I am a pastor in Creston, a southwest Iowa city, with a population of 7,800. Having moved here in 1994 from a Southern, metropolitan city, we have grown to love the people, places and perks of Iowa (including the opportunity to meet all the presidential candidates every four years in the local coffee shop).
Iowa is a great place to raise a family and a great place to pastor a church family. My desire is that this blog helps prompt our church family to do some additional follow-up of our Sunday teaching time.
By the way, I love that word, ponder. It was used of Mary after the birth of Christ, stating that she “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, NASB). It’s my hope to use this space to encourage/challenge my church family as we “ponder” what God is trying to teach us.
FYI: The above photo was taken on Redwood Avenue just north of US 34 about a mile east of Afton, Iowa. As the seasons change, so does the header to reflect the current season…another thing I like about Iowa – four distinctive seasons.
Please note all original material, except where otherwise attributed, is © 2012-2016 by Chuck Spindler and should not be reproduced without permission. Attributed reblogging is, however, welcome.
Rural Iowa Pastor by Chuck Spindler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Rural Iowa Pastor 
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your footprints. I like your header image… feels like it leads you to an adventure. Following and looking forward to more postings ☮
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Thanks for your kind words. I enjoyed being able to create my own header and hoped that it would convey something of the journey we are on. Thanks for you affirmation! I am still a bit new to the Weekly Photo Challenge but have been impressed with the creativity and interpretations I have seen. You will be seeing more of my footprints at your blog…your work is beautiful and inspiring, Djm!
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My pleasure ☮ you are right… there’s a lot of talent here in WP … Welcome and may your journey here be full of blessed adventures 🙂 and thank you … here’s to blogging … Cheers 🙂
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Thanks for the follow. Blessings on your weekend.
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Thank you for the follow, as well. Be blessed!
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Hi colleague on the other side of the world… Think I will quietly follow along and see what you are up to! Blessings!
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Thanks for the follow, Rider. It’s great to consider the expanded opportunities we have to influence and learn from our Brothers and Sisters all around the world through this medium. If you ever get the opportunity to scratch off “riding Route 66” from your bucket list, you’ll have to let me know…only about five hours south of me.
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Nice reason to blog. God bless your work in Iowa!
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Thank you, Alexandria. While my original intent of following up each week’s sermon has been suspended for a while, I’ve found that it still gives an opportunity to serve up some spiritual thoughts with some of the photo challenges in which I’ve participated. Thanks for stopping by!
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Thanks for stopping by my blog. I, too, like the word “ponder.” Always a good way to approach His creation.
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I appreciate you stopping by my blog, as well. Thanks for the comment, Tom.
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Thanks for the “like” and comment, Tom. I enjoyed perusing your blog! Always encouraging to cross the paths of fellow pilgrims.
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Great blog!
And thank you so much for stopping by mine.
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Nice blog. Closest I’ve been to Iowa was South Dakota, a long way away.
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Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m from Alabama and lived in Iowa! So your scenes are familiar.
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Thanks for stopping by, as well, Catherine. I have family who are transplants to Alabama from Arkansas. They have adapted well, changing their allegiance from “calling the Hogs” to “roll tide.”
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Do you think the Crimson Tide/elephant thing is more dignified than hog hats? hahha
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Definitely! My daughter lived in Arkansas for three years and she refused to call the hogs. She said they did it at events not even related to Arkansas sports…like Komen Race for the Cure.
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Thank you very much for following my blog.
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You’re welcome, Awa. Always fun connecting with others to follow them on their journeys of discovery.
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True. Through other people’s eyes we can see well known places in quite different perspective. I hope to give you some inspiration 🙂
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Yes, ponder is a pregnant word that only Mama Mary will give birth with the help of of her only son, Jesus, our Lord.
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I was born and raised in Algona, Iowa. My grandparents had a farm near Red Oak, Iowa. I am pretty sure I hitchhiked through Creston once a long time ago.
A Thumb and a Prayer
https://hitchhikeamerica.wordpress.com/a-thumb-and-a-prayer/
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Yes…Creston and Red Oak are both on Hwy 34. Thanks for hiking by by blog!
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