Small town life

Well, yesterday was certainly filled with emotion. We had a wonderful worship service where we commissioned our high school seniors to go out into the world, partook in Holy Communion, said our official goodbyes, and anounced who Aldersgate's incoming pastor will be!  I am happy to say that God was (as expected) just as faithful to Aldersgate as He was with Wilson. AUMC is getting a young energetic shepherd from outside the conference who asked to come to Utah. God is good, all the time.

We have but a few details to sort out in the week ahead. Form here, really, the task at hand is packing and preparing for our move. We already have many things boxed up, and walls are becoming increasingly bare by the day. It is possible that we may be loading our stuff on Friday, June 15th (or Monday the 18th). I would prefer Monday seeing as I'll be at Annual Conference that Friday.

An interesting experience this morning:
(Daniel pictured right, after friends called out his name as he teed up)
My boys had scheduled a tee time at the public golf course here in town (the only one by the way) this morning, and as we were loading the clubs into my car Daniel began to panic. It turns out he had lost his player pass which Tracy and I had purchased for him as a gift. It still had 8, 9-hole, punches on it and anxieties began to run high. The last time he had seen it was last Monday when the three of us had grabbed a fast front-nine.

When we arrived at the golf course, we were met with several of my boy's friends and the golf course manager, Chris Marx, a good friend of mine. Chris had not only instructed me some years back, he and I had also coached several boys basketball teams over the years.

I explained our situation, whereupon he smiled and reached into a drawer, producing Daniel's lost card. While he converted the remaining passes to their now digital system they use, other adults and friends arrived. It was about that time it hit me: I will miss small town life.

I will miss situations like this one where Chris and the staff recognized our name and knew who were were. I'll miss relationships (even at local establishments) where even if they had not found Daniel's pass, they would have honored it anyway. I will miss going to ordinary places like the golf course, the grocery store, or the post office (where I went next), and being known.  I will miss knowing my dentists well enough that we can call her at home when there is an emergency. I'll miss having not fly fished with my orthopedic surgeon. I will miss not knowing the "Rhino-Rooter" guy (John) who snakes our basement drain once a year (and always asks such great theological questions). I will even miss the 1 1/2 hour Walmart trips where current and past preschool students (and parents) stop to talk to Tracy. Small town life is rich with relationships.

I know that we will again build relationships and have friends in Colorado Springs. But we also know that it will be different...bigger...and somewhat less personal.

Prayer: Thank you God for our time here in Brigham and the relationships you have allowed us to enjoy. It has been a gift, and we are grateful.