When the New Zealand invitation was finalized, the timing bookended right up to classes I was scheduled to teach today at Oklahoma Christian's QUEST (practical lectures for church leaders). Thankfully, I have made it through the roughest part of being jet-lagged directly into assignments here in the U.S.A.
Here's what the schedule looked like:
We left New Zealand on Thursday (Christ Church, around 2:00 P.M.).
Routing to another connecting flight, we departed Auckland for our trans-Pacific leg, viewing the sun going down on Thursday evening.
After crossing the International Date Line, we landed in Los Angeles on Thursday morning.
We were processed through customs to catch a different airline which routed us to Denver.
Flying out of Denver last evening, we witnessed the sun set for the second Thursday in a row. (We lived through two Thursdays this week.)
Finally landing in Oklahoma City to arrive at our accommodations at 11:00 P.M.
It's a good thing our arrival was not any later, because my first class this morning was at 8:00 A.M. !
The last time I returned from Australia, I recall dealing with jet lag for five days. This time, we prayed that I could adapt quickly to handle today's schedule:
8:00 A.M. One hour class - "Breathing Life Into Worship"
10:00 A.M. One hour class - "Restoring 4 Part Harmony 1"
3:00 P.M. One hour class - "Restoring 4 Part Harmony 2"
7:30 P.M. Leading Worship
I'm happy to report that I'm doing fine and have finished the day's classes (God has answered our prayers - in spite of my crowded planning.) I lead worship tonight at 7:30 P.M., as Howard Norton will be speaking in Hardeman Auditorium.
Tomorrow we fly to our second home away from home - Knoxville. It will be great to see our church family at Farragut. I'm sure that our son, Anthony has been doing a wonderful job of leading the worship while we were gone.
When we arrive at our home in Nashville on Sunday night, it will mark three weeks since we flew from Indianapolis (our third Praise & Harmony workshop in Noblesville) to Brisbane, Australia. It's hard to believe how much has happened in three weeks time, if you include the Praise & Harmony workshop in Indiana, on to Brisbane, Sydney, Tauranga, Auckland, The South Island to Oklahoma City concluding with Knoxville on Sunday.)
It's safe to say that Monday and Tuesday I'll need to plan some rest time to catch my breath and retain my sanity (and some sense of coherency.)
Am I being coherent?
Gidday Mates.
