Small-Town Pastor, Big Community Impact

A YMCA conversation in Black Mountain turns into a surprisingly deep look at what makes a town feel like home. I sit down with David Carter Florence, associate pastor at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, and we trace his winding path from the Shenandoah Valley to seminary, teaching, chaplaincy, and finally ministry in Western North Carolina. The more we talk, the clearer it gets that “community” isn’t a slogan for him, it’s a set of habits: show up, partner well, and do the next tangible thing that helps someone else breathe easier.

We get specific about local service and stewardship, from a quietly coordinated parking lot flower bed makeover using native plants, to reusing materials after Helene relief work, to building practical models like brush berms and planting projects that make public spaces calmer and more beautiful. We also dig into the daily-life side of Black Mountain: biking and hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway area, gardening and sharing produce with neighbors, and the way local organizations help move food where it’s needed. One of my favorite moments is the story of refurbished bicycles being set up for Afghan refugees, because it captures how dignity often looks like something simple and useful.

We also talk about the challenges that don’t show up on postcards: housing affordability, long-distance marriage strain, and the kind of anxiety in our culture that can come out as anger. David shares how he’s learning to pace himself, including an upcoming sabbatical and a shift from “fix-it” leadership toward more contemplative listening, presence, study, and prayer. If you care about Black Mountain NC, local leadership, church outreach, community resilience, or what it takes to build trust across differences, this one will stay with you.

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Transcript

Welcome And A YMCA Connection

SPEAKER_00 0:29

David Carter Florence. I am glad to have you here today. I uh just met you a couple of weeks ago at the YMCA, right here in Black Mountain, and uh we struck up a conversation, you and my mother and I, and uh I loved talking to you. We had a lot of a lot of things in common. And I said, Hey, you want to come be on the podcast? And you were like, sure. So here we are. I know very little about you, uh, but um tell me uh what's your story? Where are you from?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Oh, so originally I grew up in western Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley after a few years in northern Virginia, where my father was from. But my mother's family were farmers in the Shenandoah Valley near Harrisonburg, Virginia. Okay. So that's the way back all the way back to childhood. Yeah. Okay. And then what? Then what? Uh studied uh studied at Hampton Sydney College in Virginia, and then Farmville. Yeah. And then headed to Athens, Georgia to teach at Athens Academy for a year. Go dogs. And then headed to Princeton Seminary for three years and studied for a Master of Divinity degree there. And met my wife to be, and we got married after two years there, and then graduated and headed to Minnesota to Minneapolis. And uh she served Westminster Congregation uh Westminster Presbyterian Church and I served Plymouth Congregational Church.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

All right, and what where was that? Minnesota Minneapolis, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

So it's but it's a long history. Then we went back to Princeton for her PhD, and I served as a chaplain at Blair Academy and then headed to Georgia, where I did Waldorf education for about 12 years.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Oh wow, that's a change.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, yeah, it was a big change, but it was convenient. We were raising family right across the street from the seminary. And our boys grew up there. So we have two sons and they both just got married a year and a half ago. And uh congratulations. We're excited about that. Yeah, I bet you are. I'm about to be a grandparent in Zoom. Oh, how fun. So that's exciting. That's very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Great. Is that Columbia, I assume, seminary?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Columbia Seminary.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, sorry. Thank you. Uh I grew up in Atlanta and I attended Peachtree Presbyterian Church. And yeah, a lot of connections with Columbia because of that. Yeah. We didn't even go there when we were talking the other day.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

No, we didn't. No, we didn't. And the Harrington Center is there, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

That's right. Frank Harrington married me the first time. Anyways. Yes, I love Frank Harrington. And John Newton married me as well. The did together. They did it together. Yeah. And I don't know if you know him or not. He is was one of my favorite, favorite people in all the world. And his daughter lives here in Montreat. Oh, wow. Margaret Waterstrat. Yeah. You know Margaret. There you go. There you go. I know Margaret and Bill. Yes. Yes. Yes. Bill was my youth pastor. So there you have it. But anyway, full circle. Full circle all comes back to Black Mountain, Swananoa, Montreat, Ridgecrest, you know, it all works out.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah. So tell me a little bit about what you do now.

Life At Black Mountain Presbyterian

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Uh so I'm an associate pastor at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church. And my primary work is with children, youth, families, education, outreach, which includes small group and retreat ministry. Okay. And uh and the outreach, there's strong links with the mission world, missionary international and local. So those committees are all quite strong and just work with a lot of good leaders, people who care about their neighbors and serving God. So it's it's a it's an amazing place to be.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

So can you spill the beans? This past weekend I left on Friday and came back on Sunday night, and there was a new flower bed in my parking lot. It had new rocks, new plants, a new tree, all kinds of beautiful things. And I've heard through the grapevine that that might have been some elves from Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

They're they are very uh they have a lot of gratitude for the beautification committee. They're amazing, who has helped us with grants, and we've been planting native plants and little pockets around near picnic tables and places to sort of be, be quiet, be peaceful, right there in downtown. Yes, fossiling downtown. That's right. Metropolis. And so we they and that was a we have some overlaps with with the membership. And so I believe Gene Chamberlain and a couple of other folks, Anne Drummond, helped set that up. And then our earth care team that does a lot with earth stewardship said, let's do this. And so they did it.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Well, it was fabulous. It looks so nice, and it's the only bed that has pretty rocks around the outside of it. So if anybody wants to come look at it, you'll know. And all the plants are labeled. And so that's kind of cool. Anyway, it was just a fun. Like I may have known it was happening, but it still surprised me on Monday morning when I rolled in and I was like, oh, look, they did what they said they were gonna do. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

