For the past seven weeks I have been in the States to spend some time with my family and get some much needed work done around the house up there. It was really fun to have some “grandpa time†and enjoy the grandchildren as much as I could. I also spoke at three churches and then did a week of VBS. During all that time I needed a few weeks to recover from a broken collar bone, which certainly set me back a bit.
Then this past Wednesday I returned to Colombia in order to get back to work and be ready for the second semester of this term in the Bible college and graduate school. As always, the first couple of days are time to recover from the trip and get the apartment set back up for living. I buy supplies and groceries as well as clean and organize things. But I try to keep that time to a minimum in order to make the best use of my time here.
Then on my first Sunday back and just three days after returning to Colombia, I was scheduled to preach at the Suba church for a special friend’s day. They have two services so I need to be there quite early. The service went well with somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 people present for the two services. It was good to be back and share with my good friends and brothers there.
Afterwards they had a lunch for every one of that consisted of a typical Colombian dish called frijoles Antioqueños, which is a bean dish with sausage and shredded beef. I spent some time visiting and sharing with the brethren there then about two o’clock I need to head back to Normandia for a meeting there. That meeting lasted till a bit after four o’clock.
I returned to the apartment in late afternoon and fixed my supper. It had been a very long day and I was exhausted. It normally takes me a week or so to become fully adjusted to the very high altitude of Bogotá, so I tire easily in the first few days back in the country. So for the rest of the evening I simply watched the news and rested. I turned in early to try and get rested up and ready for the week ahead.
This week I will begin a full schedule of meetings and teaching even though I am still recovering from the trip and getting adjusted to the altitude. There is so much to be done there is simply no time to waste. After all, Paul admonishes us to “make the most of your time, because the days are evil.†And so we do our best to make the very best use of the time the Good Lord gives us to work on this earth and here in Colombia.