Sparky (1998?-2009)

Sometime over two years ago Sparky came to live with us. Her owner had died after a long illness, and Sparky needed a home. We were told she was nine years old, but we all think she was a lot older than that. For the first week we had her, she stood looking at the door, as if waiting for her master to come get her.

Gradually she became one of the family. She really loved Janelle and Ben especially. She moved with us first to Whitehall and then across country to Oregon. Although she slept most of the trip, it still seemed to take a lot out of her.

Lately she's been seeming confused. She would wander to a corner of our fenced-in back yard, or even into a corner of the room, and then stand there, not sure what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. Every time she would wake up from a nap, she would stand there as if she was trying to remember where she was and who we were.

Something happened this week that caused her to slip downhill fast. She quit eating and spent even more time sleeping (if that's possible). She started having trouble walking, and fell down several times. If she could manage to get up from where she was sleeping, then she couldn't figure out how to lay down. She was so weak that she couldn't bend down without falling down.

We determined to make her comfortable as long as we could, until last night when she was lying on the kitchen floor napping. She peed right where she was (sorry to be graphic), and just laid in it. That was the tipping point for us.

Today, we said goodbye to Sparky and I drove her to the animal shelter, where I rubbed her head one last time, said, "Bye, Baby," and walked out. I have often said I wasn't very connected to her, but found out today she was more my dog than I realized, or would have admitted if questioned. She's gone now, and in my mind's eye I can see her romping with her old owner, reunited, at least in my fantasies.

2009.01.26 - Ministers and Spouses Retreat

We had a relaxing drive down to Newport, after stopping at the Woodburn outlet stores. The weather was clear and the skies were blue. Our first glimpse of the ocean was unbelievable, but then subsequent views just kep getting better.

My last post showed the web site hotel ocean view. This picture is actually from our room, albeit late afternoon with the light already fading. We can see a lighthouse, but my camera phone can't catch it; it's just too far away. Our church leadership was thoughtful enough to spend a few dollars more to get us an ocean view room, and we can't thank them enough.

We've already met new friends, and got to talk with people who were at the Installation Service, but who never got a chance to say, "Hi."

Pastor Jim Lyon (our speaker) shared in our keynote session this evening about wholeness in six areas: emotional, mental*, social, spiritual, physical, and intellectual. He connected these to the Church of God teaching on holiness, and made the statement that one cannot be holy (or whole), without being whole in all six areas.

Maybe I'll get to share more tomorrow... but I'm not here to blog. I'm here to retreat and regroup and reconnect, with my God and my wife.

* I did not take notes and this is the only one of the six that I'm not sure I have recalled correctly. I looked at several Internet sites that talked about six areas of wholeness or wellness and they listed occupational in place of mental, but that doesn't sound right from tonight's talk.

The Honor Rail System

I had a day off coming, so today Janelle and I enjoyed a foray into Portland. We'd never ridden the MAX before, so that was a welcomed new experience. But I really don't get it. We bought our passes and got on the train. There was no turnstyle to go through, no one checking our tickets; we just paid our fares, slipped the tickets in my pocket, and we rode all day. It basically amounted to the honor system. The last place we rode mass transit was the METRO in Washington, D.C., where there is no honor... wait a minute; did that come out right?

Anyway, we had a great day. We walked a few blocks from the MAX line to Powell's Books, the greatest bookstore in the world. They have the biggest selection of theology, biblical studies, apologetics, and discipleship titles I've ever seen, in any bookstore of any kind. I think they might have some other books, too, but who has the time?

As our train was heading toward the Lloyd Center, where we were planning to have lunch, we spied a couple of our favorite food places, Romano's Macaroni Grill and Great Harvest bakery. After lunch, on the ride back, we left the train (when it was stopped) long enough to grab a loaf of Great Harvests cinnamon bread. Then it was back to Aloha.

Going West!

It's official. We've been moderately tight-lipped about our upcoming move, but now we can share with you our joy. We are excited about going to Aloha, Oregon, to pastor Aloha Church of God. Aloha is on the west end of the Portland metro area, between Beaverton and Hillsboro. The church was started in 1950, with my cousin (Gene Linnaman was my dad's cousin; would that make him my second cousin?) as its first pastor. In their 58-year history, they've had only five (now six) pastors, and the people are (and this sounds scary!) just like us.

Our calendar looks like this:

Saturday, September 27th - Moving Sale

Tuesday, September 30th - Mover Picks Up Our Stuff

Sunday, October 12th - First Sunday at Aloha

Wednesday, October 15th - Furniture Arrives at New House

Thursday, October 16th - Collapse

Please don't hold me too tightly to this schedule. Blessed are the flexible.

