Moses Graduates, again . . . and a longer story

 

We are proud parents! Our eldest son, Moses, graduated in May from Asbury Theological Seminary. He earned an MA in Theology. He earned the same degree I received.

Moses makes the fifth person with a last name of Leininger, connected to my grand-parents Claire & Doris Leininger, to have a degree from Asbury. My uncle Dean graduated in the late 70's. I graduated in 1997. My cousin Joel, Dean's son finished in 2007. Joel's wife, Tammy also graduated in 2007. Ironically, Joel and Tammy would meet following seminary and begin their family. 

We are anticipating at least one more degree from Asbury. Moses' wife, Emily, should finish up the spring of 2025. That will make 6 Leininger's connected to Claire & Doris with a degree from ATS, who would have thought it? Only God!

When Claire and Doris were newly married I'm unsure if they had much of a faith practice. Doris' dad had a connection to an old-order Mennonite congregation. Claire's family was connected to a (now) Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. As I've heard the story, in the early years of their marriage they were farming long hours, forming their family, and uninvolved in faith.

What changed? The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) received a new pastor who was born and raised in California. During the 2nd World War he was interred at a Japanese Camp. At the end of the war, Rev O  would go onto seminary and then relocate to northwest Ohio. Rev. O and his wife loved Jesus and loved people. They gathered my grandparents into a small group Bible study and there they encountered Jesus. 

My grandparents faith was real and lively. I've heard stories of my grandfather going with others from church to a rescue mission in Toledo, OH and preaching. My grandmother had her own kinds of pulpits, and did she ever use them. They loved the songs of faith, the people of the church and community, the scriptures, and Jesus. They weren't perfect, but Jesus did a fantastic work in them. And through them, they blessed their family.

I'm proud of my son. And, I'm grateful for a legacy of faith that includes a Japanese-American family that also knew the power and redemption of God and shared that with my grandparents. They could have been bitter and victimized by what they went through. Instead, they let the healing power of Jesus work in them, and through them worked hope and redemption in others. 

Our son, has graduated, again, this time with a Masters' degree. One can only wonder what God will do with the story of his life. Whatever it holds, To God be the Glory! 

 

Beware of the way you mock your parents...you may become them

As a teenager I frequently noticed that my dad would fall asleep at the kitchen table before going to bed. When I started dating my wife she noticed it too. Then for a while as a young married couple, because we lived far from my folks, she began taking photo's of my dad sitting at the table, fast asleep. 

Last night, at the end of a long day of work and cold weather, while I sat in front of the fire listening to a podcast, my bride took this photo of me, fast asleep.  

That which I've seen in my dad, now shows up in me. 

Hello Winter

 Today it is cold. The warmest it was today was at midnight, 48 degrees. The temps have dropped to 13 or 14, with a wind chill of -2. 

When Anna and I went for a walk we noticed that the wind was blowing so strong that the pine needles were swept to the east. In addition, the air carried enough freezing precipitation that the needles were frozen, bent like shards of glass and fixed to the branches. 

We did not walk our normal route today, instead we walked on our property. We could handle the cold, but the wind was making it feel like our eye balls were freezing. The wind is blowing so hard, I think it is finding the crevices between the mortar on the house. The house feels "drafty." 

When the wind blows this strong it it reminds me of a story I heard from my friend Howard Gager. Howard grew up in Ithaca, MI. When Howard and his brothers were little, they often woke up to snow on the inside of the window pane. Howard wasn't alone. Many a kid, over millennia, has had the same experience. 

We often forget how a person's experience of the world has improved year after year. Maybe someday we'll have a house wrap that will eliminate the idea of a draft. 

Today we give thanks that the window sills are free of snow!

A Daily Baptismal Prayer

 Yesterday I had the joy of presiding at a baptism. Following the baptism I shared with the person, newly clothed with Christ, a prayer that Adam Hamilton shared at a conference a few years ago. It's a prayer that was intended to be said daily, or whenever a person enters water to bathe. 

_____

A Daily Prayer to Remember your Baptism

Lord, as I enter the water to bathe, I remember my baptism

Wash me by your grace

Fill me with your Spirit

Renew my soul

I pray that I might live as your child today

And honor You in all I do

(Thanks to Adam Hamilton, Church of the Resurrection, for sharing this prayer.) 

A Happy Epiphany

 

Asa returns

In the middle of August 2023 Asa departed for a stint with the Peace Corps. The stunt would take him to a country that was relatively warm all year round. In a few months of trying to acclimate a number of things became clear in his heart and mind. So today, on Epiphany, he returned from his endeavor. We are glad to have him home, for a season. Up next for him will be a pursuit of working in theater. There is something magical about his return on Epiphany. We'll take it.

Asa departing - August 2023

2023 - A Year in Review

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We hope this note finds you well, celebrating what God has done, and anticipating another year of God’s faithfulness, goodness, and kindness.

 

The past year for the Leininger’s has been unique. We’ve had completions, celebrations, pauses, continuations, and re-directions. 

 

In the spring, Asa and Aravis completed educational quests they were on. Aravis completed her homeschool experience and we were blessed by many who gathered to celebrate her accomplishments at Common Grounds Coffee House in Strafford. In August, Aravis began working at the same coffee house. Then she added three other jobs in the fall. She anticipates moving to NYC in the spring of 2024 to pursue a career in acting/theater.

 

Asa graduated from Missouri State University with a double major in History and Theater. In the summer he worked at a camp in Southern California, traveled from coast to coast, and then made his way to the Dominican Republic to work with the Peace Corps. While in the DR, Asa gained some clarity about his professional interests. He will begin 2024 back in the USA, pursuing a professional path in theater.

