We Had A Great Trip

Yes we did! It was a great time in L.A. Why wouldn't it be? We have 2 beautiful grand children there!!! (Oh yeah, their mom and dad, too). Seriously, seeing how they have changed was a lot of fun. Josiah is getting to be a little man and Lilly is soooo cute. She will look at you so soberly, then break out into a big smile with that big gap in her front teeth. You just want to squeeze her. Whenever she was unhappy because she had been disciplined or didn't get her way she would come to grandpa with her hands up begging, "up, up." Can you guess what I did??? Her vocabulary is growing but she still forgets who is who so most often everyone is "momma." So when she comes begging, "momma" your heart just melts. But her favorite word is "um" for "some" as in "I want some." It doesn't matter what you have, she wants some.

Sorry about not blogging last week. We were sort of distracted by Christmas and playing with all the new toys we got -- err, the kids got. Christmas evening we went to a Disney On Ice at the Staples Center. It was really good and Josiah loved it. Lilly was even entertained by it. Christmas Eve we went to Korak's brother's house for a little while then Joyce and I excused ourselves and went to a movie. That was a different evening for us, but a lot of fun. Then later Jana and I attended a midnight candle service at Westwood Presbyterian Church in Hollywood. And before that, on Friday evening, we went up to the newly remodeled Griffith Observatory. The evening was windy and cold but that also meant the smog was gone so we had a beautiful view of the city. And so it goes. We were busy. Came home early to rest!!! Actually we came home (Grants Pass home) on Thursday so we would have some time here to take care of things around the house. Our trip home was 17 hours because of a lot things: I-5 was closed on the Grapevine due to snow. After killing an hour and a half in Santa Clarita we decided to go around which turned out to be a good move because it didn't open until about 10:30 and then it was jammed with traffic. We detoured through Lancaster, Mojave, Bakersfield, and then back to I-5 -- about an extra 80 miles. Then we stopped a lot for breaks, a nap in Corning, dinner in Yreka, and gas a couple times. Long but leisurely.

This morning we worshipped at Allen Creek. It was good to "be back" and see everyone. Pastor Dan is doing such a great job. I said (and the search committee agreed) that we needed someone who could take the church to the next level. I think Dan is going that. We will return to Newport this week and get busy with the new year. As always this is a constant prayer request. I'll check in to see if you are.

A Full Week

Well, we packed a lot into this week. On Tuesday Jana and I went to see a taping of "Jeopardy." It was a lot of fun to see how it's done. Alex Trebek and Johnnie Gilbert interacted with the audience a lot, answering questions and talking about the program. We were there about 3 hours and saw 3 shows taped. They will air March 12, 13, & 14 (if I remember correctly). I'll remind all of us to watch on those days. You might be able to see us when they scan the audience. Jana and I are in the front row on the right side (as seen on camera). There is a left side where guests of contestants were sitting.

Then on Thursday, Joyce and I went to see a taping of "Wheel of Fortune." Again, it was a blast. The stage is smaller than it seems when you see it on television. Pat Sajak and Vanna White didn't interact with us as much as the people on Jeopardy but Charlie O'Donnel, the announcer, and one of the other leaders spent lots of time answering questions. Again we watched 3 shows being taped. They will air February 26, 27, & 28. Joyce and I are in the 3rd row pretty much in the middle.

And to top all of this, Joyce and I went to the Target World Challenge golf tournament in Thousand Oaks on Friday. We got to see Tiger Woods make a 40 foot birdie putt on the 9th green and then finish one in front. We also sat on the front row as all the players teed off to begin the round. I followed them for a few holes but not all the way around. The Sherwood Oaks Club course is absolutely beautiful. The houses surrounding it... well, they aren't houses, they are castles! The next day we toured the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley.

Then we went to church 1 1/2 times on Sunday so we could see Josiah sing in the program. What a week! It was great.


And there was time for some photos. Notice the smile on grandma and grandpa. Need I say more?

Pictures!

Here's our kids! Korak and Jana are the big ones; Lilly and Josiah are the little ones. We are having a great time with them.









They were helping decorate the Christmas tree. Lilly put this wreath on her head like a hat; pretty soon it was around her neck. Then it wouldn't come off! We thought we were going to have to cut it off but finally her dad got it at the correct angle and it slipped off. Josiah is in constant motion but he likes being a helper.






Josiah was in the children's choir at church Sunday. They sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain" at the end of the service. He is on stage with other kids and more specifically he is sharing a microphone with a little girl who was goofing off when I took this picture so she is not in it. They got in a little tussle over the mic -- trying to hog it, actually. The girl pushed Josiah to get him out of the way. I knew we were going to have an on-stage brawl but, no, Josiah did NOT push back. We told him how proud we were!!





