A Visit to the Orval Abbey

     The intention was for the pastoral staff to have a day away together before Logan takes off on his paternity leave. Sadly, Logan had to cancel at the last minute but Paul, Doug and myself decided to head out anyway. Our destination was the Orval Abbey in Belgium.

The abbey as you approach by car.

The front of the grounds.

The grounds are breathtaking.
What a stunningly beautiful place this is! 

The abbey is a functioning abbey to this day although there are only about 14 monks still living there. The monks are known as the Trappist Cistercian monks. We arrived just in time to join them for their midday prayers. Entering this church was quite amazing.

The front of the church. Such a stunning entry. It is really breathtaking.

It was a very beautiful, short service, all in French but enjoyable none the less. Since it was lunch time, that was next on our agenda!

Quite well-known and liked beer. 

Over the years they have brewed beer and made cheese and that still happens today. Visitors are not allowed in the brewery or fromagerie due to health concerns but a nice exhibit explained how the beer was made.

Good information.

We enjoyed both at lunch. The beer is pretty bitter, a bit to much for my taste and the cheese is much like port salut, creamy and mild.

The cheeses they make.

We returned to the abbey and walked the grounds.

One of the side buildings.

I was astonished by how large the facility is and also how beautiful the ruins are.

I could not get enough of this rose window.

The first monks arrived from Italy in 1070. In 1252 the entire abbey was gutted by fire.

A good look back through the ruins.

In 1793 the French destroyed the abbey as an act of war. Just as recently as 1948 the newer buildings were finished.

This stone table reminded me of Aslan's table in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe of the Chronicles of Narnia.

A much more rich history exists but this at least gives some context.

Love the new and the old together. 

Today anyone can come and use the place as a retreat center.

Today's guest house.

     As we began to tour the grounds I was taken in with the beauty and the story that unfolded beneath these old walls.

The ruins of the old buildings are just fantastic.

The ruins are just lovely and the placards with explanations kept us well informed. Because we've have such incredible weather, I was deeply chagrined to be without a proper jacket as the weather became more typical for late February. Fortunately my husband was willing to give me his sweater as he had brought a proper jacket, so I didn't completely freeze to death! Even so, it was peaceful and restorative to wander the grounds and take in the beauty.
     The place was about an hour from Luxembourg City, about a half hour into Belgium. What fun to take a day and explore a deeply spiritual place.

The sculpture is a rendering of the Good Samaritan.

Life in Luxembourg

We've been moved into our beautiful flat for almost one week. We're adjusting to country life quite well! The surrounding forest makes our daily walks with Maddie a joy and she is in dog heaven, off the leash, running like the wind, sniffing every exotic smell the forest yields. She is always on the hunt for the perfect piece of wood to carry around. The bigger or heavier the better!

We saw the vet last week and Maddie received a clean bill of health! Her legs look great and that whole ordeal is behind us! She had to get a few more vaccinations that Europe requires, begin taking de-worming pills and will have to have flea and tick treatments while we're here. All of this is new to her but she's handling it quite well! We are so thankful for the vet and the excellent medicine she received. Removing those dew claws ended up being a much more traumatic experience than we had counted on so we are all just super happy it's now in our rear view mirror! She is one tired pup at the end of the day!

It's about a half hour to forty minute drive into Luxembourg city from where we live and we've made that drive many times this week as we've had a lot of meetings with people as we seek to get up to speed on the work we'll be doing while here. While it's a pretty easy drive we have also realized that during the day parking is one big headache in the city center so we are grateful that there is bus service from our village into town. It takes about 45 minutes but it's a great option when we don't want the car. We have discovered a wonderful American-esque grocery store (meaning lots of product to choose from but with European quality) along the route we travel so when we have the car, a stop there will likely become a regular habit! 
For the first time ever while living in Europe it makes sense for us to have a car. Thankfully someone from church has been able to lend us a car as we get settled in and during this time it has become obvious that we would not be able to function very well without a vehicle. So we bought a car! Another man from the church buys and sells cars so he was able to get this car at a dealer's auction in Germany. He says that in 6 months, when we return to the US he'll likely be able to sell it for us for a profit! So it made good sense for us to do this. It looks really great!

