YOU'LL HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE POST TO FIGURE OUT THE PICTURES, WHICH ARE IN REVERSE OF CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. SORRY.
One month shy of eleven years we finished our pastoral tenure with Central Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. Officially “retiring” (as far and the Pension Board is concerned), we are embarking on a new adventure in ministry. I am expecting to begin serving congregations as an intentional interim/transitional pastor very soon. This will be quite a contrast to the long relationships we had with previous congregations (11 ½ years in IL, 17 in NJ and nearly 11 years in TX – only WI was brief). I completed the training offered by the Interim Ministry Network in early spring, having started in 2009.
Central Christian Church gave us a lavish if emotional send off, and we released them to God’s care (and Revs. Drs. Debbie and Steve Chisolm who will be their new pastors starting in July) with gratitude and satisfaction. Pragmatics, from auto mechanics to schedule twists, kept us from a real vacation the last couple of years. At this transition point, we needed not only vacation (I believe I worked hard up to the last day at Central Christian Church) and an opportunity for making some solid family connections. As a couple, we also needed not just a break between the old and the new but some leisurely time to process our transition. So we invested in getting our 1999 Chevy Blazer trip worthy and headed out on June 2.
Our only motel stay in 2600+ miles was in Emporia, KS on our way to Minneapolis to spend time with Candy’s Dad. We had not seen him since he came to TX for Erik’s college graduation two years ago, and we had not visited him for three years. Besides the good conversational connection, we also had opportunity to compare notes about coordinating our plans for our futures. Among other things, we enjoyed an evening of old timey music at Centennial Lakes Park. While in Minnesota, we also visited Candy’s Uncles Wes and Don. Both of them have been facing some health and aging issues lately, so it was good to have time with them.
One month shy of eleven years we finished our pastoral tenure with Central Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. Officially “retiring” (as far and the Pension Board is concerned), we are embarking on a new adventure in ministry. I am expecting to begin serving congregations as an intentional interim/transitional pastor very soon. This will be quite a contrast to the long relationships we had with previous congregations (11 ½ years in IL, 17 in NJ and nearly 11 years in TX – only WI was brief). I completed the training offered by the Interim Ministry Network in early spring, having started in 2009.
Central Christian Church gave us a lavish if emotional send off, and we released them to God’s care (and Revs. Drs. Debbie and Steve Chisolm who will be their new pastors starting in July) with gratitude and satisfaction. Pragmatics, from auto mechanics to schedule twists, kept us from a real vacation the last couple of years. At this transition point, we needed not only vacation (I believe I worked hard up to the last day at Central Christian Church) and an opportunity for making some solid family connections. As a couple, we also needed not just a break between the old and the new but some leisurely time to process our transition. So we invested in getting our 1999 Chevy Blazer trip worthy and headed out on June 2.
Our only motel stay in 2600+ miles was in Emporia, KS on our way to Minneapolis to spend time with Candy’s Dad. We had not seen him since he came to TX for Erik’s college graduation two years ago, and we had not visited him for three years. Besides the good conversational connection, we also had opportunity to compare notes about coordinating our plans for our futures. Among other things, we enjoyed an evening of old timey music at Centennial Lakes Park. While in Minnesota, we also visited Candy’s Uncles Wes and Don. Both of them have been facing some health and aging issues lately, so it was good to have time with them. We also met Sue, Candy's Dad's boarder.
On June 8 we headed to Milwaukee to be with Rachel and David, Sam and Elizabeth. We got to be with both kids and David on their last days of school. What fun! David gave us a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright Intermediate School in West Allis, WI where he finished his first year as Dean of Students. Many told us how much they appreciated him, and we are thankful that his contract has been renewed for next year (in this era of educational cutbacks).
I helped Rachel get her vegetable and herb garden in. Candy soaked up some of the peace and joy of Lake Michigan. We enjoyed gyros, donuts and frozen custard with our friends Beth and Terry Boschert. My niece Helen came down from Madison, WI and we enjoyed a good visit with her too. We celebrated Pentecost with Rachel and David and their church, Milwaukee Mennonite. The supper feature after worship was homemade ice cream and homemade Amish pretzels. David made three flavors of ice cream including Flaming Hemingway’s Coronary (lime juice, cilantro and cayenne peppers and all heavy cream – no milk or even half-and-half). Of course, the highlight of our time in Milwaukee was our grandchildren: Sam and Elizabeth. They are growing up and so much fun!
We headed to Illinois to see my Mom, and we stayed with my sister, Elaine, and her husband, Max. A lot of our time with my Mom was spent looking at the “scrapbook” (it was a lot classier than that sounds) of letters and pictures given to us as a remembrance by Central Christian Church. At 91, my Mom gets most of her satisfaction out of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Though we talk on the phone all the time, nothing beats face to face conversation and real hugs. Conversation with Max and Elaine was also positive and important as they are going through a transition as well. A work injury had Max off the job as a school bus mechanic for about a year. Not long after returning to work as a school bus driver, he had a stroke, which mostly affected his speech. He's doing much better now, thankfully. He’s also starting his pension and looking for work that suits his new time of life.
June 15 took us 593 miles to Grand Island, NE to visit Candy’s Aunt Vonnie and Roger Nelson. Vonnie is the last surviving sibling of Candy’s mother, and she and Candy had a wonderful and important time connecting about all kinds of family things, and copying some family documents for Candy. Roger is a retired Presbyterian pastor, with whom I have always felt a warm connection. Conversation with him was very helpful as I process our transition. He is very involved with Habitat for Humanity and does tours when the Sand Hill Cranes stop on the Platte River for about 6 weeks around March each year on their way from Central America to northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia. Though the cranes were not there, he took me to the river. He also told me about his acquaintance with Sigurd Olson, who is one of our son David’s environmental heroes (founder of Northland College where David graduated in Ashland, WI). Roger has autographed copies of several of Sigurd Olson’s books.
We returned to Dallas on June 18 with 637 miles for reflective conversation between us. Besides the intrinsic value of the trip, and each stop and each one we had time with, this trip drew a wonderful boundary between the calling we have followed for the last eleven years and the future adventure that lies ahead of us. It helped up resolve some of our anxieties and uncertain expectations. We still don’t know exactly what God has for us next, but we are affirmed again in a new and perhaps more dramatic way in the metaphor of Abraham’s living in tents in Hebrews 11:9-10. “By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
June 15 took us 593 miles to Grand Island, NE to visit Candy’s Aunt Vonnie and Roger Nelson. Vonnie is the last surviving sibling of Candy’s mother, and she and Candy had a wonderful and important time connecting about all kinds of family things, and copying some family documents for Candy. Roger is a retired Presbyterian pastor, with whom I have always felt a warm connection. Conversation with him was very helpful as I process our transition. He is very involved with Habitat for Humanity and does tours when the Sand Hill Cranes stop on the Platte River for about 6 weeks around March each year on their way from Central America to northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia. Though the cranes were not there, he took me to the river. He also told me about his acquaintance with Sigurd Olson, who is one of our son David’s environmental heroes (founder of Northland College where David graduated in Ashland, WI). Roger has autographed copies of several of Sigurd Olson’s books.
