Finishing Well

This morning I am cuddled up with a mocha in hand, sitting in a comfy, christmasy living room in Troy, Ohio...home to new friends Abby and Lucas. The past year and a half has led to now...full-time employment as a Worship Pastor. Operation Westward Expansion took me to Colorado and brought me back to Virginia and is now launching me into the midwest state of Indiana. This is a move of permanence....and it feels good and right and exciting, if not mildly terrifying.

This summer, a friend spoke on the idea of "finishing well." When you know you are going to be leaving a place, you do everything you can to end on a strong and positive note. He was motivating us to keep pushing through the endless details of packing up summer camp, making the smoothest transition for the next summer, but that idea of a strong finish has stayed with me.

And so these past few weeks have been just that. I subbed a week and a half straight, finishing up the majority of prearrangement jobs that I had, spending time at both schools that have been such a support for me this fall.  I continued leading at New Season UMC in Fredericksburg, which sadly enough, has decided to close at the end of the year.  And I had dinner and coffee with numerous friends.  This past weekend was time with my family...to go on a caroling hayride, to make gingerbread houses, and to eat family dinners with four generations. I'm glad these last weeks were full of people and stories, and that I leave at a time when my family's chapter in Springfield officially closed.  Even not being home for Christmas hasn't been a disappoint, new traditions will be made as the family figures out what holidays look like in Colonial Beach!

As with all endings come new beginnings, and while my story is far from over, the "Amy Goes West" saga is. But that just means you can continue following the adventure over at  Amy Goes Midwest or amygoesmidwest.blogspot.com. After a couple of weeks to settle in, I am sure that I will have it all decked out in blogging finery.

Friends, thank you for all of your love and support and encouragement. Thank you for continually reminding me of who I am and how God wired me.  I love you all!

Fort Wayne here I come!

Big News....I'm Moving to Indiana!

Friends, I am quite the excited gal this week.  I flew out to Indiana the few days before Thanksgiving to interview with a couple of awesome churches.  It was a whirlwind trip with airplanes, rental cars, pouring rain, and many, many new faces.  I drove through roundabouts, stayed in host homes and hotels, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of it all.

But the biggest news, is that I have accepted a position as Worship Pastor at Saint Joseph United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana! It's a terrific church with five weekend services, some traditional, some contemporary, and I am excited to join the staff there.  I'll be overseeing the contemporary services, the multiple worship teams already in place, leading weekly, diving into the people of St. Joe and learning their stories....seriously, how cool?

So in a couple of weeks I'll be midwest bound, the green bullet accompanying me on yet another adventure.  It's looking like I'll head out, look for a place to live, get started in the job, and Mitch will join in on the fun in January.

Maybe there's more to share in this whole new venture, but I am filled to the brim with the excitement and anticipation that comes from participating in what God is unveiling and knitting together.  Be watching for a new blog to roll out as time permits... I'm thinking...

Amy Goes Midwest: I've been East. I've been West. Let's meet in the middle.

I mean, it's pretty awesome, don't you think?

Guess It's Time for an Update?

Wow....blogging has taken a backseat to the craziness of life these days, days full of people and odd jobs and the ever pressing in to what's next....not so many days of eclectic festivals and exploration.  Compared to all my crazy adventures of last year, this fall has been tame and restful...somewhat....:o)

We did spend a day in Fredericksburg last week, I'll have to post those. And Halloween was a fab time with family and friends. Trick or treating with toddlers is pretty entertaining.

Currently, I'm back house sitting in Chantilly with my two fav doggie pals, Aspen and Vermont.  It's fun to spend some time in a stylish townhome complete with internet, cable, and a very comfy couch.

I have been blessed with substitute teaching this fall. After September there have only been a few days I haven't worked, and those were more by choice than a lack of jobs.  I enjoy the constant change and challenge that comes with different groups of students. Tomorrow I'll be spending the day with my favorite class by far, a really cool 6th grade class. We have an understanding: they behave, and I look like an amazing substitute.

There may be a move in my near future. Nothing is even close to being definite, but prayer for discernment is my heart's desire.

This weekend is my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. 60 YEARS! After a hard spring and summer we are grateful as a family to have both my grandfather and grandmother healthy and ready to celebrate! Then I have a very quick jaunt to the great state of Indiana and back for Thanksgiving ready to see what December holds..... we'll just see!

Parades and Pumpkins

I love fall. There is something invigorating and awakening as the trees shift their colors, the temperatures drop, and we leave behind the nasty humidity and mosquitos of summer. I deeply missed autumn colors last year...not even the beauty of aspen trees with their united yellow front of sunshine could do for me what the vibrant hues of red, orange, and brown leaves blend and weave among one another.

And I love fall for its festivities.  The family recently went to the King George Fall Festival with the LONGEST parade ever that thankfully ended well with the Redskins Marching Band bringing up the rear. And just today since everyone was up in Springfield for various appointments, we hit up Nalls Produce and Pumpkin Patch..... I cannot wait to carve a pumpkin in the next couple of weeks....did I mention that I love fall?

But life is nonetheless a whirlwind these days. I'm been job applying, and substitute teaching, and taking the weekends with family and Mitch and spending a lot of time with a very special Vietnamese family whose daughter has been diagnosed with leukemia. They have introduced me to quail eggs, fish sauce, and chopsticks and I have in turn showed up to the hospital with my ukulele in hand...pretty sure I have the sweeter end of the deal!

These periods of waiting are always hard for me...I am inclined to have a plan, be working towards something even if it isn't for the longterm.  But for now, I'll just enjoy the colors and parades and pumpkins.