Maddie will travel in style in the back and it will be fantastic to have a car when as we travel around this summer. Also, there are so many wonderful day trips from where we are and we won't have the stress of using someone else's car etc. The short distances we can travel to be in wonderful places is kind of a thrill for us. it has always been a dream to live more centrally located in Europe and well, it doesn't get more central than this! We are excited and happy that getting a car worked out so well for us. 

I am reminded once again that everything is smaller in Europe! Our fridge is small, our freezer tiny!

We are getting used to not having ice! The washer and dryer are also much smaller so it just takes a bit longer to get through all the laundry. But I am so grateful to have laundry right here in our flat. Speaking of our flat...the story of this space is beautiful. The couple that owns the main home that is above our place built this garden level apartment for his father so he could spend his final years with them. After he passed, the daughter and son-in-law lived here while they built their home next door! Now they keep it as a retreat for clergy and missionaries so that when they need a place of rest they can provide it. They have graciously offered us this space for the 4 months that we are here and already we feel like part of the family. Their hospitality and gracious welcome is a bit overwhelming at times but so deeply appreciated. We feel like we've known them for ages and we are very excited to continue to graft them into our lives. We look forward to enjoying the outdoor patio as the weather warms up and talking more and more with them about their lives.

The view from our back patio on a frosty February morning

We have been quite lucky since arriving that winter seems to be waning. It's chilly in the morning with temperatures in the 30's and 40'sF (0-4C) and there is often a layer of frost in the morning. But it quickly burns off and the sun has been shining consistently since we arrived. People say this is atypical but I'm grateful. It warms to 50's and even low 60'sF (10-15C) during the day and we've been able to walk Maddie with only a fleece for a jacket. The weather at our home in the desert has been horrible with high winds, cold temperatures, and tons of rain so I think we are actually better off with what we have. At least it's sunny! The sunny days have yielded beautiful sunsets and we are consistently dazzled by how gorgeous the landscape is. 

Fortunately, the days are stretching out and the sun doesn't set until about 6.30pm. Mornings are still quite dark with the sunrise not happening until 7.30am. I will be happy when we switch to summer time (what Daylight Savings Time is called in Europe) which isn't until the last weekend in March. I do look forward to enjoying the long, lovely European spring and summer days.

Luxembourg is mostly forest, farms and wide open spaces. The city is really interesting as there are lots of hills, a deep gorge that cuts through the center and high plateaus that have been developed as well.

We look forward to having a chance to wander through the city a bit and get a feel for the lay of the land. There are endless hiking paths to explore.

We are living in the area known as "Little Switzerland" and there are so many things that we are eager to explore. We have yet to visit the Villeroy and Boch outlet but that's at the top of my to do list!

As for work...yes, there's that little detail! I am preaching Sunday so it's been good to find the discipline to study and write again. We have meetings scheduled with various leaders and are learning about the administrative tasks that we will need to cover while the associate pastor takes his state provided parental leave. The main thing right now is learning names, spending time with folks and getting a feel for how things function on Sundays. It's a joy to be back in an International church.

Life is good for us! Luxembourg is quite a bit like Sweden so thus far it's been pretty easy to navigate. We don't really have a feel at all for the Luxembourgish culture and hope to gain a bit more insight to that. As for language, most everyone speaks English so that's great for us! All around us we hear Luxembourgish (yes, that's a real language!), French and German. I'm pretty much non-functional in all of the above so working on a few phrases. 

We continue to enjoy each new experience we have and look forward to all of the new things that we will surely encounter over the next several months. 

