Author: CW Spencer

Ever since I retired 19 years ago, I’ve been considering starting a procrastination club. I’m not quite ready to form one yet, but I feel it’s time to at least come up with the basic mission and a few rules and bylaws for when I am.  Our mission: Ok, I’m still thinking about it. Rules and bylaws: Not done yet, since we don’t need them until the club actually starts. Here are some minimum expectations, though, since I had to come up with something for this blog. Rule One:  Members must have some experience in …

I’m not the world‘s greatest tool man, but I’m somebody’s useful sidekick. I can hit a nail on the head the majority of times I take a whack at it. I lean toward ministries that involve using hammers rather than my limited people skills. In fact, I’m the guy you’d find in the back row at an introvert convention (assuming I arrived early enough to get a seat there). But along with church building during my mission trip, I took a few whacks at building relationships as well. Both activities turned out to be well …

This title may come across as sacrificial and spiritual, but that’s not totally the case. It is, however, a good way to sum up my first two days in Tanzania. I’ll start with the flight, though, since it figures into the events, and my attitude, that followed. It lasted over 28 hours, counting layovers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. When we landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport Friday evening (Tanzania time), I had yet to rack up even 28 seconds of sleep. I had a sermon to preach Sunday morning, so I was really looking forward to some …

Bedtime came pretty early back when I was a kid. Hmm . . .  Come to think of it, it’s about the time I go to bed now. It’s easy at my age. But on a particular night in 1956, it was excruciating. It was Christmas Eve and Santa would be coming. Or would he? When I was six, most nights Dad put me to bed. He had a tender side. We sang songs together and he told stories until I drifted off into dreamland. Since Christmas vacation had started, I was dreaming of only …