Apr 21 2008
Keep on the Sunnyside of Washington…
On Friday the family journeyed south, to the dry climes of central Washington, once again for the Northwest District of Grace Brethren’s “So Great a Salvation” Conference. It was our second time in attendance, and it was really good again. The format and the planning are improving from year to year, and it is great to be with other believers who are looking to deepen their walk with God.
The travel up was touch-and-go. It was hardly above freezing when we left Vancouver (very weird given it is late April), and the Snoqualmie Pass was getting snow. Thankfully it was light. Saturday was gorgeous for the outdoor barbeque, and airgames for the kids. Check out this clip of a couple of our team “fighting” and my 2nd son getting a little too close to the action. I was surprised to learn that our house had about 3 inches of snow while this was going on - even stranger for April in Vancouver!
We had nearly 20 adults come down from our church, including ourselves and I actually think one of the coolest parts of the conference came after it was over. We debriefed together on Saturday night, and shared what we experienced. It was fascinating to hear about how impacted many of us were. At the same time, it was a moment of deep community and bearing of hearts, as several shared about their struggles of late and several others used the opportunity to kind of say goodbye to everyone as they would be moving on in a month or two.
Maybe it is the living so distantly from my family, but I find these types of occasions to travel with other families and observe their dynamics and parenting strategies lived out “realtime” to be intensely enjoyable and profitable. It lifted my heart to see that my parenting struggles are shared by others, but at the same time see the joy that comes from your children lived as well. We got to see it all, and up close. In ordinary life, you try to keep your kids “on best behaviour”. In the interests of peace, you cover up a lot. But when everyone is in the same hotel, going to the same activities, and travelling together, you can’t keep the walls up, and that is a good thing. Trips like this teach about the benefits of true community and fellowship better than any abstract teaching.
It is easy to forget these benefits. I know when Cheryl and I travelled to Rwanda with Jason and Dana (and 8 others), we all came back from that with a new appreciation for living in community with one another. It slipped away all too fast - North American culture really works against community living! This was another taste, and another reminder to pursue community more diligently.
I took a class on Friday night that for some reason is escaping me right now. The two on Saturday I recall pretty clearly so it may have been a fatigue factor there. I had a class on marriage and courtship with Pastor Dwight Cover of the Prosser church that was explosive to say the least. Every time I meet this guy I got more fascinated by him with his huge family and his considered, well researched opinions. This guy doesn’t pull punches or mince words. I took his class on discipling children last year and it convinced me I had to see pretty much whatever he was teaching this year. Then I took the class from our worship pastor, Jason Strain, on Scripture memorization. Very practical. I will be working on that over time for sure.
Sadly, the trip did not end well for us. Well, I guess it didn’t exactly start well either. Aydan tossed his cookies on the American side of the border on Friday as we left, but got better by noon. A couple others did the same on Saturday night from what I heard. Cheryl got it on Sunday morning in the wee hours, so by 8am she was in no shape to come with the gang to Toppenish where we were invited to their Sunday service. We hightailed it for home, through some of the most confusing weather I have ever experienced. I wish we had taken a picture of the view from the hills above Ellensburg - Picture a plain that is half green and half white. I thought this would make a great teasing shot about the Canadian-American border, but this was nowhere near it.
Next year’s conference will be in another town (I think Goldendale), so we will have to get used to a new burg after two years in Sunnyside, home of the late father of the Grace Brethren, Alva McClain and an astronaut (according to signage). It will be neat when we get our turn to host one of these events.