How 'bout them apples?

This past weekend brought a sweet, delightfully sunny afternoon of apple picking in Winchester, VA with family.  We had been tempted to cancel based on discouraging weather reports of rain and more rain, but we took the gamble and it paid off! We went to Marker-Miller Orchards, the land of apples trees, wagon rides, and playground equipment. There was even some sort of festival going on so there was face painting, booths of kettle corn and barbecue and a bluegrass band set up playing.

Nate was all about getting the best apples, although it took both hands and a leaning-back-pull for him to get them. Turns out apple picking with a toddler becomes a gigantic photo-op...so fun!

We spent all afternoon among the trees, taking the wagon ride around the farm, and running around the playground trying out all the different pieces of equipment: a pirate ship, a castle, a small train, among some swings and a sand box.

I did end up riding the kiddie cow-train with Nate, there were two cars big enough to fit an adult and kid....although it was a bit of a tight fit! The second time Nate sat in his own car, but since there weren't enough kids to fill up the train, I rode along too. As I settled in for my second go round, the nine year old sitting in the cow in front of me looked back and said, "I feel too old for this."....I had no response.

We left with a solid two bags of apples....my plan is to attempt a homemade apple pie sometime this week....I'm sure there will be pictures of that to come!

Quantico National Cemetery

We said goodbye to my Grandpa back in March.  We held a small funeral for family and friends in an outdoor pavilion at Quantico National Cemetery.  Headstones take up to five weeks to come in after ordering and as of yet, I had not had a chance to go back and see where Grandpa had been buried.  So with another day of waiting for a job to come in, I decided on taking a quest, mainly to visit Grandpa's grave.

I had hoped vainly that I would remember the general location within the cemetery, but the simplicity and beauty of Quantico is in its uniformity of graves....everything has a way of looking the same. And so I headed into the information/admin building where a kiosk is set up to help visitors locate gravesites. When the computer didn't work, I had to flip through a binder alphabetically listing the basic information for each person and grave location. My second time driving through the cemetery successfully landed me in the right section.

This past summer in Christiansburg was difficult, I saw my grandpa everywhere: in the mountains, the houses we were working on, the bass players of bluegrass groups. Grief is a hard friend to adjust to. It sneaks up and hits when you least expect, a kick in the stomach taking one's breath.

And so I stood in that quiet, peaceful cemetery and I said all the things my heart needed to get out. There was a sense of closure, of freedom and forgiveness.  I loved that foolish man, who held parts of himself back, and I will always carry his love for music deep in my bones.

It is fitting where my Grandpa is buried. He was always popular with the ladies, and it just so happens that he is surrounded by ladies on either side. :o)

Settling In....

It's my third week here in Springfield, finally easing into a constantly moving routine of catching sub jobs as they come, catching up with old friends, and pressing in to this crazy process of job searching and discernment.  As I was driving home from dinner with a sweet couple I met before Colorado, my heart felt full. Nothing looks like it did when I last resided here, the community that I do have is scattered and disconnected, and I have no idea what is happening even as soon as next week.... but I am sharing my story multiple times a day and I've found a semblance of family in some unique places..... it all adds to the adventure!

And on days like today, when things are quieter, I hang out with a couple of cool gals.... they are good company.

Poured Out Worship- New Blog!

I started a new blog! www.pouredoutworship.blogspot.com. More to chronicle my thoughts, dreams, and heart for worship. Amygoeswest will be getting an overhaul one of these days, hopefully when I know what direction I'm headed next. Right now I am pressing in a bunch of different directions and I hope when a door opens, I'm ready.

I tried to get my own domain name, but the most logical one, amycox.com is currently owned by some Jeffrey or other in Canada.... and with tight budget constraints...well, it looks like it will stay his. So pouredoutworship.blogspot.com will be it for now, a place with contact info, availability, and what I'm currently doing....interspersed with what I've learned so far and resources I've come across...so exciting! Check it out here

I am thankful for days of rain, but even more thankful that the sun came back out yesterday and the sky turned blue... back to the dreaming and scheming board....

10 Years Later

Ten years ago today, I was a senior sitting in Spanish class. A phone call about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center prompted my teacher to turn on the television. We watched as the second plane exploded into the second tower.  And then we went back to spanish adverbs and adjectives. When the next call came about the pentagon, we abandoned our futile tries at learning, and took turns on the phone calling parents who worked at the Pentagon.

Over the years, I've spoken with people about their experiences on Sept 11, an event we have all been changed and affected by. I've always tried to explain the terror of that day for those of us on the east coast, how normal it is for me to often reflect on the possibility of another terrorist attack.  The pentagon is only 10 miles from my home....it is an easy fifteen minute drive.  Several parents from my school and community were lost that day.  I remember a man from church, was saved by having been out of his office at the time, another twenty feet closer and he too would have been gone.

There are so many vivid snapshots from that day. Asking fellow students if they had heard from their parents. Praying in the hallway with friends and being told to "keep it contained." Holding hands with my dad as he picked us up from school and clinging to his strength. The irony of such a beautiful, cloudless day.  I remember calling my estranged older brother, hoping against hope that he would come home to be with us. Yes, he had seen the fire of the pentagon from his work, and no, he still wasn't coming home.

And yet, September 11 is also a day of hope. Life continues, and we remember those lost and support those who continue to keep this country safe.  It's a time to reflect, to see that we are not defined by one terrible act of violence.  We have grown, loved, and lived over the last decade and will keep on doing so. A moment of silence, of honor, and a thankful prayer that God has not forgotten, He is bigger than all these things.

