Didn’t get too many pictures today, but full of thankfulness.
For giggles and tickles…
For a table full of pie…
For the most amazing side dishes (including the brussel sprouts with bacon and bleu cheese)…
For lots of different families around the tables…
Thankful.
Resolution 2013.1
WHEREAS, my change in job has caused some stress in my family life
WHEREAS, stability is sometimes more important than flexibility
WHEREAS, I need to remember this job is a marathon, not a sprint
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will prayerfully (and with consulatation from my husband) discern my schedule in the future – especially planned time away
LET IT FUTHER BE RESOLVED, that I will ask for help when I need it, delegate where I can, and remember that giving 100% to this work is often about empowering other people to serve as well.
Resolution 2013.2
WHEREAS, being on the road has meant less time for self care
WHEREAS, I need to serve God with mind, soul and BODY
WHEREAS, health requires sleep and exercise and good food.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I am giving up fast food.
LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that I will exercise 4x/week.
Resolution 2013.3
WHEREAS, in extension ministry I am without a church home
WHEREAS, I took opportunities this fall to travel on weekends and rest from the Sunday routine in one particular church
WHEREAS, the discipline kind of requires that I find a church
WHEREAS, it is good for my soul to worship with others on a regular basis and not just sporadically with different folks
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will find a church home by the end of January.
Resolution 2013.4
WHEREAS, I have lost my weekly bible study group in Marengo.
WHEREAS, I am not preaching every Sunday and therefore not doing regular textual study, either.
WHEREAS, regular time with the scriptures is good for my mind and my spiritual life.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will have coffee every week with a good friend of mine and the Bible
Tomorrow, we are hosting both my husband’s mom’s side of the family and my family for a big Thanksgiving meal. There is a 22 pound bird in the fridge and all of the fixings are ready to go.
But as much as I cook during the week and as much as I watch those fancy chef shows on television and pour over recipes on Pinterest, pretty much all I am doing for this meal has been done. I opened four cans of beans and two cans of cream of mushroom soup, mixed them up in a dish and popped them in the fridge for tomorrow.
My husband likes to cook big meals. He likes to fuss around with the turkey. And he doesn’t want new recipes and fancy stuff… he wants traditional, as we remember it from growing up, Thanksgiving dinner. He planned the menu and put together the ingredient list and decided where to shop. And I’m trying my hardest to stay out of his way.
You see, we are both strong personalities and stubborn and we like to be in charge in the kitchen. I would absolutely do things differently. And it’s not that there is a right or wrong way between the two of us… the huge and awesome meal we will have tomorrow will be delicious and perfect… and… well, to be honest, I might have some successes and failures with my wild experimentations (as the hallway smoke detector can attest). And so rather than fuss or suggest other things, I’m going to pull out all of those other recipes here and there during a normal, everyday meal, and I’m going to not butt in. I’m going to enjoy the time with family without having to worry about whether the marshmellows on top of the candied yams are burning. That’s his problem 😉
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are full of delicious food and just full to the brim with stories and memories and time with family.
If one is going to preach through the book of Acts, you can’t leave out the story of the transformation and conversation of Saul/Paul. It is a chapter I have heard many times, from many different angles, and recently heard powerfully preached by Bishop Palmer at our Iowa annual conference.
Sometimes, having an overwhelming number of angles going into a sermon is more of a burden than a gift. There are so many things that you want to say that you aren’t quite sure where to start. I opened up my bible on Monday, prayed for some focus, and picked out some hymns to send to my organist. But my prep time was shorter than usual because that evening I got on a plane and flew to Akron, Ohio for our North Central Jurisdictional Conference.
The conference itself was fine. Time with friends and colleagues, conversations about the life of our church and where God was leading us, and worship were the main highlights. The food was surprisingly good. But in the back of my mind, I still was thinking about this sermon I had to write.
Just down the street from our hotel was a little cafe called The Damascus Road Cafe. That’s funny, I thought. That’s exactly what I’m preaching about! I secretly hoped that maybe I’d find some clever little story about this restaurant that would give me a parable for my sermon. Little did I know that I’d throw out my entire sermon to tell the tale of this cafe and the people who ran it.
Every morning, my roommate and I stopped by for breakfast. The prices were fantastic and the food was delicious. The muffins were huge and moist and dense. The fruit was fresh. The staff was friendly. What’s not to like? Every day, those of us attending the conference walked right by this little cafe from our hotel half a block away. We bought sandwiches and coffee, soup and cookies. The place was full of nice United Methodist folks with our huge name badges and conference bags.
And then on the last full day of conference, I started to hear the stories. The story about how this little cafe had been struggling. A story about the mom and dad and their five children who ran the shop. A story about how the week before they looked at the bills piling up and began to pray for help. The story about how they were only a week or two away from closing their doors. The story about how the United Methodists showed up and they made more money in three days than they had in the three years before. I’m not sure of the truth of all of those stories… but what I do know is that this family and business needed help and we showed up just in time.
