Baching it for a Week

Sam Rainer

It’s 65° and the sun is shining! Spring break has come to Southern Indiana.

My wife, who is a teacher, decided to use her break to go with one of our mission teams down to New Orleans to continue with the rebuilding effort. In fact, our entire staff is down there, with the exception of me. So I’m all by myself [insert corny, sappy song here] this week at the church and at home.

Needless to say, it’s been a slow, weird week at the office. And I’ve avoided going home to an empty house. Eight years I spent as a bachelor, and I never want to go back. I thought I enjoyed having my space to myself, but I didn’t know what I was missing.

I’ve noticed that certain weeks in ministry tend to be much slower than others. Spring break week, July 4^th week, and the week after New Year’s Day tend to be lighter in terms of ministry. So, I’m playing catch-up this week with administrative stuff…fun times.

The nights at home have been odd as well. My resolute wife desired a cat. I’d never owned one, but I conceded. Abe is a good pet, but he’s quite suspicious of me (perhaps due to the tricks I play on him). He’s a smart fellow as well. Apparently somewhere along the way he’s learned to open the door in our garage by climbing the weight rack next to it and twisting the doorknob with his paws.

I fell asleep on the sofa last night watching the history channel but awoke to the sound of a creaking door. I turned the corner from our living room to see the door half open and a furry, dark reddish-brown creature flying through the air to attack my knee caps.

I’m glad no one was around to hear me scream like a little girl. And I think I’ll stop playing tricks on the cat.