Category: Personal Updates

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summer update

Stanton Peak
Hello all. My noted absence in the electronic realm lately is due to my much needed presence off in the Sierra Nevada. I’ve just finished leading two separate trips (with Carolyn) for Sierra Treks.

The first was an eight day trip for alumni of an off-campus program in Oregon – The Oregon Extension. The OE, as it is called, is home to a handful of wonderfully eccentric professors, one of whom was on the trip with us to lead us in bible study and contemplative practices. John Linton is a wonderful fellow to get into a long conversation with. He’s deeply interested in questions of violence, and especially religious violence. Continue reading “summer update”

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summer road trip :: stage two

Carolyn and I just returned from a week with my family at Lake Powell – that ecological abomination in the desert. It was a real treat to get to see everyone for a few days – aunts, uncles, friends, brothers, sisters, and a grandma – coming from all over the country. Like most Meyer vacations, we left more sore, tired, and bruised than we arrived. The highlight of the Lake Powell trip is the “dawn patrol.” This means getting up at 5:30 to throw yourself out of the ski boat while the water is still glassy smooth. Here are a few pictures for you. Continue reading “summer road trip :: stage two”

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not dead :: just disconnected…

Lincoln Pond

While I’m away from the internet for so long, I’ll keep you all satisfied with a picture of the view from our front porch here in Oregon, and a Wendell Berry quote that always makes me laugh:

“If a man finds it necessary to eat garbage, he should at least resist the temptation to call it a delicacy.”

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summer road trip :: stage one

Yesterday Carolyn and I left Vancouver (sigh) and drove south to Lincoln, Oregon. Lincoln is a wee little town just outside of Ashland, right above the border with California. For the next four weeks, we will be sequestered away in a cabin in the woods – a welcome respite after a months of hub-bub.

Leaving Vancouver is a really hard thing to do – especially this time of year (flowers and sunshine!). We had grown close with a lot of wonderful people – especially the folks in the house where we lived for two years. The Regent community is one of a kind – irreplacable. Both Carolyn and I feel like it is too soon to leave; we would like another year if it were purely up to us. But we have set wheels in motion and we are excited about what the future brings.

It’s also frightening to leave when I’m halfway through a thesis (and Carolyn is in a similar position with her comprehensive paper). We are leaving behind all the resources of the library, and what is even harder, the group of people with whom we’ve been sharing the conversations that inspire the writing process. Continue reading “summer road trip :: stage one”

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what’s going on in vancouver? :: an update

I’ve been meaning to write a post of this nature for a while, but I got a special motivator this afternoon to sit down and do it. So, without further ado, let me pass on the first bit of news:

Come fall, Carolyn will be a wide-eyed white-coat. (Carolyn was accepted to medical school today!)

Carolyn got word from Albany Medical College in New York that they’d love to have her in next year’s class. This is a tremendous relief to both of us and some really exciting news. She has been working hard for the last three years (and especially hard in the last year) in order to pull this off. Studying for the MCAT’s in the basement of the UM library in Missoula – scrapping together every volunteer hour and elementary school blue ribbon for the primary application last summer – writing navel-gazing introspective essays until her fingers bled last fall (I dare you to ask her what her greatest strengths and weaknesses are) – flying all over the country this spring to interview at seven schools. And all this in the midst of a full load of classes at Regent. I’m quite proud of her, to say the least. Continue reading “what’s going on in vancouver? :: an update”

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God’s work in Zimbabwe

Many of you will already have seen this, but what follows is a letter I’ve written to friends and family on behalf of a friend of mine who works as a pastor in Zimbabwe. Feel free to get in touch if you are interested.

Dear friends and family,

Greetings, I hope that Spring is progressing nicely wherever you find yourself this year. Here in Vancouver the cherry blossoms have just come out on the trees. I think that it’s my favorite time of year. At the moment, my only time to appreciate the cherry blossoms comes as I make my way back and forth from school. Carolyn and I are finishing up our last full semester at Regent College in Vancouver. We’ll still have a few credits lingering after this spring, but for the most part we’ll be finished; these two years have gone too fast.

My primary reason for writing is to let you know that I’m sending asupport check to Noah in Zimbabwe within the month. I’ve distilled and summarized the latest news that I’ve gotten from Noah below. He always passes on many thanks for the support that we send him. He remains tremendously busy these days and the state of his country
makes it increasingly difficult for anyone to maintain a stable existence. Noah’s commitment to serve the people around him is commendable, read a bit further to hear more about what he’s up to these days. In addition to his, I want to pass along my own gratitude; the consistent support we’ve sent over the last three years has made Noah’s family and his church an island of coherence and sanity in a whole sea of unrest. Continue reading “God’s work in Zimbabwe”