I hope you were able to make the best out of your summer. Here’s a random rant about mine, in no particular order. Covid made it hard to tell when summer started and mildly impossible to bring it to a close. I’d better call it a wrap and find a few things to look back on that were actually fun.

The deck was definitely stacked against the Perry family this summer. Let’s get the lamentable items on the table first.

1. We held out hope from March to May that we’d still get to go to Cedar Campus as a family. Our week on Lake Huron in late July never happened. Nothing but our deposit arrived in the U.P.
2. Silas’ graduation ceremony at Omaha Central High, postponed from May to July, was cancelled the week before it was supposed to happen. Purple cap and gown hung unused in the corner of our dining room all summer.
3. We’ve not attended Celebration Covenant or Mission Church in person for going on 22 weeks now. Virtual church is just not the same thing. Not even sure I’d call it “The Next Best Thing”. Covid’s gotta go…
4. Cheryl made the difficult decision to not renew her full time teaching position at Omaha Street School. Last year left her depleted. It’s taken most of the summer to replenish.
5. On the second day of the second week of Staycation, a distracted driver ran a red light and destroyed our trusty 04 Honda Pilot. We are without an SUV. Grieving. Trying to decide how (or if) to replace it.

A dozen cool things happened in spite of the pandemic!

• A somewhat low-key grad party with friends, neighbors and a food truck! Great fun to celebrate with Silas. He’s headed to Computer Engineering at University of Nebraska.
• Road trip with Aaron and his furniture from Urbana to Camrillo. Dodged dead armadillos on I-44 across Missouri. Enjoyed the landscape across New Mexico and Arizona. Savannah and Poppy joined us three days later. They’re Californians now!
• Managed to read my bible cover to cover in 100 days- starting May 6th. One hour a day. Marking it up looking for one theme: Rejection.

• Recruited very few new donors, but new dollars did come in and my budget was very nearly even at fiscal years end. Thank you Lord! Thank you ministry partners!
• My staff team all reported ending their ministry year in June encouraged and enjoying fruitful work in spite of campus shut-downs.
• Worked a lot on my back yard in time for Silas’ party. Planted some grass, rebuilt a fence, put up some cool lighting and fixed up my famous giant wire-spool picnic table.

• Spent a week in the city of St. Louis with Cheryl’s brother Steve helping him paint his soon to open restaurant. It’s a brilliant farm to table idea merging his dreams of ranching, dining and bringing justice to the city he loves!
• Had backyard breakfast with a young dad on Tuesdays. Catching up. Prayer. Blueberry pancakes. Coffee.
• Cheryl got part of her old job back at Omaha Street School… and a full time job offer from Omaha Bridges out of Poverty. Better schedule. Same overall pay.

• Family-pastor action with swell friends at a nearby lake this past Sunday. Baptized the dad. Dedicated the one year old. First Tapanga I’ve ever met in my life – what a fun name! Felt great to bless a young family and be outdoors.
• Went camping with Cheryl, Silas, his new tent and a couple of his friends down at Indian Cave State Park. a snorting dog tore through our campsite at 3am- ripped a stay right off our tent foyer. Woke us all up. Cheryl did scream slightly.
• Learned how to make stretch-bar canvas frames and rebuilt a Rochester two-barrel carburetor on my son’s 1974 Kurbmaster (the food truck at Silas’ grad party).

Hope you were able to defy Summer 2020 and have some fun!