A Long Goodbye (Part 1)
Plus: Giving Thanks for Being Fully-Funded
Dear Friends,
“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” Philippians 1:3-5 (NLT)
Like Paul in his greeting to the Philippians, Megan and I are simply overwhelmed with gratitude to God for so many people being in our corner and encouraging us as we move to the Midwest. Here’s an excerpt of one such example from an email I received on Wednesday:
“I am excited for you (and praying for you) in this move back to Illinois…You and Megan have found your way in so many places, and I admire your courage and faith to take this next step. I do not have it in me to learn any new language, especially not ancient Hebrew. I know the people in Springfield and the church there will be blessed by both of you!
My wife and I have been attending an Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) church over the last year or so near our home [in North Carolina]. The associate pastor at this church keeps talking about his time in Bozeman. So last week, I finally asked him about it and if he had any encounters with you. Turns out his kids went to Petra and his daughter was in Megan’s 1st grade class! He spoke very highly of you both. I thought it was interesting and inspiring hearing the impact that you all have made, even across the country.”
Along with the supportive sentiments, there has been partnership. In response to our request last month asking for help in raising funds to enable me to be full-time this first year with Exodus, God has provided through his people abundantly.
As of yesterday’s June 1 deadline, we’ve seen $23,376 come in. That meets our $18,000 Year One goal, with $5,376 started for Year Two!
There are no words to adequately communicate how blown away we are by this show of support. Thank you to everyone who prayed, gave, or did both, and for those who would still like to contribute (all surplus funds will be applied toward Year Two), you can do so here.
As we wind things down here in Bozeman, we are eager to get started in Springfield. Thanks for being interested enough in our ministry to follow along, and to those who gave, thank you for making the next stage possible.
As always, thanks for reading Second Drafts,
Craig (for Megan)
The Next Three Months
With this first year’s personal funding goal met, I’ll be concentrating on learning and leading in my role as Ministry Coordinator this summer, as well as getting to know current (and hopefully many new) Exodus attendees. In addition, we’re beginning officer training for potential elders and deacons, which is exciting. Here’s what the next three months look like:
June
2 - Megan’s last day at Petra Academy
9 - Craig’s last day at FedEx
10 - Craig flies to St. Louis
11 - Craig drives to Springfield for Exodus Officer Training
13-15 - Craig attends the PCA General Assembly in Memphis
19 - Craig officially begins in Springfield with Exodus Church
22 - Exodus Officer Training
24-28 - Megan visits Katie in Albuquerque
July
16 - Exodus Officer Training
17 - Craig flies back to Bozeman
21-22 - Pack and load moving truck
23 - Last Sunday at Trinity Church/Farewell Party at The Lakes at Valley West Park (Laurel Parkway and Westmoreland) from 3-5:30 p.m.; everyone is invited (drinks/snacks provided)
24-26 - Craig and Megan move to Illinois (with Maddie in tow to help unpack)
26 - Dunhams close on Springfield house
August
8-9 - Megan begins teacher training at Springfield Christian School
14-15 - SCS teacher meetings
16-18 - Millie (with Katie in tow) visits Springfield on her way to Covenant in Chattanooga
21 - Megan’s first day of school at SCS
If anyone is passing through Springfield this summer, consider this your invitation to visit!
A Long Goodbye (Part 1)
(The following is my attempt to summarize the past eight years and say goodbye to friends here in Montana. Megan will guest-post Part 2 with her own goodbye next month.)
“I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.” John Steinbeck in Travels with Charley: In Search of America
When I first told Megan that I thought we should move to Montana, she got out a map and a ruler and then started crying.
“Bozeman is two inches from Canada,” she lamented through tears.
Though I have a bachelor’s in Geography, I didn’t bother checking the scale of her measurements; that wasn’t her point. It was this: Montana was a long way from home.
Living in “the Last Best Place”
That was April of 2015. After four years in Oklahoma City, we arrived in Bozeman mid-June, having secured a rental house sight unseen on Craig’s List. There were six of us (seven if you count the dog) sharing three very small bedrooms in a beautiful planned community called Valley West. It was a good house…for a family half our size. But it was what we found and could afford, so we were glad for it.
Being so far north, we marveled at how late the light stayed that summer, at the lack of bugs and sales tax, and at the moderate temperatures sans humidity. The Gallatin Valley was a beautiful hybrid of mountains and agriculture, and Bozeman was a growing and vibrant outpost along I-90 with a hopping downtown. The nearest comparably-sized city (Helena) was an hour-and-a-half away, but we had no pressing need for a change of scenery; there was plenty to take in here.
Was this “the last best place,” as the saying went? If not, it had to be a close runner-up.
Two years later, we moved out of that house when our landlord caught the Bozeman price gouge bug and decided having conscientious renters was worth less than an extra $1,200 a year. Our friends Craig and Bobbi Miller invited us to rent from them, so we signed a contract that first year, but went contract-less for the next five (we all just kind of forgot about it). I’m not even sure a handshake was involved, but I do know there were hugs (as well as a lot of front porch and yard gatherings ever since).
Two Seasons: Summer and Winter
Over the years, summer (specifically June) became my favorite month of the Montana calendar; school was out, the porch sitting/reading was good, and the tourists were only beginning to show up. Camping and hiking became an increasingly regular family activity, and the Dunham girls were always up for some time on the trail.
But one can’t really talk about Montana seasons without talking about the other nine (sometimes ten, often felt like eleven) months out of the year, also known as “winter.”
I remember the first real weekend of snow in (early) October of 2015. It was a Saturday and I was excited—somewhat for the snow, but also because I was in dire need of a haircut and had neglected to make an appointment due to getting the school year launched. Watching the silent flakes come down early that morning, I imagined eight inches of fresh snow would work to my advantage and keep the crowds home.
