Uphill idealist

If I could, I'd take all of the favorite days and place them in a frame. This would be perfect, except there are too many moments to fit any size frame. There were dreams - and they came true. There a people I longed to meet - and did. There are songs that were written - and played. There were paintings painted - and displayed. There were broken hearts - and they were mended. There were strangers - and now they are dear to me. All of this - all of these people are infinity. They can't fit into a frame, but they can reside... in my memory, in my heart  and  in my pockets... I'm taking you with me. Poem and image by T.L. Eastman copyright 2015

Place - Western New York, in a small post-industrial city continuing to effort of reinventing itself. There are many small towns an cities like this along the northeast. But this is my town. My family and I have lived and worked in this community for over 20 years now. Personally, I've served in three different church denominations during that time here. I don't think it's even possible to count the number of people I've had the honor to get to know over that time, but as my children will tell you it's impossible for me to get groceries without seeing at least five people that I know. But this is not really my story, this is God's story. Over the last twenty years, there are two practices that I feel have been God's gift to me: Creativity and relationships. As suggested before, relationships happen when you are in one place long enough. However authentic relationships require compassion, listening, persistence and grace. For relationships to m...