Landing in Luxembourg

It has been a fast and furious 3 weeks since we left the United States. Since leaving, we've been in 3 countries (Luxembourg, France, and Egypt) on 3 continents (North America, Europe and Africa)! If that doesn't tucker you out, I'm not sure what does! 
I'm finally finding some space to get caught up on our adventures.
Maddie has done very well through all of the transition. She continues to be the cutest, sweetest pup and we have no regrets about bringing her with us. She did however, almost not get out of CA.
The day of our leaving was pretty stressful. We had to drive almost 3 hours to get to LAX plus we had to stop at the US Department of plant and animal control (10 minutes from the airport) to get one final stamp for Maddie's exportation to Europe. The window was narrow for getting the stamp and boarding our trans-Atlantic flight. So of course, when the gentleman behind the counter told me that we were missing her initial rabies certificate, I almost had a heart attack. Fortunately we had friends staying at the house and my cousins nearby so we began a frantic series of texts trying to get this doc scanned and sent. I did know exactly where it was in the house so they were able to easily locate it. Whew. Disaster averted, until there was an issue with the date of her microchipping in relationship to the rabies vaccine. Finally, we got it all squared away and were able to get to the airport to begin the long process of checking her in. There was definitely a glass on wine on the plane!
It was great to see our sweet girl in Paris where we landed to change planes for Luxembourg. But then the Lux Air folks told us that her crate was too big and it couldn't fit on the flight even though we had pre-confirmed the size of the crate and had that in hand. Fortunately, the gate agent was wrong and we were finally on our way to land in our new country. Our dear friends, Paul and Beth, he is the pastor of the church where we'll be serving, she his wonderful wife and partner in ministry welcomed all of us into their home and provided the most amazing hospitality for us. What a gift they have been to us.
Luxembourg greeted us with an epic snowfall that was absolutely gorgeous. Experiencing snow was another first for Maddie and she loved it. But she was still healing from the dew claw surgery so the first thing we did after a wonderful night of sleep was to visit the vet. This vet was so amazing and she was so unalarmed by Maddie's wounds that we all felt much better when it had ended. While the snow was fun, it was not great for keeping the sores dry so we tried these botties that were of no good at all. Within 30 seconds Maddie had kicked them off so we just tried to keep the wounds dry after she came in and treated them with this healing powder and cream that the vet had given us. These were miracle products as Maddie healed up very rapidly. Wow were we all glad she could finally stop wearing that awful cone! She now has her EU pet passport and this will make life much easier for moving around!

So while Maddie settled into life with Beth and Jess, the resident border collie, Doug and I snuck away to Paris for the weekend. We had some banking business to attend to and really enjoyed connecting with dear friends and the wonderful church where we worked in 2017. We went to Doug's favorite restaurant as an early birthday celebration and watched with joy as he ate his very favorite dish, Cassoulet. We wandered around our old neighborhood, connected with friends and ate some of our favorite things. It was a wonderful weekend.
Sunday night late we left for Egypt. Those adventures will wait for another post! Being with treasured colleagues in a spectacular place was a great gift. So thankful for these days of exploring, learning and enjoying together.
Last Thursday we had an epic day of travel that began with a 3.00 a.m. transfer to the airport in Luxor, Egypt, through Cairo, and onto Paris by flight. Then we caught a train to Lorraine, France, where we then caught a bus to Luxembourg, where we then caught a commuter train out to our friend's place. We were very happy to land at home around 6.00 pm.
The next couple of days were spent at Paul and Beth's, doing laundry and repacking, getting ready to move to our place on Saturday. It was really fun to see Maddie in such good health, running and playing and enjoying her new surroundings. We took a gorgeous walk through some nearby woods and the new environment suited all of us. We returned to unusually warm temperatures so hints of an early spring were all around us.
On Saturday afternoon we moved to our new place and it far surpassed expectations. It's a lovely, spacious place with a fully fitted kitchen, a nice size living room, a cute dining room table, a couple of nooks with chairs for reading or relaxing, a lovely patio with wonderful views and a good size master bedroom along with a fully modern bathroom. It will be a fantastic place for us to enjoy these months. The two things that I will miss about my house in the desert are the garbage disposal and dishwasher! Small problems that are not really problems at all. And it's back to an electric stove which I don't love but am capable to using!

The back of the house. The glass doors open to our living area.

Baloo, a playful, boisterous Bernese Mountain dog lives upstairs and loves to see what's happening downstairs any time he gets a chance. He and Maddie were fast friends. There are vast networks of hiking trails around us and there will no shortage of wonderful ways to get Maddie and ourselves out for walks!
Yesterday we had our first Sunday at All Nations Church Luxembourg. It was a great day of meeting an eager, warm group of people, enjoying the worship service and anticipating what the next several weeks might look like for us.

