2020

October was a busy month, filled with new adventures! I took on two part-time jobs, starting on the same day! One of those positions came with the title, “Wilmington Yearly Meeting Coordinator”. Coordinator does describe some of what I do – coordinating meetings for the Quakers in Ohio and Tennessee. But “informer” and “encourager” feel like more important roles as I get started. Like most U.S. denominations, the Quakers have experienced a series of splits in the church over our position on gay marriage. Some Friends (as Quakers are affectionately called) believe we must declare a position one way or another. Other Friends believe that each congregation should be able to decide for themselves whether or not to perform a marriage in their church. Regardless of the denomination, regardless of whether they side “for” or “against”, churches have been filled with pain and loss and distrust. And we’ve realized we don’t really know one another. Which is where I come in!  My ...

This month I had the opportunity to share a Sunday morning message with Dover Friends Church in Wilmington, Ohio. Actually they had invited me to share in January, but lucky for all of us we were snowed in that weekend and church was cancelled. I say *lucky* not because we got to stay home but because my message wasn't ready yet. It needed to--as my chef husband would say--simmer and season a bit more before it was truly ready to be consumed. The topic of my message was "rejection". Randy and I were blindsided by rejection during the last week of December, so it was very fresh on my heart in January. Too fresh. Too painful. If church hadn't been cancelled that Sunday I would have spoken specifically about the hurts we had experienced. The lies. The betrayals. And I would have shared this advice from Jesus: "Whatever village or town you enter, search for a godly man who will let you into his home until you leave for the next town. Once you enter a house, ...

Our last stop in Oregon was to see the Hell's Canyon overlook. We anticipated stunning views of the Snake River. However, the most exciting part of this detour was getting stuck in a cattle drive. We couldn't see anything from the overlook -- not a drop of water in sight. But since we'd had a recent attitude change, we didn't want to give up on Hell's Canyon. So we crossed the border into Idaho and decided to check out the Snake River from the other side. And we were not disappointed! We drove for miles along the water's edge to the dam, admiring the river and the canyon walls. We'd heard that one of the U.S. President's thought this canyon more beautiful than the Grand Canyon. Perhaps we would have agreed if we'd taken the time to hike or whitewater raft in the area. I certainly think that exploring a place deeper than from your car window helps in your appreciation of it. But we'll have to save that for another trip! The last time Ran...

Because we were having so much fun hiking the Redwoods, we left California late on Saturday afternoon and rolled in to Portland, Oregon, around midnight. While there was much to see in between, we rushed to get to Portland so we could go to church with Randy's brother and sister-in-law the next morning. Roy and Suzanne were enjoying a neighborhood progressive dinner while waiting up for us, so we all mutually agreed to go to the late (11:30 a.m.) service the next morning. I was so glad we were able to make it to church. Many of you know that I’ve been claiming a “ word of the year ” for the past 5 years. This year’s word is “fierce.” While I no longer dislike the word like I did in the beginning, I haven’t exactly owned it either. So I was thrilled when the band started playing a song I’d never heard of – one called “ Fierce ” – that was all about the fierce nature of God’s love for us. (Apparently I've been living under a rock – or in Mexico – because this song came ou...

Arizona wasn't the only state on this trip that contained wonderful memories for me. So did Utah. Randy and I have both spent time in Utah before. We have both fallen in love with Zion and Bryce National Parks before. And so this part of the trip was a fun time of remembering for both of us. Randy remembered driving his young daughter through Zion as the sun came up. And eating the best fried chicken on the planet outside of Bryce. I remembered taking the Riverwalk in Zion and watching a family disappear into the Narrows. Then traipsing through the sandy trails of Bryce, preparing my heart for a move from California to Arkansas to live with my grandmother to pursue my dream of becoming a writer. Zion National Park is incredibly close to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, so getting there was our first plan of action. Upon arrival we discovered that all of the nearby campgrounds were full. We talked to one of the owners who directed us to a neighboring town with BLM (Bur...

When we crossed the border from Colorado into Arizona, we left mountain life behind and entered into canyon country. We were barely 10 miles into the state when we came across 3 kids (20-somethings) who had gotten their U-haul stuck when attempting a u-turn. They were moving from Denver to Phoenix, but had apparently gotten confused about which way was south (navigating in mountain-free Arizona is very different than navigating in mountain-saturated Colorado!). Randy spent the next 2 hours helping them dig their way out of the soft Arizona sand. But when the U-haul was finally free and back on the road, they discovered they had run out of gas. We wondered if this ominous beginning was a foreshadowing of our time in Arizona, or perhaps about the future of these 3 in Phoenix. Anxious to see something of this beautiful state, we made our way to Canyon de Chelly. Which really was beautiful, yet not quite as beautiful as I expected, what with the way people rave about this place. ...