some thoughts after today's hike...

Hillside Chapel Cross
Pictured Rocks Camp

I'm spending the first part of the week at Pictured Rocks, one of Iowa's three United Methodist Camps.  My official title is "Spiritual Director" but in reality, I'm here with two Trinity kids: Justin and Claire - and 14 other youth from around the state ages 9-13 as we explore what it means to be a beloved child of God and to enjoy the wonders of His beautiful creation.

My responsibilities were light today, so I spent much of the morning catching up on paper work (yeah, I know kinda boring) and then this afternoon I did some worship planning.  After a while I thought to myself; "hey you, what are you doing?  It's beautiful outside and you're in the middle of the woods at camp - what are you doing working?"  So I strapped on my Keens and went on a hike.  

Wesley Trail - Pictured Rocks Camp

This is my first time here, and I blew all of the rules; I went by myself, I didn't tell anyone where I was going, and I didn't have a map - yikes!  But the paths are nice and wide and I paid attention to where I was going (no bread crumbs necessary).  I set out from my cabin hoping to follow the route that the Triathlon runners took when they were here on Sunday, but I couldn't find the chalk lines that marked their path.  What was quite visible when we arrived Sunday afternoon had been washed away by yesterday's heavy downpour.  While I was out of luck, I did follow some clues and I think I figured out where all they went as they raced through camp.

Life is kinda like that.  We have mountain top experiences that get us on fire for Christ and in response we join every Bible Study or small group we can find, we read the Bible daily even, but after a while the storms of life have a tendency to wash away the path that seemed so clear just days/weeks/months earlier.  If we aren't intentional (or disciplined about it) we can easily get off track, lose our way, and give up...doubting that what we experienced was really real in the first place.

That's why it's so important not to go it alone.  Our faith journey isn't our private excursion (or walk in the woods to push the metaphor even further), we are one part of God's great story...from creation to today and into the future - God was, is and will always be!  We are beloved and beautiful and special but we are also small and part of a greater whole.  To find our place in the Kingdom we have to seek His face and the best way to do this is to join with others.  

Nature Trail - Pictured Rocks Camp

After hiking down the trail we took last night to the Windy Hill Campfire site, I decided to take the nature trail.  ahhhh, I soon realized the nature trail was different...while the path to Windy Hill was what one would expect from a walk in the woods, the nature trail had been recently smoothed out to make it safer for the runners.  I found I didn't need the chalk lines at all, I just had to look for the smooth path and I knew exactly where the Triathletes had run.

As followers of Christ, the Risen One, we don't need chalk lines...but we do need to be faithful and we need companions along the way...my prayer focus these next few weeks is about how the church I serve can be a faithful companion for folks who are journeying this exciting, and yes sometimes wild, trail of life.  We have to make room for people to explore who God made them to be and at the same time share in the joys as well as challenges of life.  

I sure don't have all the answers - so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

in Christ, together,

Deborah

the lasting effects of chiggers...

Yesterday as I was getting ready for work I mentally ran down my schedule -Bible Study at noon,  the director of music at 1, committee meeting at 7 with regular administrative stuff in between.

I then started thinking about my time at the Wild Goose Festival.  Exactly one month ago I was in the hill country of North Carolina with my son Justin and a good friend, Barbara, and about 1700 other folks for a weekend that centered around music, spirituality, the arts and justice.  It was a tremendous experience and one that I don’t want to forget about in the midst of the busyness of day to day living.

Interestingly, the one thing about that experience that is still hard to forget is my encounter with chiggers…you know those microscopic arachnids that leave one feeling all itchy for days and days?    Believe it or not – I still have marks on my skin from the dozens (yes dozens) of chigger bites.   Oh my!

I kinda wish that instead of chigger bites I could visibly see the marks left on my heart and mind from participating in the Wild Goose Festival, or Iowa Annual Conference earlier in June or Sunday worship with my Trinity United Methodist Church family!  All of these experiences have, in recent weeks, impacted me as a person of faith in ways big and small.

