Happy 60th post!!

This is a goodbye post- not goodbye to blogging, but goodbye to our Bible study. Last night was the first Thursday we spent at home by ourselves in a long time- about 10 years, in fact!
While I will miss the study, it is definitely time to move on to new things. Our original purpose for having the study was to start a church. If we could join all the people who graced us with their presence throughout the years we WOULD have a church. Some of them moved on to join the fellowship that sponsored the Bible study, which is about a 45 minute drive from here. We are very happy for those people and I take comfort in knowing that some fruit came out of all of our antics that we used throughout the years to try and advertise and support the study!
Memories of a failed church plant: (or a successful re-location ministry, however you choose to look at it!!)
Meeting in a coffeehouse (in their attic space with no possible fire escape!)
Having a punk band come play for us and having about 10 kids show up for it
Meeting outside in Veteran's park when we had no place to meet
Dog-sitting a deaf Great Dane who could obey hand signals
Ministering to the Grateful Dead folks when the Dead came to play in Wisconsin
Letting people use our house while we were out of town
The ladies meeting for prayer on campus on Tuesdays- one of which was 9-11-2001
Handing out controversial literature, which, in hindsight, was TOO controversial!
Taking a "year off" of Sundays to meet on Sunday morning for Bible study
Being able to minister to an old college friend
Meeting in a tattoo parlor for 2 years
Fun Island! (Those of you who were there, remember!)
Pretending to be asleep
Many, many grill-outs
Countless questions (only a few answered!)

And many many more!

Here's to the people: (names omitted)

• The runner
• The D.J.
• The ex-hippie mom with a daughter named after a cluster of stars
• The over-sized New Zealand er who stayed on our under-sized couch for a week
• The two college girls who went on to marry two men in our home church
• The biker dad
• The car accident victim
• The gardener
• The tattoo artist
• The angel with a walker (and an attitude!)
  
• The inmates (at least 4 that I can think of right now)
• The trapper
• The wanna-be inventor
  
• The Dead Head who married a friend's sister
• The interior designer
• The movie and music buff
  
• The Civil War re-creator
• The two biker ladies: and then there was one
  
• The dogs: Harry-butt and Vern-o
• The dummy (no, it was an actual "dummy"!)

Hm mm. Good times.