BE WILLING TO TAKE RISKS & EXPERIMENT ~ Now that another gardening season is upon us, I am learning new lessons from the garden. The first lesson I’ve learned is “be willing to experiment.” Karen Johnson gave me some gardening books and in one of them, a master gardener...
Gateway to Discovery is a 2-year residential program “Offering Women a Sanctuary for Recovering in Community.” I knew NOTHING about alcohol or drug addiction and recovery when, in 2012, a friend, Jodie, asked me to be on the Gateway to Discovery Board of Directors. I said...
As Sara and I strive to raise our children to know the love of Jesus, we frequently ask ourselves what we need to be teaching them, how we need to be model certain behaviors, or having specific conversations with them. It often feels like a moving target, to be honest. Our kids challenge us with...
On April 9th I received a puzzled look from 3 and 4 year olds when I told them: “we’re going to plant our garden today!” One of them responded: “but it’s snowing!!” I smiled and nodded. Then, I revealed that we would begin our garden inside in plastic cups...
On March 15th, members of the councils of North Central Iowa Presbytery, Prospect Hill Presbytery, and Des Moines Presbytery met together to hear a vision of collegiality for the future. Over 30 pastors and ruling elders listened to this vision and heard the story of the 3-year-long process of...
Larry Lee – Serving the Community Through PICA Jan and Phyllis Wilson organized PICA (Pride in Community Appearance) in the fall of 2002. I joined up with the group shortly after that, and I continue to be part of PICA. Wilsons, in their retirement, decided to take on a project in...
We have exciting news coming up! I can’t tell you just yet, though. We will unveil the news on Easter Sunday in both worship services. Our staff has been making plans for this announcement for the last few months and we can’t wait to let you know. So mark your calendars for Easter...
In January, representatives from the six Presbyteries in Iowa gathered in Perry, IA, for a 24-hour retreat. This group has been meeting every-other-month for the last 18 months to discuss the future and dream together. At first, we all came with our own desires and feelings, but through team...
I would like to start this month’s newsletter off by saying “thank you.” On Sunday, the 18th, we concluded our sermon series that took our mission and vision deeper. I am proud to be a part of our church. In this month-long sermon series, we explored deep issues together...
The other week I went with Everett to his very first visit with the eye doctor. As I remember from when I was young, Everett had fun looking at the pictures and letters through the various lenses and machines. It’s one of the few doctor visits that’s more fun that scary for a child...