I would like to hope that anyone who has a spiritual experience would say something similar.  I know what happened, and how I have been affected, but it’s often hard to tell others about my personal experiences with the Holy One.  It's also a bit scary...truth be told. 

Regardless, it really is so, SO important share with others how our lives are touched and transformed by God’s love and presence.  If we keep these God moments bottled up inside we aren’t being salt and light to the world, one of the most important things that Christ-followers are supposed to do according to Jesus;

“let me tell you why you are here.  You’re here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth….You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.  God is not a secret to be kept.  We’re going public with this!”   (see Matthew 5:13-16  The Message)

Whether you start out small sharing with your family and moving toward sharing your experiences with friends, I believe you will be richly blessed by telling others about your experiences of and with God.  For starters, just answer these 2 questions:  where have I seen Christ/God in action this day/week?  And who am I going to tell about it?

To God be the Glory!

In Christ, together

Deborah

it's a marathon? really???

You know the old saying...life is a marathon, not a sprint.  I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I don't think this is right...in fact, I think such platitudes are downright harmful to one's soul.

This past week - no let's really be honest - these past several years I feel as if I've been running in a series of back to back to back to back marathons, and some days, ok many days, I am just plain worn out.  A quick scan of Runner's World (the worldwide authority for training and racing for over 40 years) reveals that marathons are serious business...for just $29 you can get a whole host of methods, plans and regimes to get you ready for the big day.  Hmmm sounds like great fun (especially if you enjoy running - not so much for the rest of us).

I wonder though, if we choose to live our faith life like it's a marathon if we're ever really doing much more than training for the Big Day...you know, the day we meet Jesus face to face.  That's what its all about, right?

Well, maybe there's more...(actually, I think there's a whole lot more to being a follower of Christ and a part of the kingdom of God).  We HAVE been commanded to love God and love one another, to care for the least and the lost and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ...but, at what cost?

I think there's a great deal of tension between doing and being.  While 'git 'er done' sounds great - I fear it's also making us into a culture that can't sit still and enjoy the simple pleasures of God's good creation.  I believe the scope of God's good creation includes a visit with friends, a walk outside, a Sunday afternoon nap, a home cooked meal (from scratch), time curled up on the couch with a loved doing nothing at all.  Trust me, I'm just as guilty as the next person...I'm just writing this to remind myself that perhaps, just perhaps it's time to slow things down and decide what really is important to God, to my family and to me.

Frankly, I am not into marathons OR sprints.  And I'm not advocating couch potato status either.  There IS plenty to do, I may just need to rethink how I set priorities and how to leave some things undone (gasp).

So, how about a nice walk...or come on by and let's sit on the porch and enjoy a glass of sweet tea.  I think its time for this gal to start to slow down and just be for a while.

Peace,
Deborah

Its all about Covenant...

Trinity UMC - Waverly, IA

Being a fine brick and mortar church with a nice long aisle, we get phone calls from time to time from brides wanting to get married at Trinity UMC.  By now our Administrative Assistant, Mary, has it down to a science: "Pastor Deborah would be happy to talk with you about our wedding policies after worship some Sunday, when should I tell her to expect you?"  Half the time they never come.  And that's ok with me.  

It gets trickier when an out of town child or grandchild of a member calls to have their baby baptized the next family reunion weekend or holiday they are in town.  Even worse if its Grandma who calls to ask when they can get the baptism done.

In the United Methodist church we don't do private baptisms.  Baptism is a sacrament , a Holy Covenant between the parents, the Church and God.  The last thing I want to do is cause the congregation to perjure themselves because they can't live into the covenantal language that is integral to the service.  The congregation is asked: "Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these persons now before you in your care?"  and the congregation then responds:

With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ.  We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be found faithful in their service to others.  We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.

Eucharist at Trinity UMC

If a child is going to live outside of the community how can we live into this covenant?  Let alone the implications of turning the very Holy Spirit of God loose on a family that is not part of a worshiping community - that is if we believe that God is real, almighty and powerful...hmmmm.


