A New Adventure Begins

Well, today was the first day of my second call. So far it has been productive since I was able to completely unpack my office, read the texts for Sunday, talked with the secretary and Christian Ed director and supervised the installation of our cable and internet. My first meeting will be tonight and it all begins with finance. I am hoping the meeting is productive and quick so that we can continue to unpack and make more shopping lists to complete our move into the new house.

So far we are enjoying the new place. Living in a parsonage is not the same as renting or owning our own place. We need to be more aware of our usage of utilities and how we maintain the house since the church is paying most of the utilities and at some point another family will be living here. We have some plans for changing some of the decor in the dining room and master bedroom especially. I am excited to try my hand at taking down wallpaper and repairing walls for painting. We are hoping to leave a positive mark on this house that will help whoever is here next to live here happily.

There is a lot to get done in this month and so far it is off to a good start. Among the many things are preparing 4 workshops for the annual Conference on Congregational Ministries and some important Project Connect arrangements. It's gonna be a busy few weeks.

Wilderness

This Sunday we heard a gospel lesson about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. I was inspired to preach about how we are tempted to believe that God has abandoned us when we feel that we are in the wilderness but the promise of our baptism is that God never leaves us, no matter what.

Tim was helpful to point out at one point leading up to Sunday that I was more than likely preaching to myself more than anything else and I have to agree with him. We are indeed in a kind of wilderness as we leave one community of faith and begin to live in another. In the midst of this change we have experienced a range of emotions and have been trying to find the evidence of God in the midst of it all.

I have so many questions racing through my mind this week in between calls. Wondering if it was the right time to leave the first call. Questioning if this is the place where God has called me to be. Wanting to believe that we can trust those who guide this process even when we are feeling less than sure that we can. Worried about the move (not just because of the impending snow storm) and if it will be good for Tim and I as we are more removed from the things we depend on for a well-rounded life. In the midst of all of this change we are called to trust that our anxieties are heard by God as prayer and that those prayers will be answered in God's time. We live in this hope because of our baptism and the promises made and fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection.

Hopefully the move will go well, and as planned, and while we live into this season of Lent we will find Easter hope in what God has promised.

Transition

Today was the last day of my first call. I woke up earlier than usual (on time) and was at the church by 7:30am. I was feeling uneasy about how to handle the whole day. I anticipated being emotional about the last day in a place that has taught me so many things. I was able to push down the emotions for most of the morning which allowed me to preach effectively and be gracious about their congratulations and best wishes. At the final benediction I was starting to feel tired and let some tears flow. It felt good to be able to maturely handle this big transition and still convey my love and prayers for this community as they remain there and I continue ministry in a new place.

We packed up my office this week and were able to move it all into the new office this afternoon. It was weird to hand in one set of keys only to be given a new set for a new church and home (the parsonage) within the hour. Our house is in a state of upheaval as we begin to have more of our belongings packed away than not. Each day we are closer to being ready for the movers to arrive at 8am on Friday morning. We are entering this move with some fear and trepidation for what God has in store for us. Change in this vocation is inevitable but we will be in an extended liminal state for this year as we (and the new congregation) discern God's call for each of us. Tim is disappointed that this new church does not have an active choir as one of his passions and sources of faith is in being able to sing hymns and lead the assembly in praising God in song. I am looking forward to having some more freedom in ministry and being in what seems like a less demanding parish. Perhaps it will give me time to read more and blog my thoughts more often.

While I am not especially gifted at writing I do see value in being able to write down ideas to share with others. Blogging is a way to express those thoughts in written form but that can also spur conversation about the topic. I hope to be able to read more often as well. There are so many books that I would love to have time to dig into. If I find time to do so I will be sure to blog my thoughts about them here.

So this transition is in full swing. We will soon be in a new place with new surroundings and new people. We pray that God would be present for all involved in this transition and allow us to see grace and love in the midst of what seems like the wilderness.

