FROM THE PASTOR

 “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”  (Psalm 90:1)

     We think of our house as our dwelling place.  We mark the story of our life by the houses we have lived in.  But the Psalmist reminds us that our life is short, and our houses are only temporary.  Our only safe and eternal dwelling place is God.

     Abraham lived in tents all of his life.  He looked forward to an eternal city, where he would finally find a permanent dwelling place, with God.

     The old saying, “Anywhere I hang my hat is home,” speaks to the real meaning of home.  Home is anywhere we live, with our loved ones and with God.

     Home is “where we can come, and they will always let us in.”

     Joyce and I are living in a transition time.  It is transition from being pastor and music director at Good Shepherd, to being retired and serving part-time with a new church family.  It is transition from 843 Via Maria, Salinas, to 1820 Southfork Place, Paso Robles.  It is transition to being ninety miles away from our hundreds of friends in Salinas.

     We must get out of the way, and make way, for Pastor Embree, the interim pastor, and the permanent pastor who will be called.  They will have the same joy we had, when we began our ministry with you.  Just as we found joy when we had our first baptisms, confirmations, and weddings at Good Shepherd, they will find joy in those firsts.   But you will always have a place in our hearts as our friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ.

     It is also transition from “active and healthy” to “living with cancer”.  Joyce will have surgery, and maybe radiation and/or chemotherapy.  The Psalmist’s words, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong,” apply directly to us, since we have already enjoyed seventy years of life filled with untold blessing.  Each day is a gift from God that we enjoy and live to the fullest.

     We have loved our dwelling place with all our brothers and sisters in Christ at Good Shepherd in Salinas.  You have been so very good to us, and you are dear to us.  But your and our primary residence has always been with God, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  That dwelling place is eternal.  We will always have a permanent address with God.  It is that confident hope that dries our tears and gives us back a smile.

     It is hard to say “Good-by”.  But we rejoice that, connected to God, our Good-by is always, “Till we meet again.”

     Love in Christ, and thank-you for your prayers,

                         Pastor & Joyce Brown