Likewise, Holy Communion is a sacrament - and in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup we celebrate the New Covenant that is made through the mystery of faith; Christ has died, Christ has Risen, Christ will rise again!


I tend to agree with Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence, that we are in the midst of a huge shift in religion and religious institutions around the globe. I would encourage you to read her book and consider that this is a pattern that has been repeating for thousands of years.  Essentially, and I say this with fear and trembling, every 500 years there is an upheaval that occurs as we try to sort out to what/whom do we give authority.  The last such upheaval was around 1500.  So, here we are - surprise!


Luther helped us sort through the last upheaval, known as The Reformation.  When the dust settled the Church identified that our authority comes from Scripture.  Over the past 200 years or so  Solo Scriptura has been undermined and eroded by the Enlightenment and modernity - by science, psychology, the end of slavery, women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, divorce and now the LGBT debate.   At the Wild Goose Festival (as well as at other various speaking engagements) Tickle suggests that if we follow the normal pattern of change it will take us about 40-80 years to finally work through the three major questions facing this Great Emergence:  to what/whom do we give authority, what was/is the atonement all about and what is a person and personhood (when does personhood start - to help deal with issues surrounding biology and the medical field).  She mentioned another thing:  how essential it will be for us to reclaim an understanding of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the divine dance that is inherent in their unity and communion with one another.


I have been thinking about this for a while, and I think that our authority must be grounded once again in Covenant.  I believe we need to reclaim the meaning and the importance of covenental language.  We pastors are good about throwing this word around, but I am not sure that we have 'unpacked' the meaning of Covenant very well.  A Covenant is more than a contract - because it is between God and God's people.  It is so important that at any big event, God (or God's prophet) runs through a whole list of things that God has done (which may seem redundant, but this is how Covenant works) for God's people, in God's people and through God's people to lay the framework for any shift or new way of looking at how God is working in and through God's people.  This reminder lays the ground work for how God's people are to live into the Covenant (or live up to their side of the bargain).


I think we must reclaim a sense of the importance of Covenant, which is based on scripture!  See Genesis when Noah and the critters survive the flood or when Abram is called by God, or when Abram is renamed Abraham, or when Moses brings down the 10 Commandments, or when Joshua takes over after Moses' death....the Old Testament covenant begins with; "I am the Lord your God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob..."  And when Jesus shares his last meal with his disciples, he re-wrote the script for the Passover meal saying; "this is the New Covenant in my blood...."


As I think about these important questions I am reminded of how difficult it is to live into a Covenant, which is why Jesus came in the first place, to teach us how to live into being God's people.  And the amazing thing is that it didn't matter to Jesus if you were a sinner or a saint, a Jew or a Gentile or even a Roman soldier each and every person was created in God's own image and so a person of great value and worth to the Kingdom of Heaven.  What mattered was faith and a willingness to love God and love one another, to enter into relationship or covenant with God.


As a United Methodist we acknowledge two sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist and then there are other means of grace that use covenant language as well:  Marriage, Ordination and Confirmation, anointing with oil/healing.  What if we were to call the church back to covenant language?  First we would have to acknowledge that words have meaning.  In this current climate of noise and words and information coming at us from every side, this would mean an intentionality and sensibility that may just be refreshing.  


Our Triune God has given us Covenant language for a reason.  I think our future demands a more careful look at our past and how God has worked in and through God's people and His good creation through Covenant.  God's postmodern prophets are starting to call us back to the basic, fundamentals of the faith.  Of course, we know what happens to many prophets...I fear it is not going to be pretty these next few decades as we sort things out.