Oh Virginia, I Still Love You

I used to say that Virginia was awesome for a girl like me because it was best known for its mild weather and limited natural disasters. Since I've been back in NOVA, we've had an earthquake, a hurricane, and now flooding..... just wanted to share what's been going on this past week with friends in the west.....enjoy. :o)

I'm holding out hope that things will calm down and the weather will rest easy.... at least driving in the rain doesn't grip me with panic anymore, thanks to lots of practice!

Room 506

I was lost. First of all, the hospital was quite large with signs everywhere pointing in different directions for all the color coded elevators and wings. And second, well, it was more on a whim than a planned decision that led to my walk through the twisted corridors. I made it to the fifth floor of the pediatric wing, but one set of double doors was all it took to make me question where I was. I slipped into a family waiting room and dialed the operator, "Room 506, please." After a few rings, L*'s voice filled the phone, "Hello?" "Hey, L*! It's Amy. What if I told you I was on the floor of your hospital, popping in to visit, and I'm lost?" And so began a fifteen minute dialogue while her younger sister paced the halls in hopes of discovering where I was.

L*, only a senior in high school, has been diagnosed with Leukemia.  She has begun the chemo treatments and knows that the next six months will be the most difficult as her body responds to the drugs and she remains isolated at home or at the hospital.  It had been a long time since I had seen L*, but a mutual friend had kept me updated, and moving back to Springfield left no reason to not pop by the hospital and see if she was there.

Silly me, I was holed up in the waiting room right next to her room, and so only after a little confusion I was sitting with them, catching up and learning about the complexity and yet hopefulness of a leukemia patient's journey.  L* is a beautifully open and honest young lady and early in the conversation turned things serious. "People ask me if this has affected my faith, and I don't know the answer to that question.  I mean, I don't want to just pray because I'm weak and need God's help, but it's then I need to pray the most...you know?" L* was specifically referring to the days where her body's reaction to chemo are devastating and violent, days where her body lashes out and nothing stays down.  A hard day like that is what brought her back to the hospital before I came to see her.

We talked about L*'s father, who died of cancer eleven some years ago, how her mother and sister basically live at the hospital when she is admitted, and the strain of being sick she knows will inevitably affect her other relationships. But what I love about L*, is her heart for God, for those around her, and for the future.  We talked about our faiths, how God is bigger than the hard things of life, and about dreams beyond this season....college, marriage, and jobs.

I don't know how much else I'll be able to do for L* while I am here this fall, but I've been praying for her ever since.  For her healing, her health, her spirits. For her honest conversations with God. He's bigger than pain, doubts, questions.  He's bigger than leukemia and chemo. I see that in L*'s eyes and I hear it in her words. God is bigger.

Practicum Video!

Finally had enough time and gumption to play around with my practicum video from the School of Worship! Here's a snippet that I uploaded to youtube...if you want to see the whole thing, check it out on vimeo here. 

Almost four months later and most of us from the school have scattered and find ourselves in various places around the world in grad schools, internships, job searches.... beautiful.

Oh Irene!

First of all, shout out to fox news, whose ability to play scary music under their hurricane segments last week really helped viewers maintain an underlying sense of panic. Second of all, I heard a woman talking to a friend in Target today about how people had over reacted to Irene's impact, in her opinion, people only lost power for a few hours, and we only had some rain. I hope she was only talking about the area close to Springfield, because my family in Colonial Beach lost power from Saturday night through Tuesday night and had a bit of a rough patch with heavy rains and winds.

I have just returned to Springfield from a quick jaunt to Colonial Beach the past couple of days. You wouldn't even know the hurricane had hit except for the massive amount of leaves and branches covering every yard. Oh and except for this.... 

If you can't tell, there is in fact a house underneath that tree.  Scary thing is, it's only a few lots down from my parent's house.... I talked to neighbor Robert today, who told me that the owner was home at the time, for the sake of the story we will call him Willy. Willy, well along in years, had decided to make himself a sandwich. He had just put it all together when a knock came to the door...a neighbor checking on him. He quickly put the neighbor at ease that he was fine and that he had a sandwich to get back to. The neighbor left and Will went back to the kitchen located along the back of the house. And crack!... the tree falls on the porch and front part of the house where Willy and the neighbor had been conversing only moments before.  

From everything I heard, no one was hurt.  But the trees are quite large and it only takes one huge branch to do some damage. There were other houses that suffered damage...luckily the family is fine and the power came back on so I could visit Mitch and get my car repacked.... next stop, a fall of substitute teaching and job applying!

Teeth, Money, and a God Who Provides

not my actual mouth pictured here.....:o)

It was three weeks ago that I walked out of Dr. Tebbencamp’s office with a dental treatment plan that would cost just under a grand to complete. “And that’s if the one tooth doesn’t turn out to be a root canal,” he explained. I appreciated his forthrightness and no nonsense attitude, but still wished the prognosis had been slightly easier to take as well as the dollar amount expected as payment.

A week later I sat in the chair, braced for the root canal that was to come. “I’m going to ask you to hold on to the arms of your chair,” he said as he prepped the tortuous devices behind me, conveniently out of my line of sight, “Some people feel this and it surprises them.” My reply was to shift uncomfortably in the seat, grunt in disapproval, and shut my eyes, praying that I wouldn’t feel a thing. Luckily, there was no surprise of pain, and only moments later I heard, “well, that went well…want to see what a nerve looks like?” By the shake of my head I declined looking at the remains of my decayed tooth and within twenty minutes I was scheduling my follow up appointment, trying to talk through the numbness and stiffness radiating from the right side of my jaw.

