To paraphrase that great poet, Dwayne Johnson, "FINALLY, The Leongs are back in St. Louis!!!" =0).
Last week, we went to St. Louis for a few days. The official reason was because we had Regional Leadership Team (RLT) Meetings in St. Louis but honestly, a lot of it was about a bit of a vacation and family time as well. On our way out there, we'd realized that since we didn't have RLT meetings last June, it had been 2 years since the kids and I had been to St. Louis. Friends, that's just too long!
Our plan was to drive in Tuesday, be at the RLT meetings Wednesday through Friday, spend Saturday in St. Louis then head back on Sunday. The kids would have an extended time hanging out with Aunt Judi and that's where we would stay as well.
Friends, our trip did not necessarily go to plan but it was still a huge blessing.
Let's start with the weather. For a few days, the weather was actually quite nice. Unfortunately, those weren't the days that we needed the weather to be nice. We had to pull over twice on our way down to St. Louis because of tornado warnings and low visibility. What should have been a 7 hour trip turned into a 9 hour trip. On the way home, on the way out of seeing friends in CoMO, we got caught in another downpour. Thankfully, the storm passed quickly and we were good through the rest of the trip.
Part of our plan for the meetings was to say goodbye to some teammates who will be moving to New Zealand to work with the IFES movement there. Unfortunately, they both got sick right before the meetings, so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked.
Still, everything else was such a good time. The kids enjoyed their time with Aunt Judi. We had some productive meetings and I feel good about next semester. We got to have some fun, including a Cardinals game and some Top Golf with the RLT. We were able to see friends in St. Louis as well as CoMO. Most importantly, I got to eat an Imo's pizza! It was a whirlwind of a trip but it was a very good one.
My hope is that it won't be 2 years before we get back to St. Louis. It's a much longer drive than it used to be and we may not have meetings there for a bit since our coworkers left. Still, it was great to be there and I'm sure all the family, community, and culinary goodness will be waiting for me when I get there next.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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