C.A. Trip Part 3

The next morning we woke up and headed up the coast on Highway 1. We were headed toward Grandpa Balsley's house but stopped a lot along the way to see the sights. While I was taking photos I was charged by this:The sign said not to feed the animals... we didn't.... but it seemed like this little guy was going to take some food by force!

Andrew and I decided to take a self portrait with the flowering shrub.Here is a shot of the highway along the coast. Do you see it? It is quite the road cut right in to the mountain.
These Monterrey Cypress make nice photos.We stopped off as a place where we found some tide pools. This is where my camera got wet (along with Andrew and I) and now doesn't work right... This was the last picture taken before it got wet.
We also stopped off at this beach full of Elephant Seals. They seem to fight a lot using their noses. That is attractive..This is McWay Falls and beach in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. (The falls are hard to see here but it is the white line down the black rocks that hits the beach.) The only way to get there is by kayak (as you can see by the kayak and two people on the beach) but you are really not supposed to be on the beach so that it can be preserved. More to come on the next post :)

C.A. Trip Part 2

After our visit to Hearst Castle, we ventured over to Morro Bay. This was a planned overnight stop by my parents and we just so happened to know our friend Bradlee from college who had moved to Morro Bay. This is my great Aunt Bea, then mom, dad, Brad and Andrew.Andrew and Bradlee The family, Andrew, Bradlee and I went out to eat and then we went for a walk on the beach. Andrew found some seaweed to whip around.

This is Morro Rock. Apparently it is illegal to climb this but once a year the city allows some native americans to climb it for some reason. Morro Bay at sunset. This is the quintessential California in one picture: Surfer at Sunset.Morro Bay at dusk was so pretty. It is a much different place than the heavily populated cities like L.A. and San Jose. You can actually still feel the laid back atmosphere here in Morro Bay.

More photos to come. I am sick today and don't feel like posting any more now.

C.A. Trip Part 1

Andrew and I spent a nice week in California with my family. We flew in last Tuesday morning. We had to wait for Dad to get off work so mom took us to the local farmer's market. It is a little more established that most farmer's markers. It had it's own clock tower. Of course I found a strange statue to stand by in Farmer's Market. We then went across the street to an outdoor shopping complex with some nice fountains. This little kid fit right in with the statue fountain. After Farmer's Market and the shopping square tour, we picked up Dad and stopped at a local park and then returned home. This is mom standing next to the plant that the Crandall Family (particularly Jan & Alan) gave to my family when my grandmother passed. The next day we began our 2 day journey to Monterrey. We drove a half day and then stopped at Hearst Castle for a tour. This church looking structure was the main house. The Hearst view of the coastline. Here are some of the gardens on the Hearst property.The Hearst outdoor pool........and indoor pool. (you can click on this one to see a larger image and see all the detail!) The interesting thing about the indoor pool is that there are stars in the floor of the pool and fish on the ceiling. After the Hearst Castle tour we headed to Morro Bay where we stayed for the night. More on that tomorrow.

Growing Things

Here is an update on the soybean field around our house:This is one of my tomato plants. It is getting so big! I got it when it was about a half a foot high and now it is like 2 feet! This is one of my planted barrels. My flowers are doing so well! I bought them with one blossom each and now they are really filling out the pot. (I spent a total of $2! It is as wide around as a normal size barrel) And here are the newest things to blossom around the farm house:This is the Gooseberry bush that Lucy likes to hide in.Here is a bonus: Lucy getting another bath due to a ring worm scare. (I found a tiny bald spot on her ear.)And here is Lucy hunting our palm. She just did this over and over so I had to take a picture.
Oh, and that pink ear is not her bald spot, she just really has a pink ear :)

