Back to it

The girls are back to School! Alyssa and Courtney started school yesterday. They came back excited about their new friends and teachers.

Mom and Dad were here for a week and headed back part way this morning. It was good to have them here, experiencing what we experience. They had a lot of good to say about our neighbors, friends, community, church, and situation in life.

Emberlynn and Suzanne are enjoying some extra time together. She'll be in school before we know it.

I am working and blogging:) and dreaming. Still feeling my way through the work and personal life balance. I'm guessing that will be ongoing.

Installation Service

For those of you who wanted to know...

My installation/licensing service will be September 13th during the morning service (@ 10:30am).

Dave Greiser, Director of the Hesston College Pastoral Ministries Program will be preaching. Ed Kauffman, Conference Minister of Central Plains Conference will be officiating. The wonderful people of Salem Mennonite Church. There will be a fellowship meal following. Can it get any better than that:)

Saltdogs baseball

The town of Shickley had a night at the Lincoln Ballpark Sunday Night. It was a good time of connecting with friends and getting to know some more people from the community. This was put together by the Commercial Club of Shickley, and it was also a faith and family night at the park. There was concert by a talented Acapela (no better cause) type band before and after the game. Some of the local children's league ball players got to go out on the field. It rained pretty hard for about 3 innings. The saltdogs lost.

But the most memorable experience was getting out of our van at the park and realizing I had forgot our 5 tickets... Suzanne had a good laugh at what my face looked like when I told her what I had done. I felt like an idiot. I was so mad at myself. Those of you who know me as "always organized and in control", well there goes that. We had driven an hour and a half and now we would have to buy new tickets or drive all the way back to get them. Luckily, or by providence we had brought Wes and Linda with us, and Wes knew some people. It turned out that the organizer from Shickley had extra tickets. Fear, dread, and humiliation gave way to comfort, relief, and humility.

Here is where it got really funny. It was like God was saying, "let me take care of it. I will provide. You're not in control. You need a lesson on humility." No less than 4 people, as part of the sponsoring church where walking around giving out free tickets as part of the faith and family night. Each time they offered us tickets. I just had to laugh, and say, "Yes God, you are good. You have a good sense of humor. I need to be less serious about myself. Thanks for the lesson." We had a good time.

Getting started

Last Sunday was my first Sunday as Pastor of Salem Mennonite Church. What a blessing! The people of Salem and Shickley are wonderful people. We have enjoyed getting to know them and being here with them. Last night we had our first premarital counseling session with a couple. It was a good time of developing a relationship and enjoying this exciting time with them.

The girls are getting into the flow of life here. They are enjoying their rooms and have spent most of their nights in their own beds. Suzanne took them to the local pool the other day. Alyssa jumped off the high dive! Courtney and Emberlynn were jumping off the low dive!

Alyssa and Courtney are playing soccer in a local league in Shickley and Geneva.

Suzanne has been exhaustedly unpacking and decorating the house. She is a wonderful wife, mother, and partner.

I have been trying to get into the groove of sermon prep, meetings, and other duties. There is room for improvement as I work at focus, time usage, and scheduling. I have gotten to mow the lawn twice already, it takes about 1hour and 30 minutes to push. I have been tinkering and learning in other areas like TV antenna's, sprinkling system, our car, office layout, water softener, bike tires, snake control, running routes, utilities, etc... all the fun stuff of moving and getting into your new community.

Shickley, Nebraska

Our Home! We made it... It is good. We've been unpacking boxes and putting stuff away for about 2 hours now. We are planning to go to a local church's Ice Cream Social this evening.

The trip went well. Today was better than yesterday. The girls did better. We didn't make any wrong turns. It didn't rain as hard for as long. We're home!

Progress

We made it to Princeton, IL. Sleeping for the night and finishing out the trip tomorrow morning. We have about 7hr 40min left according to Google Maps.

The trip has gone fairly good. The girls were at each other early on in the trip. We missed a turn and ended up taking about an hour detour. We met my Dad for supper at Arby's close to Columbia City. He was trucking from Chicago and we were driving toward Chicago.

Two out of three girls are sleeping.

Good night!

Last day in Ohio

It is here. Our last day in Ohio. Suzanne is out to breakfast with Krista and Julie. The girls are at the Hershbergers where they stayed overnight. I am here. But you probably guessed that:) We are wrapping some things up and getting some packing done. We'll see how much we can get in the van. Then start rolling this afternoon. We expect to go about halfway and then sleep for the night.

It has been good to be here. God's peace be with each of you. Pray for us. We will pray for you.

picture fun! July 09

A picture show for your viewing pleasure. Some of the captions are longer than the picture stays up for you to read it. Either watch it multiple times or pause the show and advance it manually.

Enjoy!

Hiatus

Hiatus - a period of time when one is on a break. Wow! It has been a long time since I have refreshed this blog:) It has been a refreshing break, and I am not promising that I am back to regular publication either. I just felt compelled to update what we have been up to.

The last post said that we were moving. We have. Sort of. Somebody asked me the other day where we are living. After a pause, I said Ohio. They picked up my pause and asked, "Last month?" I said Kansas. They said, "Next month?" I said Nebraska.

There you have it. We are in transition. Being on Hiatus isn't as simple as it seems to those who aren't. You should try it for a month sometime. Somethings we are without - a home, a space of our own, a place to retreat, a regular schedule, our own things, a job, fulfilling and meaningful work, etc. You may or may not get the picture. I guess you have to experience it to understand it.

We have really enjoyed this "once in a lifetime" opportunity to be free, living with family and spending time with family and friends. It has been a good time to step back from schedules and disconnect from our stuff and let go of routines. We will probably never experience a month like this again, so we cherish the moments and days.

At the same time, we have the next piece of life planned and prepared for us. We are ready to embrace it and immerse ourselves in the work, play, growing, and knowing. But yet we can't. We have to wait. Waiting is hard sometimes. I want to begin what I have been called and prepared to do. But I can't. I'm forced (or I have chosen) to wait.

Well there it is. Rambling. Lightly filtered. Hiatus.

Book: Jesus for President

Quick summary. I finished this book while at the Columbus MCUSA Convention. It was a book of challenge. One that makes you think about your relationship to government, power structures, institutions, and how you use these things to bring about good for yourself and others. The first half or so of the book is brilliantly structured around a history of the Bible, or as we say at Hesston College in Bib Lit - Heilsgeschichte. It is a German word meaning "salvation history."

I would recommend this book as an excellent read for a couple reasons.

-Great way to get a big picture of what God is doing in the Bible written from an "Anabaptist" perspective.

-Shane Claiborne and the intentional communities that he lives in are doing the work of justice, helping the poor, challenging the status quo when it elevates the elite at the expense of the "lesser".

-Challenges our notion of nationalism, patriotism, and even religious ideals that become idols, which have the potential to distract us from simply "following Jesus."

Get it and read it.