Pastor Steve

We are home! We did not have computer access on our last night away from home, so I’ll give some highlights. The scripture for the day was Acts 9:1-9, Saul on the Damascus Road. This is a powerful story and I love it, but at the time I wasn’t seeing any immediate connection for our day’s plans. However, I do have what I call “signposts” in my life—those moments when God is working so powerfully and obviously that His presence is undeniable, even palpable. Some of those signposts have been: --individuals who have functioned as “second fathers” at various times in my life; --the day I was given, free of charge, a nine yr. old thoroughbred gelding retired from the racetrack, because I had been willing to tell God that I could let go of a ... read more

I think the last time I put sunblock on was on Malibu Beach. And it has been 4-5 days since I last felt comfortably warm through a whole day's riding. I think I last remember feeling that way while riding through Sonoma wine country on US101 in CA. After that a low pressure system stalled over the CA/OR coast and we've been in various clothing and rainsuit layers ever since. But I know better than to whine too much. I decided a few years ago that I liked motorcycle riding because of the feeling of freedom and usually wonderful air smells as I rocket down the road. It's that immediate contact with the outer environment, even at 70 plus mph. And on a trip as long as this one, you have to take whatever the sky ... read more

We arrived in Fortuna, CA after spending a great day riding on winding roads and through Redwood Forests and along the northern coast of California. After supper, we sat in the hot tub for a while then settled in for a few episodes of Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. Today we went north to Redwood National Park and then Northwest to Medford, OR. We stopped at AAA and picked up some maps that should get us through the rest of our trip. Grace and I were both in kind of a lousy mood this morning when we started out and had a few sharp words with each other, but I think the Redwoods kind of took the stress out of the situation. We were soon happy and holding hands. After spending some time at the Redwood ... read more

Today we left Buellton, CA after staying at a FANTASTIC Best Western motel with wonderful beds. I think if I've learned anything about myself on this trip, it's the importance of a good mattress and how it effects my life the following day. I had a great day today because I had a great mattress last night -- maybe. Our Bible text today was from Luke 2:41-50. It was Passover and twelve year-old Jesus traveled with his parents to Jerusalem to the Temple. Jesus got into some conversation with the religious leaders and I'm guessing he was talking Torah and Pentateuch with them and discussing Old Testament theology. Whatever they were talking about, I'm guessing the religious leaders were impressed with his ability to talk shop with them. It occurred to me that he was talking ... read more

Today's text was from Ezra 1:1-4--God effectively paving the way for the Israelites to return from exile by changing the heart of the king of Persia and causing him to make law that all the Persian people should give the Israelites whatever they needed to return home. When does that ever happen for anyone?! Again, I didn't immediately resonate with today's text, but mentally filed it for later rethinking. This day was great and physically a bit punishing. Winds were 35 mph with 40mph gusts. We figured we would take the riding in smaller increments so as to give Steve's arms and shoulders a break from holding the bike steady. We drove through the forest that surrounds Flagstaff and came across a small building that was not in any of the literature we had read about ... read more