Home in time.

I've been in Chicago for the last four days hanging out with the gang at Community Christian Church in Naperville, just outside of Chicago. They are innovators in many areas, but I was most impressed with the leadership culture at their church. I've returned home with a lot to think about...

The biggest news of my week is that we were able to come home one day early, which means that I returned home today on September 8th instead of tomorrow, September 9th as planned.

That's important because someone in my house was born on September 8, 2001. Aidan turned seven today. I missed Eli's seventh birthday two summers ago because of this ridiculous job. His birthday fell in the middle of a seven-week tour, and it was incredibly painful to be absent from my family for that long. So...coming home a day early means that I have still only missed that one birthday of the sixteen they have now shared.

Here's a recent photo of Aidan and the striking young fella he was named after, Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne: