Life In The Old Anglican/Episcopalian Church

Amy and I are celebrating 2 weeks living in the Anglican Church Building in Idaho Springs, Colorado. We are paying rent and utilities and getting a great deal. We have almost all of the expected amenities one would expect...except for a shower.

The main thing is that it's warm and cozy. Amy's happy and that's what counts.

It's fantastic to be able to work in the same building you live in. No rush hour traffic to contend with!

I preached last Sunday night at our church/home. The topic was living through a "wilderness experience."

Amy and I attended the Anglican Mass the second Sunday of November officiated by Fr John Longcamp. It was a great service with a great time of fellowship afterward. So, Amy and I have two churches using our home for worship. We're looking forward to decorating the church for Christmas.

We had a couple of new people attend services, John Mark and Shannon. Yay!

To my peeps in Idaho Springs...come on out Sunday night and sit down in our comfy pews and check out Pastor Craig as he expounds on the book of joy, Philippians. We always have a great time of food and fellowship immediately following.

Amy's got me working out at the Rec Center, jogging the indoor track, lifting weights, sauna etc. She's so good for me!

We visited the Elks Lodge this morning to peruse the bake sale and lunch put on by Chris, Anne and Larisse who I worked with last year at the community melodrama. Bought some goodies for Sunday night service at Calvary Idaho Springs.

It looks like we'll be spending Thanksgiving with the Nelsons down in Englewood. Amy and I are really looking forward to reconnecting with them.

I'm preaching at the United Church which is literally next door to our church. Their preacher is going to be out of state for Thanksgiving and some of the Church Council members invited me to preach the Sunday following Thanksgiving which is November 27th. So, all my Clear Creek peeps come on over Sunday morning at 10am.

Amy's birthday is November 24th Thanksgiving Day. Yay! Amy bought me a badly needed pair of sneakers for the Rec Center for my birthday which was November 16th. I've got her gifts already.

We had a huge snowstorm last Thursday and CDOT closed I-70 so Amy and I were stranded at Pastor Craig's home overnight. It was a great time spending the night with the Babcocks. We had to cancel Thursday night prayer service at Calvary Evergreen due to the 5-6 inches of snow. Lots of "spin outs" on I-70 necessitated the highways closure.

Amy and I are at the Frothy Cup having tea right now. We're having a movie night at home as soon as we get back. Then tomorrow I'll be helping out at the Adult Sunday School class at the United Church then services at Calvary Evergreen then evening services at Calvary Idaho Springs. Busy day tomorrow.

Pics show Amy at the bake sale today and at the church following the Anglican Mass. Fr Longcamp is seated to the right at the table as well as at the altar in the last pic.

Grace and Shalom to you all and good night.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Schoenbein

November 19, 2016- Saturday

 

Setting Up Housekeeping

It's been a week now since Amy Pettit and I tied the knot, got hitched, jumped the broom, became one etc. And, it's been adventuresome already!

We spent our honeymoon sicker than dogs either with a stomach bug or food poisoning possibly from a 4 star restaurant at Denver West.

What better way to become familiar and intimate with your brand new spouse than vomiting and diarrheaing 15 hours straight? We breezed through that whole "in sickness and in health"clause not realizing it would be invoked the very next day.

Now that the dust has settled...Amy and I have set up housekeeping at St John's. We negotiated a rental of some rooms for about 60% less than the average fair rental value at this 90 year old edifice downtown Idaho Springs.

Amy worked a small miracle turning the aged Spanish Mission into a cozy newlywed nest with her throw rugs, little cute accent pieces and other miscellany lending a feminine mystic to an otherwise drab interior.

I love the idea of living where I work. I set up my office in the church and will be holding office hours from 9am- 5pm M-F.

It was so good to see Clara my step daughter and her good friend, Caroline, who I knew so many years ago as a little girl. She and Clara were born around the same time not too long before I first moved to Colorado back at the turn of the century.

Likewise, it was fantastic reconnecting with Rich, Marge and Jeremy Nelson from Englewood, Colorado. They invited us to share Thanksgiving with them which we quickly accepted.

Amy and I spent last night at the Argo Hotel to make up for our 2 nights suffering sickness. As luck would have it however I got sick again but not nearly as bad.

Right now I'm studying and preparing for my upcoming sermon. Amy is listening to and singing her praise music. We just got off the phone with my sister and brother in law Marty and Marten Zimmerman respectively from Cincinnati. It was a great conversation covering religion to politics to family.

Clocks are getting turned back tonight as fall gets underway and mornings get brighter and late afternoons gets darker. Seasons coming and going. The cycle of life stops for no one and no thing.

Pics are of Amy and St John's.

Well...gotta go. Grace and peace to you all.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Schoenbein

November 5, 2016- Saturday
 

Wedded!!

Got married Saturday October 29, 2016. Ceremony went on without a hitch other than when I forgot the ring goes on her left hand.

Amy looked stunning coming down the aisle with her dad. Her dad gave an impassioned toast afterwards as did maid of honor and sister, April.

Joe and I likewise gave toasts. The cake was great as was the apple cider.

Pastors Craig and Ben drove us to the Marriott Denver West for our honeymoon.

We had a great rest of the day. Unfortunately, the next day we both spent vomiting and diarrheaing  due to a stomach bug. We later learned most of Amy's family came down with symptoms too as did Pastor Craig's family.

So, I extended our stay one more night so we could recover somewhat before heading back to the Horner House tomorrow.