Third Time's the Charm

Well the blog-gods were not on my side earlier this evening. I was attempting to blog from my brand new Palm Treo and after I wrote out the post, twice, I could not successfully click the "publish post" button and therefore could not share my words with the world.

Life is going well right now. We are excited to have our new kittens home with us. We named them Marty and Phil, in honor of Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon, and each has his own, distinct, personality. Marty is outgoing and a trouble maker when he is not sleeping on the couch between Tim and I. Phil spends most of the day under the bed in our second bedroom only coming out to eat or when Marty chases him around.

Thanksgiving was a circus. We hit 3 houses in about 6 hours and saw a lot of family. It's so hard to be this far away when the rest of our families are so close together. One good thing was that some of us had just seen each other at my Dad's wedding (which was fine) and so we were a bit more relaxed with each other. It was a good day overall and definitely helped with the sadness that I had about missing my Mom and Aunts.

Now we are gearing up for Advent and Christmas. December is going to be a whirlwind right until the end. From youth group events, LTSP Advent Vespers, my installation on the 16th, Advent, Christmas and the regular work that comes with the job we will be going non-stop. Hopefully we will be able to stop and enjoy the season a bit as well. As of December 23 Tim and I will have been together for 4 years and it seems like the time has just flown by.

I will try to post some pictures of the kittens soon as well as my thoughts on the season of Advent - of which I have many.

Until then, Come, Lord Jesus.

So now that my brother has weighed in on the drama that is "Thanksgiving '07" I figured that I would add my two, or three, cents to the conversation - on in this case 'blogersation' (that should totally be a word).

The fall is always tough for my family. We have lots of fond memories of birthdays, anniversaries, and, of course, the holidays. All of these occasions were opportunities for watching football, drinking beer and eating way too much onion dip while women chatted about movies, TV, and fighting over who had a better kitchen gadget and the men hid in the TV room until dinner. It is true, as my brother says, that these gatherings had their own sense of warmth and tradition that helped us to really appreciate our family in a way we might not have otherwise.

With the loss of my Mom, my Aunt Debbie, and my Aunt Karen we are now left with a gaping whole in our lives and, subsequently, our traditions. I can't say that I ever thought about how those traditions would work when we started getting married and such but I am not sure they could get any worse than they are now. And I am sure that I never thought about what would happen if my Dad got remarried at some point. The ramifications of such a union are putting a tremendous strain on my brother and I's ability to hold onto what little remains of our traditions and puts us both in a position of having to choose to be with our Dad or with the rest of our family for holidays, in particular, Thanksgiving.

What is the hardest to understand is my Father's inability to recognize our (me and Ian's) need to be with our cousins. Our family is now unique in that all of my cousins share the same pain, burden, experience of losing our mothers. When something that tragic occurs the only way to gain some kind of perspective is to be with others who have also experienced this kind of loss. My cousin Jenn is trying, without my Dad's help, to establish some kind of tradition to help us all cope with the sadness that now accompanies the holidays. My Dad, though, has been unhelpful with this effort and is making it harder than it has to be to remain a family.

This kind of situation only makes me miss my Mom more and wish that my Dad could somehow understand how much he is hurting the rest of the family. He thinks we should all just get over the loss and move on like he has. Unfortunately, that is impossible for us because whether we liked her all of the time or not, she was our Mother, and that loss is devastating - no matter how old or young you are.

So hopefully we will have a good day and the family will be able to cope with our usual dosage of football, beer, and onion dip even if those who we want to enjoy those things with are gone.

We have been promised life from death and light in the darkness - as the dark grows and the light fades it is now that we need to see life and know the strength of our faith in Christ. Advent is still 3 weeks away but this prayer remains in my heart.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking with the Bruesehoffs a few days ago and we, surprisingly, remembered to take some pictures of our adventures.

It was a beautiful day and the apples were fun to pick right off the tree.

Tim and I really got the hang of finding the best apples.

We ended up picking over 17 pounds of apples!

