Monday, November 29, 2010

Apartment Living

For the first time in our married life, Jane and I are living in an apartment here in Shoreline, Washington. Shoreline is a bedroom community of Seattle and most folks who live here just seem to say "Seattle" when asked where home is. 

Our dwelling place is just three blocks from the church, up a fairly steep hill to the west. Last week in snowed here and the three or four inches made mobility almost impossible. When you combine hills with snow and ice plus the fact that most folks here don't have all weather tires it makes for quite a challenging experience. Jane and I loved it. It reminded us of Colorado plus, the community in which we live was almost shut down. We had the streets to ourselves and we made good use of them.

But I digress. I'm writing basically to show you our apartment. We moved out of "The Big House" in Highlands Ranch, Colorado back in '08. Downsized to a flat. Then in '09 we retired and downsized again to the cabin.  Moving to the Seattle area to serve a temporary assignment in the Aurora Church of the Nazarene meant downsizing again.  Our apartment is a cozy 608 square feet. It's very nice. New. Just a bit small. Jane can occasionally be heard to complain "there's no closet space left!"

We're on the fourth floor and give thanks daily for the elevator. Now, let me take you on a tour of our "crib."

Welcome to our living room. Yes, the furniture is rented with the exception of the recliner near the window. That was in the pastor's office at the church until I snagged it to use at the apartment.
 Yes, this is standing in front of the window looking back toward the front door.

 This is our lovely, and rarely used, kitchen. When you move someplace on a temporary basis you don't realize how much money it takes to set up housekeeping again. We drove to Seattle in an Escalade and thought we had room in it to bring the necessities. We were wrong.

Jane took this shot of me getting off the elevator as she stood in our door way. Those full length mirrors sure do intimidate a person when you're walking out in the morning. "How did I get this fat?" "I thought these pants were longer than that." "My hair is a mess."

Since these photos were taken Jane has put up the Christmas tree and found other bits of seasonal decor to place in appropriate spots and it's a very festive little place. And as I mentioned before, it's very cozy.

Serving the people of this fine church has been such a blessing to us. It's our second interim assignment. The first was in La Junta, Colorado. The thing that we've discovered in this new phase of our ministry is how warm the people are that we've been invited to serve. Just as La Junta, the people here at the Aurora church have gone out  of their way to make us feel welcome and at home. We've been in the homes of many and found such eager listeners when we preach. I know that I'm a few years out of the "contemporary" pattern and this church has been functioning in a fairly contemporary mode. ( I tell people that I'm not old, I'm retro). But the older folks have welcomed us as a "contemporary" and the younger ones have accepted me as a grandpa. I like both roles.

Once again, this church has done more for Jane and me than we've done for them. They've made us feel like family.

3 comments:

  1. Tim, I welcome you as someone who speaks the Truth from the Pulpit, and I want to thank you for that.

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  2. Tim, Your last statement has an error. You mentioned that our church has done more for you and Jane than you have done for us. Not true. You have no idea what an impact you two have made to our congregation. We thank God for your willingness to move away from your "cabin" to serve us here at Aurora. God bless!

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  3. Tim,

    As a former Pacific Northwesterner, I know exactly where you are in Shoreline. I am now in Colorado Springs, but my sister used to live in Shoreline and I used to visit her often. I originate from a much smaller town, Port Townsend, on the Olympic Peninsula across the water a ways. Nice place if you get the chance to visit. Used to be a Nazarene Church there, not so anymore as far as I can tell. Aurora used to run District Assembly a lot of the years when I was a member of the Poulsbo Church of the Nazarene in Poulsbo, WA, which is across the water on either the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry and 20 minute drive or the Seattle/Bainbridge Island ferry then another 20 minute drive. You have probably started to look around there.

    I think it is a tremendous blessing for you to interim up there. The Pacific NW is wonderful, especially when it is sunny. I miss visiting, but certainly love Colorado and who knows maybe one day God will return me there for a pastorship or something (provided I finish at NBC---laugh out loud is ok).

    I do remember meeting you at Trinity Church in Co Spgs a time or two and have ran into you a few other places I think. I believe I even did a home loan for your brother, but I could be wrong. Anyway, glad you are up there, can't imagine Aurora being in better hands.

    God Bless and also thanks for friending me on FaceBook.

    Take Care,

    Tim Monahan,
    719-290-6791
    www.hoopwars.com

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