Providentially, I had enough money in my account to pay the enormous fee of the morning, but my heart sank at the thought of more appointments and payments to come. We had only accomplished half of the "plan" and the root canal threw everything off. I worried about the deadline of my upcoming appointments, and with no upcoming employment....


But two weeks later...and I can pay it! Now obviously some other unforeseen wrench can get thrown in the plans, but as for now, as I go in to finish this root canal... the money is there. It came in such unique ways, a gift, a week of housesitting, an honorarium...it wasn't till I sat down with the numbers that I saw what was happening. God provided, in His way, and in His time.


Matthew 6 says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" I read this passage the other day, resting in its promise. God loves us, wants the best for us, and it doesn't simplify all of life into some sort of easy road where everything gets taken care of and we don't have to do anything. We are assured that in life there will be trouble, but that God will be right beside us. And so as I spend two days back in that painful chair with a dentist I haven't decided whether I actually like yet, I'm holding on to the greater plan, the greater timing....and hopefully will come out on the other side just above broke, with healthy teeth... :o)

Back to Springfield!!!

As officially as it gets in my life, as of this weekend, I will once again be a resident of Springfield, VA. This is by no means the long term plan, but to regroup, make some money, and start applying for jobs....of the more full time persuasion.  I'll be staying with friends of the family, back in the neighborhood I grew up in, and I hope to dig in with people I've known and met over the years.

The past couple of weeks have been constant movement and shifting with natural disasters, house sitting, my first ever worship seminar (I mean, I actually led it!) and tying up loose ends in Christiansburg (i.e. finishing a root canal!). I did have a chance to play in the old neighborhood in Roanoke where I lived back in 2007, staying with my longtime camp buddy Rebekah and her dog, Geronimo.  Wednesday I'll be headed back to Colonial Beach (but only if they have gotten their power back on!) and Friday I'll be making the drive to Springfield to settle in....

I'm excited that there are way more questions than answers, that I have no idea what even a week from now looks like... I'm prone to becoming independent and thinking I have it all figured out, but the way this summer is ending, I'm keeping a tight hold on the One who guides us all.... and this currently humble and grateful heart wants it no other way!

The Nomadic Life

I am very happy to say that the more often I move from place to place and pack/unpack my car, the more efficient and simplified I am getting.  Eighty percent of everything that I own or have fits in the green bullet, and what hasn't fit, is only because I've been holding onto a bed, dishes, scrapbooks, and a couple of pieces of furniture in hopes that one day I will once again have my own home to put them back into.  But for now my bed is being borrowed by my sister, and my few apartment accessories either grace the shed at Colonial Beach, or are boxed up in the attic there...at least I'm not paying for storage somewhere. :o)

Some interesting tidbits I've learned in the last week:

If you are housesitting and you need to iron something (well, I didn't NEED to iron anything, but I had some fabric and had gotten really inspired by this japanese quilting book and just HAD to try cutting up some pieces for patchwork) and you happen to break the ironing board...it's best just to leave it out in the open and declare it the only casualty of the week.... I mean, next to the dogs being alive and happy and the house still standing despite earthquakes, it looks like nothing went wrong....

If you also happen to be doing your first seminar ever and you have the brilliant idea to do a handout....but the printer you have been carrying in your trunk is on the fritz and won't connect to the computer unless both are online, you may have to go down to someplace where you have connections, like the neighborhood museum, to print your initial copy and then head over to Staples to make copies for the seminar.... got to love Franconia!

And if your parents happen to be in the process of selling the family home, try to spend as little time there as possible... your dinner may be delayed an hour and a half as your dad chats with some gutter estimate man about local sports.....and sounds will echo with the empty rooms and sooner or later it will hit you that you no longer have that home to come back to...bittersweet.

Maybe sometime I'll take this topic more seriously and post about how I keep my life organized in the green bullet...but that is saying that I am actually organized.....

NLSW Graduation

Recently I received the pictures from the graduation ceremony for the New Life School of Worship. Heart pangs for those faces I miss so dearly, but such sweetness in the reminder of just how far God brought me, to Colorado and back.

The graduating class of 2011!

My Team- the Humblebees...bzzzzz

My First Earthquake!!!

I love Virginia for its moderate weather. There is the occasional tornado, the yearly big snow, sometimes rainy weather or the weakened state of a hurricane coming up the coast. So an earthquake, certainly a 5.8, felt from North Carolina up to New England and Toronto, comes as a bit of a surprise.

I myself was sitting with my mom and grandmother, eating a lovely lunch of subway before Nana went to her hair appointment down the block. It's not uncommon for a building in Springfield to shake with the passing of a large truck, and that particular shopping center backs up to the highway.  So my own reaction was definitely delayed. It was only the continued strength and length of the shaking that gave the first hint. The second hint was the three employees of Subway running from behind the counter to get out of the building. It was then that my mom said, "we need to go outside," as my grandmother said, "let me just get my purse." I walked out holding my sandwich (I mean, why stop eating?) as we gathered with strangers in the parking lot watching other buildings empty and people mill around.  And then came the full blown realization that we had indeed, in safe and moderate Virginia, felt the ground shift and move beneath our feet.... we went back into Subway and kept eating.

And as we ate, we did our part to jam up the cell lines and periodically called family to check in. It was when I called Becky that the scope of the quake came into focus, she and Nate were woken up from napping by the house in Colonial Beach shaking.  She gave us the initial news report she had just watched...that the epicenter was from Mineral, VA, close to Fredericksburg.