 

In the spring Moses and Emily were apart of the revival/outpouring/Jesus movement at Asbury University. They live and work at Asbury U and study at Asbury Seminary. After returning from a European trip in June, Moses accepted another challenge of being a modern worship leader at Centenary Church in Lexington, KY. They are enjoying their life together.

 

With siblings transitioning, Kyrie took her own re-direction. She began her sophomore year of HS at Strafford HS. She is our last kid, and our only kid to experience preparatory school outside of the home-schooling environment. She is doing well in school and ignoring her dad’s pleas to get a C in at least one class. 

 

Anna and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last May. With all the events happening for the kids, we had about half a second to celebrate. We sense a need to be present to the kids while they are here. Their wings are spreading and our time with them feels short. 

 

In the fall, Anna faced a question: what were her days going to look like with homeschooling not on the docket? While there are not clear answers for her next adventure, for the moment she has been glad to take up substitute teaching. She has a number of new stories and she can tell you her favorite grade/age level to teach 4(th).

 

A year ago I was offered an opportunity to take a sabbatical over the summer. The spring brought planning. The summer brought the experience. It was a tremendous gift from the fine folks at Schweitzer Church. In the midst of that season, I gardened, read some books, biked and began running again, and we traveled some. Anna, the girls, and I went to NYC in early July. We also had some time in Chicago, MI, and then I went to Wichita, KS for a quiet retreat. 

 

The sabbatical provided clarity to my sense of being and calling. It was restful, in a way. I reconnected with the value of an afternoon nap; I took one every afternoon that I was at home. 

 

In some circles there has been a lot of talk about ‘burnout.’ In fact, most professions are seeing people who have been long ‘obedient in the same direction,’ opting for the exit door. On the one hand, an unavoidable truth is that we all make our entrances and exits. On the other hand, much of burnout, early exits, and a retreat of wisdom to the sideline far too soon is because we’ve lost the gift of the sabbath and sabbatical. 

 

Resting, reconnecting, and celebrating have been means of grace that helped transition our pauses, continuations, and re-directions. 

 

In all that is ahead, we pray you’ll look back and behold the faithful kindness and mercy of God, and in faith, you’ll take each day with curious delight, resting, laboring, and rejoicing in God. 

 

God’s best to you, 

 

Jason

PS – Kyrie said I was supposed to sign off as Rev. Dr. Jason

PSS – We love hearing from you! If you’re ever in the Springfield, MO area, contact us and we’ll connect!

Really Cool People

A backstory to the podcast, Really Cool People.

This past spring I have had an incredible privilege to conduct and record a number of interviews, with Really Cool People. The interviews were turned into a podcast by that name and the podcast is available in all the places you may listen to this content. 

The podcast became a vision and work because of a number of converging realities. 

1) In December of 2022 I was looking for a book, biography preferably, that I could give as a gift to Anna. Specifically I was looking for biography of a wise woman (or women), and of someone who wasn't writing because they were 'famous,' but because they were 'accomplished' apart from lights and screens. I could not find a new biography, not on the normal web sites, or in the still existing new books stores. I could find twenty such books on guys, but none on a woman.

2) About the same time, I was looking for a publisher for my work on Joseph. One of the publishers replied with an offer letter. Accompanying the offer to publish was a fact sheet about the publishing world. As I read each bullet point of fact it became obvious that publishing, marketing, and selling books is a hard business. One fact was jarring - 80% of works published will sell less than 300 copies in their lifetime. (This is one reason why professors assign their own books for a class, they are trying to recoup the publishing costs.) The fact sheet was from 2009; the last decade has, in my observation, not improved the outlook for increased engagement in books. I had given some thought to writing a biography, or an anthology with several mini-biographies, but the market for written material, and the cost to produce it, made the project look bleak.

3) For several years one of my co-workers has made a case for podcasting. Until a couple of years ago I had not listened to a single podcast. Then a neighbor revealed that she worked for a news podcast that is produced by the same group that produces a magazine I've taken for over two decades. It was good. I began exploring other podcasts. As I listened to other podcasts, it dawned on me that one of the ways I've appreciated and taken in stories is through the aural tradition; most generally around a table, in a barn, in a car or truck. Aural wisdom sharing is as old as time, and I've been privileged to be a participant, as the kids say, 'IRL - in real life' (in person), and by listening to the radio. I saw the possibilities for a podcast.

Following Christmas break of 2022, I approached my co-worker, and said, "now is the time for a podcast."

Taking all the back-story into consideration we planned out the spring. My co-worker did the technical work, and I worked on the line-up for Season 1. Taking a lead from my earlier desire to find the story of a wise woman, I asked women who were over 60 years of age. In the end, four decades were represented - 60's - 90's. They all are active at Schweitzer Church, and while some talked of their church experience, I was really looking for the stories of their lives, and the wisdom they might share, for whomever might listen.

One of my aunts listened to all of the stories. She said she thought there was a theme to the whole season, one beyond my parameters: a theme of trial, and the theme of faith. I'll leave that for listeners to discern what theme(s) may be present, if any at all. What I remain convinced of is something I say briefly in the podcast, that comes from CS Lewis' sermon, "The Weight of Glory":

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, it at all, only in a nightmare. . .  There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, art, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. (The Weight of Glory, 39)

In the midst of recording there has been much laughter, a few tears, and a high regard for the lives that have been shared. The people I've interviewed are Really Cool People. Their lives, in a thousand different ways, have been marked with trials, and deep goodness. Each one has joy, real joy. The Lord is their Good Shepherd. I hope you will take a listen. (I'd also welcome you to rate it and share it.)

In the fall, after my co-worker and I return from sabbaticals, we look forward to producing Season 2.