Lilly is soooo cute! She has a gap in her front teeth so when she smiles she looks like an adorable old crone. She knows which button to push on a toy so it plays music, then she gets in the middle of the floor and dances.

Grandkids are Great

We actually left Grants Pass at 3:00 Tuesday afternoon and arrived in L.A. at about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday. We were a little anxious!!! Lilly is gorgeous, Josiah is handsome, both are intelligent, talented, and growing up too fast. What else would you expect a proud grandpa to say? We have been constantly busy with a few tiny down times. It's fun and this coming week will hold a lot of new experiences. More about that next time. Yes, we had rain last night and little mist today but it wasn't much to worry about. We attended church with the kids at Marina Christian Fellowship and I got to watch some football today (we haven't had TV in Newport and have often been traveling on Sunday afternoons).

Trust you had a great day, also.

End of Part 1

Perhaps our stay in Newport can be viewed in 2 parts. The first is getting acquainted and settled, the second will be getting down to the task of ministry and building. And these two are separated by a month in Los Angeles playing with our grandchildren. We are beginning the middle part now. Sunday was a good day -- 19 in attendance including a visitor from the neighborhood; our daughter Ginger was visiting from Salem; we received two ladies as members; and we partricipated in Communion. The church was decorated for Christmas with a couple beautiful trees, some wreaths, candles, and all the other little things that make it all look so nice. Saturday evening we had a "Hanging of the Greens" party to put up all those decorations. About a dozen people participated. We had corn bread and chili (guess who made the chili? -- uh-huh, and I'm told it was good!). A retired pastor from Salem will fill in while I'm gone. We are using the advent candles, lighting an additional one each Sunday until Christmas. I lighted the first one and volunteers are doing it the next three Sundays. A meeting of members after church elected people to various church positions -- and the leadership board. They showed ingenuity and determination to make things work and to look forward.

After the meeting, Joyce and I loaded up and headed for Grants Pass. We have a couple frantic days here and then Wednesday morning we turn south for LA (can't wait to see those kids!). I'll add to the blog each week for anyone interested.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving Eve service was great. Our friend Joann came and played the piano and led the music. We had people share foreign words that meant "thanks" and ways we can show our thanks. They read some scripture I assigned that mentioned being thankful. And... (now get ready for this), we had 39 people present (that included 6 that Joann brought with her) and in that number were representatives from 5 outreach homes on our area. Three were children who expressed an interest in starting a mid-week Kids Klub. So this was a great start to a new outreach in the neighborhood. Did I mention that we are the only church in this area. I'll have to clock how many miles to the next church (back toward downtown Newport) but I suspect 4 miles. Lots of people here to reach.

Sunday we had 17 people with some regular ones missing (holiday travel). Still a good spirit and attitude. We are experimenting with singing along with a CD. We have done it a couple times with choruses and yesterday we did it with a hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee." It went "okay." My concern is that we haven't picked up any "new" people and the old ones who dropped out haven't returned -- after the first couple weeks. But the regulars are very faithful and very positive.

My sister, Beth, is here to visit for the week. We expect to have a good time seeing the sights of Newport and she is helping Joyce with some craft projects. Next Sunday we have a membership meeting after worship -- to elect people to various church positions and engage in a little planning for the future. Then... Joyce and I head for LA and grandkids (gotta stay focused!!).

Weather is typical Oregon coast but we'll go out in it anyway. Blessings.

A Picture to See

Well here it is -- Agate Beach Community Church! This is the worship end of the building. To the right of the entry is another wing with 3 rooms and a fellowship area. The entry/lobby goes all the way through the building so there is an entrance on the back side. This is where most of the people park.

Sunday was a good day. Good sermon (at least I thought so!!! That's better than those days when I've thought, "Boy, this was a bomb"). It was a real Oregon coast morning with wind and rain coming down sideways. We were scheduled to take invitations throughout the neighborhood right after worship. A lady said the weather guy promised the rain would end at 3:00 so we decided to meet back at the church at 3:00. Sure enough, the rain stopped and it was a very pleasant afternoon. Five of us delivered 210 invitations throughout the church neighborhood. We just put them on door knobs -- not knocking and speaking with people. It went well and we all stood around visiting after we finished.

