One Heck of a Ride!

What a rollercoaster week!  Up and down and back up again, only to creep over the peak and slowing begin picking up speed before flying to the depths…. to be caught up in the inertia of heading back up the next hill…. Life.  As both you and I know it.  Rarely do we ride the flats of life, but instead we hit the heights and depths as they naturally come.  I suppose that’s what makes us come back for more! 

This past week started out with continued news of the life-altering tornados in Moore, Oklahoma.  The images tear at my heart.  Tears run down my cheeks every time I hear another story, see another child in pain, watch another senior weep.  Yet life moved forward here in our lives and before I knew it, I was having a wonderful, playful, rip roaring good time as the kids from our community and I celebrated the year’s end with a Ho-Down.  With my overalls on and my straw hat tipped, we do se do-ed our way around the fellowship hall of the Methodist Church in Concord, hootin’ and hollerin’ along the way.  We handed out medals and ribbons to all the kids for a job well done this year, and then we huffed down some pink frosted piggy faced cupcakes. 

But soon we climbed the peak fully and the kids gave me a big stack of cards, saying their goodbyes… and then a cake with the writing “We will miss you!” on top.  [sigh]  Uh oh, I can feel the car dropping and my hair beginning to fly back and… wheeeee… we all group hug and one by one whispers upward “I love you”, “I love you Pastor Melany”…. I love you too partners.  I love you too.

While I was down there, I figured it was as good as time as ever to pass through the doors to the Point Youth Lounge & Diner where the youth were waiting to toss a barrage of questions to me.  “So why do you have to leave anyway?!” started off the conversation.  After a lengthy explanation of what the call into ordained ministry is all about and how Jesus never stayed in just one community but instead went where God called and where needs arose, they hit me with the second question.  Uh oh… I didn’t feel this one coming… as the coaster began its jerky climb back to the top… clink, clank, clink, clank…

“So what about baptism? What’s that all about?”  Baptism?? Oh my!! I would love to share with you about baptism!! This conversation led to one of our youth asking boldly “So will you baptize me this Sunday?!”  YES!!  Whew!  We hit the peak again!!  “And me?... and me?... and me??”  Oh yes! And yes! And yes!  So we set our plans and I left the lounge on cloud nine!  But, by Friday night, the cart not only tipped over the top, but without any warning whatsoever it plummeted down the other side to the pits of my stomach and broke my heart and the hearts of many others.  Two of the youth who sat across from me just a few nights before had been in a horrific car accident, and they were life flighted to U of M Hospital.  They both remained unconscious more than 24 hours later… a cracked skull, internal bleeding, emergency surgery… oh my…

Sunday morning: the update arrives and both have opened their eyes!! Yes! We begin the ascent once again and my last worship at CUMC begins as we share the fantastic news and we sing together, and we pray together, and we laugh together and we end up baptizing nine of our children and youth.  Talk about a ride!!  Of course, the others would have to wait, but the light they sparked just a few nights before lit up the baptisms we were able to have… and will keep the others warm until they are well.  And then we went downstairs for an incredible Open House with family, and friends from the community, from the Free Store, and from CUMC all in attendance.  We ate, and ate, and ate some more. Did I mention the chocolate fountain?! Oh yah.  Talk about the heights of roller coaster riding!  … and then they began to line up… one after another… after another and another… We hugged, we laughed, and with some, I cried.  How do you say goodbye to a couple hundred of your favorite people all at the same time?  Slowly, I suppose.  Very slowly…

Later that night I rejoined the youth for a rockin’ concert and then early the next morning I joined my colleague who is retiring from Marshall UMC. He and I, my husband and the Praise Band there all walked together in the Memorial Parade… a parade that honors endings… all while walking toward a new beginning.  And the roller coaster continues. 

So I have thought long and hard when asked if I would continue my writing here in the County Press.  But I think it is time to let go here too.  Your responses have touched my heart.  We have helped others together.  What a joy to be allowed into your lives.  But there will be others jumping into the car here… and the rails will begin clicking and clacking… and what a ride it will be! 

I will likely continue my writing at www.pastormelany.blogspot.com for any of you die hards, and I most always post links on my Facebook wall.  So onward my ride goes.  Next stop: Marshall.  Keep being who you are.  Keep serving those in need.  Keep loving God and others.  In His hands I leave you all.  It’s been one heck of a ride!  

Listen to Your Mother!

Once a month we set aside all work and appointments and do our best to give our full attention and love to our grandkids.  Last weekend was our Grand Weekend and was it grand! The weather was perfect so we filled the kiddie pools, removed the cover to the sand box, and dusted off the swings.  We laughed and splashed and dug and hugged until we couldn’t do it anymore.  A day and a half later, we dropped them back off with their parents, exhausted and loved. 

