Before church Merri Ellen and I were able to practice two specials for the morning service. She had invited me to bring my flute along on the trip, and I was more than happy to be able to play at Westside again. She accompanied me for the offertory and a special before the sermon. Pastor Greg’s preaching was a blessing as he spoke on serving others. It was refreshing to be reunited with precious friends and Christian brothers and sisters.

For lunch, we grabbed some fast food from Wendy’s and ate with Virginia, Thelma, and Shirley (some dear friends) along with Shirley’s daughter, Phyllis. Shirley’s recovering from surgery, so we ate and visited in her home.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at the Wrights’ home as they packed for their upcoming vacation in South Carolina. They have graciously allowed us to stay at their home even after they leave.

During the evening service, two of my former students played their violins and I played my flute along with the congregational singing. We also played “It is Well” for the offertory. Alex and Blair played their violins for our wedding last summer, so it was special to be able to play with them again.

We had hoped to play some volleyball after church, but ended up going over to Tara’s to play board games. A new game we learned was Malarkey. We all had to make up intellectual sounding answers to weird questions in an effort to get others to think ours was the correct answer. What a hilarious evening!! Then, we headed back to the Wrights’ home in Winchester where we watched TV and played Skip-Bo.