Two hours of waiting in line later, I learned my first lesson in Montana’s application of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: when you deal with winter for as long as Montanans do every year, a Saturday morning of white stuff is hardly worth changing plans for; on the contrary, fresh powder (and the hiking, skiing, skijoring, sledding, sleigh riding, snowmobiling, etc. it enables) is actually why some people live here (never mind the fact the accompanying cold temperatures can kill you if you’re not careful).
Petra Academy
Of course, my focus in the winter (and really year-round) was school. Petra Academy was what I lived and breathed 16 hours a day from June of 2015 to November of 2019.
During our family’s second year at Petra, all four girls were in the upper school, and it was a joy to see them in the same hallway everyday. We sang and recited prayers together each morning, listened and learned together everyday, and participated in activities and studied together each night. I don’t know too many fathers fortunate to have had such a year with their kids, but I count that year a particularly special one.
But with the joy came the struggles, as we also endured as a family the pains inherent to developing and deepening the culture and liturgies of a classical Christian school. Megan and the girls felt the pressure of living in the fishbowl as wife/daughter of the Headmaster, but they did an admirable job rolling with the punches that were often directed at me. In addition, they contributed significantly to what were then only fledgling artistic, athletic, musical, and theatrical offerings.
Another personal joy was leading and working daily with a team of fun and dedicated people who passionately loved God, kids, learning, and teaching. Ours was a stellar collection of co-laborers whose knowledge of their material was exceeded only by the size of their hearts in sharing and modeling it before their students.
In addition to the faculty, staff, students, and families I dearly loved, I experienced the privilege of friendship with the heads of two other Christian schools in the region. Though they were my peers in the role, Gerry and Pat were both older and trusted mentors for me, and together we worked for and saw Christian education improve and grow throughout the Gallatin Valley. (I should also give a shout-out to my two predecessors at Petra—founder Louise Turner and former headmaster Todd Hicks—both of whom I sought out from the start and was blessed by their friendship.)
Those four-and-a-half years at Petra were as challenging as any I’d experienced in ministry. However, while I was grateful God used the opportunity to bring our family to Montana eight years ago, when I was asked to step down, I sensed that my school-leading days had come to an end.
Exploring Other Opportunities, Vocationally and Creatively
Vocationally, 2020-2022 felt in many ways like a time of wandering in the desert. While Covid complicated things and made the feelings of isolation palpable, it was not paralyzing, as God was faithful in providing unique opportunities and people to accompany me on this part of the journey.
In January of 2020, I started part-time at Montana Instruments, a cryogenics company here in Bozeman, while also serving as a consultant for K12 (now Stride Learning), an online education company. In addition, I tutored a student a few times a week for three months and taught a formal logic class to freshmen at Montana Bible College.
Creatively, I found my old theater chops (or what was left of them from 30 years ago) as part of the cast of Orpheus Ascending. I spent a year helping a friend write and publish his memoir. I co-wrote a song to help kick off our church’s capital campaign. I re-launched my occasionally-written blog, Second Drafts, as a weekly news and cultural commentary newsletter, adding a subscription option a year into it for supplemental monthly book reviews and podcasts (select episodes featuring church members are on Trinity’s website). And perhaps most creatively, I continued learning how to play the role of father-in-law, again thanks to Montana.
Making Sense of the Miles
All of these opportunities were special because of the people involved, and all of these experiences—even Hebrew, even FedEx—have been preparation for and part of God’s convergence moving me into what I pray will be my life’s final vocation: pastor. I certainly wouldn’t have written my story the same way (and I certainly wouldn’t have chosen to expose Megan and the girls to the hardest parts of it), but I’m convinced the Lord wastes nothing in his authorship, either of my story or of theirs.
To those who have lovingly walked alongside us these past eight years, thank you for your friendship here in Montana—just “two inches from Canada.”
To the faculty, staff, students, and families at Petra Academy, I did the best I could in the best way I felt it needed done; may God continue to bless the school.
To my peeps at Montana Instruments, thanks for taking a chance on the weird humanities guy; I always enjoyed when you stopped by “the arts district” to chat.
To Stride Learning, Montana Bible College, and the family who hired me as a tutor, thanks for taking a chance when I needed it; it was nice to contribute.
To those who shared their lives with me on stage, on page, and on air, thank you for allowing me to help bring your stories to life; we did good work, methinks.
To everyone who has and continues to read these (now-)monthly meanderings of mine, thanks; though I sometimes feel like a 1st grader bringing an art project home to his parents, you still put it on the refrigerator (at least for a day or two).
To the pastors, elders, deacons, and friends who have become family to us at Trinity Church, thanks for praying for and caring for us; we love you and are grateful to have served the Bozeman community and in worship with you.
Finally (and borrowing again the words of Paul, this time from 1 Thessalonians),
“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-25 (NLT)
Thank you, friends. To God be the glory.
Farewell Gathering: Sunday, July 23
Montanans love to get out on weekends, but for those in town, you’re invited to join us for a farewell gathering next month before we head east on July 24. The details:
Who: Anybody who wants to come (kids especially welcome)
What: Drinks and snacks provided
When: Sunday, July 23, anytime from 3-5:30 p.m.
Where: The Lakes at Valley West Park (Laurel Parkway and Westmoreland)
Why: No agenda; just come and say goodbye
Maddie is coordinating the party, so contact her if you’d like to help with the event.
Until next month…
Thanks for considering becoming part of our support team (to be applied to Year Two).
Know someone who might be interested in our plans in Springfield? Let them know.