Well, Brenda has returned to her home and ministry in The Netherlands after her six week breakaway.
She sent us a few pictures of her flight back.
And then some shots of her home in Zaandam just to prove she made it.
Oliver, her dog is very happy to have her back.
While she was with us, we had Sevy’s second birthday and Mom’s 87th birthday.
We took a trip to Tennessee to visit friends and to rest in the mountains.
She sang on worship team and visited with friends from the church and the area.
Now it is back to life as “normal” for both us and her. Brenda starts rehearsals for her Christmas shows this week. We have a worship conference and a Fall Festival in town this weekend. I guess I am not really sure what “normal” is. Brenda says her house is quiet compared to ours. maybe that its back to normal, but I know our house is quieter too without her voice in the room and her present in the table.
Maybe normal is us here and her there. Maybe it is us doing our jobs. But maybe normal is just what we are used to and abnormal is the things we have yet to get used to. Anyway whatever normal is I know we miss Brenda and she misses us.
We will celebrate, simply: A few bouquets, some slippers for winter, a new sweater, cake and ice cream.
Mom has lived an exciting adventure. 87 years is a lot of water under the bridge and a host of life events.
A third generation, Winchendonian, mom’s life has never wandered far afield. She lives in a house, only a mile and a half from where she grew up. The Vicarage is the house she and my father bought when I was in third grade. Still, 87 years in one place can give a person a wealth of experience and wisdom.
My mother grew up on a small farm. She remembers having an outhouse before her father installed indoor plumbing. She learned how to milk a cow and how to gather eggs from chickens. She remembers canning fruits and vegetables for the winter and recalls hand ringing clothes before they were hung to dry outside.
Mom’s father, my grandfather, was a carpenter and a machinist at several local factories. He built the house they lived in with the help of his father and brothers.
Mom’s mother, my grandmother, was the daughter of Finnish, and Swedish immigrants. She ran a tight ship at home, but then she had to. She had eight children and a farm to run.
Mom was daughter number three and child number six. The Family didn’t have much money. Mom put herself through nursing school in Boston.
Her life has spanned: The great depression, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, 9/11 and Desert storm. Her life has been touched by every president from Roosevelt on.
She raised two children, both of them pastors. She worked as a nurse in four different health care systems. She was married to a small businessman, my father, for 24 years and lived as a widow for thirty years.
Mom traveled the Unites States. She has seen Puerto Rico and Germany. She has visited Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon, DisneyLand and Disney World.
She has served in roles in GirlScouts and Soccer. She was President of Women’s Club and played Golf and Tennis on leagues at different times in her life.
Her world is smaller now. She doesn’t leave home and many of her memories have been stolen by this horrible disease, dementia. It’s a new part of her journey and there is more ahead because life doesn’t end with this life. We celebrate 87 years today, but we also celebrate the years ahead into eternity.
In July, my son and his family moved back from South Korea. In the middle of August, my sister, Brenda returned to the vicarage for a six week break away.
But Long before they returned, my daughter, Melanie, and her girls Had begun visiting my mother on Tuesday nights while her husband, James and I led a boy’s group at our church, And while Amanda led the teen ministry of our church.
Melanie and I actually had the discussionAbout whether or not her Tuesday night visits should continue with all the extra people in the house. I said yes. I thought we should not stop a healthy, family ritual, rather, we should build on it.
So this summer, Melanie and James have continued to come over with the girls on Tuesday nights. Sometimes, they’ve been the only ones here with mom. Sometimes, they have held game nights with their siblings. sometimes, Melanie has had a meeting, so James has brought the girls. And sometimes like last night, everyone except Amanda was here.
The three grandchildren were running around, making all kinds of noise. We adults spread throughout the house, having group and private conversations. Melanie gave mom a manicure. It was chaos. It was wonderful.
I realize that in a few weeks, James and I will be back teaching the boys group. Brenda will be back in the Netherlands. Amanda will be teaching the teens. But for this brief time we have a season of Tuesday nights. I will cherish them while I have them. And I will cherish them in my memory when they have passed.
On our way home from Tennessee we stopped in Gettysburg Pennsylvania for a tour of the battlefield.
The battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1-3,1863 in the streets and in the field around Gettysburg. By the battle’s end over 51,000 men were dead.
In the fields around this house the troops of the Massachusetts 22nd fought. It is strange to think that men from my home state fought and died right here.