As exciting as the afternoon was, it was highly entertaining to listen to the radio broadcasters on my slow chug back to Chantilly to check on the dogs I'm caring for. The normal 40 minute drive crept into almost two and a half hours as most people left work with buildings closed for the afternoon.  People called in and gave reports on the traffic and damage where they were, and the radio guys kept up a good banter. "The tweet that the Washington Monument is leaning is unconfirmed...I repeat, nothing has been reported as wrong with the Washington Monument." All in all, we each have stories to tell, and the damage was minimal....let's call it a good earthquake? 

I mean, it was the largest earthquake in Virginia since 1897!

My Little Family for the Week

Aspen

 I have the distinct pleasure of hanging out with the lovely Aspen and Vermont, two labradoodles of a friend who is on vacation this week.  I like having two shadows, definitely a change from Mitch.... these guys are certainly bigger!

Vermont

They are doing their best to be sad that their family is gone, even trying to remain strong and united on a hunger strike...too bad a little sour cream got both of them to eat their dinner last night and I heard Vermont crunching away this morning when I wasn't looking.... :o) And apparently their rawhide chew treats don't count under the constraints of the strike either..... maybe I'll be brave and try walking them later on.... wish me luck!

What IS Next?......

I get asked the "what is next" question a lot. As well I should, since my life has been one movement to another over the last year, school, summer camp....it's just this current stage is really hard to answer.

What I DO know is this. I'm still employed by Fairfax County as a substitute teacher. I'm pretty sure I have a place to stay in NOVA. And I know that this whole process of discernment into where God might be leading me to be a worship leader may take time, and multiple interviews...:o)

So the answer for now, is to get back into subbing, look towards a potential relocation, and start knocking on doors.  I joked with my mom this morning, "I'm a jill of some trades." For the next couple of months that means speaking at churches, leading worship at others, and working with kids...whatever opportunity opens, I am ready and willing to see it through.

A wise new friend the other day said to me, "We all need a healthy dose of fear."  I remember the panic that would grip me about Colorado the couple of weeks leading up to my departure. How afraid I was to get settled, find a home, leave my family, and make new friends. And a year later, I wouldn't trade Colorado or my last year for anything.  So I take the momentary questions and doubt in stride.  I thought at the end of the summer I was staying in Christiansburg. I told everyone I was staying in Christiansburg. But the longer I held that decision in my hands, the more I struggled to find peace with it. The only course of action was to find out what leaving felt like, would I struggle whether I stayed or left? And by no means was leaving easy, I find my heart attaches and settles in fast and I left behind deep, kinship friends.  But as I untangled my heart in the slower, disconnected pace of Colonial Beach, I began to feel ever so lighter, with the promise of what is to come. And last Friday, as I rode with my mom to meet some old friends from church for dinner, that peace came.  God's whisper was sweet and quiet and was merely, "keep on the course, I've got this."

I rest in that.  I find peace in that promise.  And so as I am house sitting this week in Chantilly with two sweet labradoodles who are currently sprawled across the floor, I am as ready as everyone else to find out...what is next.

Some Things are Just Awesome....

My life is in a constant flux of change of these days....I think I'm doing one thing and a reality punch sends me in a different direction. But even though I am unsettled and searching, a few things are constant....my love for this little kitty who has put on a few pounds with my grandma overfeeding him....and his ability to get in the way of whatever I am trying to accomplish....

Here I am trying to prep for a seminar I am giving at a church coming up in a couple of weeks and everytime I reach down to write a new idea.....he leans back in search of some loving....ridiculously awesome! I.love.my.cat.

Popes Creek

I love all things history. And I love that Westmoreland County is home to several great historical figures...namely George Washington, Robert E. Lee, James Madison....to name a few.  I have grown up visiting these homes and plantations, but as having been several years since my last visit, it was time to hit up George Washington's birthplace of Popes Creek.

While the actual house Washington was born in burned down, there is a house on site built to the standards of the 1770's. It wasn't until years after the "replica" house was built, that the foundation of the original house was found....which in no way even resembles the shape of the replica, but is at the very least, outlined on the ground.

The difference when you get out here in such open space, is the insane quiet...there are no city sounds, only the breeze through the trees, the coursing river, and an occasional bang from the onsite blacksmith.

I wish I had a reason to find a photographer and get some pictures in a place like this, whimsical with its dirt paths and tall trees.... After a year in Colorado I can't help but appreciate all the shade one can find in Virginia!

It was a gorgeous day for once in this normally oppressive and humid area. A quick stop to a coffee shop in Montross that was once an auto shop, and our beautiful morning was complete!

Colonial Beach Craziness

Rearranging, repacking, spending time with Mitch and the family, home cooked meals, evening thunderstorms, no internet but the library and McDonalds, seeing a throwdown/fight outside of the McDonalds while trying to get limited internet...this is life this week.... I promise details and updates to come, and to be completely honest... I don't really know what's coming next... oh the beauty in the questions!

Miss Sassy Pants

There is never a dull moment when you live, breathe, sleep, and work in a church for the summer.  There always seems to be new challenges arising, from overflowing toilets, to kids getting injured, to bad weather cramping a worksite's style.  Last week, I had to take my car across the street to get it state inspected. So Sunday night I headed out the door to my car.  I had seen our neighborhood skunk slink by the door earlier in the evening and purely as a precautionary measure I looked under the cars I had to pass to get to the green bullet.  Huddled under one car was the body of a small animal.... Just as I was convinced it was the skunk and I needed to steer clear, a loud and repetitive meow came from beneath the car and a very small, very young cat emerged in distress.  She came right up to me and started rubbing against my legs.  Remembering that someone was following me over in another car to bring me back from the shop, I unwillingly left the cat alone until I came back to the church.

