Dust off the Suitcases

In June of 2011 Keith received a piece of mail he had been looking for.  I happened to be with him on that day running some errands.  We drove by the church to pick up the mail looking for the letter with the famous Eli Lilly emblem on the return address. 

To our surprise, there it was, a letter from Eli Lilly. It would either be good news or bad news.  You see, Keith and several other members of Ovid Community Church had written a proposal to Eli Lilly, applying for a grant.  Lilly is extremely generous with sharing their wealth.  They sponsor a program entitled "Pastors Renewal Program".  It is a generous grant of monies set aside for Pastors and their congregation in the United States to be able to take a sabbatical to renew their minds, strength, and to get some much needed rest.  

A team of several members of the church followed the guidelines, wrote the grant, and waited to hear whether Ovid Community Church would be a recipient of the "Pastors Renewal Grant". 

I will never forget the sound Keith made when he saw the letter with the famous logo.  He drew a large breath, and said "Here it is...."  He had a twinkle in his eye and said....."the envelope is thick, a letter with a negative response would be thinner."  He handed me the envelope and said,  "Let's go home and open it".  We drove home taking turns praying, we asked God to help us accept whatever news the letter brought.  It was like Christmas morning when my parents would say, "Wait for your brother to wake up before seeing if Santa came last night."

We pulled into the driveway and parked.  I carefully opened the sealed envelope, and unfolded several pages.  There, I read the words out loud....."It is our honor to acknowledge that Ovid Community Church, and Pastor Keith Wooden have been awarded the Pastors Renewal Grant".  Before I could get all the words out of my mouth, my eyes filled with tears.  I looked over at Keith and  tears were filling his eyes as well.   It was a surreal moment.  We couldn't hardly talk.  We both just sat there for a few moments staring straight ahead trying to grasp the words I had just read. Then we finally broke the silence in laughter.  It was unbelievable!  Keith and I would be taking a sabbitical for 3 months and traveling. 

When applying for the sabbitical you have to specify what you will be doing with the grant money.  Keith had proposed that he first unwind with an Amish homestay just to come off the grid for a period of time. Then he and I would travel following Apostle Paul's Footsteps.  From Jordan, Israel, Western Turkey, Greece and Rome. Syria is just to dangerous to go to Damascus. During this time we would also be traveling to Athens, Greece for Keith to run in the original Marathon that has been taking place since the first Olympics. Finally toward the end of the sabbatical we would get to take a family vacation together. This is something we have never had the opportunity to do. 

It was all a dream, and now holding in my hands was a letter confirming that we would be traveling to see the land that we had read, studied and loved.

The church would also receive monies to install a defibulator, and healthy cooking lessons.  This whole proposal was about eating, drinking, living, and being spiritually healthy.  Not just for Keith and I, but for the church as well.

The fun would begin, in planning and looking forward to our wonderful trip.  Thank you to Ovid, to Eli Lilly, and to the members who graciously spent hours writing, editing, and devoting time to this grant.

Dust off the suitcases, and get your Passports ready.......... We're going traveling!