Ben had a great time picking, and eating, the apples.
He also tried to eat a whole pumpkin - luckily it was unsuccessful!

After a long day at the farm it was time to take out apples and go home!

I still have not found the time to bake the pie I planned on but it was a great adventure!

Fire and Brimstone

I was trying to wait until I had a photo before I blogged about church today but I should tell the story now before I forget the details.

History: The congregation I serve has a large population of small children. We also have a lot of parents who help out in various ways throughout the church. During our 3 worship services on Sunday we have a lot of people running around trying to make the worship and Sunday School happen. Keeping track of all of these children is often difficult.

Today: In addition to our regular worship schedule (8, 9:15 and 11:15AM) they youth group was hosting a pancake breakfast to benefit a local homeless ministry from 8am to noon. More folks than usual were in the building and running around trying to get things done. The first service had already run 1o minutes over and so we were trying to shave minutes from the second in order to preserve the 35 minute window that we devote to Christian Education (another blog topic for the future).

I had just started the sermon with a quick children's message and I was interrupted by the fire alarm. Yes, the fire alarm. My first thought was that we had a pancake incident in the kitchen but no one was running from Luther Hall in flames. It was immediately apparent that we would have to evacuate the building just to be safe. The timing could not have been more terrible as I had all of the children at the altar with me and minor chaos ensued as they jumped at the alarm and quickly ran to their parents as we evacuated.

As we made our way out of the building Pr. Ellison, the senior pastor, began to make his way to the power shut off and I gathered some chairs for our older folks who would need to sit down once outside. As we left the building someone yelled from upstairs that they saw where the problem was and that there was a small fire in the school teacher's lounge. Our congregation is blessed to have at least two ranking fire professionals among our leadership - one of which was the reader for the second service. He took charge and ran up to the problem.

The worshippers and I made our way across the parking lot and got out of the way for the coming rescue departments. Pr. Ellison came out of the building with a quick report about the small fire and that it was now under control and the building was safe. He did not want to return to the building until the fire department gave the OK so suggested that we continue with worship in the parking lot - beginning with the sermon...

Throughout this whole experience I was sure that we had just lost the whole morning as a result of this emergency. When Pr. Ellison suggested that I try to preach in the parking lot I was quite skeptical and was unsure that it would be a good idea. Honestly, I was scared that it would end up being me trying to keep everyone's attention over the backdrop of fire trucks and police and doubting that the Word would not be heard. I should know better than to doubt God by now.

It was pretty amazing. I started as the fire trucks pulled up and continued through the distractions going on behind me. I knew the sermon because I had preached two times already but it flowed out of me in a way that both distracted from and gave perspective to the situation at hand. I hesitate to make the comparison for obvious reasons, but for that time I began to know what it might have felt like to be one of those ten lepers calling out to Jesus begging for help and mercy. Help did come in the form of a captive audience and communion celebrated on a folding table on the asphalt. If there was ever a day to talk about God coming to us in extraordinary ways this was certainly the day.

At the end of the outdoor worship a small voice cried, "I'm Sorry!". It was the 6 year old who caused the fire. He had been in the teachers lounge and put a roll of paper towels into the microwave and turned it on. Pr. Ellison asked the assembly if they would forgive the child and they all confirmed that they would. Pr. Ellison laid hands on the child and absolved him of his sins. It was a moving scene and yet one that begged the question as to why the child was not being supervised. I can only imagine the conversations that will come from this incident concerning parental responsibility and the new rules that can be imposed on parents who are doing their best.

We were able to move back into the worship space for the final service of the morning. I was definitely hesitant to start the children's sermon but the alarm remained silent. The running joke of the morning was that I should have preached fire and brimstone in light of the events but what I hope was more apparent than the fire was the ability of this community to continue to worship in light of the world around them.

Someone did take pictures of the event so I will post them when I get the chance.

The youth breakfast also resumed and raised $1100 for the local homeless ministry.