7 June 2026
Dear Friend,
“Here’s Your Hat. What’s Your Hurry?”
I don’t know where my dad got the expression, but he frequently would say, “Here’s your hat; what’s your hurry?” if someone had to leave quickly. (And, come to think of it, I heard him say it when he wished someone would leave!)
Like I said, it’s a long trip!
Well, even though I don’t normally wear a hat, I am in a hurry packing to leave tomorrow, June 8th, for a long ministry road trip. When I say long, I mean that Google Maps tells me that I’ll log over 3,500 miles (about 5,600 kilometers) between now and when I get home (around July 2nd). My spirit was uneasy until I postponed a July 1st doctor appointment so that I could extend the trip just a bit. As soon as I did that, I was released in the Spirit to finish planning.
So this short newsletter is mainly a prayer request for the trip:
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Traveling mercies and safety as I log that entire distance solo in a rental car. All that travel time could add up to a memorable season of being “closely closeted with Jesus” in prayer.
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Protection, too, for Denise, our daughter, and our grandchildren. It’s been a long time since I’ve been away for over three weeks on a ministry trip!
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God’s anointing, grace, power, and perception as I teach and preach. Right now I know of about seven times of “pulpit” ministry (five during the afternoon camp-meeting teaching sessions, and two church engagements), and others are possible.
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God’s wisdom and discernment in personal ministry, both at camp (informal sessions and altar ministry) and after church services.
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The blessing of peace to bring into the homes of friends I’ll be visiting. (I count at least six such stops on the itinerary.)
Many thanks for holding me up and covering me in prayer. “The effective prayer of a righteous man [and woman!] can accomplish much” (James 5:16c NASB).
May Was a Drafty Month!
It must be that you’ve been praying for our writing and publishing endeavors, too! I can’t believe how much we have gotten done. Every chapter for Studies in the Book of Joshua went through multiple drafts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stint when Denise worked so tirelessly on chapter after chapter and draft after draft. Once I return from my marathon trip (and Denise and our daughter and our grandkids return from their own 6-day outing in early July), we’ll be ready to finalize this work and take it through the stages of publishing— first on our website, then in e-book format, and finally in paperback.
We may be making some progress on prototyping the cover for Joshua.
May was also “publishing productive” in a few other ways:
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I’ve learned how to take a single article and turn it into an individual booklet. It turns out this is a good way to circulate as-yet-unpublished material and get review and feedback.
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That process set me on a course to streamline and sync word-processing and publishing paragraph-formatting profiles. They barely “mesh,” so going back and forth from one format to another wastes time. Up front, it will “cost” extra time as I apply the changes to the process of producing Joshua. But in the end, it will save significant time on all future projects (like Hearing God). I should have thought of doing this ages ago, proving what my dad used to say, “Ve grow too soon oldt und too late schmart.”
We’re not really crazy about this current prototype. But “hearing God” is a challenging concept to visualize, isn’t it?
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I’ve been introduced to a process by which I can quickly iterate ideas for book covers and graphics. You can see two of the cover concepts here in this “drafty” section.
We praise God for the progress, and we look forward to having one (or two!) new books ready before year’s end.
Meanwhile, I’m missing a pair of socks, and I can’t find a certain necktie I want to take, so I need to get back to packing. Departure time is in less than 24 hours, so I’m in a hurry! Once again, you and your fruitful prayers are so very much appreciated!
Much love in Jesus,
P.S.: Even though it’s a week early, Happy Father’s Day!
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