I was first contacted by the Aloha Pastoral Search Team last spring, maybe April, when they asked for sermons. They then contacted us about a phone interview with both Janelle and me. Before that interview actually took place, we were invited to candidate at a Pennsylvania church. We went ahead with the Aloha interview (and really seemed to connect with the team) but informed them by email within a day or two that we could not pursue our relationship with them any further until we walked through the open door that had presented itself with the Pennsylvania congregation.

Things didn't work out in Pennsylvania, so we contacted Aloha again, but wouldn't you know it, they were already considering a local candidate. I couldn't blame them for moving ahead with their search, and we were told they'd keep us informed. About a month later (after several emails back and forth) they invited our family to fly out. The earliest date that was good for all of us was the weekend of September 7th. We flew from Pittsburgh to Newark, and from Newark to Portland. The church was gracious enough to reserve two hotel rooms for our stay, which gave us some privacy and room to spread out.

On Saturday, while Janelle and I were in meetings, Garth and Kathy Hamilton (youth directors) took the youth, including our boys Ben and Will, on a hike up to Multnomah Falls. Will, who has never caught the hiking bug, said it was the best day of his life!

Sunday, we got to meet those we had missed on Saturday, and I had the opportunity to preach. Several of the youth sat with Ben and Will. We thought that was a wonderful show of support and friendship. It felt great, and the congregation was incredibly warm. We fell in love with everyone.

On Monday, we had the day to ourselves (and unlimited mileage on our rental car), so we headed for the Oregon Coast. We saw both Seaside and Cannon Beach, and had a great day. Ben and Will wanted to get back to Aloha because they had plans with some of the youth.

We had to return the car at 6:40 the next morning, but we were there by 5:30, and then our plane was delayed almost two hours because of bad weather in Newark. We sat at the airport until we boarded a little after 9. Four and a half hours later we landed at Newark, rushed to our gate for our connecting flight, and found out it was delayed, leaving us to sit and enjoy Newark International for about another hour and a half.

By the time we touched down in Pittsburgh, retrieved our luggage, and drove home, it was after midnight. Thus ended a physically tiring, but spiritually and emotionally refreshing, journey.

More to come...

Pirates Outing

Monday night we enjoyed a family Pirates outing at Pittsburgh's PNC Park. The Pirates were soundly defeated by the Chicago Cubs (if you call 12-3 soundly defeating someone). I think there were more Cubs than Pirates fans in the stands. One guy was holding a sign that read: Wrigley was sold out, so I came here!

We had absolutely great seats, but there were also a lot of empty seats. Pittsburgh is my team, whether it's football, hockey or baseball. We're just a little baseball-challenged right now.

Pittsburgh is The City of Bridges. This is the Clemente Bridge, which is closed off to vehicle traffic on game nights, to allow pedestrians to reach the stadium. The Allegheny River is below us, and joins the Monongahela just downstream to become the Ohio River.

This is a view of PNC Park from the Clemente Bridge. It's a beautiful park.

Anyway, we weren't there just to see the Pirates. Our main reason for going was that Janelle's chorus (Sounds of Pittsburgh) sang the national anthem before the game. That's her second row up, second from the left. Unfortunately, we found out that only weekend games televise the national anthem, so none of our friends got the chance to see her, but thanks for trying.

Ben and Will know the most important thing about a baseball game is the food!

Time to call it a night.

Happy Birthday, Janelle!

My darling wife turned... another year older today. She is a blessing to my life, and I am absolutely crazy about her. When we talked about how she wanted to celebrate her birthday, she asked if we could go hiking in Cook Forest, so that's what we did. Janelle, Will and I took Cook's Trail, a short (only two miles) loop, which starts at river level and climbs steeply the first half-mile before leveling out. The last mile (almost) is downhill, but a much gentler slope than the climb up.

Janelle and I both liked this spot. The moss was so thick it could have been a downy comforter on the forest floor.

This final picture illustrates life from death. This felled tree was a sappling around the time of the American Revolution. It toppled many years ago, and was then cut to clear the path. Now other plants and animals live on nutrients it stored over the centuries, and life goes on.

It was lucky we took a short trail, because it just poured not too long after our return home. No campfire tonight.

Anyway, I'm glad Janelle had a good birthday. As we like to say, only another 15 years and we'll be approaching middle age. Kind of like this tree... (I'm not sure that came out right.)

Cook Forest

I remember taking day trips to Cook Forest as a kid with my parents. The Clarion River runs right through the middle of it, and it's a family favorite for canoeing, hiking, and picnicking. Cook Forest also has some of the only virgin deciduous forests in North America. Wow, that sounds nerdy!

Anyway, last Saturday Janelle, Will and I enjoyed a leisurely 3-mile hike to the old fire tower and back. It's fun to share things with my kids that my dad shared with me.