Soaking Up the Son...

Do I have news for you!  God will be blessing the community of Concord and the surrounding area come July 1^st with the appointment of Rev. David Elmore to Concord United Methodist Church, the Open Door Free Store, and the surrounding area!  As you read his bio below, take in the breath and width and depth of God’s love for our communities… God is very present in our midst and hears our cries.  I can see everything from a Recovery Life program, to a deeply needed food pantry as new births in our community under Pastor David’s guidance.  Did I mention his work with children, youth and seniors??  My my… just read on and soak up the blessings of the Son…

David Elmore was born on August 19, 1968 in Houma, Louisiana.  He was the oldest of 3 and attended both Saint Matthew’s Episcopal School and Vandebilt Catholic High School.  David then attended Texas A&M University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering.  After graduation, David worked as a Water Resources Planner and Engineer for various consulting engineering firms and eventually for the New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

One of the highlights of David’s career with the Corps of Engineers was spending approximately 6 months as a Water and Sewer Reconstruction Manager for the U.S. Agency for International Development helping restore water and sewer services to the people of Iraq after the U.S. invasion of 2003.  This experience gave David new insight into social justice issues regarding how humans treat one another and how one group’s privilege may come at the expense of others.   It also helped him understand the Islamic faith and its complexities as well as learn what radical hospitality truly means.

After returning to the U.S., David finally pursued the call to Ordained Ministry in the United Methodist Church.  He left New Orleans weeks before Hurricane Katrina struck to attend Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.  It was here that he met his wife, Julie (…who is being appointed as pastor of Quincy and Litchfield UMCs!).  As a student, David also pastored a two-point charge in Pleasanton and Prescott, Kansas starting in August 2005.  Upon graduation, he and Julie accepted an appointment to the Alaska United Methodist Conference in July 2008, where he they went to serve Community United Methodist Church (CUMC-N) in Nome as Co-Pastors.  He was ordained an Elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church in June 2012.

As co-pastor of CUMC-N, David endeavored to lead the church in ministering the love of God to the hurting people of Nome, Alaska.  There are many issues there related to abuse of alcohol, loss of the Alaskan Native Culture, sexual abuse as well as the high cost of living.   CUMC-N sought to convey God’s love through innovative programs such as Tuesday School (Sunday School and Vacation Bible School all rolled into one!), worship that is sensitive to the needs of all people, and through programs including a Celebrate Recovery® ministry and a Faith and Culture Camp where youth can learn one can be both Christian and Alaskan Native.

Since March of 2011, David has served as Executive Director of the Nome Community Center (NCC), a National Mission Institution of the United Methodist Church affiliated with United Methodist Women, Inc.  In the spirit of its Mission to “enhance the quality of life of the people of the Bering Straits Region,” NCC provides a wide range of programs, services, and activities for the youth of Nome and their parents, putting major emphasis upon prevention and early intervention.  Services for youth and parents have included communications training, family support/preservation services, juvenile offender intervention, diversion activities, delinquency prevention activities, tutoring, socialization, and recreational and cultural activities for youth.   Currently, programs work with families needing help providing safe, nurturing homes for their children; the Nome Youth Court; Summer Lunch Program; XYZ Senior Center and Adult Day Services; Community and K-12 Tobacco Prevention; the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws program; the Juvenile Alcohol Safety Action Plan; and the Nome Children’s Home.  The Community Center also operates the Nome Food Bank and is the general partner in the Munaqsri (Inupiaq for “A Caring Place”) Senior Apartments partnership. 

Hold onto your seats people… God is up to something… again!

And Hold Their Hand

As I sit and write this morning, I am looking out the window to an ocean that is churning with winds 15 to 30 miles per hour, an overcast sky in a dull shade of grey, and a long empty beach.  For just a moment, you might think that would depress me, considering this was supposed to be a vacation in the sun.  And I’ll be honest, I have whined a bit.  But as I sit here this morning, a deeper reality has hit. 

I’m on vacation!  Don’t get me wrong. I love my work. I am blessed to be called by God to spend my days helping others, sharing Christ’s love, and spreading joy in a sometimes difficult world.  But it can be exhausting… and time consuming… and honestly, it can become my first love.  When the apostle Paul said “Get married if you must”, I understand what he meant.  Darryl and I were married for just over two years when my call came.  There are plenty of nights that I would honestly prefer to just stay at the church and continue doing whatever it is I am doing, but I know that I also made a commitment to my husband… so I need to close shop and go home. 