And so entered into my life, Miss Sassy Pants, named because of her constant meow and desire for love and attention.  It looks like Miss Sassy was just dumped at or around the church, she clearly was not used to the outdoors and she was loving and gentle and friendly to everybody. I stayed with her as long as I could that first night, giving her a little bit of milk and bacon (the best our camp kitchen has to offer a feline!) and was devastated the next morning when I couldn't find her.

But the next night she was back, and she hung out quite calmly and comfortably as I chatted on the phone for a bit.

Miss Sassy was around for a few days, and I started to put out feelers to shelters around Virginia to find someone or someplace that could take her.  By Wednesday someone else from around the church had left a plate of cat food out for her and by that evening she was gone.

I'm pretty sure Miss Sassy was taken into a good home, but it was a pretty sweet gift to have a cat around the place for a few days.  There is a tribe of wild cats that live in the woods behind the church, but they run at the first sight of people...not my kind of cat at all!

Beauty in the Quiet

There is nothing like living in a warehouse for a couple of months to bring about an appreciation of cozy couches, soft carpets, and the quiet that comes when one is alone in a house curled up with a small dog for company.

The last three months have been such a whirlwind, from Colorado to Virginia, from schoolwork to packing to camplife.  It was a good five weeks into the summer before I took a step back and realized I missed those crazy Coloradans with their loving wit and open hearts.  And now I once again look into the questions of what comes next, what I thought was an easy answer of staying, has taken a huge reality punch with a high dental bill, a depleted bank account, and the desire to press forward.

But for this weekend, I have stilled the craziness and sought refuge with a little furry friend in a house empty with its residents on vacation.  How we take for granted the simple acts of grocery shopping, meal prep and devouring, and a chance to spend a Saturday morning curled up with a cup of coffee and remote in hand.

Today I went down to Stepping Out, an outdoor street festival in downtown Blacksburg, full of food, crafters, and music.  I met up with old Alta Mons buddy, Rhiannon, and her friend Brady, to eat vegetarian cuisine at Gilly's (hummus wraps are awesome!) and to stroll in between rain spurts around the tents and vendors.  We spent much of the afternoon in an apartment just off the main street, keeping a tiny chihuahua company and telling stories of mutual friends and our current lives.

One more week of closeout and pack up and my obligation to Project SPY is done... I hate that this heart of mine digs in so deeply and attaches itself, I hate that I am so new to these feelings of stay versus go, and wish goodbyes were easier.....along with dental visits...

I lead for the last time this summer at Fieldstone tomorrow morning, crazy to think that other than one Sunday, I have led every week since stepping foot back in Virginia... I think a break next week will be good for my soul, a time to unpack and unwind my heart.

Becky and Nate came and visited a couple of weeks ago, did my soul good to see family and have an unplanned afternoon where we meandered through stores, the hotel pool, dinner, and finally a movie on my laptop as Nate took up an entire bed sideways in slumber.

Well, back to enjoying a quiet Saturday night...thankful that my Sunday afternoons of hiking are behind me! :o)

New Blog Name?

I've been kicking around ideas for a new blog name.... it's settling in that Colorado has come and gone...a beautiful time in which I stretched, learned, and found a community of friends that will be forever imprinted on my heart. I miss them all, an unsettled ache somewhere in the depth of my heart.

But as I am no longer "west", I need a more generic blog title to move into.  Not sure where to go with it from here...any input or ideas? It feels like picking a good book title...it needs definition, but be easily memorable and catchy.  It needs to be good enough that one would pick it up amused by the title even if the binding is some obscure color or abstract picture of kittens....hmmmm......

The Cascades

Every Sunday, Project SPY attends morning service at Fieldstone, eats a lunch of Subway sandwiches, and hikes up the Cascades, a pretty easy trail of 2 miles through the woods, along a river until it reaches a gorgeous, tumbling waterfall.  It has been a great chance to connect with people at the start of the week, a forty-five minute huff and puff gives not only a chance to chat, but to bond as well.

This week, I was feeling a little tired and grumpy.  I didn't even take my ukulele like I have been, just content to hike and sit quietly while the semi-chaos of students jumping and splashing in the water commenced.  I found a spot on the walkway to sit by an also quiet camper and we watched and occasionally commented on the activity below....mostly pointing out the people that slipped and fell :o)

Close to quitting time for our group, as I was still sitting and reflecting, I heard a strangely, familiar voice. I looked up to see in front of me an old friend from the time I lived in Roanoke three or four years ago....he hadn't changed much, just chopped off his once long hair, but his easy grin still fell into place as I called his name.  We spent the next quick five minutes catching up, until one of our junior interns came over to mention we were heading out.  It does my heart good to run into a familiar face even in the craziness that is camp and life in Christiansburg, Va!

In Honor of Ruth

Today one of my dear friends from Colorado leaves on an amazing and epic 11 month mission trip called The World Race.  11 countries in 11 months, in a team of six, following Jesus where He takes them...so awesome!!!

Check out her blog, show some love, and pray for her and her teammates.

I have sorely missed Ruth since leaving the West, she plants herself in deep in friendships and is incredibly open with people.  I am so excited for the journey she is going to be on, one that steps outside of comfort and ease.  Ruth allows people, strangers and old friends alike, in quickly, her heart wider than the always expectant hugs she gives with greetings and goodbyes.  We were able to snatch a quick phone call since my return to Virginia, and to hear talk about the upcoming year, what God is teaching her in the period of preparation and readiness, even as she sniffed her way through the conversation with being sick....she is ready.  She is ready to lay herself down, soften her heart, and surrender to this call.  It is a beautiful thing.

