Adventures in Mecca

Confession: I needed a getaway. I mean I like Rio Dell and all (ok, that’s a big fat lie because behind closed doors I refer to it as Rio Hell), but I needed to see the world. I needed to escape Humboldt and make sure that the world actually still existed and that I wasn’t imagining it. Honestly, living up here in the hills makes me feel like I’m in that movie ‘the Village’ sometimes, but thankfully civilization still existed and oh the adventures I had there…..

I went to Redding (or as I like to call it, Mecca) for a week and spent the first the first few days with my friend, Jenny and my cousin, Emily. We explored Sun Dial Bridge, Redding’s SINGULAR mall, and this Panera/Starbuck’s hybrid called Yak’s Coffee. Then we had Thanksgiving together, which was delicious considering no one over the age of thirty-five was involved in the cooking process. But after Thanksgiving, the estrogen they gave out began to choke the very life out of me and thus, it was not a moment too soon that my dad arrived.

Jack and Friede Taylor decided to have a small meeting at Bethel, to honor the culture Bethel has created in their church and in their city, my dad was one of these “spiritual sons” and so he flew in for the weekend. Fortunately I was able to tag along with him, because my dad thought that if Jack could bring his spiritual sons, than he could sure bring me.

Bethel by itself is fantastic, but being able to traverse it with the likes of Jack and Friede, Leif Hetland, and Bob Phillips is something else entirely. There was one point that I was walking to service and realized I was literally strolling amongst spiritual giants. I didn’t feel small though, because Bethel isn’t about “them and us” instead it’s about equality and embracing our royalty. So it was actually kind of relaxing walking with them and instead of feeling fearful I felt kind of secure walking with them.

All weekend, during small intimate meetings with Bill, Kris, and other Bethelites, I felt tremendous gratitude for my life. Not only for being able to attend sessions where the number of people in the room was around twenty-five (which is exactly the kind of meeting I like), but for my life in general. When I leave California and go back home, I go back to a place that sometimes I can’t believe exists. Heartland (my church) is fantastic and I feel incredibly privileged to be able to go back to something when I leave Humboldt County.

I’m becoming more and more aware that not everyone can say this and am so thankful that I can…but I’m also a little dumbfounded as to why I am so lucky? Why did I get to spend a week in Redding hanging out with Jack Taylor? Why am I so lucky as to have a Kingdom church back home? Why am I so lucky to have the family that I do? I don’t know the answer, but I think it has something to do with everything my parents have gone through. Our family has been through a lot, but they’ve stuck it out and stayed with God and I think that has a lot to do with it. They trusted God when it didn’t make sense and now it’s paying off. I think this pretty much what I’m going through now. I can’t say I like it here in California, but I’m willing to stay if that’s it takes to prepare me for what’s coming at our church. This is something I’ve been learning lately: being thankful for a gift I don’t want. It’s been hard, but so worth it!

Anyways, Redding was amazing and one of the best moments was seeing my dad on stage sharing how Bethel has impacted Iowa. It was cool to see how far we’ve come, from a little church in Ankeny, Iowa to what we are now…a church affecting our state and slowly but surely, affecting the nation. I’m excited to see what’s coming in my life…but for now, I’m patiently waiting for Christmas break to begin, so I can visit civilization once again.