But on vacation… well, on vacation I don’t have to think about that.  I can just be Melany, Darryl’s wife.  The ride down to Virginia Beach was a blessing on its own; talking in the car, laughing about silly things, sharing about our hopes and dreams, and holding hands. Each is simple, but honestly, the simple things are what we so often miss.  My husband and I do intentionally make time for each other.  We have to… or it won’t happen.  We have a date night every Friday night and have for over 20 years.  I think we’ve probably missed 6 or 7 over those 20 years.  They are that important.  We schedule the rest of life around it.  We don’t have to have money to do it either.  We can take a blanket down to a park and just lay there and talk about life.  We can go to Meijers for a $1.49 ice cream cone and sit on a bench and people watch for hours… together.  What’s important is that we ARE together. 

Many studies have been done on the importance of quality time together as a married couple.  For instance, couples who have weekly date nights stay together… forever.  Couples who don’t?  Don’t. It’s that simple.  I know way too many couples who are together, but honestly, they don’t even like each other, let alone enjoy each other.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  It really doesn’t.  Anything worth having in life is worth investing in.  It’s worth investing time, attention and money, to be honest.  Think of all the other things we spend money on… Yah. My point. 

We went out of our way on the trip down this week just so we could attend a dirt track stock car race.  Would this have been my first pick?  My second or fifth?  No. Probably not.  But it is my husband’s first… and second and third.  It’s his love and goes way back to his childhood.  His father was a racer, his uncles, his brothers, and he was a racer when I met him.  It was a no brainer.  Love the man. Adjust the route, and go racing…. Then turn my head from time to time throughout the races and just look at the smile on his face.  Priceless.  Did I mention it was all of about 38 degrees that night??  Still, priceless.  Our relationship is worth it. 

Later down the road, we stopped at a fine art center in the hills of Virginia, and my husband followed me around from one artist area to the next… listening to me swoon over the texture on a piece of pottery, the color of a patina on a metal sculpture, or the gemstone set into a beautiful piece of jewelry… and he never once said, “Are we done yet?”  I’m sure he thought it.  But he loves me.  And he invests in our relationship.  And I love the arts.  And he knows it, so now I feel loved by him. 

So whether you are in Michigan or Virginia, Ohio or Florida, take some time to invest in those you love… even if it means doing something you don’t necessarily enjoy or would choose yourself.  Then, while you are in the absolute thick of it, take a look at the one you love… and enjoy that.  And while you’re at it, hold their hand.  

I Get It

A woman friend from my prior church just said to me “We’re even.”  She said she used to feel guilty about talking to me about her grandkids all the time, but that I’ve made up for it with all I talk about mine now that I have some.  Ha! I suppose we are.  No matter how many people said, “You won’t get it until you have your own,” I didn’t get it.  But now I do.

We had three of our four grandchildren for two days this week and what fun we had!  Let me try that again…. We had three of our four grandchildren for two days this week and man, was that exhausting!  Both are true.  Dane is four, Scotty turns two next month, and Layla turned one this past weekend.  Evena, our youngest, will be joining our overnighters soon.  But there is something very special about setting time aside for the next generation.  I remember going to my grandparent’s farm as a kid and I always loved it there.  One of my favorite pics ever is of me and my brother sitting on the couch with my grandparents there; my brother and grandpa, then grandma and me. 

It’s not like my grandparents could set everything down and just play with us, or that we went or did anything special.  We just got to live a moment in time with them in the midst of their lives.  It was precious time, considering they both died before I was twelve.  I have no grandparents or greatgrands anymore.  It leaves quite a hole.  I don’t know how much time we’ll have with our grandkids, but I do know I will be seizing every moment I can with them, while I can. 

I told my kids we’d be packing and the grands could help.  They laughed at me.  My daughter-in-law said Layla would unpack as much as I packed.  She was right.  But we had fun anyway.  I got a whopping two boxes packed while they were here.  I think Layla was up to seven Easter baskets full of paper grass, one drawer and one cupboard emptied.  I suppose she did win.  Oh, yah, she also emptied three boxes of toys.  She definitely wears the crown.