Here is one way that the rubber meets the road for me.  If I am going to take Covenant seriously, I think its time that the church stop being an arm of the civil government when it comes to marriage.  I am all for blessing marriages in an appropriate worship service, but why should the church act as an agent for the civil government?  I, for one, am ready to get out of the wedding business, and get back to the work of building a relationship based on Covenant, the couple and the congregation that they worship with should be entering into this call to love and uphold one another in good times and in bad.  I think we'd have fewer marriages in trouble if we were truly vested and invested in lifting each other up.  But then again, that's just me.


Regardless, I pray that Covenant begins to have meaning again, that its not just ritual or pomp and circumstance, or something that gets done, but that by being drawn into the Covenant we are able to tap into the depth and breadth of God's love for his Good Creation and our proper response to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to love one another as we love ourselves.  


I wish I had thought of this while I was at the Wild Goose Festival.  I would love to hear some thoughts from others who were there - does this perhaps mesh with some of the conversations that were going on?


in Christ, together,
Deborah

I got issues

my surprise birthday cake -
thanks Trinity UMC family!

We all got 'em - trust me, to be human is to have issues.  For the past year or so one of mine was turning 50.  Gasp!  One of the reasons I went to the Wild Goose Festival was to be away from home on my 50th birthday (Friday, June 24th).  I figured I could be inconspicuous, and let the day slip away, 50 is just a number - right?

In the hills of North Carolina we were far removed from the news of the day.  Cell phone service was sketchy at best, and WiFi was not very reliable.  It was nice to be away from it all - tho I missed my daily routine of browsing a variety of websites and blogs this was actually a good thing.  We all need a hiatus from things from time to time.

One of the challenges of living in this age of instant information is the heightened awareness of what's going on around the globe.  Whether its a tsunami or famine, war or tornadoes, a child with a serious illness or sex slavery and human trafficking, as part of the human race and especially as people of faith we often find ourselves on compassion overload with too much information about very real needs which leads us all wanting to DO something in response.

Our desire to DO something, and then the relentless reminder that the needs are great not only around the world but down the block can lead to fatigue.  I know that here in Iowa many of us are just plain tired of floods and flooding.  The emotional toll has been great, so the thought of going and doing something is overwhelming and can make us kinda numb.  So, often we just write a check and try to forget about it.

One of the critiques of the Wild Goose Festival was the atmosphere of political activism. I have a variety of thoughts about this that I would like to share.  First, puhlease!   Speaking to Mark Tooley, a brother in the United Methodist Church, let us remember that since the days of John Wesley we have always been about BOTH Piety AND Social Justice!  When people of faith are together, we are called to love God and love one another.  How can we look into the eyes of another and not recognize each other as one of God's own beloved children.  IF we see God in the person next to us, then we must acknowledge not only their humanity, but their needs as well.  This is how the Body of Christ works.

Were there some politically charged issues brought up?  Sure.  War, poverty, prisons, clean water, and the one that seems to draw the most attention in this season - the LGBT-Q (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual - queer) issues to name a few.  But why shouldn't we be talking about these things as people of faith?  Again, BOTH a biblical grounding in faith, prayer, worship, etc (what Wesleyan's call the Means of Grace) AND faith in action.

During opening worship on Thursday we were invited to turn to someone near us and share our hopes and our hang ups that we brought with us.  I turned to my right and there was Matt from New Jersey, wearing a bright pink t-shirt with the phrase "legalize trans*" across the front.  When I shared that my hang up was my 50th birthday the next day he broke out into a huge smile, gave me a high 5 and said joyously "mazel tov!"

Moments later, as we remembered our baptism, it was Matt who was first in line to celebrate the great things that have been done by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through His life, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.  Through the sacrament of Baptism, and more importantly by virtue of being a child of God, Matt and Mark are both my brothers, just as is the starving child from India whose picture is flashed all over TV in the Save the Children ads.

While the organizers publicized that prison reform and restorative justice would be the bigger issues, we did seem to talk about sex and sexuality a good deal too.  But each of these conversations covered both the LGBT-Q as well as the heterosexual issues and challenges that we all face with our sexuality.  The conversations were civil, open and engaged a number of things that I deal with on a weekly basis as a pastor.  