On the last day, conference had ended and we had a few hours to wait until our flight. So my roommate and I grabbed some coffee and cookies from the Damascus Road Cafe. We sat in the sun and talked through the week and couldn’t wait to get back home. And then about 3pm, just before our rides were supposed to arrive, we walked back over to the cafe to grab a few sandwiches to go. The two of us stood there at the counter while they began to close up shop and we started to talk.
They shared with us their gratitude that we had been in town that week. They asked questions about my friend who was using a cane (Jessica was the one hit by the truck in Tampa two months before). And then the guy behind the counter told the story of his own injury and healing. He had a job that required a lot of walking and time on his feet and bone spurs had developed in his heel. They were so debilitating that he was put on light duty and his job was on the line. One day, he was doing laundry and his wife was in another room watching Pat Robertson and the 700 club. He heard in the distance Robertson talking about a man who was being healed… a man who had bone spurs… pain in exactly the spot where HE had pain… and he ran into the main room. “Honey, he’s talking about me!!!” As he said the words, he felt warmth travel through his leg. He felt the pain leave his body. His bone spurs were healed, right then and there.
Now, those of you who know me also know that I don’t usually pay too much attention to Pat Robertson. I’ve never watched the 700 Club. And I’m sometimes skeptical of these kinds of healing stories. But I was moved by his sharing, and even more moved when he and his family asked if they could lay hands on my friend, Jessica, and pray for healing for her foot. They knelt down beside us and placed their hands on her ankle and foot. We joined together in prayer, right there in the middle of the cafe.
The Damascus Road symbolizes for me a place of transformation. A place where the past doesn’t continue to be the future. A place where the pain and anger of previous times are replaced by light and grace and love. That was why Saul couldn’t continue to carry his name around and had to change it. It is why he left behind persecution and embraced the testimony of Christ. And at the Damascus Road Cafe, we saw a little bit of hope sneak into a dark situation. We felt healing and grace. We saw community formed and relationships built.
That is the story I told on Sunday morning. Not a tale of a guy on a road, but of people gathered in a cafe for prayer, fellowship, food, and grace.
Funeral Meditation based on Revelation 22:1-5 and John 14:1-3
On the inside of your bulletin is a beautiful passage of scripture from the book of Revelation.
If we want to know what this place is like… this place that Jesus promises he will take us… we need to look no farther than these pages. This life that awaits us will have room for many, and never again will we hunger or thirst. Never again will we be left without shelter or shade. Never again will we be on our own… the Lamb of God will be our Shepherd.
Now, knowing a little something about Doris Fry – I’m not sure that she would necessarily take kindly to being a sheep. Doris was really more of the shepherd sort, herself. She was an independent sort of lady who minced no words and told you how it was.
But perhaps, in the way that she loved you… in the way she cared for you and for others… we saw in her life a glimpse of what our life with God just might be all about.
Doris was born to William and Lina Turner on Feb 22, 1927. She went to the Cedar Rapids Beauty School and owned and operated her own beauty shop for many, many years here in Marengo. And along the way – she fell in love with a man named Gene and they were married in 1946 at the Methodist parsonage.
Family was very important to Doris and she loved to travel – especially down to Missouri and the Ozarks where much of the family was. But sometimes her home was the destination for others and her home was always open to family who stopped to visit. As Jesus promises there will be room for many in his father’s house… you might have caught a glimpse of how many could fit in a home and some of you gathered with family to fish and to laugh and to enjoy one another’s company.
I’ve also heard famous things about Doris’ table. Randy shared with me that Doris always cooked way more than anyone who was gathered around the table could possibly eat. She often would feed Gene and the men he worked with, and would make different sorts of dishes to make everyone feel loved and included. At Christmas, Doris used to make all sorts of candies and sweets and pile them on plates for people to take with them. When we imagine our future with God where we will hunger and thirst no more… perhaps you caught a glimpse of that future around a table where everyone could have their fill.
Doris Fry spent her lifetime serving others. While running her beauty shop she provided a place for women to gather and talk. Although as she spent time this last year with some of the men that Gene used to hang out with – she promises that there is more gossip flying around those guys than ever there was in her beauty shop.
She was also, I’m told, the unofficial team hairdresser for the Iowa Valley Wrestling team – in a time when hair had to be so short or the young men couldn’t compete, Doris would often be called upon to give the guys a trim right there in the locker room.
For many years, Doris cared for her own mother, Lina. She taught Sunday School at the church. She loved and enjoyed everyone who came into her life.
Doris is an example for many in her family about how to love deeply and strongly. I think one of the things that sticks in my mind about her is a time when I visited Doris and Gene in the hospital. They were sharing a hospital room… both in there for different reasons – but they were joking and enjoying one another and at the moment that was all that mattered.
In the midst of the ways that she cared for others, there was always a God who loves her moving in the background, always making sure that Doris was cared for and always preparing a place to which she would one day be called.
Jesus told his disciples that in his Father’s house there is room for many – and that a place was being prepared for them and for us. As you remember all of those things that you loved about Doris – all of the ways that she spent a lifetime caring for all of you, telling you the truth, and loving you – you can be assured today that she is today in the presence of our God and that she is home.
