A Meeting in Milwaukee

Today, on their way from Toronto to Minneapolis and the Desiring God Conference, Tim Challies and two friends (Tim’s pastor and fellow blogger, Paul Martin, from kerux noemata, and Tim’s “other” friend, Paul, an IT tech) had a three-hour lay-over in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my hometown. It ended up being a wonderful first-time meeting of bloggers and a blogger’s editor who, through this remarkable medium of the Internet, have become friends, and today shared an opportunity to fellowship together.

Of course, we took a few pictures, and I think I may just have landed a “big fish” here: Challies looks happy for the camera! Challies is smiling! Challies is laughing! And Challies is one crazy guy! What other name could you possibly give to someone who has his pockets full of Dutch licorice . . . that black VERY salty round candy that every other normal person says is the worst, most awful tasting stuff on the face of the earth, but which Challies absolutely loves! (He offered some to me, and I gotta say, it’s really not bad. Once I got past the salt, well, I actually liked it! Strange! I wonder if this is the end result of a steady daily diet of Challies.com??)

We had a little fun with Paul today. Beforehand, Tim decided that maybe Paul should have his day in the sun — you know, make him “King for a Week” (only it would have to be “king for a couple of hours”) After all, you have to understand just how much Paul has to suffer traveling with the likes of a really famous person like Challies. It’s not easy being 6 feet a zillion inches tall and having a voice to match, and no one even notices you!. It’s no fun when all the attention gets focused on that little guy in the rumpled shirt with the spiky hair who just happens to orchestrate a really good blog. So we printed a sign and Paul got a BIG Milwaukee welcome when he arrived in the main terminal! (Paul’s comment? “It looks like you’re on strike, Annette!”) And I even got them to autograph the sign . . . does that mean it’s now valuable enough to put up on eBAY??!!

I think we all had a good time. We talked about just about anything that came into our heads. Lloyd-Jones (of course!), Mark Driscoll, trolls in the comments section, what books would make good reading, David Wells, what’s Wisconsin famous for anyway?, what to eat for lunch, Adrian (who else?), and what time zone we’re in. Just four friends getting acquainted, basking in the joy of the Lord, and in the blessings of friendship. It was a lunch I’ll probably not forget for a long time. Maybe we can do it again same time next year, guys??!!