summer came and went really quickly. i'd like to say i had a vacation, but it was more like a working vacation as i did a lot of traveling over a couple of months. we took a few days to drive back to seattle in July. i flew back to SD and drove down iowa to go to synod school. came back home for a couple of weeks, then flew back out to seattle. once in seattle, i was able to spend some down time visiting family and friends. toward the end of my time there i flew out again, this time to louisville, ky to attend the mindpoint meeting of the for such a time as this program through the pc(usa). i flew back into seattle and then took a few days to drive back home with the family... many miles both on the ground and in the air logged this summer.
and even though it was vacation, it is difficult, being a pastor, to not think about the next sermon, what directions to take in ministry, congregational care issues, etc. these things are always on a slow simmer in the back of my mind... and since the trip was punctuated with ministry related meetings and trips, it only served to stoke the fires a little bit more, keeping those thoughts brewing.
it was nice to spend time with family and reconnect with friends back in seattle. it was refreshing to worship back at presby and not have to worry about setting the order of worship and preparing the sermon. it was a good trip, but i have to say that it's also nice to be back in town and back to a more normal routine.
fall is in full swing again. there's a chill in the air - a reminder that winter is just around the corner. the news is that the farmer's almanac predicts 200+ inches of snow for the area - we'll have wait and see about that. farmers are starting to harvest again. fall ministry is up and running with a lot of excitement and momentum.
life has been busy since being back... today is probably one of the first days that i've had some down time to get things taken care of around the house and to actually have time to compose this...
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
year one
sorry... i haven't been keeping up with the blog. i've been involved with too many things to keep up to date with this thing. i'll try to update more frequently...
last weekend was the one year anniversary of when we first stepped foot in south dakota. it was the weekend when we met the congregations for the first time, i preached my candidating sermon and the congregation voted to extend a call to me. what a difference one year makes. moved half-way across the country, stepped into the roll of a pastor, endured what the locals call a hard winter, and now enduring heat, humidity, thunderstorms and bug bites...
even though it's been a year, i still feel like the new guy. sure i got some things under my belt, but i'm still really green as a pastor and still learning about the congregation and our community. there is still a lot to learn and a lot i'd like to do in this upcoming year.
it's kinda fun(ny)... i've been making summer travel plans and when input my information to buy airplane tickets there's the option to either put Mr, Dr, or REV! at first I hesitated selecting the Rev title and was going to settle for Mr. (it's still rather awkward for me to address myself as pastor mark, let alone rev. mark) but then i thought, "hey, i spent all those years in seminary, jumped through all the presbyterian hoops and am now serving in a couple of churches in south dakota...i think i shall enjoy the ability to select rev!" so there you go, flying the friendly skies soon will be the rev. mark! ha ha!
last weekend was the one year anniversary of when we first stepped foot in south dakota. it was the weekend when we met the congregations for the first time, i preached my candidating sermon and the congregation voted to extend a call to me. what a difference one year makes. moved half-way across the country, stepped into the roll of a pastor, endured what the locals call a hard winter, and now enduring heat, humidity, thunderstorms and bug bites...
even though it's been a year, i still feel like the new guy. sure i got some things under my belt, but i'm still really green as a pastor and still learning about the congregation and our community. there is still a lot to learn and a lot i'd like to do in this upcoming year.
it's kinda fun(ny)... i've been making summer travel plans and when input my information to buy airplane tickets there's the option to either put Mr, Dr, or REV! at first I hesitated selecting the Rev title and was going to settle for Mr. (it's still rather awkward for me to address myself as pastor mark, let alone rev. mark) but then i thought, "hey, i spent all those years in seminary, jumped through all the presbyterian hoops and am now serving in a couple of churches in south dakota...i think i shall enjoy the ability to select rev!" so there you go, flying the friendly skies soon will be the rev. mark! ha ha!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
snow+wind+basketball=more new adventures
you wouldn't expect that in the middle of march we'd get stuck in a blizzard. well, our year of firsts continued when a quick shopping trip 60 miles away turned into a mini-vacation when the wind kicked up to a steady 50+ mph and the snow started to fall... and before we could get out of there, they closed the interstate back home. we were stuck. we tried alternate routes, but with the weather the way it was, visibility next to zero, and the condition of rural county roads being bad, we turned back to where we started and looked for a hotel to stay the night. unfortunately, the state basketball tournament was going on at the same time and every hotel room in the city was booked. the hotels directed us to the salvation army shelter for stranded motorist.
but thanks be to God, some friends called us, and we told them of our predicament. they made a few calls and arranged for us to stay with some friends of theirs in the city. gratefully, we accepted and went to their place. they were very gracious to us. they had kids around the same age as ours and so the kids had a blast. we were able to spend a comfortable night with some new friends while the wind and snow blew crazy outside.
i was relieved to find out that this kind of stuff happens often. the weather is so unpredictable at times that people get stranded. i'm so thankful that we weren't spending the night in some ditch out in the country. God was truly watching out for us.
but thanks be to God, some friends called us, and we told them of our predicament. they made a few calls and arranged for us to stay with some friends of theirs in the city. gratefully, we accepted and went to their place. they were very gracious to us. they had kids around the same age as ours and so the kids had a blast. we were able to spend a comfortable night with some new friends while the wind and snow blew crazy outside.
i was relieved to find out that this kind of stuff happens often. the weather is so unpredictable at times that people get stranded. i'm so thankful that we weren't spending the night in some ditch out in the country. God was truly watching out for us.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
five months and counting
i recently realized that this has been the longest stretch i have gone without stepping a foot in seattle - five and a half months. the last stretch was probably about 3 months when i was at fuller in pasadena - a combination of spring quarter and a couple of summer intensives before going home to seattle for vacation.
