For the Beauty of the Earth

One of the great pleasures of being a pastor is the opportunity to perform the marriage cermony of good friends. It's even more pleasurable when the wedding is for someone you have watched grow from youth into adulthood. This was the case this past weekend where I had the pleasure of performing the marriage of Abby Curtis to Joel Zaspel.


I first met the Curtis family in 1988 when my family transferred from a church in the south end of Tacoma to Mason United Methodist Church in the north end of Tacoma. This was prior to my journey exploring my call to ministry. At this time I was still "running" from the call.


Mike Curtis, a warm and gregarious man, was hard to miss and quickly made my family feel quite at home in the new church. Mike and his wife Debbie had two girls - Casey and Abby - who were a little older than our children, but our families enjoyed many church events together.


When I finished seminary in 1998, it was my delight to discover that I was being appointed as an Associate Pastor to my home church - Mason UMC. We returned to serve our friends and were blessed to re-connect. By this time, Casey and Abby were in high school and part of the high school youth group. My responsibilities as Associate Pastor included Youth Ministry so it was fun to be their Youth Pastor.


In 2005, I began serving as the pastor for the Federal Way UMC, but have been blessed to know that my ministry had a positive impact on the lives of the Youth I served. I've been able to perform the marriage for Casey and, this past weekend, her sister Abby.


Abby's wedding took place on Mineral Lake near Mount Rainier. I had never been to Mineral Lake before. It was a beautiful setting and I am still riding high on re-connection of friends, the celebration of marriage, and the beauty of God's creation. Just one of the many perks of this pastor profession!