I learned so much from Ruth, how to extend hospitality to new faces, how to love more deeply, how to share the harder parts of life with others....and how to set up a two person tent.  One night before she left for training camp, we took out her little tent that could potentially be her home for the next year depending on their locations, and struggled to figure out how to put this "easy to set up" tent together.  But with another roommate's help, we were soon christening the tent with a rousing game of Scrabble.

So to our sweet Ruth, blessings on your adventure. We'll be praying for you to learn, give, love, stretch, and grow deeper in love with Jesus.  Come back with stories....we'll be waiting for them!!! Love, amy

Congrats Mike and Brigid!!!!

They are both so little!

Since it's been posted to facebook, and as we all know nothing is "official" until facebook proclaims it.... a new baby cox is on the way!!!!!! Mike and Brigid, my brother and sister-in-law up in New Hampshire are expecting, with a due date of January 24 (one week before MY birthday....I've never had to share my birthday month before....hmmm... :o)

I love having nephews, but I've got my fingers crossed for the first girl in the brood.  In honor of this grand announcement, I've posted my favorite pose with the boys, watching curious george videos on my laptop.  The biggest dilemna I now face is where exactly the third one will fit when big enough? :o) Congrats Mike and Brigid and big brother Jacob!!!!

Older, yet still so cute!

50% Done and Dreaming Big

The campers departing today marks the halfway point of the summer for the staff here at Project SPY.  We have four more weeks of camp, a week of clean up and then we are all done.  And it feels like just yesterday I was in Colorado....

We have had some awesome campers this week.  It's a smaller group of only two churches, but they have connected and mingled right from the start, and they love to sing....so good for my heart this week! They play games like nobody's business, and they have been a joy to be around.  Burke UMC is here this week, where I worked back in 06-07, and the boys that were so little when in elementary school, have sprouted in gigantic forces now that they are older.

I got back to Christiansburg Tuesday, in time to get ready for band practice and speak at program.  Tuesday nights are my time to share a bit of testimony from the last two years, read the story of the woman who broke a jar of perfume and poured it out on Jesus, anointing him.  Hers was not a popular decision, but one that she did in response to her Savior.  We, as followers of Christ, must be willing to be continually broken, so we can be poured out in the name of the one we love.  Maybe I'll post more in depth about it one of these days. This past weekend was a reminder of the continual process of it all....

The River at Colonial Beach

It was good to see family for a few days.  Nine months with only two short trips home was a long time to be away, and with the move to Colonial Beach, things are in a constant state of flux and change.

Fireworks in Colonial Beach, July 4th

I'm praying and discerning my next step after SPY is over... I'm leaning towards staying in the New River Valley, but the hows and wheres of it all are details to be lead into.  Around here we've been dreaming, scheming, and desiring God's will above all else. It is once again exciting, but daunting, this trust, this love for God that pulls me forward into the unknown. I wouldn't have it any other way. :o)

Colonial Beach....The New Family Home

The drive up from Blacksburg was bittersweet this past Friday.... I had a terrible cold, no sleep, and knew that my last time at the Springfield house had come and gone.  But the Blue Ridge offers beauty and peace to a soul and the drive up 29 to route 3 was serene, and amazingly un-congested.  I arrived in Colonial Beach to piles of boxes, a slightly upset and confused cat, and a welcome dinner at Wilkersons with the family.

Colonial Beach is a unique river town on the Potomac River.  It boasts golf carts, rocky beaches, and plenty of characters.  My family has owned property here since I was a kid, and we would spend weekends here away from the hustle and bustle of Northern Virginia.  It was the place to steal a few quiet moments, to recharge, a place that I came on my own for a week a couple of years ago and found community by helping with a vacation bible school.

This morning found me back at Colonial Beach Baptist Church, slipping into the pew next to the head of the school board, Tim and his wife Colleen.... I hadn't seen them since the fourth last year...I love reconnecting with old friends. It is my first Sunday not leading since getting back from Colorado, and it did my heart good to take in the music, enjoy the leading of someone else, and just be part of the congregation of fifty some baptists, raising their hands, clapping their proclamations of who God is, his greatness, his awesomeness. I love the preacher Johnny Almond, in all his grey haired, wisdom glory, with corny puns and a heart for the Lord.  The church is alive! and our hope is in Christ.

I'm thankful the McDonalds in town now has free wifi, although it has already led to some conversation with the colorful locals... why are you smiling? one asked. Well, my friend left a comment online and it made me laugh... an inside joke of sorts. I replied. What does that mean? he asked......I dropped the conversation after that....and shortly later he left.

And last but not least in this rambling post of unconnected thoughts, I love meeting neighbors, catching up with Robert, the screenwriter/director/jack of all trades who lives across the street, and most importantly, unpacking a few things to make the shed liveable and comfortable for Mitch and his stay over the next month..... I am unsettled with my plan B, even more so by being here, but more on that later....for now I am going to get a mocha frappe, pick up Becky a sweet tea, and head back to the house, probably to give Duke a good strum, play with Nate, and help get the house ready for company tomorrow... ice cream stand later today, fireworks started last night, and smores and campfire is on the agenda for tonight..... best.weekend.ever!

