2 Days to General Assembly

I would like to be able to say that this week leading up to General Assembly has been a smooth one, that we've been cheerfully packing our bags, washing the car, and studying our program docket. But, past experience has shown us that things often get in the way of making it to General Assembly.

In 1997, it was the birth of our first son, Ethan. Encouraged by a promotional display at the Indiana Regional Assembly some months before, we registered early. Then, a few weeks later, we discovered that Ginger was pregnant and that the due date was right around the time that the General Assembly would be taking place. We cancelled our registration, and Ethan was, in fact, born during (but not at) the 1997 Denver General Assembly.

Four years later, the same thing happened with our son Tristan, except that this time, we did not register early, and therefore did not have to cancel our registration. Tristan was born during the 2001 General Assembly.

Now, four years later, we are attempting to make it to General Assembly once again. And once again, we are about to welcome a new child into our family. The difference this time is that our new child is a 15 year-old whose own family can no longer take care of him, and was contemplating sending him to live far from his friends and the community in which he has grown up. This 15 year-old we know (in a community like ours, there's not many people one doesn't know); he has attended youth events at our church and is one of the kids who sometimes hangs out at our house. These days before General Assembly has us talking with his older sister (his current legal guardian), about possibly transferring guardianship over to us.

Meanwhile, the car in which we plan on driving to Portland is currently at the mechanic. A few days ago, one of the other kids who hang out here broke the latch that holds the trunk shut, and we really need that trunk if we're going to drive to Portland for a week. The mechanic says he can have the part in and the car ready by Saturday at noon --- approximately seven hours before the opening worship in Portland. And yet, it will take us 10-12 hours to get there. So we're currently considering other options. A friend has suggested that she may be able to talk her husband into loaning us their minivan for the week, and if that happens, I will be one happy man as I drive north on I-5.

You may think I'm crazy. I know that I am. But one way or another, I am confident --- well, pretty sure, anyway --- that my family will make it to General Assembly --- all five of us.