Thank you all so much for the sabbatical you granted me! Vicar Heidi did an outstanding job in my absence, as well as all the members who took on additional responsibilities with worship and caring for the work of the church. I am so grateful for the wonderful congregation you are as we serve the Lord together in God’s abundant grace and mercy.

Here’s some personal reflection on my sabbatical time. The beginning and end were spent with our two sons, Zach and Jeff, and their worlds couldn’t be further apart. In May we were able to attend the graduation ceremony at Arizona State University where Zach received his MBA degree. A few days later, we helped Zach and his family of five move from Arizona to the Washington DC area where he began a new job with the Air Force Reserves at Andrews Air Force Base. (We had a stop in Killeen so the grandkids Aletha, Amarrah, and Ezekiel could spend a few days at grandma’s house, and Zach and Kami could visit friends).

What a contrast we experienced when we went to San Francisco in July to visit our son Jeff Nowlin. We had to fill out forms and be the approved list in order to visit Jeff, because he was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. This took months to accomplish, as forms were sent in April and authorization to visit was finally granted in July.

During our stay in San Francisco, we not only were able to visit Jeff in San Quentin, we also were able to visit his infant daughter, Tyler Dempsey, and her mother Amber. (What a tangled web of relationships that are for real and not the fiction of soap operas). To the delight of Laura, she has another granddaughter to spoil. Since our visit, Jeff has been transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison near the California — Oregon border, and expects to be released in November.

In between our visits with sons now on the east and west coast, we got to tour Hawaii for the first time! This sabbatical will long be remembered and treasured in our hearts. Thank you again for this gift, and it's good to be back in your midst!

See you in church!