Dear Rose Park,

Did you ever hear the story about the pastor who wanted to move the piano from one side of the stage to the other? He knew he couldn’t just move it all on one Sunday; it wasn’t a question of his physical capability, but he knew it wouldn’t go over well. The piano had always been on a certain side and it had never been moved. So, instead of a shock and awe approach, the pastor decided to be patient. Each Sunday he moved the piano just one inch until it eventually was on the other side. When he was finished, no one even noticed the subtle change.

Dear Rose Park,

As you know, I’m currently the volunteer chaplain at Camp Geneva this week. It’s been an unbelievable experience to care for the counselors, campers, and staff and to witness their faith come alive and grow. This year’s theme for Geneva is praise; it comes directly from these words from Psalm 148: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His host! Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heaves, and you waters above the heaven!

Dear Rose Park,

I’m an early riser; most days my alarm goes off at 5:00am. I like the stillness and quiet of the mornings. I also learned relatively quickly after having children, if I want quiet and solitude it either has to occur early in the morning or late at night. Seeing that I’m falling asleep before 10:00pm on the couch I choose to rise a bit earlier than most, take the dog for a walk, brew a pot of coffee and maybe get a crossword in before 6:30am.

Dear Rose Park,

This past Sunday evening, I had the great joy and privilege to attend worship with our friends at Benjamin’s Hope. Sam and I sat across the aisle from Jim and Deb Kiekover and alongside Kylee Duistermars and her two sons, Charlie and Graham. We sang with full voices, laughed with full bellies, and worshipped with full hearts. It was a beautiful service and I hope you can join us next time.

Dear Rose Park,

I had lunch with a younger couple on Monday at El Rancho out on the highway. I got there a little early to get us a table (and to selfishly eat free chips and salsa before they arrived). We caught up, shared stories of little ones growing up, and then we started the conversation that prompted them inviting me for lunch in the first place.

Dear Rose Park,

“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

Dear Rose Park,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Paul wrote these words to the church in Galatia some two-thousand years ago. I’d imagine for many of us when we hear the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ we gravitate towards love, kindness, and gentleness. We might feel the tug of the Spirit towards patience, but because our lives are so busy we convince ourselves we don’t have time to wait on God or our neighbors.

Dear Rose Park,

Admittedly, I would not describe myself as “handy.” I’ve grown in my skills and knowledge when it comes to projects and plans, but it certainly doesn’t come natural. For example, during the height of the pandemic I was able to watch enough YouTube videos and read enough articles to build a table for our backyard and a bench for our entryway. I feel a bit more confident when it comes to power-tools and wood, but the projects and maintenance of the lawn still evade me.

Dear Rose Park,

On Monday morning I officiated the memorial service for Charles ‘Bud’ Freehouse. If you knew Bud, then you knew he was almost always paired with his beloved bride, Nell. Even their names were synonymous and rolled off the tongue together, ‘Bud & Nell.’ Nell passed away on on April 11, 2021 and Bud passed away on June 8, 2022. They were married for 75 years and then they were apart for 423 days.

Dear Rose Park

This Sunday, June 19, my cousin Tyler Brinks will be ordained as a Minister of Word & Sacrament during morning worship at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. He graciously asked me to write a charge that his dad, Kevin, will read at the end of the service. I am so grateful to be apart of this service, albeit from a distance. As I wrote the charge for Tyler, I started to reflect on my own ordination and the charge that was read.