Agape

Have you ever been to a place that feels magical and you fall in love instantly? If you have, don't you love it? That place holds a special place in your heart. If you haven't, I hope you have the incredible feeling someday.

Vermont is that place for me.

This past weekend my roommates and I spent some time in East Craftsbury, Vermont on invitation to attend the presbytery meeting of the Presbytery of Northern New England. Being the Presbyterian nerd I am, I was excited to attend a presbytery meeting in a different presbytery than my own but I was also REALLY excited to see another part of New England I had never seen before (I've never been to New England prior to setting off on this year long journey).

Our travels starting with a seemingly easy drive from our home base in Watertown, up through where Alex works north of Boston, all the way up to Haverhill, MA on Massachusetts-New Hampshire boarder. There we met with my pastor and his wife and carpooled to Vermont. Well wouldn't you know... traffic. We arrived in Haverhill later than expected but with enough time to arrive in Vermont before dark. In all, we were on the road for 5 hours. Boy was it worth the trip!

Welcome to Vermont!

 We drove through the most picturesque Vermont country side, saw road signs alerting us to be on the look out for moose (sad to report we didn't see any), and listened to all sorts of music including Mumford & Sons because lets face it, we were in a car full of Presbyterians.

Its hard to complain about spending 5 hours in the car when this is your view.

East Craftsbury and Greensboro, Vermont are neighboring towns on the Caspian Lake. My heart was full of awe when we pulled up to the lake house we would be staying for the night. It pushed all of my nature-loving buttons. Lake. Trees. Mountains. Flowers. Fresh air. And a trusty black lab mix, Shadow.

The hosts were a lovely couple, the Stoners, who are friends to many in the Presbyterian circles around Boston and the Northeast. They own a gorgeous lakehouse and allowed 8 people to crash at their place to attend the presbytery meeting the following day.

THE lake house.

Presbytery was interesting in the Presbyterian nerd sense but it was also interesting because there was some drama. I can't/don't want to go into the details but it was really different than what I'm used to concerning presbytery meetings.

What I learned during our time in Vermont is that God leads you to places and puts people in your life to teach you a lesson. This is not meant to be like a parent teaching a child but more like someone shedding light on an issues or perspective you're having trouble with or perhaps have never thought about. Vermont was a weekend of glimpses of the fullness of God. The weekend happened to coincide with a bittersweet anniversary for me and I saw little love reminders everywhere. Everywhere and in everything. God is Agape.

John 14:27- Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.