The Henry Adventure: 2012

The year is nearing an end... As we peruse through the many pictures on my computer it's easy to spend hours looking and reminiscing over each one remembering the sounds and smells and feelings that went along with each one. Many of the pictures we took ourselves, and others were sent via text or email or copied off of Facebook. They're all of people and places that touched our lives in the last year.

We see pictures of seminary friends who were such a big part of what made up our time in Pittsburgh. Girlfriends attending wedding and baby showers, meeting for coffee at the little Taza Doro coffee shop down the street, texting and emailing prayer requests and pleas for help and encouragement and accountability... Inviting friends into our home to share a meal, have a glass of wine, watch a movie, relax and have fun together, or just gripe and vent about school or our Committees on Preparation for Ministry who we were so dependent on for our next steps!! Meeting up with the guys at Silkies for a cold beer, killer waffle fries, and theological debate. Really fond memories and really amazing people wanting to make a difference and help people come to know Jesus in ways that will transform their lives.

Lesley, Mel, Sally, Tai, Katie & Lindsay

Mike, Jordan, & Dan - my bud's.

With thanks to technology we were able to watch our grandson Rilo grow and learn. He was able to talk with us via FaceTime or Skype, see and continue to know about us and our love for him from videos and emails, pictures and letters we would exchange. We were able to be in FL in March for both his third birthday and the wedding of our nephew Alex to Brittney Sterret. An awesome time with almost the whole family (we missed Sean's wife, Megan).

June 1st was the huge celebration with graduation at its center! Sal's sister Lee, along with kids Sammy and Charlie drove up from FL. Sarah and Rilo flew in and surprised Sal, and good friends Karen and Dave Jensen flew in from CO! Our housemates Jon and Kristen also had their families attend, so we had a full house much of the time - which was interesting with all of our stuff packed up and lining either side of the living room!

Some of my closest friends. We are in the Company of New Pastors together.

Jon, Kendra, Sally, Will, Mike, Katie, Mike, Mel, & Dan.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church, where we had our commencement exercises.

Lee, Sammy, Karen (Stewie), and Sarah at graduation. My prayer team!

Sarah, Kim and I.

My sister Lee and I.

Me, Kim, Rilo, & Sarah.

Graduation picnic on our patio, June 2, 2012.

Our awesome photographer daughter caught this on graduation day. My biggest supporter. My love. :)

So the adventure continued as we put all of our belongings in storage in Pittsburgh, loaded a few things - along with our trusted companion and best friend Charlie, our black lab, and we headed to FL to live with Lee, Charlie, Sarah and Rilo until I found a call. We just hated that....

Rilo on one of our many kite-flying evenings at the beach.

Rilo and his stick horse "Bullseye" on one of our many walks.

Rilo on our walk on the jetty.

Rilo and one of his favorite books at reading time.

Rilo and Papa snuggling up...a regular morning and/or evening occurrence.

While we loved being with the VanMeter clan, Sarah, & Rilo, we were hurting financially and not finding any work. We knew we could go work for Ellen (Sal's sister) in CO on her orchard. So with help from Sal's folks (and many others) we were able to make our way across the country where we settled in Ellen's orchard house. Sal picked and packed peaches while Kim was chief cook (lunch provider) and groundskeeper. Such GOOD work...and FUN, too!

Sal working in the orchard.

Jamie & Ellen

View from the orchard looking north toward the Bookcliffs.

Josh & Jamie in the packing shed.

Sal & Ellen pickin' peaches!

Lotsa peaches!

We were also able to make some money picking and sorting grapes at a local vineyard. The working conditions were awesome!

Kim picking grapes.

Kim in the vineyard.

Lotsa grapes for lotsa wine!

As summer turned into fall we were able to take a trip to Durango with Ellen, Jamie, Sean & Megan. Through a friend of Jamie (Ellen's boyfriend), we were able to get free tickets to the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad! It was awesome and the colors were still around enough that we were constantly "Ooooooing and Ahhhhing" at the beautiful scenery. What a treat!

Kim & Sal on the train!

Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Train

Seanie on the train.

Blue, blue skies of Colorado.

Kim & Sean in Silverton.

Kim & Sal in Silverton.

Colorado gorgeousness on the way back down to Durango....

We tried to take advantage of this beautiful place while we were here - walking our lab Charlie down by the river trail, going up on the Grand Mesa or out on Kokopelli Trail or near the Colorado National Monument to hike.

Kim at Tabeguache Trail

Sean & Megan

Sean - had a little Captain in him!

Kim & Megan

Sal & Kim - Tabeguache Trail - Thanksgiving morning, 2012.

We've tried to take time to really connect with our friends and family here, knowing that it won't last forever... Helping serve high schoolers at weekly Tuesday Lunches hosted by First Presby, helping serve dinner monthly at the local homeless shelter, Kim jumped back into helping on Sunday mornings with the preschoolers, and Sal joined the praise band a few times as well. An Advent Bible study for Sal and connecting with some of the men-folk for Kim. Family dinners semi-regularly. Good stuff.

Thanksgiving 2012 at Sean & Megan's with Jamie, Ellen, Aly, Megan's grandma Evelyn,

Megan & Sean.

Game time with Ellen, Aly, & Mark (Megan's dad).

In October and November Sally finally had multiple churches contacting her to answer questions, do phone and Skype interviews, and send video'd sermons. As time went on it was obvious that one church in Linden, North Carolina was very interested.
In this midst of all this our sweet Charlie Bear, our 6-year-old black lab, started going downhill. After a couple vet visits we found out that her kidneys and liver were failing and the vet was unable to stop the process. We had to make the horrible decision to put her down... It's still hard to think on. She was a big part of our journey the last 3 1/2 years through seminary and beyond. We miss her a lot..

Sal & Charlie on Lost Lake Trail - Grand Mesa, CO

Charlie taking a dip.

Kim & Charsy on Lost Lake Trail.

Charlie & Sal playing in the park - an older picture from Highland Park - Pittsburgh, PA.

Sweet Charsy.

After a quick trip for Sally to Nashville for a Company of New Pastors gathering, we were contacted by Sardis Presbyterian Church asking if we would be interested in coming for a visit and Sally would preach at a neutral pulpit.
We flew out the weekend before Thanksgiving and were given a huge dose of Southern hospitality! We fell in love with the people, were intrigued with the area, and excited about the potential for ministry growth there. After more hoops, Skype meetings, ordination examining, and congregational voting, we received the word two days before Christmas that Sally is officially the new pastor for Sardis Presbyterian Church, Linden, NC!!!
We have a four bedroom/three bathroom manse waiting for us, and a lovely congregation ready to jump into doing life together and experiencing the love of Jesus in new and transforming ways. We are starting our drive East the day after New Year's. God has been so good to us. We have a great adventure ahead!

The gift basket we received upon arriving for our visit to Linden, NC.

Sardis Presbyterian Church

The new fellowship hall at Sardis PC

The new kitchen/fellowship hall at Sardis PC.

My future office at Sardis PC!

The chancel area at Sardis PC.

The sanctuary from the front.

The sanctuary from the back.

Outside of the sanctuary at Sardis PC.

Looking at the manse from the church parking lot.

The manse....our new home as of January, 2013.

The manse, looking towards the church.

Our new home.

Since the congregation has voted we've received regular emails from folks welcoming us, introducing themselves, and telling us how excited they are that we're coming. Some have even sent pictures...here's my favorite..

The Chrismon tree in the sanctuary at Sardis Presbyterian, Linden, NC.

We're going to miss our Colorado family, but we look forward to becoming a part of our new family at Sardis Pres.. they have no idea what they're in for!