A few months ago plans were made for the Meyer family to stay with me for a few days while vacationing in FL. John was a member of our church as a young man, was confirmed there, before moving to GA with his family. I had become Facebook friends with John and his wife, Tammy, finding them both, separately, at the 2011 Worship Conference in St. Peter, MN. Such great fun to actually meet the people with whom I am 'friends'!! So when Tammy asked for this favor, I was quite excited to have them come to stay. A month ago their plans changed as additional family members joined their time in N. FL. At least they'd get to worship at Good Shepherd and join our group for lunch!
John, now a pastor, made sure I stood up front which allowed for the picture of Jesus to show between the taller folks in the back row. John and Holly, who will be a junior at LPS this fall, and Johnny VII. Next to me is Jimmy, who is such a character, and Tammy. Even the younger ones are taller than I am! Obviously I can hardly contain myself...
I called ahead to Chili's to let them know we'd be coming with a larger number of folks than usual. Another former member, Julie Harris Seals, and her two little ones were also on vacation, from TX. The waitress stood on a chair to take our picture, making sure all were included. She did a good job of serving us and keeping us watered (or soda cups full). Two weeks in a row we had large numbers at our lunch table, will be strange to go back to 'normal', whatever that might be!
While we would have liked more time together, the Meyers and we are just glad for the time we had. John took pictures of the dry pond on the back of the property where we used to hold our Easter Sunrise worship, and the area in the parking lot where he loved to play in the puddles. I told him if we had some rain, his puddle would be back, even though the parking lot has been recently paved. Good times and great memories for John, and for us who remember him as a young man!
