DAY TWO OF THE 134TH BFC ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Today was not at all what I expected.  I remember last year how much fun the second day was.  But not this year.

We got up at 6:30 and got ready to go to the conference.  Joe had a working breakfast to attend.  But...  he was shaking like a leaf.  His tremors were so bad he could hardly hold his Bible.  I was so glad we had a handicapped accessible bathroom for him to use.

We got to breakfast just a little bit late.  I got him to the table for the meeting and then went and got him breakfast.  Pastor got him some orange juice.  I went and sat with Carolyn to eat my breakfast.  I had scrambled eggs, bacon and fried potatoes.

As we were finishing up Donna joined us.  She was on her way to work but said she would be at the conference tomorrow.  We talked for a bit then I headed up to the Guest Services building to pay for my breakfast.  

When I say up, I mean UP.  It is a very steep hill I have to climb to get to the building. And when I got there, no one was there to take my money.  I waited around for a few minutes and then left for the worship service.

I saw Pastor Sean there.  He really wasn't that blurry in real life (ha, ha).  I got to talk to him for a few minutes.  He's moving to Chicago in about 12 weeks.  We so appreciate all he did to help our church last year.

 The first part of the day was singing.  There is nothing better than hearing a room full of godly men singing together.

Love this song.

For the singing Joe moved back to where I was sitting with Carolyn.  Joe can't carry a tune, so I try to help him out.

Notice how red Joe's face is.  He was starting to not feel too well.  After the singing, he went back to his seat at the table.

Our speaker this morning (and this afternoon) was Dr. Frank James, the President of Biblical Seminary.  Keeping with the theme this year of Sempre Reformanda (Always Reforming) he spoke this morning on Martin Luther and this afternoon on John Calvin.  Great examples of how we should be.  He was a wonderful speaker.  I've been taking notes on each of the messages so I can go back and study them when I get home.

We had a break after he finished and then the business part of the day started.

Joe got through about a half hour of the meeting before he stumbled back to me and said, "I need to leave now."  I sat him down while I got my things together and we left.  I was disappointed because I wanted to be there, but I understood that he was sick.

When we got back to the hotel, he went right to bed.  I touched him and realized he was burning up.  I didn't have a thermometer, but his face was bright red and he felt like a furnace when I put my hand on his forehead.  He said my hand felt so nice and cool.  I gave him some ibuprofan and he took his inhalers and then went to sleep for a couple of hours.  We missed lunch, but I had some snacks we had brought with us so I ate some of them.  Joe went to the lobby and got a soda and some ice.  That was his lunch.

When he woke up they were just going to start the afternoon sessions.  So I put the live stream on my computer and we watched everything that was going on.  We saw the votes that were taken and heard the discussions.  I even heard the afternoon message that way and took my notes.  It wasn't as good as being there, but certainly better than nothing.

When the meetings broke for dinner, Joe went back to sleep.  He slept for an hour and when he woke up his fever had broken.  By this time I was starving.  I told him we had to go somewhere for dinner.  So we headed for Friendly's which is only half a mile from here.

We both had burgers and fries and Joe had a sundae.   We also both had mango iced tea.  I tried it for the first time in Philly at East Coast Wings & Grill and loved it.  What I had tonight was even better.

I'm so glad Joe is feeling better.  He is still not 100% but at least he's not burning up like he was.  You can tell by looking at him, though, that he just doesn't feel good.

The area around the restaurant is just lovely.  Here is the dogwood through the window that's in back of Joe and some of the other scenery.

And yes, it was raining.  Pretty hard off and on.  No, we didn't bring our umbrellas.  Why do you ask?  We just moved quickly to and from the car.

When we got back we tuned in the livestream broadcast again.  All we got was the end of the ordination ceremony and a worship song.

So now we are in bed and winding down the day.  Joe is going to try it tomorrow for the last day.  We may eat breakfast here, though, and go over in time for the first meeting at 8:45.  That way we can sleep in a little later.  It's the last day of the conference and Joe wants to be there.

Hope you all have a good night.  I will do my best to get pictures of this pretty hotel room and some of the plants and flowers at the conference grounds.  It's a pretty place.

Kathy