Hello, California

I've been back for a few days from the Pepperdine Lectures and I've been mulling over the experiences there.

First off, God the Creator, let the cup run over when he created California--Malibu in particular. With the ocean, the overwhelming flowers, the clear blue sky and perfect spring days, I was awash in thankfulness for the beauty I was seeing. The bouganvillas--Wow! The rolling ocean--Wow! And the sparkling day to walk around in were so overtaking, I could hardly digest it all.

Pepperdine's beautiful campus was also breathtaking--My arthritic body could have done with less stairs, but because it is built on a rolling hill, they are necessary.
California is another state of mind--how do the students concentrate when the ocean beckons them to lie on the beach or surf? Lauren Gingles and I decided that when we win the lottery ( of course, we would have to play to win) we will buy a beach house in Malibu and share it with all our friends. The beach houses along the Pacific Coast Highway fascinated me in the way that all one sees while driving is their back doors--some are decorated; some are not. I know that all are very expensive--then there are those palatial mansions studding the hills around Malibu--no words to describe them and the view they must have out their living room windows.

I saw more people from Abilene there than I had seen in my last two visits to Abilene--It was good to see a lot of people from Highland: The Porches, Gina Lewis,Mike Cope and others. Some from ACU: Bill and Sherry Rankin, Randy Harris,
The Halsteads, etc. It was also fun to see Darryl Tippens--I had not seen him since I left ACU 8 years ago. He is grayer and excited about being the grandfather of a Chinese child his son and wife are getting soon. Jack and Jeanine Reese were followng their granddaughter around too. They were received a high honor there--well-deserved. It was also good to meet those who read this blog and to thank them for using their time in that way.

Zoe and Mike packed in the audience as they did their presentation--Good to get a dose of Brandon's worship leading and Sheryl's singing again (Still miss that terribly)and Jeff Walling did a bang-up job one evening at a late-night session. Wonder why late-night sessions at Pepperdine do not seem as late as they do at ACU?
We even went for pie after one session.

And through it all to get to spend lots of time with Brandon and Sheryl and the children was worth all the climbing I did. It was a good time, and I really did not want to come home.