Paul, the senior pastor and dear friend

I am preaching this Sunday so have a lot to do get back into this rhythm! We look forward to getting to know people and journeying with this church for the 4 months that we will be with them.
It is great to be back in Europe. We really do feel at home here in many ways. It's a different experience this time around as we are living in the countryside, about 30 minutes outside of Luxembourg city, but we are pretty keen to enjoy that kind of life for a bit, especially with Maddie in tow. It's also amazing to be so centrally located in Europe with the ability to be in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Germany all in the same day! We are excited to explore the region on days off. 
After so much travel and moving around, I still wake up wondering where I have to be and even where I am! But as we settle more deeply into this place, it'll start to feel like home and we are very happy to not be packing up and heading some place else anytime soon.
Landing in Luxembourg has been great! We feel utterly grateful that we've been given this opportunity and want to soak it all in.

A Book Is Coming!

     A couple of years ago I received a grant from the Louisville Institute to work on a project directed toward telling the story of the International Church in Europe with the end goal of inspiring congregations, especially in the US, to adopt a more welcoming posture when it comes to welcoming the stranger and the immigrant to our churches. On January 8, 2019 I received an email from Wipf and Stock Publishers with the subject headline: Offer of Publication: I Was A Stranger. It was a thrilling day for me and I'm excited to say that I am now in the final throes of getting the manuscript ready for publication. To say that there are a few things to do is an understatement but it's all very exciting and encouraging. This morning I signed the contract and the goal is have everything submitted by April 1. I hope it will be sooner but since we are leaving for Luxembourg on Monday and then spending a weekend in Paris and attending the International Pastors Conference in Egypt, I really won't have any time to work on the manuscript any further until mid-February. And then there are strict guidelines that I must meet for formatting before the document gets submitted for final typesetting and printing so while I'd like to see this all happen sooner, I also didn't want to put myself in a bind where I couldn't give this the attention I need to. I have no idea what the timeline for publication will actually be. Maybe it will be ready for you to include on your Christmas list next year!
     My working title is I Was A Stranger: The Church's Call to Offer Hospitality to the Foreigner and the Stranger. The publisher has the right to change that as they see fit and they are also responsible for the cover art. 

The slide I used in our final worship service at Immanuel International in 2014

     To (hopefully) whet your appetite for more, I include the preface here. I'm indebted to the churches where I did interviews, none more important in my life than Immanuel International in Stockholm, Sweden. To God be the glory. It's the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life that has enabled this work to now come to fruition. Stay tuned for more information as this process unfolds. I hope you enjoy the preface. 

On 4 different occasions I have packed up my life and moved to a foreign country. 5, if you count moving to rural Alaska as a foreign country, which in 1981 for a girl from Southern California, it certainly was.  Most of the time, I knew only a handful of people who were living in this foreign land that I was about to call home. In fact, as this manuscript is reaching completion, I am readying myself for foreign move number 6, this time to Luxembourg and the same truth remains: I know only a handful of people in this place I am about to call home. I am buoyed once again by the reality that an International church will be at the center of our life.

I am a social creature by nature, the very definition of what it means to be an extrovert. To live outside of a community that knew me well overwhelmed by feelings of isolation was pretty much the definition of a death sentence for me so I was always pretty hungry to find connection wherever I went. Being a person of faith, looking to the church to find community and acceptance and encouragement came naturally to me. One would think that the church would be rock solid in these areas but truth be told, even the church can fall woefully short of its calling to welcome the stranger. The old saying birds of a feather flock together proves to be true more often than not in the church. It’s kind of ironic. Many show up to church looking for connection and community, but sadly, once it’s found, the instinct can be to close off the opening for others to find the same. We love finding community but have a harder time leaving the community open to newcomers. We like the safeness of our established communities, especially ones that look like we do, act like we do, and fall in line with how we think. But the problem with the church operating out of this perspective is that it’s not what Christ ever intended for his church. Christ intends that his church be the place where the doors are wide and open, all the time, and as the biblical evidence will support, particularly for the stranger. In my opinion and through my experience, I believe it is possible that the greatest exhibition of the gospel comes through acts of hospitality.

I know what it feels like to be a stranger and a foreigner at the most visceral level. It is a place that leaves one vulnerable and lonely. The past 3 occasions that I moved to a foreign land and found myself in the stranger seat once again, I did so as a pastor called to lead an International congregation in Europe. Prior to my first call way back in 1998, I had only a small understanding of the role of hospitality in church ministry. But through the 16.5 years that I was privileged to lead, alongside my husband who was my co-pastor in that adventure, the congregation of Immanuel International in Stockholm, Sweden, I realized that a congregation that lacked hospitality and community was empty of all that God truly wanted for his church. An ability to welcome the stranger and embrace the foreigner became the life blood of our ministry and I have a deep desire to tell the story of what’s happening through various International churches in Europe in order to help other churches strengthen their ministry to the outsider.