The kids also helped me rake leaves off of one of my flower gardens and dump all the leaves into the woods behind our home.  We took time to play a little baseball and golf in between.  I also got to sit on the yard swing with Layla for a while as the boys preferred to sit in the sandbox and toss dirt at each other.  We ate ice cream and caramel corn (shhhhh… don’t tell their parents), and of course fed them plenty of fruits, veggies, and their own organic milk (which their parents sent along).  We watched “Little Mermaid” (Dane’s pick) just before bedtime and I was blessed to tuck each one into their makeshift beds one by one over the evening.  I love staggered bedtimes.  That special one on one time with each child is priceless. 

I have heard grandparents complain about their grandkids, and even have seen some yelling at them or telling them they are stupid.  My heart breaks for those kids.  I pray my grandkids will remember me with the same warm heart that I remember mine.  Nothing that gets broke, gets spilled, or gets left on the floor is worth breaking a heart over.  As my grandfather used to say, “It ain’t arms or legs…”  I suppose if we would have lost one of those, I may actually have been placed in time out.  

Beauty in the Midst of Chaos

I spent several hours the other day sitting on the floor placing teeny weeny seeds into egg cartons filled with soil.  I have been harvesting my own seeds the past few years.  Some don’t do a thing, while others sprout into incredibly vivacious plants.  Some of the seeds were so tiny, they felt more like dust particles, while others were big and chunky, unmistakably a seed.  Once this task was complete, my husband helped me carry them all out into my greenhouse.  There they will receive warm sunshine and a sprinkle of water each day.  I will walk out each morning in hopes of seeing a tidbit of green popping up through the soil.  For those who pop well, they will later be transplanted either up at our farm or over in Marshall at our new home.  Each will be eagerly anticipated and adored, nurtured and cared for.  And for what end?  Beauty.  Sheer beauty.  I am not planting any vegetables this year.  Every seed, every sprout, every journey will be taken by a plant that will eventually flower for no other reason than to add beauty to my life and others’. 

I am reading a book right now in preparation for our denomination’s Annual Conference.  It is titled “Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results” by Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Tom Berlin.  Mr. Weems will be speaking at our conference, so the book with give each of us a preview of what is to come.  It talks about the importance of bearing fruit and being fruitful, for the sake of Christ and the world.  Rather than maintaining or surviving as a church, the authors challenge us to be a church that transforms lives.  In so doing, the entire world can be transformed.  The reality is, transformation doesn’t happen all willy-nilly.  It is planned, prepared, and worked toward. 

I was thinking the same thing about my flowers.  With the crazy few months we have ahead of us, couldn’t I just toss the seeds into the ground and hope for the best?  Or now that I do have the seeds all sown, can I just leave them outside and let nature takes its course?  The answer is simple.  Sure, if I am willing to accept the outcome.  Tossed seeds will likely be blown away, eaten by birds, or will simply shrivel and die before ever taking root.  And seeds placed outdoors right now will likely do a bunch of nothing.  It’s still too cold out to assure any germination and rain will either come in buckets or won’t come at all.  Consistency of temperature or moisture will surely be hit or miss.  If beauty in the midst of chaos is something I am not willing to live without, then this farm girl has some work to do.

Fruitfulness is a result of consistent, educated care.  You have to know what to do before you know how often to do it.  I have found the temps in my greenhouse, especially on sun filled days, can reach a scorching heat if I miss even one morning of watering.  And the reality is there are evenings I must water again.  If I haphazardly meander in and out of these plants lives, the reality is, well… they probably are not going to make it.  Now, I also am not God.  I can’t save a one of them and I surely cannot determine which will bear fruit and which will not.  But I can be sure that if I do my part, the rest will be in God’s hands. 

It’s no wonder Jesus used so many agricultural metaphors in scripture.  People surely resemble plants and vice versa.  If your church isn’t growing, if the people in your church don’t seem to be living fruitful lives outside of the church walls, then you may have to look at yourself.  Are you watering others regularly?  Are you staying near enough to help protect when the scorching heat attempts to burn them until they fold in half in a parched wilt?  Do you check their soil and add a little fertilizer from time to time when they are empty and used up?  Because if not, it is no wonder the church isn’t growing, or is even dwindling.  Bearing fruit takes work… but oh the results!  There’s nothing like the first zinnia that opens or a tall grass that sways in the summer breeze.  The smell of marigolds tickle the hairs in my nose and mini Japanese Iris’ always bring a smile to my face.  And don’t even get me started on those people at church I’ve been trying to nurture… talk about beautiful! 

