There's No Place Like Home

Well we made it home. Little McMinnville Oregon. Who would have ever imagined a few years ago we would have prefered to be in Hooterville insted of London England. But it's true. The beauty of living some place small is the it does not have all the crud you have to endure to live somewhere "exciting."
Here are some things about home that are really great;

• Family- Well nothing compares to flying into PDX at 11 PM and there waiting for you are three little kids with signs saying Welcome Home Mimi and Pa. Nothing compares to the welcome you get when people you love are actually glad to see you. We didn't get little kids saying "Welcome to London, Leave Your Money, Now Get Lost" when we arrived in London. No, having a wonderful family to come home to is...well...it is priceless.

• Home- think about all that you have in your home, a comfortable bed, internet you don't have to pay 12 pounds a day for (thats 24 bucks for 24 hours), your yard and garden...thats right...those same things we get so tired of, we also come to miss when we are not home.
• Food- access to your own food (that you prepare how you like every time), great coffee (everytime), variety, and our own food from our garden and fruit trees (loads and loads of cherries).
• Peace- just knowing that your home is a place where you can be yourself and not pretend you are something else, or not worried about how to get somewhere, or...well...actually driving on the right side of the road...it brings peace to be at home.

Well Mimi and Pa's adventures are far from over...we still have a lot of adventures left in us. Just the adventure of everyday life can be really thrilling. So we'll keep posting blogs of our adventures, and if your still interested you can follow along with us.
As most of you probably know by now, I am also on sabbatical right now. What a blessing that is to know I have six weeks (well actually 5 weeks, 4 days, and 13 hours left) to get refreshed, renewed, and restored so I am fit to attack another seven years of ministry. During that time I am going to try and finish a book I started three years ago and for the last two years have let slide. It's working title is "Driving a VW Bus in an SUV World." It is about feeling like your oddball and the attempts to relate to God and others despite your weirdness...or something like that. So I'd appreciate your prayers as I try to finish...it's hard because it is very personal and requires a lot of self evaluation as well...besides the fact that it is hard work to make sense of all that garbage within me.

That Sense of Awe

Some of you may know that I have worked really hard to make church accessible to people who don't normally like church. Over the years it has been a mission to remove barriers and make us in the church more accessible.

So imagine my surprise when after a long day of "power touring" around London, we show up at Westminster Abbey...yeah the one Chuck and Di got married in...right at 4 PM in shorts and backpacks and subway grime. Tracey went up to the really nicely dressed fella in a suit and fetching flowing robe and asked him what it would take to get in to see this unbeliveable church building. He said you have to get tickets...but the Abbey is going to close right after this service. This was our one real day in London, so it looked like our hope of getting in were dashed. But then the nice robe-y fella says, you can go to the service without a ticket. You mean dressed like we were...sure you canhe says...you are welcome.

Wow...can you believe it? We are in Westminster Abbey! Now the thing about the Abbey is, you don't need a bunch of posters and such to get people's attention...just the ceilings kept me mezmerized for an hour. Not to mention all the statues of people who have been faithful servants of the church but also the Lord.

I mean when you hear that organ start and the choir sing...wow...Chris Tomlin's got nothing on these guys. No fancy sermon with three points and a flashy ending....just a couple of Scripture passages and lots of standing and sitting and repeating after me's.

Now Mimi and I aren't exactly seekers, but the paper they gave us said if we will just listen and have an open mind, God could speak to us. We were so moved! We were awestruck!

But mostly we felt as if we were welcome both here in this huge building designed to help people feel a sense of awe, but also by the wonderful people we met.

Seeker freindly can take all shapes and forms...but mostly it is just being people friendly

So Maybe It's Not Soooooo Bad

You know, in America, we take a lot of things for granted. Really, I'm not kidding. One of the things we have that the UK does not is a million radio stations. We have AM and FM and any where and every where there are radio stations galore...some good and some bad.

But in the UK there are basically four stations. BBC 1-4. So as your driving and get those long silences...you know when Mimi is looking at the map...you know...I need a little...MUSIC!!!

So you turn the radio on and you have a choice of Classical (love it but not good driving music), UK Charts (a wide variety of Pop...except I love it when Amy Winehouse comes on), something else I'm not sure of, and then BBC4...mostly talk radio. So we ended up a lot on 4. 

Now it's not like the talk radio in the States...no way...this is actually good...it is smart radio. Now don't get me wrong...I hated it at first. I went on and on about communist propaganda and the lack of freedom...real freedom in the UK. But after a while, i kind of started liking it. They would discuss issues in depth with people from both sides equally represented. They would do short plays of historical subjects. They would do the news every hour. And, they would read books. Now generally I hate this. But I was completly won over, especially by one book in particular. Now if you are a guy friend of mine...stop reading...cause you are going to think I have gone...well bad.

But the book was called "Wife of the North" (I know...I know). But it was great...so great I added it to our Blog list. You should read it. I am looking for the podcast of it and I will make that available to you as well. It was great...Tracey and I would plan our driving around when it would be on...9:45 precisely. 

Soooooooo, the lesson is, sometimes when we have all we want we miss that which might benefit us more than having and re-having that which we know...or something like that.