But also know that a place is being prepared for you. We gather today, because we believe in a God who walks with us through this dark valley. We gather today because we believe in one who will guide us through this valley of the shadow of death to the light of life eternal on the other side. This is the God who wanted to be with us and for us so much that he came to earth as a fragile infant, and lived and moved among us. This is a God who cares so deeply for us that he gave up his very life, so that we might all have life and have life abundant.
As we remember Doris’ life today and in the weeks and years to come, there will be times to cry and times to laugh. Times for joy and sorrow. And we need to let all of those emotions and memories to simply sit with us – to simply be… because it means that we remember and that we cherish what we have lost. But also know and take assurance in the fact that those who mourn will be comforted. The same shepherd who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death walks beside each of you today and as you leave this place and will walk with you until you arrive at that place where every tear will be wiped from our eyes and there will be weeping and crying no more. Amen.
I am taking a snowy Sunday afternoon to do a few necessary things. I rearranged my home office so that I could now look out the window and watch the huge white flakes drift to the ground. Yes, that was a necessity. And I decided to dive back into blog reading. You see, in order to be a blogger, you need to be in community and actually read other people’s stuff. As I looked at my google reader queue, I realized I had 457 unread posts. That is unreal. And it was necessary to fix the problem.
A bit of the way into the adventure, I found out that I had been tagged by my friend Jessica and didn’t even realize it! So, since I’m a few weeks late, I figured I had better remedy the problem:
The Rules
playground when I was in kindergarten at our elementary school. Everyone got to play a part, from washing the tires that went on the swings to sanding lumber. It was amazing.
What did your senior prom dress look like? It was cream with lavender embrodiery on the bodice and a lavendar tulle overlay. (p.s. it is fun finding these pictures again!!!)My 11 questions for these 11 people: @thereverendmom, @drbobcwcc, @jbonewald, @briansteffen, @expatminister, @pastormelissa, @the_rev_kev, @johnmeunier, @MarthSpong, @kari_koehler, @teriosborn
Mark’s gospel is known for its haste. Jesus is here and then there and everything is so urgent and busy. We spent four weeks in Epiphany just in chapter one because everything happens in such a short span of time. Life is all crammed in and there is no time for details.
That could also describe my entry into the Lenten season. In a whirlwind of activity and meetings and work and hospital visits and writing, there wasn’t time to breathe! I think on Ash Wednesday I actually might have had two pots of coffee just to get me through. Go, go, go. Rush, rush, rush.
But then, we got to worship. Everything was finally set and we were sharing in familiar liturgy, age old hymns, quiet moments of reflection and confession and challenge.
We had 27 people in worship that evening… And while that might not sound like a lot, it was double what we had any other year I’ve been around. As people began to trickle in, as they came forward and I placed those ashes on each of their foreheads, as we broke the bread and shared the cup, it felt like home. A family gathered to remember we are human. A family gathered to say that we were sorry. A family gathered to start putting our lives back together… Together.
We always have a meal after Wednesday worship and before youth group starts, so we told folks to bring a dish to share. We feasted together on Ash Wednesday, and it never felt more right. Marked with the ashes, we knew we were mortal. We knew we had fallen short. But we also couldn’t stay there because the good news of God was also our story that night.
I sat with a couple who ocasionally attend our church – when they aren’t off being caregivers for aging parents. We shared stories. We talked about our hopes for the young people all around us. And they shared with me that even in these last few months, something is happening in our church. God is moving and the excitement and eagerness is building.
I learned two things last night.
1) all that rushing and moving was worth it. There is urgency in what we are doing because it is important and there is not a moment to waste
2) but we also have to stop and remember why. We have to slow our hearts and really listen.
Ash Wednesday has always had such a somber and holy and serious personality in my practice and theology. It was a day of darkness and despair, wailing and pleading.
But last night, when I stopped to look at all of us gathered around those tables in fellowship, I realized just how joyous Lent can be.
We trust in a God who brings light out of darkness, life out of death, strengh from weakness. I know, liturgically we have a few weeks to sit in our repentance… But God is good… All the time.
So pass the pie, and the baked beans, and the pistacio salad… Happy Lent!
I think one of the hardest things for a pastor of a United Methodist Church to do is to lose weight.
There is food everywhere.
And not just food… good food.
Baked goods after church.
“Snacks” which amount to a three course meal during bible studies.
Church suppers.
Youth group (and the leftovers which get sent home with me).
Food everywhere.
And I like food.
About 6 weeks ago, I started working out more on a regular basis. I’m doing this combo of weight training and cardio and I’m following the plan outlined with the dvd’s and I’m trying (trying!) to eat better.
Sometimes the scale doesn’t always show results, but the tape measure has… an inch here, two inches there.
I can actually see definition in my arms – I have biceps!!!!!
And yesterday, when a gift card from my favorite store arrived in the mail, I went shopping.
And fit perfectly into a pair of size 8 brown trouser pants.
I’m realizing that the more I talk about my goals, the easier it is to accomplish them. So thinking long range, a size 6 might be nice… I’m not sure I ever wore a size 6 – to be perfectly honest. But that size 8 pair of pants makes me SO happy. It is so encouraging to already see a difference and to celebrate that milestone. So I’m shouting it from the rooftops!