Immanuelskyrkan in Stockholm, Sweden is a unique congregation. It is a Swedish church that belonged to the Svenska Missionförbundet denomination, which is a sister denomination of the Evangelical Covenant Church in North America. Immanuelskyrkan is now part of Equmenia Kyrkan, a denomination that formed out of a merger of the Svenska Missionförbundet, and the Baptist and Methodist churches in Sweden. Immanuelskyrkan is situated in the heart of Stockholm and over the years began outreach ministries to the Korean immigrant community and the International English speaking populations in Stockholm. The desire on the Swedish church's part was to provide places of worship and fellowship for these immigrant groups who were moving into Stockholm for whom worshipping in Swedish was increasingly difficult. From the onset, the desire on the part of Immanuelskyrkan was to be one church with three language groups. My husband had done his seminary internship with the International fellowship and had seen this model functioning. He had fallen in love with the fellowship and developed a longing to return one day. Prior to my attending seminary, I had lived in Colombia, South American and while I was not part of an International church while living there, I was privileged to experience local Colombian churches who increased my view of the world wide church. So when the lead pastor job at Immanuel International opened up in 1998, and my husband and I were called to be the lead pastors, we were thrilled with the possibility that awaited us. In our minds however, we thought we'd sign a three year contract, spend five years at the most living in Europe and then come back to the US to continue our “real life”. Well, that initial three year contract turned into almost seventeen years with this amazing congregation and opened up my heart, my mind and my eyes to a world of Christian ministry that had been previously hidden from me in my mono-cultural world.

I can honestly say that what sat at the heart of our ministry was hospitality, being a welcoming community, a place where strangers could be seen and heard and be called stranger no more. The International church in Europe has transformed my life and throughout this narrative you will hear stories of others whose lives have been shaped and touched by these congregations. Within the walls of these congregations are expatriates and refugees worshipping and praying together. The International church has welcomed wealthy top dogs of multi-national companies to break bread with newspaper delivery men and taxi cab drivers. At the foot of the cross of Christ we found level ground, each of us a lonely sojourner in need of community, a wayward sinner in need of a savior. All who joined us found the deepest level of community and unity with people who looked differently than we did, who grew up in different socio-economic situations than we did, who came from religious traditions that were different than our own. And the great surprise was that it was not a recipe for conflict but instead a place where deep and unexpected connections took place. The ultimate gift was living into our dream of becoming a place that reflected heaven itself.

So join me on a journey from being strangers to becoming friends to ultimately calling one another brother and sister because of the deep bond that we formed through the love of God in Christ. Discover how God’s word guides and directs us to welcome the stranger and embrace the foreigner. Listen to the story of the people of God and allow your heart to be changed to reflect God’s own heart for the foreigner and the stranger.

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Reflections on the Year Gone By

The best way for me to reflect on the year that has just passed into the past is through the photographs on my computer. I take a photo most every day, and I take too many and don’t delete enough of them, (as you will see on this blog, too many but fun to share some of my favs).  It is a joy to locate certain experiences in my life through these random photos that remind me of where I was at any given time. So as 2019 starts, a desire of mine is to also write with greater frequency, not just post photos on social media so a look back marks an attempt at fleshing out some thoughts on the year gone by. Here’s a summary of our last trip around the sun. 

January: We celebrated the New Year in Paris, France with our dear friends with whom we had had the pleasure of sharing in the ministry of the American Church in Paris for the previous 10 months. The first week of January saw us packing up that life and getting ready to return to the US once again. Winter in Palm Springs gave us a slightly different climate than winter in France and I enjoyed eating the fresh citrus from our grapefruit, lemon and key lime trees.

February: Working on the house and yard, working on our golf games and hosting Doug’s mom for a break from the Minnesota winter occupied our time. A trip to the coast with Doug’s mom to visit the mission at San Juan Capistrano and to watch the dolphins play in the pacific were highlights. Near the end of the month, we somewhat unexpectedly welcomed Ms Madeline into our lives and nothing would be the same after that!