Except for my quick excursion into the Denver West shopping center and over to Whole Foods for juices, water and yogurt to replenish all the liquid we lost the other night we stayed in sleeping all day.

We're hoping by tomorrow we will be ship shape.

Pics show Amy shopping and dining out at the Colorado Mills across from our hotel on Sunday morning before the dreaded plague hit us. The next pic shows us as we're being driven to the Marriott. The next 2 pics show Clara and her best friend, Caroline Commodore. The Commodores are very good friends of mine going back to the turn of the century when I first came to Colorado. Last 2 pics are of April Pettit and Joe Eaton maid of honor and Best Man respectively.

Well...until then goodbye.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Schoenbein

October 31, 2016- Monday

.

Last Day As A Single Man- A New Day Is Dawning

Tomorrow is D-Day. I have been living single now for pert near near a decade. I have not sought relationships with the opposite sex during that time and thought I was finished with marriage.

But, that was not to be. Life is full of the mystery of God. My former secretary from State Farm, Mary, unknowingly prophesied to me on my first day out on my trek across America that I would find a wife on my journey.

Of course, I scoffed at this idea as that was the last thing I expected nor wanted. I was to become an itinerant disciple proclaiming the Kingdom of God as I marched westward across the Great Plains to the Pacific.

Incredibly, this old dog is still learning new tricks. The Lord does what he pleases notwithstanding conventional wisdom or our vision of what life should look like.

These past years have been vastly more profitable for me than college and law school combined. I wouldn't trade those year's for anything.

I am slated to have dinner with Amy and her family in Georgetown this evening sometime after rehearsal. I feel as that old prophet must have felt when he was thrown into the lion's den! Just kidding. I'm looking forward to meeting Amy's dad and step mother.

It's my last day as a free man and will be spent raking the leaves fallen from the apricot tree in the Horner's back yard and finishing up on preparing my remarks for tomorrow's reception. Yikes!!

As a side note, I started my trek on April 28, 2014. It is October 28, 2016 today. It was exactly 2 and a half years ago when I left home and turned my face to the west.

So, as I embark on this new journey I commend you all to the care and keeping of God as I hope you will likewise in your prayers commend Amy and I to His Providence and protection.

Shalom and grace to you all especially to my old Illinois friends and family. I will miss having my family attend the wedding ceremony but fully understand the particulars as to why they must be absent. I am however looking very much forward to seeing my step daughter Clara tomorrow! She has always been a ray of sunshine in my life ever since I first had the fortune of meeting her when she was just a 2 year old toddler. And, she just celebrated her 18th birthday on October 20th!

She has certainly blossomed into a marvelous young lady ready to take on the world. Happy birthday sweetie!

BR Schoenbein
October 28, 2016

The Countdown To Our Wedding Begins

Saturday is only 3 days away. Amy's family will begin arriving tomorrow. Amy will spend all day tomorrow with her mother and will be picking up her sister at DIA. She is flying into Denver from Chicago.

Had Rhonda spruce up my hair this morning in anticipation of the wedding. Also met with Pastors Craig and Ben at the Frothy Cup this morning to review some of the details of the ceremony. I'll be giving the last toast at the reception.

Made a call this morning about renting a mobile home located out on RT 103 a  mile and a half south of town. Unfortunately, it had just been rented a few minutes prior to my call. 

We discussed moving in with Susan out on Soda Creek Rd but after ruminating about it for days she decided against it. Don't blame her. Her teeny cabin is just too small for the three of us. But, she did consider it seriously.

Our options are drying up. It looks more and more likely that we will move back to IL, back to Quincy. But, we may return to Colorado in April if that job at the Tree Service in Denver materializes. But, we would look for a place to live in Denver or thereabouts.

Doors do seem to be closing here. On the one hand, I never expected to stay here in Idaho Springs this long. It's been 88 weeks since I blew into town. 

In Hebrew 8 is the number symbolizing new creation. Hence Christ arose on Sunday the 8th day. A Hebrew boy was circumcised on the 8th day. So...maybe Amy and I have a new mission coming up on the horizon.

It really doesn't matter as God can use us anywhere.

Being open to new directions is the hallmark of an itinerant lifestyle. We have to be flexible and mobile.

Well...it's time to prepare for my remarks on Saturday. Winston Churchill used to say that it took him only 2 minutes to prepare a 2 hour speech but it took him 2 hours to prepare a 2 minute speech. 

And, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was only 2 minutes in duration while the keynote speech at Gettysburg given by Edward Everett, former Secretary of State, Senator, Congressman and Governor of Massachusetts took 2 hours. He later told Lincoln he wished he could have flattered himself that he came as near to central idea of the occasion in 2 hours that Lincoln did in 2 minutes. Lincoln's remarks came to 270 words whereas Everett's came to around 13,000.

Anyway, I won't be delivering the Gettysburg Address but will be summing up my experience in Idaho Springs as well as toasting the attributes of my beautiful new bride.

Grace and peace to you all.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Pettit
October 25, 2016- Tuesday

Amy's Last Day At Beau Jos Pizza

Walked Amy to her last day at work Saturday October 15th. She is getting ready for the wedding on the 29th.

She's going to miss her co-workers very much. They gave her a fond farewell with a lot of compliments about her work ethic. I'm very proud of her!

BR Schoenbein
Amy Pettit
October 18, 2016- Tuesday

Raked Horner's Back Yard

Raked Horner's back yard of zillions of Norway Maple leaves. Lesser amount of Apricot leaves fell too. We had 50 mph wind gusts yesterday bringing the leaves down.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Pettit
October 18, 2016- Tuesday