No matter

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome. Last Weekend on Life’s Journey I am the newest, proudest owner of a comma. (if you don't know what it is, then ask!) Grant and I went to our church's conference's annual meeting this past weekend. (The conference is about 150 UCC churches in northern CA and Nevada). The meeting was held at Asilomar, a state park on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is also a conference center. (I think it used to be owned by the YMCA or something and then it was donated to the state of California as a park, so the conference center was already established). The grounds of Asilomar were just beautiful. The coast alternated from rocky outcroppings to sandy beaches. Just inland there were small gently rolling dunes with sparse vegetation. About ¼ mile inland, the trees started and then the larger hills. Although we were there to be delegates from our church to vote whenever needed, I found myself dying through the legislation (this reaction really surprised me because I thought I would be interested in the whole process). At one point I just left to talk a walk and get a snack. Many other times while walking from one building to another we would see deer. They were the “almost but not quite wild” type of deer. They didn’t approach us begging for food, but they didn’t run away either when we were on the path right next to them. I guess they are just used to humans staying on the trail and not bugging them. Although, one doe did interrupt a meeting I attended on Saturday morning. The cottage had windows on all four sides. At first we just saw the doe walking around the building. Then she signaled to her fawns that it was safe. After walking all the way around the building, she stopped in front of a window and started nursing her babies. Needless to say, the meeting stopped and the whole group was surrounding the windows to watch this display. Months from now I won’t remember who was in my group or what we talked about but I’ll remember those deer and how I longed to just sit and watch them. Instead of pay $300 each for lodging and meals, Grant and I opted for camping in a city park about 10 minutes away from Asilomar. Camping doesn’t phase me at all anymore. But I did mind that we were on top of a hill. On Friday night I woke up to the sound of seals barking in the distance in Monterey Bay. There was a diesel engine running somewhere. There was the 101 freeway. And then there was the fog horn. Saturday night was slightly better. But Sunday night back in my own bed was the best. The theme of the conference was covenant. Covenant was the word heard most often from everyone who spoke or led worship. The word is so full of meaning that I’m still not sure all that it means. From the stories that I heard from other people, I feel that my church is really something special where covenant is lived out in the daily life of the church. I’m always amazed at how my church can exist the way it does and attracts the type of people that is does. It is amazing. I really wish all UCC churches could be like ours. Our church really is an exception to the rule. I noticed while at the conference that I couldn’t remember the last time I had been in a large room with so many white people. This made me slightly uncomfortable because I have grown more accustomed to being surrounded by people of all shades and the different energy that creates. This Weekend on Life’s Journey Grant is in Adrian, Michigan at a conference until Sunday. If you are near there, call him to see him. Grant’s parents are staying the weekend in Adrian to visit. I, on the other hand, am going to spend my Memorial Day weekend proving to myself that I can create my own successful solo backpacking trip. I spent this evening packing my pack of everything except food and my camera. The thing is up to 19 pounds now, so I hopeful that with food I’ll be under 25. I’m heading into the Santa Cruz Mountains to Castle Rock State Park. I hear it has climbing. But the climbing is close to the parking lot so maybe I just toss my shoes and harness into the trunk and see what happens. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes. Two last Tidbits… First: 13 days left of school. I’m so excited. I can’t wait. I’ve never been so ready for summer. Second: I’m so in love with my car and the fact that we are buying little to no petroleum fuel. I love driving it, knowing that I’m not buying into the inflated gas frenzie. Although, I must admit that the car's exhaust has been smelling a little funny lately… like deep fried something…