March: March was largely dominated by adjusting to the nugget of love that had invaded our lives, but we still had some time for visits from friends, and a memorable and beautiful trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon with dear friends from London days. Watching the cactus bloom in our garden and continued warm temperatures were a delight.

Some silly fun at Easter. All dressed in clergy attire for Easter dinner at my cousins. 

April: Lots of golf, lots of Maddie, hosting a group of clergy who were on a golf holiday brought us much joy. I took a spontaneous trip to Chicago to attend a conference on two topics that are prominent in our churches and culture: Immigration and human sexuality. I took a couple of days to drive up to Holland, MI to see a couple of sets of friends and fell in love with this quaint town. I vowed to return in the summer with Doug and Maddie. After my parents died, we gave some money to our alma mater, North Park University, in their honor and I was able to visit the campus of North Park and see the wall of donors for the first time. Being back on campus brought back some great memories for me and I was able to connect with some dear colleagues and students from my days as campus chaplain. 

May: Our dear friend Scott, senior pastor of the Paris church, dropped by for a couple of days of rest in the midst of a busy travel schedule. We enjoyed the golf course and taking naps! Maddie continued to grow a lot during this month and we discovered that she likes to eat fabric when she’s alone, having discovered a couple of destroyed towels, a half-eaten golf shirt, a hole in our duvet cover and a completely decimated doggy bed upon arrival home once day. We still don’t know what motivates this so she can’t have any comfortable towels or beds with her when she’s alone.

June: The desert temperatures started rising, hitting triple digits much too soon. We prepared for our big road trip to Minnesota with Maddie. Our first stop was in Park City, UT to enjoy the company of friends from Stockholm days. Neither of us had been there and I love me a nice former Olympic host city! We found it beautiful and enjoyable. I do not think it will be our last trip there! We continued east, serendipitously meeting up with friends on vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. Maddie experienced rain for the first time and thought it was rather strange to have water falling out of the sky! A stop for golf in Hawley, MN with a dear friend was a great way to start our time in MN. We enjoyed the time with Doug’s mom and Doug’s siblings and their families and Doug even attended his 40th high school reunion! We also attended the annual meeting of our denomination and met up with long term clergy friends who we had not seen in many years. I loved being in downtown Minneapolis and channeled my inner Mary Tyler Moore when I could! Reunions with friends always fill our hearts with joy and a special bonus was discovering that our dear friends from Oslo, Norway happened to be in the twin cities at the same time we were! They took us to the best deli as well and we plan to return there on repeat visits to MN! Sharing a meal with a couple I married many years ago always fills my heart with joy as well. Got to do so with 2 in MN and 1 in MI. I am proud of who these couples are as spouses and parents and it’s special to see how their lives have unfolded. 

July: Instead of heading straight west to begin our trek back to CA, we decided to head east to MI and check out Mackinac Island, MI. I had never been there and it was a lovely little stop. From there we headed south to Onekema, MI where one of Doug’s buddies directs a camp. What fun to enjoy the shores of Lake Michigan, encounter friends who were at the camp that week and take time to teach Maddie to swim! She took to the water like a Labrador would and never looked back! 

I fulfilled my dream of getting Doug and Maddie back to Holland where Maddie got to enjoy the attention of 3 fun children, one who shares her name and was part of the inspiration for naming her as we did! More swimming, watching Sweden in the World Cup, and deep and abiding time with good friends rounded out our time there. Connecting with yet another colleague from International ministry revealed to us how important those connections continue to be. But alas, inevitably, it was time to put the pedal to the medal and head west. The only social stop we made on  the way home was to see Doug’s cousin and his family along with his only living aunt and uncle. It was a special time as it is unclear how many more years will dot their lives. We listened to podcasts on this road trip and really enjoyed listening to stories like S-Town and Serial. We learned a bit about Route 66 as drove along it and that was pretty cool. We stood on the corner in Winslow, AZ and saw some fine sights. Maddie was a master traveler, making herself at home in the back seat. After almost 6,000 miles however, we were all glad to be home.

