Almost Heaven, Indiana

Although I'm not positive those are the original John Denver lyrics, lets call it "close enough." Even though there are no mountains, the Indiana Walmart in town is highly reminiscent of the WV landscape.

The drive to Indiana was uneventful from St. Paul to Madison. Dad and I stopped to stay with The inimitable Shannyn Magee and her wonderful sister Jenny!


However, the drive from Madison to Valpo should have taken about 3.5-4 hours. Dad and I left at 8am and finally pulled up to Valpo at 6:30pm. Due to major flooding the lanes of I-94 were closed, leaving Dad and I with hours and hours of backup. We finally plowed through Chicago but were rerouted through Gary, IN down unmarked streets and it took another 1.5 hours to go the remaining 15 miles. Navigating Gary is very unpleasant. Below you can see a photo of the welcome sign as well as exit #1. The traffic was so bad these pics were taken at a complete stop.


Upon arrival, however, I was greeted right away by Pastor Jerry Castleman, his dear wife Claudia and the Sanchez family - Ernie, DJ and their remarkably strong son, Tony. We somehow managed to divert traffic on the busy street and move everything upstairs (23 stairs, to be exact, according to Jerry and Dad!) in about an hour. Dad and I stayed with the Castleman's that Saturday night and enjoyed great conversation and a terrific supper! I am very comfortable with Jerry and am increasingly excited for the start of this internship year. During supper he commented: "Above all, I love the laity - they are the most important part of this ministry we have." This is a man to take note of, it seems.

Sunday morning came far too early and I made it, standing, through three services. Christ Lutheran has an 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 service. This congregation went out of its way to overwhelm me with such a kind welcome. There was a welcome sign at the front door and I was installed publicly at all three services. When I listened to the promises asked of me as well as the congregation, I quickly recognized the gravity of the work of ministry. There is a clear call for me to serve this congregation during the upcoming year and the congregation promised to support and speak into this work. There is immeasurable love and responsibility in these promises.

Yet, every time I become nervous about the future there is a promise from Jesus to hang my hat on. God has provided a clear call for this next year - there is a place, people who God will use to speak love and edification, and hope that there is a life-filled future. As Pastor Judy Bangsund from San Jose, CA wrote: See Exodus 23:20 for guidance - "See I have sent my angel ahead of you to guard you on your way and to bring to the place that I have prepared."

While I'm not sure Indiana is quite what I had in mind, God certainly prepared it! But Judy is another one of those pastors to sit up and listen to - she had a Word for me, so I'll just sit back and take it! So let's see what other promises are yet to unfold... !

Modeling my lovely new alb

The congregation now meets in what was intended to be the gymnasium. They are growing in numbers by the dozen! Here is a photo of the installation taken by Dad - I'm not sure if it was before or after my Mom called and the cell phone went off loudly for all to enjoy! I was having flashbacks of Dr. Haemig giving me the evil eye for inappropriately loud cell phone noise!

P.S. Cheers to the Michel's for joining Dad and I! These dear, longtime friends (who supposedly "changed [my] diapers") came down from Chicago and were just delightful to spend our Sunday afternoon with both at church and over brunch.