The invitations? Those are to our first "outreach" event -- a Thanksgiving Eve service of thanks with music and scripture and prayer and... brainstroming as many words for "thanks" as we can think of in as many languages as we possibly can. For visitors it will be a safe, easy way to be involved -- not just sit and wonder, "Why did I come?" The invitation is to spend an hour being thankful for all you have. There are about 300 living units in the church neighborhood so we gave invitations to most of them. So now we'll see what happens. It is up to the Holy Spirit. I'm praying for at least 4 contacts from the area. I mean 4 different living units to be represented, plus our own people of course. I know some of our people can't be there but some will. I have our friend, Joann Harper coming to play the piano and lead singing so our music will be really good.

We had 15 in church Sunday. The bills are being paid. Joyce and I are living in the parsonage. We commented on the irony... we lived for 3 months in a small RV -- about 150 square feet, 2 beds side by side, one couch, one easy chair. Now we live in a 1350 square feet house -- 2 beds side by side, one couch, no easy chair (but my sister is bringing one Friday). However this kitchen is bigger and we have 2 bathrooms. The people have loaned us all kinds of stuff to make life more comfortable so we are doing well. The only problem is pet oder from the previous occupants. The carpet has been cleaned twice and it is still there. We trying some other stuff today.

Well, keep praying for us and especially for the church.

The Wind Blows and Needs to Blow

We pray the wind of the Holy Spirit will blow thru the church touching hearts and healing broken spirits. Not yet, but pray with us that it will. Meanwhile the other wind did blow -- the weather. This past week we saw the fury of the storm. And we didn't see it nearly as bad as they did further north. But it rained and it blew and it blew and it rained in Newport. It was fun watching the waves breaking on the rocks but it wasn't much fun to drive in.

But beyond the weather, it was a good week. We stayed in a condo that Joyce's brother has a time-share in. It was 6 miles north of the church at Otter Crest. Very nice and very convenient and the price was right. Thanks Don. We and 5 people from the church painted the inside of the parsonage and did a few repairs. The carpet will be cleaned this week and we will "move" in when we return to Newport on Friday. (By the way, we returned to Grants Pass about 7:00 Sunday evening). By moving in we mean a few chairs, some kitchen stuff, an air mattress to sleep on and some clothes.

And today was a good day. These are wonderful, hardworking people who love their church and want to see it succeed. Our worship was good, we even have 3 ladies leading the singing. We had 19 in worship which is encouraging. Although the new ones aren't really good candidates to become part of the church -- relatives who live out of the area and members of other churches. But it is still encouraging. And we had a great Thanksgiving potluck dinner -- lots of yummy food and the people were encouraged. Then we had a very positive board meeting. These kind of meetings can be boring but these are such great people. They are constantly thinking forward. Pray Joyce and I can give them the direction and guidance they need. Thanks.

Week 2

Well we are growing. We had 13 yesterday!!! We are working on the parsonage this week, getting it liveable and fixed up to sell. When I say "we" I mean the church people and Joyce and I. We are having a work party tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4:00 to paint, paint, paint. All the interior. It needs other work, some of it outside, but that can come later. By later I mean when the weather improves. We are having a terrific storm right now. It started Friday or Saturday and is supposed to last all week. We went to watch the waves crashing on the rocks on Saturday and again today. The wind is blowing and rain is coming down sideways. I guess that is what it is supposed to do on the coast. Keep praying for us. We have a lot of personal contacts to make.
A lot of healing to take place.

A New Phase

Well it wasn't long. Retirement, that is. I thought it might last a little longer -- like maybe to February or March. But the Lord seems to have had other plans. We had been home from our Alaska trip about 2 weeks when the Superintendent called asking me if I would be interested in being the interim pastor at the Newport Free Methodist Church. Actually it is called Agate Beach Community Church. Since this is the type of thing I had been planning to do, I said "Yes" -- although I admit my plans would have been for this to start a few months later. We visited the church on October 22 and began on October 29. The church has never been large and recently went through a period of upheaval so it is very small now. We are there to try to make the church viable again. There were 12 in church Sunday -- a slow start but those who were there are very excited about the future. Our plans are to live in Newport on a part-time basis. We'll commute back to Grants Pass every few weeks to check on things and take care of obligations here. We will move a few things into the parsonage and live there very simply. More about the parsonage on a later blog. The church building is small but very nice, very clean, and well maintained. It is in a neighborhood of houses but a little hard to find. Come and visit us. Turn west off Highway 101 onto NW 58th (on the east side is a sign that says NW 57th!!! I know, kind of strange). Go one block and turn right onto NW Biggs. The church is one short block away. Until next week and the next exciting chapter in our lives...