Some Time Away

Bryan said to me recently that he wanted to go somewhere for a week where I couldn't get good phone reception. He said that he wanted to see my eyes. So we figured out what week we could sneak away together. I made arrangements to have our 17-year-old Cairn terrier, Baby, to be boarded at the vet. Then Thursday, when I came home I found baby so weak she could hardly go outside. Then she just disappeared. She got disoriented and couldn't find her way back inside. When Bryan came home she had a seizure in his arms. It was clear to us that we needed to do the kind thing. So Friday, the day before we left, I took Baby to the vet to be euthanized. I thanked her for all she meant to my family. We got her for Matt when he was nine years old. For the last six years she has definitely been Bryan's dog. We already miss her snoring under the bed.

Today Bryan and I got up early and left for Death Valley. We met an English woman at a dinner party one time who said that whenever any of her friends or family come to visit her in Southern California they want to go to Death Valley. We decided to go see what the attraction was. When we got to Dante's View Bryan said, "That was sure a hell of a long way to come for that view."

The amazing thing about Death Valley is that it has the lowest, hottest and driest points in North America. The highest point in the continental United States is just 100 miles from the lowest point in North America. It got up to 105 degrees while we were there. We saw some amazing rock formations but the heat kept us moving.

We are staying in Lone Pine, CA. I picked it because I had read about the Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine. What an incredible place. We drove through the Alabama Hills, had dinner and then drove back through. I took a bunch of pictures but none can capture the beauty. (I lamented that truth to Bryan and he said, "That is why people go places themselves rather than just looking at pictures.") Can you see pumpkin rock?

I am trying to decide if I want to drive through the Alabama Hills again tomorrow morning.

But I really want to see Bristlecone Pines in the early morning light.

The Joys of NOAC

I have been at National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) since Wednesday. NOAC is held in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. What a gorgeous place. It was overcast and rainy until today. Now as the Brethren are loading up their suitcases and heading for their homes, the sun comes out and the place is alive with beauty.

I roomed with Shirley Boyer here at NOAC. Besides enjoying each other it confuses the heck out of everyone. I can't tell you how many people had to tell me how much they loved my father, Chuck. One man said to me today, "I am one of the millions of people who was a fan of your father, Chuck." This is Shirley sitting in the rocking chair as we wait for our ride to the airport.

I came to NOAC to preach the closing sermon. There were a little over 800 of us over 50-year-olds. The theme was "Passion and Purpose in a Changing World." I was asked to preach on the changing world part. I used an illustration of my youngest son being chosen as a LA Opera Scholar during his emo phase of life. It was a fun story to tell.

NOAC is one of the few places left in the Church of the Brethren where I feel at home. This conference is a place where people with open hearts and open minds come. There are good reasons to be over 50!

Get to the Beach!

At least once a summer Bryan and I like to go to a concert in Memorial Park. We went last week. It was so pleasant to sit outside and listen to music. I even joined the conga line for a short time.

This week the church was loaned an organ for the East Room. It is an amazing instrument and a beautiful work of art. It took a few people to carry it into the church and reconstruct it.

Bryan and I got up early on Saturday to get to the beach before everyone else. If you live in Southern California you should get to the beach anytime you have a chance! At least, that is my motto. So we took our new beach chairs and had the most gorgeous view. We were home by noon.

Weekend

Bryan looks forward to his weekends to rest and play. My weekends have never been free time. So I try and scrunch in as much time as I can to be with Bryan. Usually the evenings are my time with Bryan. Friday night we went to dinner in downtown Claremont. Friday nights in the summer are called "Friday Nights Live." While we waited for a table we enjoyed the music of this band, consisting of seven women and one man.

Saturday night we did something we have been talking about for awhile. We went to Hollywood Forever Cemetery and watched the movie "The Jerk" on the mausoleum wall with about 2,500 of our closest friends. We brought down the average age there by a few years. It felt good to be outside and it was outrageous enough to be fun. Besides, I had forgotten how funny the movie "The Jerk" is.