I'm Stuffed!

What is it about stuff that brings us back wanting more? New stuff, old stuff, family stuff, important stuff, yard sale stuff, Free Store stuff, and even stuff I’m not really sure how I got.  I saw an episode of Hoarders last night and thought “Well, it’s not like I have that much stuff…”  But then try to start packing all your stuff.  All of a sudden you find you have more than enough stuff!

So with our move a month closer now, we’re trying to get more stuff packed.  With buying a retirement home last year, “The Farm”, we are thinking it would be smart to only move our stuff once so if we want to keep anything forever but really don’t need it right now, then that stuff should be packed in different boxes and taken to the farm.  That includes things like my grandmothers’s cut glass ware and my mother’s wedding china.  We have all our large family meals there now anyway… well, most of the time.  This past Sunday we had Easter dinner at our current home, so we had to drag some of the glassware that we already packed and moved to the farm back to the house.  AHHHHH!  Thing stuff drives me crazy.

Then there are all the art supplies.  I really never have time to create unless I am on vacation and I spend those at the farm, so all the art supplies are being packed to go there… well, mostly.  I need some items for upcoming Kid’s Clubs at the church and I do have to finish my granddaughter’s quilt before her birthday… [sigh]… Then there is the actual stuff I want and need at our new house in Marshall come June.  The moving company wants all of that in their boxes so they can pack all our stuff snuggly in the truck.  But if I really need it now, how do I pack that stuff early?… [Sigh]

I get exhausted just thinking about all the stuff that needs to be moved.  I don’t even want to talk about my clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, paintings, framed photos, and chairs.  I like chairs.  And that’s just some of the stuff.  I also have lots of live stuff that has to be moved, like Manuel Hosea Newago.  He’s our Red Devil fish.  He’s almost a foot from fin to lips.  He’s snotty and a real bully sometimes, especially if you move anything in his tank.  Ha! We’ll be moving YOU and the TANK soon, bud!  That should be a real fight.  Plus there are all my plants… [SIGH]… I have a lot of plants, indoors and out.  Indoors alone I have my last five year’s poinsettias from Christmas.  I have almost 100 running foot of Devil’s Ivy. They also call it Golden Pothos, but anyway, no matter how many times I cut it back to the pot, it grows like crazy.  Somehow, I have to move this stuff.  Plus there are gerbera daisies, palms, Christmas cactus, geraniums, begonias, arrowhead vine, spider plants, dracaena, schefflera, and more.  I have to move all this stuff!

And did I mention all my stuff outside?!  Oh yes. I have stuff out there too.  I put in hundreds of square foot of landscaping and gardens outside.  I plan on splitting most all of them to take either to the farm or the new house.  There are hostas, lilies, roses, moon plants, irises, daisies, cone flowers, decorative grasses, and a snowball bush I really want to bring along.  [SIGH]  Then there’s the grandkids’ play house, the sandbox, the teeter totter and race car.  The garage and shed are full of stuff that needs to be moved.  We’ve got lawn chairs, lawn tools, tents and yard décor.  Did I mention I have a 25’ greenhouse we will need to move too?  It is FULL of stuff!  There are pots up the ying yang, a compost bin, four huge potting benches, a cabinet for all my supplies, and a soil tub.  I have harvested all my own seeds so I’ll be planting them here this week and next, so all my seedlings will be ready for the move.

Did I mention we went to a friend’s estate sale and bought some stuff this week?  I mean great deals!  A whole bucket of awesome rope for 25 cents.  Tons of handmade glazed pottery to use as planters, also for 25 cents each!  An old ladder to use as a planter, some metalsmithing tools, a birdcage on a stand (I’ve always wanted one of those!)  And then there was the white iron yard furniture with scroll detailing… the rototiller… the vintage kitchen utensils with red wooden handles for the farm… well, you get the picture. 

Praise be to God for the Open Door Free Store.  The more stuff I pack, the more stuff I realize I really don’t need.  That stuff is going in big black garbage bags and hauled down to the Free Store.  That way some others who don’t have enough stuff can have some of mine.  Lord knows I have plenty!