Duke My New Uke

I did it!!! After months and months of talking about it, reading reviews and watching youtube videos, I finally bought a ukulele.  A Lanikai LU-21 Concert Ukulele. It's a step up from the cheapest ukes and it's the second smallest in size (a soprano ukulele is smaller).  I have held it as much as possible the past few days, even when I wasn't playing it...:o)

It came last Wednesday, and I couldn't have been more excited about opening a box.  I needed to be on my way to get tile grout from Lowe's, but on a whim I stopped at a music shop right down the road from Fieldstone. Obviously in the "if you give a mouse a cookie" syndrome, once I had the uke, I needed accessories right? I walked directly over to the ukulele stand and when asked if I needed help, I explained I had just gotten my first ukulele in the mail that day and was looking for some sort of way to attach a strap.  Ed and Laura, the lovely workers, explained I would most likely need a strap attachment. At my confused look, Ed walked me over to the guitars and pointed out the bolts on a guitar that allow a strap to hook on.  He said it was something I could do myself and to make sure I predrilled the holes before putting the screws in so I wouldn't split the wood.  I spent the whole time nodding in agreement, but in my thoughts were, "who do I know who could make this happen for me?"

Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to get to know more people in this little town, I promptly introduced myself and mentioned I was leading worship for the summer at Fieldstone UMC with their summer camp.  Ed perked up and said, "Oh at Project Spy?" Turns out, several years ago, Ed regularly attended Fieldstone and knows a bunch of the guys that are involved in the worship ministry there. We talked a few moments about Fieldstone, and then Ed said, "Tell you what, you bring your uke back by here and I'll put the attachments on it for free."

A Lanikai LU-21C like my own Duke!

So after a rushed trip to Lowe's, back to church to pick up Duke, and I was in the back room over at the music shop talking all things music, baking, and life with the wonderful Ed.  And Duke is in beautiful shape, I'm slowly learning a couple of songs, it's similar to the guitar in that you play chords, but different in that the placement of every chord is different....:o) And much to the amusement of some campers and utter horror of others, Gary and I did a ukulele rendition of Rebecca Black's "It's Friday", for wake up Friday morning. Yep, Duke is going to come in handy this summer!!!

I won't lie, now that I have a ukulele and after spending time in Floyd, I totally want a mandolin now! Will it ever stop? :o)

An Evening in Floyd

Last night, my soul needed some bluegrass music. I think it was a combo of being back in southwest Virginia, missing my grandpa something fierce, and a desire to have a bit of an adventure....regardless, the cool and humidity-less summer evening found me down in Floyd, about forty minutes from Christiansburg, enjoying the festive, Friday night.

The Floyd Country Store has live music on Friday nights, and they are not lying when they say seats are limited and fill fast.  But for those too scattered to sit still long, musicians are up and down the main drag in town, finding pockets of other musicians to play with.  There were times I would stop to look around and I could hear songs being played by some three different groups. Various pieces of plywood were laid down for the flat-footers and the crowds around the music spilled often into the street.

There is something inspiring about the organic-ness of bluegrass.  These people know the songs, the words, the harmonies, and how to provide for the different parts.  They are brilliant in their knowledge of the instruments and can easily switch between. There was an ache in my heart as the night went on, I want to learn, to have that part of Grandpa in me, even if he's no longer here.  At least I didn't cry at the sight of an upright bass this time around.

I met a host of interesting characters, watched the sunset in the blue ridge and enjoyed a waffle cone of ice cream while joining the crowds on the streets.  I also found a cemetery of deeply weathered and worn down headstones all dating back to the 1800's, the small plot of land was tucked in between shops, a hotel, and trailers....:o) As unique as Floyd.

Week 1 Down!

Whew! We sent our first campers off this morning after some avid packing and cleaning. It was a crazy week of figuring out how everything would work.  We found some things to be awesome, like brown box skits, and others to need some adjustment.  I was humbled in leading worship, it was difficult and challenging for me this past week, to teach, to connect, to lead.

There are many different dynamics this summer, the constant flux of people, living in a warehouse, in a room without a ceiling, leading both at night for camp and Sunday morning while the regular worship leader is gone for five or six weeks, all taking adjustment.  I am thankful for our brief sabbath to recharge and spend some time in quiet.  The next wave of campers comes tomorrow, and where we had less than forty campers this past week, this next week will hold 74!

There hasn't been much time for blogging lately, but I did acquire a ukulele this past week and the story behind that will be forthcoming.... I love being back in Virginia, but I did leave part of my heart back in Colorado....miss you all!

Project Spy: My New Home for the Next Two Months

After a couple of weeks of constant motion, I can feel my heart slowly settle in to a new place with new and familiar faces.  I am excited to be here in the blue ridge, at a church that is mission minded and Christ driven.  We have an awesome staff that is ready to jump in and get to work, and I am looking forward with anticipation to what God is going to do around us, through us, in us as well as the kids that come here this summer. We had some staff bonding time floating down the New River tubing yesterday, and I realized just how deeply I had come to miss the combination of water and mountains that Southwest Virginia holds.  A flyover of jets did momentarily cause a pang of remembering only a week and a half ago I was at New Life eating hamburgers and watching the Air Force Academy's graduation flyover...

Crazy how fast life changes.  Now there are five of us living in the back of Fieldstone, getting the area prepped and the summer planned and programmed.  We were welcomed yesterday with rooms ready, baskets of goodies to enjoy, and cards made by the kids.

The surprise of the day was a note from long time friends the Barnes family. The first grandchild had been baptized at Fieldstone this past Sunday and while I did get to see Troy, Natalie, and little Avery, I do have the promise to see the rest when they come through later in the summer!

 We are spending our mornings in planning, afternoons in prep, and then are being hosted in the evenings for dinner by the families in the church... promises to be good times and food!