Today I preached on Ehud and King Eglon in a sermon series I am doing called: "Is That Really in the Bible?" Four people joined the church. Then we had a special called Council Meeting to vote on a possible query concerning gender equality in Annual Conference elections. We passed the query on to District Conference without dissent. Then we had conversation about whether or not we are going to continue to send our benevolence money to the Mission and Ministry Board of the denomination or if we are going to hold it in a reserve account until we can have more conversation as a congregation. We eventually decided that we would follow the direction of the Church Board and have conversation and gather more information while we hold our denominational giving in a reserve account...for now. The meeting today pointed out the need for this intentional conversation. As someone said to me afterwards, all the arguments are coming from a commendable place. If we had voted today I think we would have had to choose between honoring people and programs at the denominational level we appreciate and honoring people in our denomination we love and who have been marginalized. I am praying that the chaos on the denominational level does not cause chaos for us as a congregation.

Friday and Saturday

The Program Staff took a few hours on Friday to get away and have a conversation about the future. I appreciate the chance to work with these people. They are thoughtful, authentic and genuine.

On Friday afternoon I was looking for the man in charge of our solar project. It seemed like the only way to find him was to climb onto the roof. I have never been on the Fellowship Hall roof before. As long as I was up there I decided to take a look around. I had a hard time getting down again. As the men on the roof explained, they don't usually allow anyone to climb the stairs to the roof who is wearing flip flops. Oops!

Today I went to the first birthday party of my brother's granddaughter. I had so much fun picking out her birthday presents: a polka dot dress and a pop-up book. She thoroughly enjoyed her cake. It was a pure pleasure to watch her.

She did quite a number on her cake.

Another Day in Kansas

Another day in Kansas and another gorgeous sunset....

...a horse...

...some elk...

...a good game of Scrabble with my favorite sister.

We went to Wichita and stopped at the bank on the way. Did you know that in Kansas you can carry a gun with you most any place? If a business doesn't want a gun on their premises they have to put up a sign in their window. We stopped at my sister's bank and I took a picture of their sign. They asked if I was making fun of them. I wouldn't say I was making fun of them but I am incredibly amazed at the state of Kansas.

Then we went to the Botanica Gardens. My sister's husband and son did some building for the Children's Garden. It was a most amazing place. You enter through the rainbow.

The larger than life bugs were works of art.

The concrete trees had personalities.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar took me back to my children's growing up years.

Dinner was with more of my sister's fabulous family.

I am grateful for family and for a relaxing day of respite.

Western Plains District Conference

I haven't written much on my blog this summer. But it is one my favorite things to do. I am going to try to do more of my favorite things!

I am in Kansas. I traveled here for the Western Plains District Conference. I don't usually go to other District Conferences but the Moderator asked me to bring the Sunday morning message. The theme was Until Christ is Formed in Us. The worship center was a picture of a laughing Jesus. If you looked closely enough you can see that it is made up of over 70 faces. It was incredible.

I left very early Friday morning so that I could land in Wichita by 2 p.m. My goal was to get to McPherson in time to take my father to the Ministers' Dinner. I made it. Then we went to evening worship. A hymn sing before worship was accompanied by accordion and guitar. It was fabulous. The Moderator, Bob Dell preached. He did a good job laying out the theme he had chosen for the weekend.

Saturday I didn't go to the Conference. I spent the evening with my sister and some of her family. I love being with family.

I find the sunsets in Kansas so amazing. I think it is the clouds and the wide open horizons. This picture was taken on my sister's farm.

Today is Sunday and I preached at the McPherson Church of the Brethren on Transformational Kinship. My sermon was inspired by Father Greg Boyle's sermon at ULV Baccalaureate this year. In his book Tattoos on the Heart, Boyle writes: "Serving others is good. It’s a start. But it is just the hallway that leads to the Grand Ballroom. Kinship—not serving the other, but being one with the other." I think the Brethren often get caught in the hallway of service. If we truly understood ourselves as kin we wouldn't have to talk about inclusion because there would be no "them."

After the sermon I found my father and told him I was proud to be his daughter. He said, "I am proud to be your father." Coming from a man that usually can only say the words yes, no and I don't know I felt overwhelmed to hear his words.