New schools

This morning we brought Foster and Ella to their new school.  It brought back memories and anxieties from the first days of new schools in my childhood.  I remember the first time I visited my classroom in Northfield, being pegged as a nerd.  O the days clinging white knuckled to the doorframe of the girls bathroom, straining against being pushed in!

On our way up the stairs to Ella’s class, she exclaimed, “This is better than my old school! We didn’t have an upstairs.” I remember the embarrassment of being in a bigger elementary school for half of fourth grade and after three or four weeks still afraid of going to the library by myself, afraid I’d loose my way.  I remember the teacher’s exasperation when I asked if my friend Dean could accompany me.  What a blessing it was to have some ready made friends from church at that new school!

I hope Foster and Ella find friends quickly and no bullies.  Foster had a substitute teacher today.  Unfortunately nothing was prepared for him.  He had no locker or desk. The substitute did her best to find to find a temporary place for him in a class of thirty.  I can only imagine how his regimented methodical mind adapted to a world with no place for him or his things.

           

Is change coming?

Three weeks was a long time to be away. It was so good for me.  I come back to the house, not with a depressed listlessness, but a restless contentment and an expectation of what is to come. I feel alive again.

Elaine and I have called this Summer a time of transition. We have no idea what that means, only a sense that something needed to change. As we spent time together on our trip our sense became more clear. Change is coming and we are both open to it.  We still have no idea what that will look like.  We are not actively looking, the door will have to present itself and open on its own accord by the power of God.

My dad is helping to plant Crowne Pointe church in Bloomington. They meet in the auditorium beloning to Cedar Valley Church (or as I knew it Bloomington AG).  We went with the kids to Real Kids FX (Family Experience) an integrated service before the regular services. I was in love.  Children's Pastor, Jesse Baumgartner, has found a way to put my philosophy of ministry into action!  The service opened my eyes to how my family ministry model can be fit into the expectations of an existing church.  It also showed me how I could feel comfortable being part of the pastoral team in a large church setting. I could totally see being the pastor to the families in the FX service, or even seeing it as a church plant that the big church mothers.

There seems to be a big jump from where we are to that kind of place where I can engage in my passions. Will God transform our church into the place I flourish? or will it be a church plant in Bay City? or will God move us to a metropolitan area like Kalamazoo or Traverse City?  Time will tell. For now we wait on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31).

On Impermanence

Change is a strong wind.  It brings upheaval. Revolution and revolt are blown as a tumbleweed carried by its currents, and death and life are as pages and chapters in flight.  All is moving, swirling, blowing.  My life hangs in great peril as a wisp of smoke among the wind and clouds.  But in the midst of the plain stands a mountain, glistening, unchanged forever. Higher than the winds and storm, indeed untouched.

Hide me in the cleft of the rock.  Your words last forever.  Teach me to walk in that path.  To change - yes. To move - yes.  To die - yes. But you are not untouched.  Your love and grace, which are as unending as you are, you let me share, forever with you.  The rolling ground of the journey is swallowed by the surety of your forever.