Seattle!

So right after my time in Minnesota I flew back to the northwest - but not to my hometown. Instead I landed in Seattle because I had the chance to connect with some friends for a couple of days. My friend Karen and her dad had been in Alaska fishing the week before - and since they are from New York City I didn't wanna miss out on seeing them on this side of the country! Plus Kirsten, Janna & her kids joined in as well.

Of course we had to see the Space Needle - in fact it was quite close to the MarQueen Hotel where we stayed. It is a fun place that once little apartments for mechanics back in the day. We had fun hanging out in the hood - fell in love with the Metropolitan Market (great snacks and good, cheap wine :-), and generally acted like tourists.

We also spent some time on Bainbridge Island - which you have to take a ferry to get to. I think taking a ferry ride with little kids is maybe one of the more fun things to do in the world!

Plus we found the super yummy ice cream spot on the island and had a great time enjoying fabulous treats in the sunshine! What fun it is to explore a bit of a city along with good friends!

Presbygeek

In July, I had the opportunity to head to Minnesota and join with lots of other presbyterians as we converged on the city of Minneapolis for our General Assembly. Actually, I got to go a bit earlier for the Campus Ministry Summit, held at Macalester College in St. Paul. That was a great chance to see colleagues from all over the nation, hear from our keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Steve Haynor (new prez of Columbia Seminary) and generally enjoy time with others who "get" why campus ministry matters. The time together was good fun, worship coordinated with folks from "The Table" was wonderful - check them out at http://www.thetableatcpc.org/ - and it was all over much too quickly!

But for the uber-presbygeek there was still General Assembly, so I crossed the river to Minneapolis. I was officially there as an exhibitor for the group PACHEM (Presbyterian Association for Collegiate & Higher Education Ministries). There was much to do - between daily worship, hanging out schmoozing in the exhibit hall, connecting with presby-friends from all over and testifying on behalf of campus ministry I kept busy. I even got the chance to grab a meal with the pastor from my hometown church and another friend from the presbytery where I grew up.

Some explanation - for those of you who don't speak presbyterian, the General Assembly is our big national meeting that happens every two years now. We gather, worship, and have big meetings with representatives from all over the country where we vote on all sorts of things. It is what we do to prayerfully discern who God is calling us to be & where God is calling us to act, pray, etc. in the world. A presbytery is a regional grouping of churches - the one I grew up in is called Palo Duro Presbytery, named for the beautiful canyon found in the panhandle of Texas. And the reason these two guys are holding their fingers up by their heads is that the restaurant we picked was called Hell's Kitchen. Which we found amusing since we are all presby ministers - therefore the devil horns - I know, I know, but we were amused! And the food was AMAZING - I totally recommend it to anyone headed to the twin cities!

This is only the third GA I've been to - and I find them an interesting mix of meaningful worship, family reunion, business meeting, and politicking. But regardless of whether I find the day uplifting or frustrating, I can't deny that this is my faith family and I enjoy getting to see us in action. May God bless the work of my fellow presbys, now all back in their home congregations.

Summertime

So I haven't written here in quite a while . . .but that is because things have been busy here. The summer started with what may be one of my favorite things about living in Oregon - the STRAWBERRIES!!! This year we had a particularly wet, chilly spring - so the wait was long. We prayed for sunshine so those little red yummy berries would ripen, and eventually they did.

There are lots of small, farmer owned u-pick places in the area. This year the place I went to had six varieties, each one sweeter than the next. These were all destined for either my tummy or the freezer, so the morning was spent picking Raniers, Shuksans and Bentons. All delicious and so sweet. I honestly don't remember tasting sweeter strawberries before the move to the northwest.

Berry picking was always something that sounded sort of Laura Ingallls Wilder - something you might do on your way home from the one room schoolhouse. I have learned a few things that reading the "Little House" books didn't teach me. For one thing, it is best to pick in the morning, before things warm up. And you need to bring something to carry your berries home in - preferably something not too deep, because if they are in more than a layer or two they get squished, and that is a sad thing to find when you get home after scootching around in the ground picking berries all morning!

To me the summer really starts when strawberries are around - so that is how my summer started, one lovely morning out listening to the birds sing picking strawberries galore . . .and enjoying strawberry shortcake for dinner!