So we’ve been back in the US for a month now. We’ve been to Colorado and Virginia, but there has been something special about being back in Oregon. As soon as we came down through the clouds in the Pacific Northwest we both looked at each other and said, “It’s good to be home.” There is something about the spirit of the NW that connects with who we are…and I think that we both grew up here ads to the fact that we love this place.
We’ve had a great time with my dad and Nathan. We got to see Nate’s whole tribe at our friend Bryan’s wedding. Today at church was wild…so many people! So many people who all know who Maisie…she’s like a little celebrity because ‘Pastor George’ talks about her all the time.
I’m really glad we get a whole month here. It will be fun to see the seasons change here…Paris has a bit more cement than trees, so we didn’t get to see the radical change in scenery that we will see here. Something about typing that last line made me miss Paris…I’m kind of missing Paris and our community there. tear.
Tomorrow I’ll be playing in Young Life golf tournament w/ my dad and some guys from the staff. It will be wet and cold, but should still be a great time. I haven’t played golf in over a year, so I’m sure I’ll have some good chances to laugh at myself. I’m borrowing some clubs from someone, so there will be no club throwing…which is probably for the best.
So, it’s great to be back in the cold, rainy, beautiful Northwest. I’m looking forward to hanging out with all the people that have supported our ministry and given us so much encouragement over the past couple of years.
Our time in the great state of Virginia is coming to a close. We have a 6:30am (yikes) flight tomorrow…and after two layovers, we’ll be in Portland!
The highlights of the trip include, but are not limited to:
1. My grandma Mimi getting to meet Maisie!
2. Getting the family all together for a big dinner when my mom got in.
3. I had a chance to speak at Gethesemene church last night about our ministry in Europe. My great-grand-father was a part of starting the church and preached there for over 30 years!
4. I was able to speak at Roanoke Bible College in Elizabeth City, NC. My parents met while attending school there a million years ago. It was great to meet the students…especially getting to see my cousin Ian who I hadn’t seen in 8 years!
There are many more, but we gotta run to lunch. I’m starving! Later
Today I went to the church that my great grandfather helped start back in the day in Mechanicsville, Virginia. It’s always a trip to go to this church after growing up in a pretty charismatic (for the non-denomination denomination) church-plant on the west coast.
Today I had a hilarious (in my opinion) observation. This church has started doing praise choruses…with drums, and a band and all that. This isn’t a big deal and not really noteworthy…only that this church has a great mix of generations…of which the older generation doesn’t know the newer songs. I stood there today and watched an 80 year-old man try to sing along with the line ‘we wanna see! we wanna see! we wanna see Jesus lifted high!’ It was apparent to me that he wasn’t getting it and I felt bad for him…I almost wished (almost) that we were doing hymns for his sake because back in the day I bet this guy could belt bass notes with the best of them and follow along in the awkwardly arranged hymnal like nothing.
But it hit me as I watching him…He had the look on his face that most teenagers have in church…like “what is going on here?” I don’t really know what the point is, other than the thought that throughout time it’s interesting to see what ‘relevant’ means to different generations. How things have changed over time for some…yet need to stay the same for others. I do think that it’s great to see how these older saints are fighting through the awkwardness of trying to ‘get’ praise choruses so that their church, their legacy, can last. And that is how we will see Jesus lifted high.
If anybody ends up reading this it might be a miracle! I’ve taken two weeks or so off of writing and have changed web addresses! It’s official…www.urbanidealist.com is up and running. So if you subscribed to my old blog you’ll need to change the address in your web reader or on your bookmark.
A quick summary of life the past four weeks…packed up an apartment, said goodbyes to some really good people and a community we love, flew 10.5 hours to the States, and spent 2 weeks in beautiful Colorado with family. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to slow down and rest (emotionally and physically) until it actually happened. Our lives over the past 9 months have been pretty heavy and my mind was constantly trying to process all that was going on. It wasn’t until our annual conference that God gave me a real peace and confidence as to where we at and what was happening in our lives, but right after that we had to get to packing…so it wasn’t until we got here that I’ve really been able to rest in the peace I had found…so I feel good now!
Right now, I’m sitting in a Panera Bread in Mechanicsville, Virginia getting on a wireless signal for the first time in a couple of days. It’s been really great to get to see our family here for the first time in 3 years and especially for Maisie to get to meet to everybody! I’m speaking at a Roanoke Bible College on Friday and we’re having a big family gathering that night. My mom will be here when we get back from the college; it was great timing to be able to see her here! We’ll be here until the 25th, and then we’ll be off to Portland.
So, I’ll be back to my normal topics soon…I hope you enjoy the new look and feel of the blog…I’m still working on some of the extra content as I can. Talk to you soon!
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