By Pastor Tim White

Jackie and I were hiking in the Wallowa mountains with our family when our kids were teenagers. We had followed this same trail together when we were in high school. The kids kept running ahead and wondered if we were there yet. Jackie and I laughed and told them “when it looks like heaven we will be there.” In a short time, they came running back saying enthusiastically “this is heaven!” I set up the tent and built a campfire while we all prepared to swim in the sparkling, clear Wallowa River. Jackie started dinner and we caught some trout while warming in the sundown. We watched deer, elk, beaver, and bear feeling like we were a part of their family. The sun began to set as we put on our Jackets and we ate roasted trout which tasted like lobster. No fishy taste in the high Wallowa’s. We picked some huckleberries and tasty mushrooms. Jackie made fried potatoes with asparagus. It was a feast. And of course, we topped it off with some wild s’mores which we wrestled down at Safeway in Wallowa. It was quite a feast. We sat out on a 100-ton piece of granite to watch the ‘once in a generation’ meteor shower. It was spectacular. We were so high in the mountains it seemed like we were looking at the sky through a great telescope. While we were sitting there by the fire on the granite one of my kids asked me – “Dad, how can heaven be any better than this?” I paused as we enjoyed the cracking fire. Then I said, “let’s try and imagine.”

This Sunday is Father’s Day - don’t you want to enjoy it as we worship the God of the Universe together with our families?

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White