Convention

 BMA's 13th Annual Convention is officially over.  How do I sum up what Convention is like?  You have to experience it to really know what it's like.  The focus this weekend was 'Truth'.  What is Truth?  We heard some really challenging messages, enjoyed some incredible music, and visited and visited and visited some more!  Convention usually means late nights, early breakfasts, workshops, and exhaustion by the end of the weekend.  We were so delighted to see Henry & Susan, TJ & Caryn, Ernie, Mary, & Adam this year.  Saturday we had a "Palm Grove" table and had some good chats over lunch.

The children's choir (under age 11) consisted of approx. 100 children, junior choir of probably 65, mass choir of ?, EBI chorus of ? and then all the EBI alumni's joining in.  Our home EBI kids and Alumni's were missed alot and would have enjoyed the weekend to the max but I know you can only go to so many things.  United Bethel did an excellent job of hosting all of us and served some wonderful meals. This morning there were at least 800 people in attendance.  The last song we sang was the "Mennonite Anthem", of course (Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow", directed by choir director Lyle Stutzman, and on the final 'Amen' when everyone gave it all they had, I looked at the gym roof to see if it actually might have lifted just a little!  Heavenly!
We almost missed lunch as we visited so long afterwards and said 'good-bye's' to friends who were leaving.

We finally got out ourselves around 2:30 and went over to Walter Beachy's to have all of JR's luggage weighed and loaded for their early morning departure to Oshkosh, WI.  Now who can understand the mind of a man?! JR is so excited about this adventure he can hardly wait.  Mary Jane, Erica, and I just had to laugh to see these men get so excited about flying in this plane.  Another guy from MS. is flying out with them.  Everything has to be carefully weighed so the plane is not overloaded.  The airstrip is at one of Walter's son's houses but JR will have to meet him at an airport because the airstrip is not long enough to get all three of them in the air.  Now no offense to Walter, but that plane looks dangerous to me and the controls look scary.  About as far as I would dare to go in it would be the length of the runway.  It is a 1956 Cessna that's been updated, of course.  It is a 4 passenger (small passengers) plane, goes 120 mph, and they will fly at about 5000 feet.  They plan to stop twice to fuel up.

















Sod Runway

I had to make these pictures nice and large because I have some sons at home who will be checking these pics out pretty closely and wishing really, really bad that they were going along with their dad!!
Erica and I plan to head from Holmes County tomorrow morning to spend some time there with my sister and family while JR is in Wisconsin.
Temps have cooled down a little bit around here since some rains moved through.  Plain City is a beautiful farming area.  We have enjoyed seeing fields and fields of corn, beans, big tractors, lots of silos and large farm houses.