My pastor, who will be on vacation the next two Sundays, asked me to give my sermon from Annual Conference next week.

This means that I and my father will be preaching at First UMC on consecutive Sundays — but he will be in Louisville, Ky., next week while I’m preaching, and I will be in Costa Rica when he’s preaching.

My parents are traveling to Louisville next weekend for my mother’s 50-year high school reunion, and they’re really looking forward to it. As one of the activities, class members will watch the racing at Churchill Downs from “millionaire’s row,” which should be fun.