it's hard to believe that it's been that long. time has definitely gone by quickly (isn't there something about time flying when you're having fun?). in that time there's been many firsts both in life and as a pastor. we've met many great people. we've grown together as a family. i'm growing into my role as a pastor. it's been a season of adjustment and growth.
however, as the snow gently melts (yes it is slightly melting... leaving ice behind) and we look forward to spring and new life, i feel that it's high time to start doing something different, new. it feels like i've been hiding behind the mantle of the 'new guy' or the 'new pastor' and it's high time to get past that and move forward in life and ministry. i'm not sure what shape that will take, but i've been excited from the start at the potential that the two congregations i serve have for ministry to the community.
it's hard to believe that it's been that long. time has definitely gone by quickly (isn't there something about time flying when you're having fun?). in that time there's been many firsts both in life and as a pastor. we've met many great people. we've grown together as a family. i'm growing into my role as a pastor. it's been a season of adjustment and growth.
however, as the snow gently melts (yes it is slightly melting... leaving ice behind) and we look forward to spring and new life, i feel that it's high time to start doing something different, new. it feels like i've been hiding behind the mantle of the 'new guy' or the 'new pastor' and it's high time to get past that and move forward in life and ministry. i'm not sure what shape that will take, but i've been excited from the start at the potential that the two congregations i serve have for ministry to the community.
Friday, September 03, 2010
busy
we've been busy this week setting up home. we've been unpacking, organizing and finding new spots for all of our stuff. i disassembled a lot of our furniture for the move here... now i have to put it all back together. so far none of the parts are missing, which is amazing to me.
we've also done a bit of traveling in the area. we went up to fargo to return the truck. we did some shopping. the sam's club up there has kikkoman shoyu, but we didn't find any japanese rice. we bought some long grain rice to see how that is and maybe use to stretch out our 50lbs of japanese rice we brought over...
yesterday we went to watertown. i got the oil changed on the mini-van (btw, i don't trust toyota of kirkland, where i got the mini-van), and it got the once over to make sure it was still doing good after the trip. afterward and after some additional shopping we had dinner at culvers. their food was pretty good. their frozen custard and lemon ice were excellent. the frozen custard was pretty rich... i don't think it was good for my lactose intolerance, though.
today i go to fargo again to drop my mother-in-law off at the airport. i'll have to see what else there is to do in fargo before i head home.
we've also done a bit of traveling in the area. we went up to fargo to return the truck. we did some shopping. the sam's club up there has kikkoman shoyu, but we didn't find any japanese rice. we bought some long grain rice to see how that is and maybe use to stretch out our 50lbs of japanese rice we brought over...
yesterday we went to watertown. i got the oil changed on the mini-van (btw, i don't trust toyota of kirkland, where i got the mini-van), and it got the once over to make sure it was still doing good after the trip. afterward and after some additional shopping we had dinner at culvers. their food was pretty good. their frozen custard and lemon ice were excellent. the frozen custard was pretty rich... i don't think it was good for my lactose intolerance, though.
today i go to fargo again to drop my mother-in-law off at the airport. i'll have to see what else there is to do in fargo before i head home.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
home new home
we drove from our hotel as normal... about 20 miles down the road we exited for gas. as we slowed down, we asked ourselves, 'what is that siren noise?' Oh yeah, i forgot to turn the alarm off the car we were towing... so for 20 miles we had a car alarm going off behind us and we didn't know it!
we saw evidence of asians in this part of the country. there were a couple at a gas station in montana and at lunch in fargo there was an asian...
we made it to south dakota last night. we had to drive through a pretty bad thunderstorm to get here, but we made it! we got in about 7 our time and many people of the church came to help unload or super-packed truck. we are grateful for their help. now we are unpacking and finding homes for our stuff.
we miss everyone in seattle a lot, but look forward to getting things started here. praise God for getting us here safely. the journey continues...
we saw evidence of asians in this part of the country. there were a couple at a gas station in montana and at lunch in fargo there was an asian...
we made it to south dakota last night. we had to drive through a pretty bad thunderstorm to get here, but we made it! we got in about 7 our time and many people of the church came to help unload or super-packed truck. we are grateful for their help. now we are unpacking and finding homes for our stuff.
we miss everyone in seattle a lot, but look forward to getting things started here. praise God for getting us here safely. the journey continues...
Sunday, August 29, 2010
bismarck
it was a long drive today (560 miles), but we made it to bismarck, nd. it was amazing to finally get out of the mountains and have the sky open up in montana. we then stopped by the painted canyon visitor center when we entered north dakota. i'd post pictures, but my technology is so out dated that i have to wait to download my pictures from my camera :( (i'm also blogging, which is somewhat outdated as well...) i'm now tired... must get some rest
Saturday, August 28, 2010
big sky
'i would like to have seen montana,' said the dying guy from the red october... why, yes...now i have seen montana... and yes, the sky is pretty big here. we made it to bozeman today. got in late. driving through the rockies in the dark, in the rain, with a big moving truck, towing another vehicle, is not fun... tomorrow hopefully we make it through the rest of montana... it's a big state. so far, no sightings of anyone named hannah...
btw... imo starbucks via is a very good alternative to bad hotel coffee... good trip purchase
btw... imo starbucks via is a very good alternative to bad hotel coffee... good trip purchase
spokane
the first leg of the journey takes us to spokane. it was pretty neat seeing the other side of washington state. living in wa all my life, i have not seen this part of the state, so it was nice to take a tour of i-90 beyond the cascades. driving the truck and trailer isn't too bad. i just need a lot more room to stop and i'm not suppose to exceed 55mph (if i do, i go back to the future...1.21 'jigawatts'). another day of driving... we'll see where we end up today!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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