Author Archives: Madras UMC

Beloved: One of the hardest transitions for me as a pastor every year is when the calendar slides from July to August. It is still summer, but fall is already casting a long shadow I can’t ignore. School supplies fill the store shelves. Gardens are producing in abundance (well, ours isn’t, but that is aContinue reading “August 3, 2018, Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman”

Beloved: It was good to get home on Saturday afternoon from camp. I emptied most of my suitcase in the dirty clothes, took a long shower to remove the smell of campfire from my hair, and then got ready to go back for our adventure at camp together on Sunday morning after our service hereContinue reading “July 27, 2018, Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman”

Beloved: This week’s Preacher Woman comes to you from  “on location” at Suttle Lake United Methodist Camp. How blessed we are to have this fabulous resource so close by! Today is a bit cooler than yesterday, and I have set up shop at a picnic table near the green playing field. The trees are castingContinue reading “July 19,2018, Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman”

Beloved: Tuesday mornings at 8:30, I sit at a dining table at East Cascade Living Center and wait for the chairs to fill up. We are always a bit slow in starting, since not everyone lives in the same building, and because nearly all of the participants need the assistance of a walker to getContinue reading “July 12, 2018, Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman”

Beloved: When, not quite a year ago, our belongings finally arrived in Madras,  Mike and I went right to work creating home. It was fun finding just the right place for our furniture and books, hanging pictures, figuring out the most convenient places to store special items. We didn’t totally succeed, because all this takesContinue reading “July 6, 2018, Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman”

Beloved: I finished up jury duty this week. This is the only week that required me to actually show up at the court house during my two-month term. Most trials get settled out of court. It was an interesting process. There were forty people in the jury room waiting to be sorted down to six.Continue reading “Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman, 6/28/18”

Beloved: Nearly every summer of my childhood, my family made the drive from Portland to Caldwell to visit my Grandparents. They lived on a farm that overlooked the Snake River. The only house within sight was that of my Aunt Opal and Uncle Cliff. Some of my happiest childhood memories were of being there. TimeContinue reading “Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman, 6/23/18”

Beloved: So, I was wrong. Sorry about that. On Mother’s Day I gave you some inaccurate information. I mentioned that Father’s Day was a late addition to the national calendar—which is true—but the earliest Father’s Day Sunday actually goes back to the early 20th century. There are several stories surrounding this special day, but theContinue reading “Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman, 6/14/17”

Beloved: I was working away at the office the other day, when I suddenly realized I was humming “If you’re happy and you know it.” It seemed appropriate. We have a happy office. We don’t always clap our hands, but there is just something about the energy of our office that creates happy and creativeContinue reading “Weekly Note From the Preacher Woman, 6/7/18”