. Lots of hours and lots of joy.

The preparation I have been doing is for the class I begin teaching in two days, at Seminario Teólogico Presbiteriano San Pablo in Merida, Mexico. Once again I will be teaching the letters of Paul and Preaching, although repetition does not mean doing the same thing again. Each time I have this opportunity it feels like the material is fresh and new. I look at what I have done before and, while it is pretty good, it is never what I want to present this next time. I always learn more myself, and toy with new ways of presenting the material.

Another activity that has taken time this past month is culling through and digitizing old photos. Like many people Nancy and I have boxes of old photos and slides, just sitting in the attic. These boxes contain treasures, but treasures that are seldom enjoyed. So I have taken stock of the photos, thrown out many, and turned many of those I have kept into a rotating computer slide show that plays on the television. As it goes on we see much of our life and many of our friends and are reminded of how good God has been to us. One of the things the Scripture often commends to God´s people is to remember. And that is what this helps us do. Remember the people who have impacted us, the events that have shaped us, and the ways in which God has worked in and through us. I still have a box of albums to go through, but that will have to wait until I return from Mexico. Before then, though, I thank God for those events, those people and those places that parade across the screen…