Friends:              So, are you home for awhile?

 RF:                       Yes, until after Christmas Day.  Then, Annette and I are getting away to a family gathering in San Antonio, and I’m planning to do an embryo adoption lecture or two while I am there, courtesy of my friend, Dr. Fred Brown.

 Friends:             That’s the way life is going to be for the next year or two, do you think, combining lecture engagements with all the other things – Christian universities, family and friends, just trying to be the hound of heaven all over the country?

 RF:                        Well since you put it that way, I suppose so.  I do need to say that my employers are getting a little stricter on what they pay for – I’m only going to be reimbursed for lecture trips where there is a fairly large professional audience, but that doesn’t stop me from doing the smaller talks (and the Christian university lectures) on my own.

 Friends:             So you asked some of us to pray for this last trip – NNU Homecoming and the meeting in San Francisco – remind us, what was it all about?

 RF:                       The American Society of Reproductive Medicine annual meeting, where I presented two posters.  One dealt with the pregnancy and birth rates from embryo adoption in the U.S., and the other from 7 other countries around the world.  It was a productive time.  I heard several good lectures, helped with our agency’s exhibit booth, and of course, spent time with the Knoxville colleagues, a valuable thing since I don’t visit “my office” very often.

 Friends:            Who is it you work for again?

 RF:                       National Embryo Donation Center.  Look at the websites www.embryodonation.org and www.embryoconnection.org.  The second one mostly represents literature and references that Ying Qi, my librarian assistant, and I, collected last year and the year before.

 Friends:             So let’s talk about NNU Homecoming.  How was this one different from prior years?

 RF:                        This is the second year NNU has had Homecoming in early November – before that it was always at Thanksgiving.  And so this is the second year that the Homecoming is combined with the Class Agent meeting that used to be in September.  From last year to this, they did some minor adjustments to the schedule, which made it work better in my opinion.  Besides that, I wasn’t dealing with a critically ill father back home, as I was last year.

Friends:              You had your niece from Oregon with you this year at Homecoming, isn’t that right?  How did that work out?

RF:                         We had a super time.  She is a pretty quiet young lady, and so I was eager to hear what kind of story she told her folks when she got home before I was willing to say for sure, but I got the sort of call I was waiting for the evening Kristen got home, before I even got to my hotel in San Francisco.

                                Classes, lunch with her great-aunt and uncle, ball games, meetings with profs, dorm life, Kristen enjoyed it all.  She especially liked the fall play – A Servant of Two Masters.  It’s a pretty zany little comedy.  The acting was excellent as usual at NNU, and it tickled Kristen’s funny bone.

 Friends:             Is it really true that the Alumni Association signed you up as an elite runner for the 5K?  How did you do?

 RF:                        Yeah they sure did, bless their hearts – and really it turned out for the best, because it meant I got an accurately measured time.  I think everybody knew I wasn’t going to compete with the top time (15:55).  I aimed for 22 and a half, and I finished at 21:54.  But hey, I’m 53 years old.  I did beat two other significant people though.  I was ten seconds ahead of the top female finisher – a lady from the NNU softball team – and several minutes ahead of an old  school buddy of mine who at one time held several NNU track records.  Most of all it was a fun experience.

 Friends:             Did you follow through with your plan to bicycle back and forth from NNU to the hotel?

 RF:                        For one round trip, the first night and the next morning.  However I realized that without a headlight I could get arrested.  So the next night I borrowed an NNU van, and Friday night and Saturday morning I walked.  It was a mild, pleasant morning and it was then that God talked to me about some very special things – subjects we can talk about another time.

Friends:              Did you get to make an embryo adoption presentation at NNU?

RF:                         Yes, thanks to the fact that two of the science profs were at a regional meeting in Vancouver, I got to do the talk as a scheduled science class period.  Without microphone, slides, or notes, as it turned out.  I’m not sure why the system didn’t work but in a way I’m glad it didn’t, because it demonstrated to the students that one can and must improvise sometimes.  I thought the material went over really well.  The students asked good questions.  Matt, one of my CO students, introduced me, and Dr. Darrell Marks, my physics professor from long ago, happened to be there and I got him to pray for me before the start of class.  What a special occasion.

Friends:             What have we missed?

RF:                        Only that I need to emphasize all over again how many people were generous, kind, and loving to me and Kristen throughout.  I suppose people sometimes wonder why I love NNU so much … but I think most human beings can relate to wanting love and blessing from loved ones.  And, thanks so much for praying for me!!

Friends:             And your family did okay in your absence?

RF:                        Two thirds of them did, and that was because I got to be with our son Dawson at NNU!  We had some quality father and son time – limited by his schedule as much as by mine – but we’ll resume the re-connect when he gets home in December.  Annette and Monica kept right on going here in Colorado, didn’t run into anything that couldn’t be managed, and by now we’ve learned to use a mixture of talk and text to stay in good touch.

Friends:             Welcome home, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

RF:                        You too!  Blessings in the name of the Lord!