As Phyllis Tickle said; 'The question is not about gay verses straight, this is the last fingerhold of the battle over Sola Scriptura.  I am sorry that you got caught in the middle of it, its not about LGBT - its not...Over the past 200+ years the authority of scripture has been challenged by science, psychology, women's suffrage, civil rights, etc...we are in the last battle over the one question 'to what do we give authority,' (this is a paraphrase of Mrs Tickle's comments)  As Phyllis said, it will take us decades to sort this out.  (I will post later with my thoughts about this one)

While some present at Wild Goose accused Jim Wallis of caving on the issue of gay marriage...I think Wallis has modeled a truth that we need to learn.  We can not do it all.  We can not go to every flood, every tornado, every tsunami.  We can't write a check to every victim of domestic abuse or rescue every child from war zones.  But we can not and should not just sit back and wring our hands either.

The Wild Goose Festival helped me to clarify these thoughts.  With displays and information from a wide variety of very important groups, I realized that just like I pick and choose when I go through the produce section of the grocery, I must pick and choose, with fear and trembling and lots of prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit, which causes I am going to support with my time, talents and treasures.

Rather than use the scatter approach, we must become more focused.  Otherwise, we will give only half hearted attempts and get nothing accomplished.  My passions center around sustainable agriculture and walking along side veterans of war.  This is more than enough for one person to be passionate about.  

So, while there are many good things, for me these are the things that will get my energy.  I think what Wallis, McLaren, Dear and others were asking is -what is it that you are passionate about?  What can you give yourself to?  Who is your brother or sister?  How can you honor your love of God and your care and compassion for the least and the lost in this fast paced society we live in?

I think these are very important questions that all of us with issues need to prayerfully consider.  And these kinds of conversations are best done in an open and loving environment.  This is another thing I found at the Wild Goose Festival - room to listen, talk and share in a safe place for all of God's children.

Thanks be to God!

Deborah

Wild Goose chasing

Let's be honest...in this day and age we don't take much time to get to know one another.  There are lots of things that draw us away from meaningful dialogue about faith let alone deep Christian friendships.  Family, work, technology, exhaustion all take their toll and cause us to skim the surface and avoid getting too close.  That's a shame, because I don't think we can practice one of the chief maxims of Wesley's General Rules, "watching over one another in Christian love," without the kind of vulnerability that comes from knowing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  If we are unable to speak about the deepest longings of our heart or express our doubts and fears we are not truly in community (or communion) with one another.

by the coffee barn - at the Wild Goose Festival 2011

Often times, to expedite the initial pleasantries of getting to know someone we label ourselves as a means of introduction.  I am a single (read that divorced) mom of 4, a Christian, Trinitarian, Wesleyan and borderline contemplative.  I am also an Evangelical who leans toward the Emergence Church movement.  The problem with labels is that they come with baggage.  Once we proclaim ourselves as something or someone that is loaded with politically charged images we invite all sorts of scrutiny and scorn - shutting down the avenue to open dialogue and authentic sharing - geesh!


This is why recent post from more traditional conservative evangelical groups about the recent Wild Goose Festival are problematic.  I attended the Wild Goose Festival last week.  I did not go as a United Methodist, or even as a pastor, but as someone who is part of the Christian faith.  I first heard of the Wild Goose Festival from Brian McLaren during a conversation with our Eastern Iowa Emergent Cohort.  Brian invited us to come to North Carolina and be part of something new and exciting coming to the United States.


Modeled after the UK's Greenbelt Festival, the Wild Goose Festival was a 4 day event in the hills of north central North Carolina.  Nationally known speakers were on hand to interact in an open air venue that allowed for some interesting, and frankly exciting dialogue.  There were also a number of bands, great food, camping (for those who were up for camping in the 90 degree temperatures) and times of daily prayer and praise.


