AND SO ON....

Well, the news is finally out. The nature of the thing is secret so it has been awkward. So now that everyone has gotten the news Cindy & I can finally start saying goodbye. I told the kids a while back.

It is a strange feeling being between two different worlds. The people here are grieving and doing what they need to say their goodbyes. It may be just me but as I look into some of their eyes I feel a pulling away like our relationship has changed. It has changed of course but it is a strange feeling - unsettling actually. I am still here for 3 weeks. During this time there will a few dinner parties with friends which I am looking forward to.

In Riverton preparations are moving forward for my arrival. I have temporary housing figured out. The congregational president has started to include me in internal emails about meetings and all that. Our Bishop is scheduled to be there on March 11 for my installation so as you can see things are moving along.

One of the members in Riverton is a Realtor and has made contact via email. That was nice of her. Cindy has been looking at homes on a number of sights. We both really pray we will find a home we can fall in love with and not just have to settle. Having a home we love and are proud of will go a long ways in making our time in Riverton fulfilling.

There are so many feelings in the mix right now. I am grieving also. There are friends here whom I will greatly miss.

Today I will do some more packing both in my office and at home in the garage. I have made great progress in both.

Cindy has simply been amazing in all this. I love her dearly for her willingness to once again follow me into the unknown and for giving up things she loves to make everything work.

I'll write later.

HERE WE GO

Why leave a place with wonderful weather, cloud-free blue skies almost every day, great restaurants, a house and home we love, and good friends? That is a good question.


Cindy & I have lived in Las Cruces, NM almost nine years now.  During that time we settled in and grew pretty comfortable. The one thing that we have always regretted though was being so far away from family, especially our children. 

I have one more Call in me before retirement. As Christians we believe that God is involved in our lives. So in my prayers I "told God" that since Laura & BJ and our 2 granskids live in Denver that Denver would be a great place for me to find another church to Call me. Well although I noticed that there were openings in the Denver area nothing was happening on my behalf. If you really want to know how Lutheran pastor's move from congregation to congregation just ask. I'm not going to go into detail here. I kept praying about it though. It was finally when I told God I was open to go wherever He wanted me too that I was contacted by the Call Committee at St John Lutheran Church in Riverton, WY.

Now neither Riverton nor Wyoming for that matter were on my radar screen. Why would I want to go there? What's there except antelope and prairie? I have come to find out that there are some Lutheran's hiding up there among those antelope. Cindy & I decided that if God provided who were we to turn Him down.

I had a phone interview first which went fairly well and then Cindy & I were invited to fly up there for a face-to-face meeting. The travel was pretty straight forward. We flew from El Paso to Denver. Then we boarded a 19 seat prop plane for the 1.5 hour flight to Riverton. The flight attendant looked strikingly like our co-pilot because he was. The cockpit is open for all to see while the flight takes place. 

Over the course of 1.5 days once in Riverton we were met at the aiport, taken to our motel (nice), fed and given a rental car to use. We were driven around town, saw the church, checked out the library, had another interview and met some folks. We were treated very well. Thankfully Cindy came away more impressed than she thought she would be. She says she can live there.

Well, the people at St. John decided to Call me to be their pastor and I have accepted. My last Sunday here in Las Cruces will be February 19. My first Sunday in Riverton will be on March 4.

Now we are working like crazy to get our house clean & fixed-up so we can put it on the market to sell. Wow! Things are moving fast.

We have known for some time now that this was going to happen but we needed to keep it secret. We can finally tell people now so the word is finally out. This Sunday I will make an official announcement in Church.

Now we will be just 6.5 hours away from Laura's family instead of 11 hours. That's progress. I'm going to buy some long underwear, cowboy boots and a gun rack for my VW bug.

I'll write again later.