Echo Valley and Salt Lake City

I must confess I'm still getting the hang of this traveling business.  I had a wonderful road trip in the Northwest, but when I returned home I had a slew of work waiting for me.  I wanted to share to last images from my the last two stops on my road trip.  The first is of the chapel from the Echo Valley campground near Avon, MT.  I was there the weekend after Labor Day for the first part of a spiritual formation retreat.  Kris and Peter Judd where there and it was good to see them.  We first met while I was working as an Intern for the church in Australia during a Graceland Winterterm and they were over there providing guest ministry.  Always good to see them as well as meet new folks from the mission center. 

The last stop on my trip was in Salt Lake City, UT.  It is safe to say that we are more than just a little out numbered in Salt Lake City.  It is a beautiful city with some unique challenges for the church.  It was good to share with the folks there and to visit another part 

of the mission center. 

I'll be back in the Inland West Mission Center in another two weeks or so for Mission Center Conference.  I'm really looking forward to that.  I'll get to preach a sermon as well as see if I have any skills at budget presentation! 

Great Falls

After spending the night in Sacry's I toured Terry Reiff's clinic in Whitehall.  Andi is interested in doing a Rural and Family Practice rotation at his clinic and I wanted to be able to give her a good description.  From Whitehall I went to Great Falls via Whitetail rd. which is a partially paved road that goes through the mountains from Whitehall to Boulder, MT.  Beautiful scenery and no traffic.   

I went to Great Falls to meet with Nathan Reiff who is a young adult and the pastor   of the Great Falls Congregation.  He, his spouse Karen, and daughter Kate are quality people and a lot of fun to be with.  They fixed an awesome homemade pizza with fig jab and prosciutto with mozzarella cheese - good stuff.  I really enjoyed my time with them and getting to know them.  

Pizza Church in Whitehall

Last week on Wednesday I traveled from Spokane, WA to Whitehall, MT to visit with folks and participate in a mid-week fellowship they call "Pizza Church."  Unless I missed it, there was no pizza involved, but there was good food and good fellowship of about 30-35 folks.  I met Terry Reiff who is one of the doctors in town and interestingly enough he went to the same medical school that Andi is going to.  

I spent the night at the Sacry ranch just east of Whitehall.  The farmhouse had a lot of character to it.  The room I stayed in had the original logs exposed and at some point someone had used newspaper to insulate the room and there was a 100 year old copy of the Saint's Herald stuck to the wall!!

Labor Day

For Labor Day I left my roost at the Spokane Valley church and ventured up to the mountains and lakes near Sandpoint, ID.  That area was beautiful and if it had been a few degrees warmer I probably would have ventured out into the water in a kayak.  I was very content to sit in a Starbuck's overlooking the lake and sip on a grande Pike's Place.  They also had some great bike paths that I enjoyed walking on.  

Later in the day clouds rolled in and things started to get a little wet.  The Sagle congregation is close to

Sandpoint and I located the church building.  It is one of the oldest in the mission center if not the oldest - I think it is over 100 years old.  Up until last year it was heated with a wood burning furnace and it is home to one of the best libraries in the church.

I finished up my day off with an exploration of Spokane's "Pig Out in the Park" at the Riverfront Park.  It was quite the eclectic event and I had some good ice cream.  Around the park are these iron runners.  I thought they looked cool.  

It was a good day off, but it would have been more fun if my wife could have been with me.  I'm glad she is going to get to come up in October for a few days.  

Preach'n in Pullman

This Sunday (8/31) I had the opportunity to travel from my accommodations in Spokane, WA to Pullman, WA and preach.  This was the first congregation that I've gotten to preach at in the Inland West Mission Center and it was a good experience for me and I hope it was for those attending the service.  

The Pullman congregation is made up of two families who are as faithful as the day is long.  They even passed out note pads to take notes on my sermon.  We had a potluck afterwards and good conversation.  The group reminded me some of the congregation where I spent the first ten years of my life in Broken Arrow, OK - small in numbers, but big in heart and spirit.  

Boise and Camp Cascade

Last Wednesday - Friday (Aug. 27-29) had a great time getting to know folks in the Boise, ID area.  I had very gracious family host me - Tony and Sylvia Dennis.  Sylvia's father was an appointee so she had a good idea of what it was like to be a traveling minister and I really appreciated their hospitality.  I had a nice breakfast with Erma Akey who was very helpful in orienting me to the Boise congregation.  The Boise congregation is in the midst of installing playground equipment as well as a basket ball court and volleyball court.  

On Thursday the Dennis' s took me around the city of Boise and then in the afternoon I went up to Camp Cascade and helped John Fisher (campground board president) unload some matresses that were going to be used for a group coming in over Labor Day.  I'm really glad I had a chance to meet John.  He seems like a class act and we have a lot of common interests and I hope I get to spend more time with him down the road.  

Boise seems like a great town with great folks and I'm looking forward to my next trip back there.  

Turbines in the Desert

Last week I traveled across I-80 on my way from Laramie, WY to Boise, ID.  This was my first little trip across southern Wyoming and I didn't realize beforehand that it was all high desert and quite bare.  I have noticed something great as I have been traveling.  At least once a day I see trucks carrying components for windmills/turbines that are sprouting up in otherwise barren parts of the country. 

 I think wind energy is a fantastic development and in some ways it is a living witness of the resurrection for the small communities in isolated parts of the country.  Wind 

energy and other alternative forms of energy are giving communities on the brink of extinction new jobs, vitality, and a renewable source of energy.  I don't know if you can make out the turbin

es in this picture or not, but they are just of I-80 outside of Rock Springs, WY.