It was a fascinating historical tour. As I drove these fields I was reminded of that quote by T. Rowe, “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.”
That little saying was some thing my grandmother would say at the end of every event. It might’ve been a Church service, dinner at a restaurant, the end of a family reunion or a vacation. Home again home again riggedty jig was a catchall phrase, said at the end, of any event, and before the drive home.
I found myself saying it at 7:45 AM Saturday morning as we pulled away from our little cabin in the mountains, and began the long journey home.
Saturday’s drive was a grueling 91/2 hour journey through driving rain in Virginia.
It looks lovely here. And it was when the rain came. It came hard and fast. Even so, we plowed our way through it and made it to Gettysburg in time for a delicious Italian dinner at La Bella Italia
On Sunday morning we were up and out of our hotel in Gettysburg by 8 AM. After breakfast at Perkins, we spent a few hours touring Gettysburg national battlefield.
I will share more on that later. We were on the road by 11:30 AM and home by. 7:30 PM. It was a very relaxing and wonderful break away.
Now we are home at the vicarage. The car goes in for tuneup next week. Brenda’s off visiting a friend tonight and I am back at ministry. I had Bible study this morning with my DLT group and I am doing a worship session at TWR This evening. Today has been all about unpacking and getting myself organized for the work at home and avoiding the driving range here at the Vicarage.
This has been a good week for staring at mountains.
My sister and I have rented a breakaway cabin in Tennessee. We are deep in the Cumberland Mountains. The remoteness of this place lends itself to what I call the following of the threads. Following the threads is a form of prophetic prayer. It takes time and the sense of wonder and how God is moving in the world around us.
It is finding God and the pathway He would walk with you.
I have spent many hours, staring at the mountains, listening to the Scriptures and wondering at God‘s work in my life. It’s funny how prayer produces situations which reveal the heart of the man of God.
Yesterday I spent the morning following the threads. I was gaining what I thought was a lot of understanding. When the time came for my sister and I to drive down the mountain for lunch at a place called the Pour House. The car battery was dead.
My inner calm was instantly gone. Our host here at the cabins, gave me a jumpstart and the name of a local mechanic. Chris, the manager of Shadden Tire in Centerville, Tennessee, took good care of us. We had a new battery, and were back on the road by 12:30 in the afternoon.w
We went to the Pour House And had an amazing lunch.
We then went grocery shopping to get what we will need for our trip home. And we finished off the day with custard at the Custard Cabin.
The custard of the day was slobber knocker: Vanilla, frozen custard, mixed with Oreos, Butterfingers and frozen Snickers bits.
It turned out to be a really good day, and I learned something about myself. My sense of calm is still tied too much to circumstances rather than to the immovable nature of the Holy Spirit. I need to work on that.
What aspect of inner healing or inner growth, are you working on right now?
I am in the Cumberland Mountain Range this week. Our scenic cabin is in a place called Eden Ridge.
There isn’t much to do here, except rest, and pray, contemplate and study. At some point, we will have to make our way back down the mountain for a little more grocery shopping and probably stop at the country club attached to this retreat center for a swim in the pool.
Today I have spent several hours in prayer and study. I put together the outlines for all the Royal Ranger devotions and church sermons through the new year.
Tomorrow I will put together the outlines through June.
One of the hours I spent in prayer was at The World Missions Park by the visitors center.
During that hour of prayer, I had a really strong sense that our congregation is about to face some challenges in the near future. Specifically, I feel as though God is going to challenge us to new levels of spiritual health. This will involve us letting go of some unhealthy cycles we have allowed our personal lives and relationships to fall into.
I have the sense that ministry is going to get increasingly complex when I get back.
I am grateful to God for this period of calm before what I think will be a period of crazy.
In the last two days Brenda and I have driven from PA to TN. We have spent something like 15 hours in the car together.
A rest stop in VA somewhere.
We stayed the night in Nashville with one of Brenda’s friends and mentors Rob Fraser. Here we are going to Five Daughters Bakery.
We visited with the Fraser’s until about 1 PM and then meet our way back up the plateau into the Cumberland Mountains to our cabin at Eden Ridge.Here is the sunset from our cabin deck.
Joe and Kristine have to go to New York tomorrow to meet with someone from The Philippine consulate. So Amanda, Brenda and I are watching Sevy for the day.
I still have one meeting before I am on break.
But I feel ready!
WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET READY FOR VACATION?
Notes From the Vicarage 