Patrick O'Connell

Haiti in July

So it's official. I am going to Haiti in July with C3 Missions.

I've been told there is no place hotter than Haiti in July.

Please pray for me, the mission, and the people of Haiti.

18 Hours in the car with Tommy Bowman!

Man am I upset. I just  spent 20 minutes writing this post about the Externally Focused Conference road-trip that Tommy and I attended only to lose the whole thing because I accidentally forgot to save it. Ugghhhhh! I am not rewriting the thing so here are the major bits:

• Tommy and I left after church Sunday.
• We rented a Camry and the guy told us it had satellite radio.
• It didn't have satellite radio but we were too far down the road to turn around.
• We brought CDs but the CD player wouldn't work.
• So we talked and talked and talked and the miles drifted by.
• Not being registered for the conference when we tried to check in.
• 1.5 days at the Externally Focused Conference.
• Staying at Glen's house. (Thanks Glen!)
• Tommy buys an adapter so we can listen to our iPods in the car.
• Drive home and working on ideas/organizations/strategies for our Reachout ministry.
• More talking: family, growing up, church, music etc.
• Windmills outside of Salina: at least 75 of them, each at least 200 feet tall.
• Trooper pulling me over. Giving me a warning. Then searching the trunk for illegal immigrants and drugs.
• Showing him all of my materials from the Externally Focused conference to corroborate my story.
• Playing name that tune in 10 seconds or less.
• Listening to music and telling stories around the songs, albums etc.

I had a blast with Tommy and I learned a ton at the conference. But next time we are definitely flying.

Back From The Wisconsin Dells

We spent Saturday and Sunday in the Wisconsin Dells.

If you have children and you live in the Midwest, you know that there's a secret conspiracy amongst all kids 12 and under to drag their parents to this place. It is simply the destination spot of the Midwest, especially during winter. This is because The Dells is a resort town choked full of indoor water parks. There isn't much to do there in the winter other than park yourself in one of the resorts and keep a vigilance lookout while your children spend hours and hours frolicking in water so full of chlorination that your skin literally cracks. The kids clamber through the pools, the fountains, and the myriad other attractions like spitting Octopus or 'zany' (I hate that word) waterslides. When your kids do finally come out of the water because they are too exhausted to go on, their skin is pruned and reeks of that same chlorine despite your best efforts to wash them. They do, however, sleep like babies.

My kids absolutely adore the place and even though it's been two days since our return, they are still smiling about it. Besides, it was a blast having the chance to spend so much time with them.