Mark Tooley, a fellow United Methodist who is the president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy wrote: “Much of what ‘Wild Goose’ features is not new or novel but old-fashioned liberal causes, freshly repackaged for young evangelicals. Most Religious Left groups that advocated leftist policies in past generations are now in severe decline, and their activists are now targeting evangelical youth  Influenced by gnostic beliefs that Christianity has repeatedly rejected, many ‘Wild Goose’ voices flatter themselves with fanciful dreams of sophistication and praise from secular elites. Their 1960s-style hoopla is supposedly updated for the 21st century. But ultimately this featherless old Wild Goose won’t fly.”


I was there for all 4 days and that's not what I experienced.  I don't think Tooley really attended Wild Goose for himself, and frankly, unless he was willing to be open to the moving of the Holy Spirit, I am not sure he would have gotten much out of it.  What I did find is a group of folks who love God and deeply care about God's beloved children, so much so that there was room to work things out in the words of John Wesley, "in fear and trembling."


What I saw was an exciting and varied list of speakers from all sorts of backgrounds and denominations fully accessible to those who attended.  Never was dialogue censored, nor questions shot down.  What I saw was people sharing ideas and ideals, dreaming big dreams and casting a vision for the future, a vision that may appear idealistic, yet living into orthodox Christian faith based on scripture.   If old fashioned liberal causes include balm for our broken and hurting world, encouragement for life's journey and a call to living intentionally as people who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned and provide cold water to the thirsty (see Matthew 25:31-46), well then - I guess that's what I saw.


Were some of my more conservative sensibilities challenged, of course they were.  But we only stretch and grow when we enter into open and intentional dialogue with folks, not lurk around on the fringes or come to a place such as the Wild Goose Festival with an agenda that is inflexible or full of fear and anger.


I will post later about some of the ways that I was stretched...let it suffice to say that the Wild Goose Festival gave me nourishment for the journey so that I may live more authentically into the call that our Triune God has placed on my life - to share the love of God with others and walk alongside my sisters and brothers so that we may be a part of the solution to some of the challenges our world is facing.  If this means that I am a liberal or progressive, so be it...but I think it means I am just a beloved child of God working things out in fear and trembling, just like everyone else.


Peace, love in Christ,
Deborah

I think I'm falling in love...

Our love affair started with some innocent flirting while I was in college nearly 30 years ago.  Then 10 years ago we dove into a more serious relationship.  We did break things off for a bit, but today as I was driving to Oskaloosa it hit me.  I think I am falling in love with Iowa.

I was a student at the University of Tennessee at Martin when my family left me and my sister behind and moved to Iowa of all places.  Back then I knew Iowa only during holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas to be exact.  Not the best times of year to visit the Midwest, especially if you learned to drive in the southeast.  One Christmas Eve I remember driving through a real live blizzard with my dad to pick up some provisions to last our family through Christmas day.  I'm glad he was behind the wheel and not me!

After college I moved to Memphis for a couple of years and then on to Atlanta, Georgia.  Once married I didn't make the holiday trips any more.  About once a year or so we'd trek up north for a visit to show off the kids, play with the cousins and head back home.  After a few days we were happy to be back to the hustle and bustle of Hotlanta.  Atlanta in the 90's was the place to be, especially if you were young and had some money to spend.  Braves baseball games, great restaurants and a business that kept us busy - and 4 young children too, Iowa was the furthest thing from my mind.

The big family vacations were spent in Florida or in the mountains.  One summer we took 2 weeks to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I never imagined spending that much time in Iowa of all places!  Iowa was where the folks lived.  Iowa = obligatory family gatherings, weddings, and so forth.  Or so it seemed.

We celebrated the dawn of the millennium in Colorado, and after a year and a half working for a TV station in 'the Springs' I had the opportunity to transfer to a sister station in Iowa.