More Traveling

Andrew filled in for a Pastor in Lake Crystal, MN. on Sunday. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get there. On our way there we drove by another "big" item in Minnesota. I thought corn was an Iowa thing :) but Olivia claims to be the Corn Capital. This was the church Andrew preached in.After church we were invited over to a retired CRC pastor and his wife's house. They had immigrated from Holland when they were in their 20's. They were told that there was a need for Pastors and suggested that Art (the retired pastor) needed to become one to fill the need. They went to seminary with 3 children. They were a very friendly/fun couple with a lot of interesting stories. Art gave Andrew some books he was getting rid of. After our visit, we drove around the little town for a bit and could not help but stop and laugh at this stained glass window. We stopped for lunch in New Ulm. It reminded us a lot of Dubuque. It was on the banks of a river; it had many Victorian style houses; It was a very German town. These were some mosaic flags from Germany's history done by a local artist.
It is has been fun these last few weeks to see new areas of Minnesota that we had not seen previously.

Huron, South Dakota

Alissa and I have decided that I will accept a nomination for a pastoral position in Huron, South Dakota. That means that some time in July (perhaps the 12th or the 19th) we'll go there and I will preach. After the service, the congregation will hold a special meeting and vote on whether or not to call me as their associate pastor. Assuming they say, "yes," I then have to arrange for the presbytery (regional grouping of pastors and elders) to examine, ordain, and install me. It's very possible that the formal examination/ordination would occur after I begin at Huron -- it can take some time to get enough folks assembled and I've already met with the local presbytery "Committee on Ministry," which oversees the relationships between pastors and churches.

This congregation (400 members) is in a smallish eastern South Dakota city (12,000 pop -- making it the 9th largest in the state). Wow; I just realized that one out of every thirty people will be church members. The position is three-fold, focusing on Christian Education, Visitation, and Evangelism.

The first "tine" is Christian Education. Huron formerly hosted a Presbyterian college for many decades, and the influence of this center of learning made Christian Education a high priority for the congregation. While the college finally closed its door in the late 1990s (after having gone through 3 or 4 hands in that decade), this congregation still values a solid Christian educational program, involving Sunday School for all ages, LOGOS (Wednesday night kids club that involves a family meal, learning 'worship skills,' and Bible lessons), Sr. High Youth Group, VBS, and special programs. The children and youth programs are well-established, with dedicated church-members serving as Sunday School superintendent and youth group leaders. They are looking for help in organization, evaluation, envisioning, and implementation.

The second and third "tines" involve leadership in Visitation and Evangelism. As in many churches, the Deacons here at Huron visit the elderly, the sick, and the shut-in, but there is a desire for training and co-ordinating their efforts, as well as increasing follow-up with visitors/seekers. Pertaining to seekers, this congregation -- like most mainlines -- had been content to open the doors and wait for people to come in for the past fifty years. In their recent discernment process, they realized that they needed to have a more proactive approach and are interested in new ways to share the gospel with their community.

The folks we met have all seemed very practical, easy-to-work-with folks with a love for Jesus and desire to see his kingdom furthered there in Huron. The church also has a reputation for being very musical, which is a plus for us! The senior pastor and his wife are West Virginia natives; this is his fourth call; he has served as an associate pastor in the pastor; he is theologically traditional and I think we could work well together.

I know that job descriptions always change a bit once you get started, but this is what it looks like right now. We're looking forward to beginning life and ministry in South Dakota and we'll keep you all posted.

S.D. Trip Part 3

We made one more stop on the way home from S.D. Andrew thought I might like to see Pipestone, MN, home of the peace pipe. He had been in the area before on a trip with the Seminary. He showed me the church he met with on his "native American plunge" experience. On our way there, we came across yet another large object: the pipe.
It is strange to come across large chunks of rock like this when you are used to pretty flat prairie areas. And who knew there was a nice little water fall here too? It was a really nice state park.
This reminded me a little of the Sphinx. There were also some ruins here in Pipestone. This particular type of rock is easier to carve making it the choice stone for pipes.
This map illustrates the difference in pipes in different regions and how the stone here circulated all over the U.S. through trade.

It was fun just to be able to take this mini side trip to see something new. We have been so busy around here lately traveling and discerning that it is easy to not really take any time to discover the area around us. Thanks for the nice trip, Andrew!