Then I hit the road, heading out to Indianapolis. I am doing part of a week-long intensive as part of the TEEM program that meets there 3 times a year, staying in the Drury hotel and doing classes at the office of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. It's part of my ongoing journey to be ordained in the ELCA. So far, the pre-intensive materials are inspiring, and I have hopes as I shift to a different approach towards ordination. A side benefit will be learning more about how the TEEM program works.
The trip to Indianapolis takes longer than it did before Hurricane Helene: part of I 40 is still 2 lanes, one in each direction, for about 20 miles. There's also a long stretch of I 74 which is under construction and 2 lanes. Happily traffic kept moving.
Most of the roads I traveled yesterday were surprisingly empty, and in the morning, that made the construction zone across the mountain into Tennessee easier. I've never liked that stretch of I 40, even before part of it slid down the mountain in the storm. Shortly after that passage, my phone directed me to take an older highway up to Kentucky, a route which took me through the Cumberland Gap. The mountains were gorgeous and the roads not too winding or steep. Even the Cumberland Gap tunnel wasn't as claustrophobic as I feared it might be.
The weather was overcast when I started, and happily, the worst of the rain had moved east. I still drove through a bit of rain here and there. I had a front seat with food, baby carrots and 2 kinds of homemade bread, so I didn't need to stop for food. It does feel weird to be so close to family and old friends who moved and not feel like I have time to stop.
I left my phone on for the whole trip so that it could dictate directions to me; I didn't plug it into my phone's USB port until halfway through the trip. My car's USB port doesn't charge very well, but it kept the phone from losing charge quite as quickly. Still, by the end of the trip, I was worried that my phone would die before I got to the hotel, and unlike other trips, I had no idea where I was going, in terms of what exits to take and which roads I needed to find. Happily I was able to find my way before the phone died.
I got checked into the hotel with no problems, and unloaded the car easily. I mention the ease of it all because I don't travel light, so I'm always grateful for available luggage carts, especially in a hotel with 9 floors. My 7th floor room is spacious, bright, and clean, and so far, it's been quiet--all qualities which make me profoundly grateful.
I've met some of my TEEM cohort last night. The hotel offers a 5:30 Kickback each night, with 3 drinks per adult and a light dinner buffet. Last night, the buffet included hot dogs, nacho chips and fixings, flour tortillas and fixings (including "fajita chicken"), and a small salad bar, with lettuce, grated cheese, and cherry tomatoes. The soup was roasted red pepper tomato--delicious. To think, I had been expecting some cheese and crackers and some Chex mix.
I brought my book on Paul with me to dinner. I figured if I didn't find the TEEM group, I'd have something to read. But I did find the director, whom I had met on a Zoom call last week, so I knew what he looked like. I had dinner with the cohort members who were there, and as I expected, we have a lot in common: we're serving churches in a variety of contexts, but there's so much more to us than that.
They've had 2 days together, but they were warm and welcoming, and we lingered over dinner. Delightful! I was not awake much later, since it had been a long day.
We have some long days ahead, so let me bring this writing to a close. Today we have a workshop on stewardship, which is great because I can use another day to catch up on my reading. I joined the class late, just last week, so I am a bit behind.
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