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.

The Office

With my new assignment I've moved out of the office I had at the Family Life Center, where the offices of Central Mission are located, and into my home.  I call it Inland West-East.  I do miss some of the camaraderie of an office, but I must say I enjoy the peace and quiet as well as my two office buddies (our two Labrador Retrievers).  

Tomorrow I head out on another 5,000 mile road trip through Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Utah, (as well as Wyoming and Nebraska to get there!).  I'm looking forward to it, but today was Andi's first day of surgical rotations and she is going to be pretty busy while I'm gone.   

After this trip I am going to build a new desk for my office as well as add some different furniture and lighting.  Don't worry Inland Westers - the Chatburn Family is footing the bill for that little renovation project.  Time to finish packing for an early start tomorrow!

Vacation in the Rocky Mountains

Andi and I make it a point to take one vacation a year.  We call it our annual honeymoon and this year we went to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We camped out at the beautiful Moraine Park and we had fun staying in our modest backpacking tent and cooking our own food.  We both enjoy the outdoors and I particularly enjoyed stretching my legs after a series of long road trips.  

I did learn an important lesson.  I tried baking biscuits using a backpacking s

tove and a double boiler with two pots.  I learned this trick from a Peace Corps Volunteer while I lived in Kenya for a summer.  You can see, however, things didn't work so well and I actually burned through an entire pot.  I'd like to talk to that PCV about how she did that.......

One of the days we were at Rocky Mountain National Park we drove up Trail Ridge road that took us way above the tree line into the tundra.  Near the Alpine Visitor's center we ran into several huge elk.  Good times and it was great

 to experience God's presence and divine creativity in the great outdoors.  Equally as fulfilling was getting to spend quality time with my best friend and wife, Andi.

SPEC & CLW

The last two weeks of July I spent on the campus of Graceland University in Lamoni, IA.  Spectacular directly followed the Hills of Peace Reunion in Alberta, so I booked it from Canada to Lamoni - about 30 hours of over the road time.  I figure it was good conditioning for my new assignment:)  

This was my second year to serve as the Financial Officer for Spectacular.  I have really enjoyed that role, but it will likely conclude with this SPEC since my new assignment will place different demands on my summer schedule.  This year's SPEC was good and it is good to be around the creative energy of the SPEC leaders and participants.  The most notable thing about this year's SPEC was all of the rain!  Founders Lake spilled out across the street and merged with the murky mud hole on the other side.

The Congregational Life Workshop followed SPEC, however, I was able to sneak away for an evening and spend time with Andi.  This was a new experience for me.  I taught a class with Erica Blevins Nye and Amanda Edsall.  It was a good experience and it was good for me to get more teaching experience.  

Between SPEC and CLW I met several folks from the Inland West Mission Center and the West Central Field.  It seems like there are a lot of goods folks out there and I'm looking forward to hearing more stories and sharing more cups of coffee as time goes on.