Why Iowa?  It was time to live closer to family, I yearned for a slower pace, better schools for the kids, it all seemed to make sense.  We bought an acreage near the town of Wellsburg, a lovely little midwestern town with a German heritage (many Iowa towns were founded by immigrants from Sweden, Norway, Holland, Ireland, Germany, England, etc and retain some of the charm of their mother country).  Wellsburg had a community pool, 9 hole golf course and nice neat homes on nice neat lots.  The kids loved the pond at the end of the lane, I fell in love with the soil - a soil so rich and soft and fertile - if you have a green thumb, or a desire to grow just about anything - Iowa is the place to be, it was a far cry from the red dirt of Georgia!

From Sept 2001-June 2003 I worked for KWWL - Iowa's News Channel 7 - in Eastern Iowa.  Along the line God called me to the ministry, so we up and moved again - this time to northwestern Illinois so that I could go to seminary.  But we always planned to return to Iowa.  My call to ministry was birthed out of the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

My first appointment was clear on the other side of the state - in the Northwest Iowa community of Spirit Lake.  I almost wept as we drove there because the land was so very flat, until you got to the lakes.  Three beautiful clear water lakes surrounded by trees and homes of all shapes and sizes.  The lakes; West Okoboji, East Okoboji and Big Spirit are a true resort community that swells with visitors May through August.  As a local we quickly learned how to navigate tourist season and shared in the fun in the sun lifestyle with our Spirit Lake neighbors.

A year ago, I was appointed back to the 'east coast' of Iowa.  To a community on the Cedar River called Waverly.  Waverly is a lovely German midwestern town.  Nice neat homes on nice neat lots lined with flower beds and a wide variety of trees.  Nothing fancy or showy.  They have a wonderful library, swimming pool, great schools, a college (Wartburg College) a thriving down town area, 2 golf courses...you get the idea.  Waverly is home now.

But truth be told, my 20+ years in the south, the southern forests that I explored and fell in love with in my high school and college years, the food and culture, the Smokey Mountains continue to call me...and I always thought that someday, some day, I would wind up in Eastern Tennessee, North Carolina or North Georgia.  And I may still - some day.

In the meanwhile Iowa continues to woo me.  Today's drive to Oskaloosa along Highway 63 showed off her very best.  Everything is so green and alive - the fields of corn and soybeans are starting to take off.  Tree lines along the numerous creeks and rivers rise and fall along the rolling hillsides beckoning to be explored.  It is all so beautiful and even, dare I say, sensuous.

It's as if God is saying to me - stop yearning for somewhere else, look at what I have created all around you...

True confession time:  I have not felt as if I had a place to call home/home since I was about 12 - that's when my family moved from our family's farm in Pennsylvania.  Over the past 38 years I have lived in 8 states (2 of them twice) and about 18-20 houses...I frankly have lost count.  Sure, home is where your family is - but without a sense of rootedness or groundedness - well, home can sometimes seem to be out there - somewhere - yet to be found.

But Iowa, oh Iowa.  Despite your OCD like efficiency (there are roads going north/south and east/west each and every mile out in the countryside - and the naming system is down right diabolical in its efficiency), your crazy extremes in weather (its Iowa - it will change in the next few hours - and it does), despite the wind that never stops blowing (it howls in the winter but it's a breeze and very desirable in the summer) and sharing said roads with farm implements of every size and shape imaginable,  and the crazy schedule of athletics for our kids (baseball and softball season begins after school gets out for the summer which means only a 2 week window for any sort of family summer vacation).  What can I say?  I think I am hooked...

I sure do love Iowa's sunrises and sunsets.  The sheer openness of the land allows for a 360 degree view of God's handiwork.  I admire your diversity, we have every size, shape and color of folk you could imagine, many immigrants in the past 40 years were sponsored by churches here in Iowa.  I love how by 6 in the evening on a hot summer day the temperature and humidity starts to fall to a comfort level that allows one to throw open the windows and enjoy the fresh night air.  And I especially love how accepting you are of folk - even vagabonds such as myself.

Sigh....yes, I think I'm falling in love with Iowa - and it feels pretty good to me.

peace, hope, love and joy, wherever you call home
Deborah