Because we were so very tuned in to the grands, we weren’t so much with social media, the television or radio.  In fact, it wasn’t until late Monday evening after grocery shopping and returning back home that I sat down to run through any messages I may have gotten for the past two days.  I kept seeing over and again the condolences to the people of Moore, Oklahoma… and then I heard what had happened.  On a day when I sit comfortably in the back yard of our farm, with wind blowing through the willow and our grandkids giggles wafting up into the warm sunshine, others were laying on top of their children trying to save their lives. 

Makes you think. Not only about life and death and what to be thankful for and appreciate today, but also the warnings we receive and the loved ones who do their best to keep us safe from harm.  I remember when I was about seven. My brother and I and my mom lived in an apartment right next to our elementary school.  There in the middle of the apartment was a walk in closet.  And whenever a warning would ensue because a tornado had been seen, my mom would grab a mattress and throw it on the floor of that closet and tell both us kids to get in there and stay in there.  Then she would go gather drinks and snacks and a transistor radio and she would return, shutting the door behind her… and we would wait.  Sometimes for hours.  I remember asking her over and over if we could go now and her answer was always the same: “Not until the warning is called off.  I want you safe.”  So we waited.

Later when we were teens and lived out on Willis Road next to my grandfather’s farm in Saline, mom would gather us all downstairs in this small cinder block encrusted room, and again we would wait.  The older we got the more belligerent we got toward her.  We made fun of her paranoid fanaticism and basically hung tight only because we didn’t want to be grounded if we left… and be stuck indoors even longer.  But the reality for her… well, it was deeply engrained in her mind. 

She would retell the story of Palm Sunday, 1965, when 47 tornadoes hit. It was the second-biggest outbreak on record at the time. In the Midwest, 271 people were killed and 1,500 injured (1,200 in Indiana alone).  The tornadoes occurred in a swath 450 miles long and 200 miles wide. The outbreak lasted 11 hours and is among the most intense outbreaks, in terms of number, strength, width, path, and length of tornadoes, ever recorded, including four "double/twin funnel" tornadoes.  28 died in Michigan (wikipedia.com).  One or two F-4 tornadoes struck Milan, south of Saline.  One tornado destroyed the Wolverine Plastics building on the Monroe County side of town (then, the top employer in the village), completely removing the roof in the process. Another then struck and seriously damaged the Milan Junior High School and the adjacent, disused (since 1958) senior high school.  My mom’s uncle lived there and on that day, she was in Milan.  She remembers hearing the deafening “freight train” as it came through “taking porches off houses on both sides of the street at the same time, as it ran down the yellow line.”  I was two. 

We will never truly revere weather and its power until we have seen it unleashed on humanity in its fullest rage.  Live life to its fullest, for sure, because we never know when our time will come.  Pray for others who have endured loss.  But most of all, heed the warnings and believe your mom when she says she is just trying to keep you safe. 

Wanna Change the World?

Ever want to change the world? Yah. Me too.  I remember the first time was when I was around twelve and I was next door at my uncle’s house.  My mother had just left, heading back to our house next door and several of her sisters and brothers were still in the room.  They were complaining about her and talking like she hadn’t just been with them.  They were griping about how bossy she was, how she was in everyone’s business, yada yada… Now, hear me out.  My mother was and still is today extremely bossy and she surely was in everyone’s business, but she had to be.  Both her mom and dad died early and she was the oldest of six, three of which hadn’t graduated high school yet.  She took them all in (along with the three of her own) and helped to get them on their feet.  Yes. She was in everyone’s business, but only because she loved them deeply. 

So back to the story:  They are all complaining and I am amazed and confused all at the same time.  Right then, out of my then quiet, shy and unassuming mouth, came a barrage of concerns.  “How can you stand here and talk about her like she wasn’t just in the room?  How can you complain about all she does when you all know she loves you and works her butt off to raise you?  I thought you were family?  I thought she was your sister?  And why would you do it with me still in the room?  I am her daughter.  I know she’s not perfect but she is still pretty darn incredible….[sigh]” and with no more air to push through my lungs, I walked out the door and marched across the yard to go home, as well.

I remember wanting the world to be different.  I remember wanting family to act like family and neighbors to actually be neighbors.  I suppose today that God placed that desire in my little heart way back then for a day like today.  This weekend is something us Methodists call “Change the World” Weekend.  It’s an opportunity to refocus, re-center, and get back to basics… one small act of love to another.  The hope is, it will not end up being just one weekend, but a way of life.  Surely it has been, at Concord United Methodist Church, as they continue to reach out to neighbors, friends, and even strangers.  So why don’t you join us?  We’d love to have you and your family. 

