Most readers will get this newsletter while I'm in Orlando for CBA. CBA used to stand for "Christian Booksellers Association." But then they realized that of the several acres of exhibits at the meeting, the majority of them was, sadly, no longer devoted to books, but to music, giftware, etc. So the name officially became just CBA. It's an experience of highs and lows. The highs are getting to visit with a lot of Christian authors and ministers whose work has greatly blessed you. The lows are seeing all the tacky items being marketed in such crass ways, making me feel somewhat like Jesus must've felt when He turned over the tables in the temple. Oh yes, another of the highs is getting lots of free books!

NavPress has invited me to CBA to promote the release of Simplify Your Spiritual Life. CBA is the annual "trade show" for Christian booksellers. That's when they order books for the next half-year or so. So when bookstore managers come to the NavPress booth to place orders, NavPress thinks it a good idea to have authors of some of their new releases present. Radio and TV ministries take advantage of the gathering of authors as well and use the week to record numbers of programs. If you think to pray for me, please pray for the interviews I'm to have, including one for "Focus on the Family." That's expected to be broadcast nationwide sometime in the fall.

It was fun to get an article published in the June/July issue of Pen World magazine. I'm sure you've all received your copy by now. You do subscribe, don't you? No? Well, if you're interested in a short piece on buying vintage fountain pens via auctions like eBay (and who isn't?), then you'd better rush out and get a copy. It's on newsstands every . . . well, in a few "select" places. Or, if you can possibly wait for six months (as per my agreement with Pen World), you can read it on my website. If you have a fountain pen article within you that's dying to get published, contact me and I'll tell you how I got not only a whole year's subscription in exchange for writing this article, but also negotiated a free Pen World coffee mug! And speaking of old fountain pens, if you have any rolling around in the back of seldom-opened desk drawers, let me know.

Caffy's thirty-year high school reunion was July 5. (As you may know, this is possible because she graduated when she was only four.) We traveled down to northwest Arkansas so she could join about 150 others of the distinguished Springdale High class of 1973. She was thrilled to talk with some who have become Christians since she saw them last, and saddened by others whose lives do not match the faith they professed during their teenage years. The highlight of the event (in addition to someone telling her she looked even younger than when in high school) was the Christian testimony given at the Saturday night banquet by one of the coaches they had while in junior high and high school.

Tonight she went to an "American Girl Pajama Party" at Barnes & Noble. The bookstore has monthly "American Girl" nights where the girls bring their dolls and do whatever it is that girls and their dolls do at such things. Tonight the dolls were all to be in their PJs. Caffy seems to enjoy taking Laurelen as much as Laurelen enjoys going.

Have you ever read Sarah Orne Jewett's short story, "The Hiltons' Holiday"? (Try a Google search on the Internet and you'll find the complete text. Another place is The Book of Virtues, pp. 227-240.) If you like the Little House on the Prairie books, you'll like this story. It's very simple and has no dramatic plot, but it's one of the sweetest stories we've ever read together as a family.