August: Except the weather is really bad in August in the desert. High humidity made life pretty miserable and while we continued to play golf in the early morning, we spent a lot of time inside. So weird for me to want the summer months to go by quickly! Summer is a good time to get indoor projects done however and so we finally finished the guest bathroom.  It looks great and now I think all of the major projects are done! I mean, Doug will always want to have some project going but at least the big stuff is behind us! In the midst of all of this, I had a bit of a health scare. I needed to have breast biopsy because of some questions that arose from my mammogram. Fortunately, all came back completely negative and we rejoiced that I was not sick. It was a scary time but gave me some good perspective on life. Life is a gift. I want to enjoy it more and more. We took Maddie to the beach to get out of the heat and enjoyed our very favorite art show, the pageant of the masters in Laguna. Maddie got to learn to swim in the surf at the Huntington Beach dog beach and I know that a trip here will be included each summer. I also marked the passage of time by attending my 40th high school reunion.

September: The longing for cooler temperatures was in full tilt by September but it doesn’t really cool off much. We headed to Big Bear in the mountains above us and took a side trip to Alpine camp, the place near Lake Arrowhead where I grew up going to camp. I took an unexpected trip to Portland, OR to attend the funeral of a dear friend who died too young from colon cancer. The silver lining was staying with good friends we’ve met here at the country club who smartly spend summers in Vancouver, WA. Their hospitality was such a gift in the midst of the grief and sadness I was experiencing from Kristi’s passing. 

October: The golf course shuts down for the month for re-seeding so that opened up time to get other stuff done. We sold our black cart and acquired our new little red machine which runs much better on our hilly course. We continued to work with Maddie on her training and I worked hard on the book I’ve been writing about the church being a more welcoming presence for foreigners and other strangers. It’s been a good process for me and I am awaiting news on whether or not a publisher wants to pick it up. I’m grateful to the Louisville Institue for providing funding for me to pursue this dream and I am hoping and praying that I will be able to get it published one day. The heat finally started to break and we enjoyed amazing sunrises and sunsets across this vast and beautiful desert landscape.

November: Golf started up again, Doug went to MN for Thanksgiving but I stayed back to hang with Maddie. I baked pies and took the lead in caring for Maddie. A friend from Paris days came to visit and enjoyed experiencing the desert for the first time. Doug and I did an obedience class and Maddie responded really well and we learned a lot too. Unexpectedly but joyfully, we received a call from the All Nations Church in Luxembourg to come and work with them for 4 months from mid-February-mid-June in 2019. We are excited about this new adventure and look forward to seeing how God will use us and grow us during this season. And yes, Ms Madeline will indeed be coming with us.

December: The month that has just ended was filled with visits. Our former worship directors from Immanuel who also happen to be like family to us came from Sweden to spend the holidays with us. Another woman who shared in the leadership of our church and knew Ben and Anita well joined us for a few days after Christmas and we had a great time laughing, playing cards, being silly. We enjoyed taking in some Christmasy things here in the desert like dinner at the Mission Inn in Riverside and touring the crazy Robolights display in downtown Palm Springs. We rang in the New Year at the party at our country club surrounded by friends who we’ve come to really appreciate and enjoy. 

2018 was a busy and fun year and filled with re-connecting with people from various walks of our lives. We are now ready for new adventures in 2019. None of us ever know what awaits us when a year begins. Undoubtedly there will be joy and sadness, frustrations and hope. Through it all we hope to stay the course that we feel God wants us to be on and look for ways to serve and care for others, especially those less fortunate. We have decided on a church when we are here in the desert, Hope Lutheran in Palm Desert. It’s been a great gift to look forward to going to church again and are enjoying getting to know the pastors. 

Perhaps this reflection is more for me than any other reader. But as I reviewed this year, it made me realize how lucky we are to enjoy such deep friendships, some which span many many years. It seems no matter where in the world we find ourselves, a close friend from some season in our lives isn’t very far away. Our lives are so different than they once were without the constant rhythms of pastoral life determining our schedule. It’s a gift and a loss at times. The new community that we are a part of here at Mission Lakes brings interesting and diverse people into our lives and offers us such great recreational opportunities that we are very grateful for. It’s a great landing spot for us as we continue to traverse the globe, following the calls that come our way through the gracious hand of God.

We do wish you and yours a very happy new year. Peace where trouble lurks. Joy where happiness reigns. Gratitude each and every day.