We’ll be meeting at the church (119 S. Main St., Concord) at 10 am for a brief time of worship.  Our band will start with a couple of songs, those who are members will have a moment to share their tithes and offerings, and we’ll say a prayer thanking God for all he has already done for each of us.  And then we’ll head out for what we at CUMC call our “Work-ship Sunday!”  By 10:20 am, we’ll be out washing windows of some of our local businesses downtown, picking up litter all along our roadsides, raking leaves for some of our widows down Main Street, washing cars for some passerbys, knitting and crocheting some prayer shawls and stuffed animals, changing oil for those who can’t afford to get it changed on their own, and planting flowers around town to add a little beauty. 

It will be a great way to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while changing the world, all at the same time.  Everyone is welcome: Jew or Greek, male or female, young or old, Methodist or Presbyterian, believer or nonbeliever.  We are all one as family members of the same humanity, sharing the same earth to form our communities.  So come at 10 or feel free to pop in at 10:20 as the work begins.  We’ll all return to the Fellowship Hall at 12 noon for a free lunch prepared by even more neighbors.  During lunch an awesome young man by the name of Neil Sauter will be sharing with us how he is changing the world while walking on stilts across Michigan to raise money for Cerebral Palsy.  Did I mention Neil has CP?  Yah.  Changing the world. 

We’ll have you out the door by 12:30, so what do you say? Can we change the world together? For the sake of all? Wear your grubs and bring a rake or trash bag or knitting needle along with you.  It can be different… one small act of love to another.  

Tran·si·tion /tranˈziSHən/

Tran·si·tion  /tranˈziSHən/ The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. Proc·ess /ˈpräˌses/ A series of actions or steps taken to achieve an end.  Pe·ri·od /ˈpi(ə)rēəd/ A length or portion of time.  Change /CHānj/ Make or become different.  State /stāt/ The particular condition that someone or something is in at a specific time. Con·di·tion /kənˈdiSHən/ The state of something, esp. with regard to its appearance, quality, or working order.  An·oth·er /əˈnəT͟Hər/ Used to refer to an additional person or thing of the same type as one already mentioned or known about.

Okay. So let’s get this right.  Transition is a series of actions or steps taken, or a length or portion of time that is made, or becomes different from one particular state or condition, to an additional state or condition, possibly similar in type to one that is already known.  Possibly.  Hmmm. No wonder transition is so darn difficult!

Honestly, nothing has really been similar.  I have been double dipping these past several weeks as I attempt to transition my current congregation from my leadership to new leadership, all the while attending staff meetings, administrative councils, and even hiring interviews for the transition we’ll be making with my new congregation.  And truth be told, it is a process.  I have long lists of steps that must be made to transition from here to there.  I have companies I need to contact to tell them to stop sending me emails that need to go to the church’s email instead.  I have files, both digital and paper, to move over to my home computer or to move off of my laptop so everyone has what they need.  I have to turn in charge cards and remove my name off of this, that, and the other, while soon I’ll be asked to add my name to similar, yet very different things. 

And then there’s the packing.  Ohhhhh, the packing.  [sigh]  It takes like forever.  Really.  Pots, pans, shoes, coats, chairs, rugs, plants and yard ornaments… my, my, my.  Talk about transition!  In order to move stuff from one state or condition to another, it must be wrapped, and packed, and taped… until you realize you need it.  And then it must be untaped, and unpacked, and unwrapped.

All at the same time, people are transitioning too.  Little children are wondering if “the new pastor will be playful like Pastor Melany.”  Adults are wondering who they will talk with when life is getting really hard.  Friends are wondering if we will remain friends once I get new friends.  Neighbors are wondering how they will get along without us in their lives.  And of course, my husband and I are wondering too.  I will miss the kids so very deeply.  I will worry about the adults I know are struggling.  I will feel guilty not being a very good friend because I’m so busy.  And I will wonder how our old neighbors are getting along. 

Is it any wonder we shudder at the word “transition”? It’s not that it’s bad.  It’s just so heavy.  Its weight can tip you over sometimes.  And may I even say… it’s exciting, all at the same time!!  I hate that about transition!  I mean, I love it, but I hate it because I don’t want to like transition, yet all of a sudden I find I love transition because it is so exhilarating to think about all the possibilities God is drumming up just around the corner…  Just around the corner… That reminds me.  I should probably get packing… or digging up plants… or moving files over… or something.  Transition is coming.  In fact, transition is well under way.  And my guess is, it probably is in your life too.  Happy transition my friends, whether in relationships, or jobs, or homes, or schools, or even stages of life… whatever transition you find yourself in.  Don’t miss the joy and excitement and child-like exploration that can be a part of it, and I will do my best to do the same.