Falling for Julian

Falling for Julian: Installation Day
Making official what Spirit has already been doing among us.

Some days are big, filled with more wonder and love than should fit in a day. Those days, I struggle with words. Somehow, when there are moments of wonder and love throughout the day, I am equipped with my plethora of words to spill some on a page or screen. I can describe a moment, snap a picture, share my excitement or awe.

Some days, I’ve got nothing. The moments come too fast; the waves of love come in too close together. I just look around at the bounty, and words fail.

By the time Sunday evening came, and I was alone in my home with my gentle dog, the love-overwhelm was real. So, we walked and slept.

As we walked, I thought not in eloquent prose, but in lists:
- It would be enough that Spirit called me to the right people at the right time.
- It would be enough that these people saw fit to call me as their pastor.
- It would be enough to have faithful synod leaders to help this call along.
- It would be enough that Rev. CeCee Mills, who stewards the call process in the NC synod, is good at her job. That she loves me? That’s such a bonus.
- It would be enough that Rev. Ron Philabaum, my dear friend, is the dean of this conference, so he presided at the installation rite portion of the service.
- It would be enough that Peggy, Ed, and Jonathan met me in the chancel to affirm my call to baptize, preach, and preside at the Lord’s table.
- It would be enough that my soul-sister, Heather Bachelder, wrote beautiful prayers and poured holy water while I remembered my baptism.
- It would be enough that Rev. CeCee Mills preached a mighty word of hope as we embark on this journey together.
- It would be enough that Eileen and Pete came to celebrate this joyous day, the same beloveds who held and helped me on my hardest day.
- It would be enough that my colleagues in ministry came to support me on a steamy hot Sunday afternoon after they had served all morning in their congregations. If I begin to name them, I’ll surely forget someone. But, one of them was Rev. Cassie Overcash, who agreed to read scripture in place of my dear friend, Rev. Ann Kelly, who couldn’t be there.
- It would be enough that Laura Garrett “led from the bench” with her brilliant musical talent at the piano and organ.
- It would be enough that Coble’s choir sang a gorgeous piece they chose especially for this day called Holy Ground.
- It would be enough that I got to preside at the Lord’s table.
- It would be enough that my family was there in a pew together: my angel mother, my amazing daughter, my big brother, my sister-in-love, and my favorite niece.
- It would be enough that the Griffin family brought a baby, who made baby noises.
- It would be enough that the people of Coble’s hosted a delicious reception with a gorgeous cake.
- It would be enough that the church gave me stunning vases brimming with wildflowers! And my sister brought me Gerber daisies because she remembers everything.
- It would be enough that hours before the installation, my brother showed up with tools and shelves he had cut for me. He installed shelves, fixed the medicine cabinet door, installed a TV mount, hung a bar in the laundry room, and generally made things easier for me.
- It would be enough to see my daughter and her cousin hanging out together.
- It would be enough that my sister helped me put my bed together, after sleeping on an air mattress since I moved in last month.
- It would be enough that that same sister brought me dulce de leche caramel she made (a very favorite treat of ours).
- It would be enough that Eleanor Rigby and I get to live in this beautiful place.
Do you see?

It would be enough! But it all kept coming.

On Sunday, language was not liquid enough to help you see the depth of the wonder and love showered on me all. day. long.

Two days later, I still only have a list. But, it’s an exquisite list, indeed.

Here are a few pictures of the day, thanks to CeCee and Sage.
Falling for Julian

God recently called me to something new. And someplace new. I am settling into a new call, a new community, and I find I’m falling for Julian.

Coble’s Evangelical Lutheran Church has stood on the fertile rolling hills of Julian, NC for 210 years. This soil knows well the hands, feet, and plows of generations of local families. Long before they settled here, the soil knew the Cheraw and Occaneechi people.

One of the great gifts of my life is being born to Jim and Lenore Shimota, adventurers. We lived in distant lands and approached new opportunities with an openness that is difficult for some. Our nomadic life when I was a kid and countless shifts and changes in my adult life have meant I don’t have an answer when someone asks, “Where are you from?” Most folks in Julian don’t have to point very far down the road to answer that question.

Some people still stay put. Some families don’t wander far from their homestead. This is a foreign and gorgeous kind of life to me.

When I flip through the church directory, I see the generations of one family live on the same road. When I talk with them, I learn that some of the young generation build a home on a piece of the family property. Not everyone stays, but many do.

My new people eat at restaurants run by their lifelong friends. They buy ice cream from the Bowman’s dairy down the road. There’s a rancher that offers cuts of meat at the front of his property a couple times a month. You don’t always know when – but word gets out that he’s put the sign up.

This life is slower than any I’ve known. Wouldn’t it be just like Jesus to know I was tired and needed to rest a while? Isn’t it just like the Spirit to call me here, where my work is to grow in my understanding of country life and people, to open the Bible with them, to serve the world God loves alongside them until I am one of them?

Eleanor Rigby and I are grateful to God…and to Julian.