So we had an all church work day. Yes. Sort of worship with your hands and feet. And um they were able to be over there. And for me, it was a big tie-in with some Helene relief because um actually the wood that was around that bed originally is now under my log pile. Oh, good. So I'm reusing it. So you're reusing it, good. And I'm also doing a lot with the brush that's down on my land behind my house, building berms with it, a lot of it, so that it'll be a fire break. And we did one at the church sort of as a model, and we'll plant plants on top of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

See, I love when people think about the whole, think about the whole thing, not just the I want it all I can think about is the cool new bed in my parking lot, which is great. So anyway, I appreciate that. Well, you're very cool.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Um, and that team is a great group of people. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Yes, I love my uh my beautification people. I have Anne and Sally are my usuals. Martha pops in every once in a while, but those are my usuals who are out there and they they get me. They get that I am not good at taking care of plants. So they and they spruce up the whole town.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

So all very appreciative.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

That's right. That's right. It's a huge committee. We had uh Ann on the show another time, and she I think she, yeah, anyway, and she was telling me that it's more than just plants. I didn't know that they do, you know, like trash pickup and things like that. I had no idea. So that was that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Um, but anyway, well, good. Sorry, now that the the beans are spilled, I appreciate that. That's good to know. All right, so what do you do when you're not working?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Ah, well, let's see. I I love to hike and I like to bike. Oh. And go to the Y. Like a real bike or a bike with an E in front of it? Oh, a real bike. I thought I'd put it off the E until I really need it.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I have an E, but I I'm open to it. I haven't ridden it yet, but I have it.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

So the one fun thing, I I don't know. I have to I maybe this may be too too much information, but when the Blue Ridge Parkway shuts down for ice, it currently it's shut down for landslides, parts of it. So I will go up and ride up there, which is amazing when it's shut down for ice, because the ice is only in pockets and you can ride around it. And it's just an amazing place. And then mountain biking on some bunch of trails around, you know, down in Old Fort too. Yeah. So good, good fun. Uh those those are the big things I'd say. I garden a lot too. Okay. And I work at the I have a lot of friends in the John Wilson garden. And we share a lot of food. We'll plant different things in bulk and then share the share the produce. Good. And that ties into bounty and soul, also doing giving a lot of food to them. Um, not that we do that independently, but collectively, it is an amazing thing to be a part of.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

What's funny is Allie's gonna be the next podcast. So there you go.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

And she's coming, she's coming to speak, doesn't it? She's coming to speak at our church with Mary Carol Dodd from uh Red Scout Farm. Perfect. So cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Very cool. All right. So I need to go back to the bikes.

unknown 8:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

So does that mean like your bike is a mountain bike? And when you're doing the landslide stuff, you're staying on the road. You're not on the landslide.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

No, no, no. We I don't go up there with the landslide because they it truly is closed. Right. They let people hike and bike a bit when it's not closed. Okay. So but I have a I have a road bike and then which is sort of a gravel road bike, and then I have a mountain bike. So it's two different ones.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Okay. Yeah. I have my e-bike. It's early to the e-bike. Securely parked at my house. I hasn't ridden it. So I assume you already know Michael down at Epic.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yes. And I bought the the mountain bike from him.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Okay, good. Good, good, good. Yeah, he's a great guy. He's uh he's on the board at the chamber, but he's also he just is one of those people that when it's a hard day or I have a question or something, I think a lot of people stop there thinking he's the visitor center because it's the first shop on the way in town. So people always go to him and ask, where do you eat? Where do you do this? What do you he he jokes? He's like, You should set up an office in here because I think I answer as many questions as y'all do at the visitor center. Oh yeah. But no, Michael's awesome. And and so is everybody in there.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

But yes, it's it's been great. Yeah, cool. To have a local store like that.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Absolutely. He and I are working on a couple of projects together. So we'll have to keep those a secret for now. But they're coming right along.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

But uh, so I do have a project that we worked on with him that was amazing. Cool. Tell me about it. When the Afghan refugees were here, there were several different families and groups, and he helped facilitate a lot of used bicycles reset for all the all the refugees.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

And so that first round having a bike in a town like this was a big deal. Yeah, it is. And that was amazing. It was a moment of like, wow, everybody's working together. I love when that happens. And these refugees felt the love and the practicality of it as well.

Eating Local And Going Vegan

SPEAKER_00 10:27

So very cool. Very cool. Now he's a great guy. He's he's something. He's something. Now, when people say that about me, I always kind of wonder what that means. But you know, anyway. Yeah. Yeah. All right. What what else do we do? We hike, we garden, do we eat? Oh, yes. Okay. And and and I know that your wife, who is somebody special at Columbia, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yeah, she's a professor.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Professor Columbia Seminary. I may have stalked her a little bit. Okay. She's pretty impressive. That was cool. I think so. I was I went to I went to seminary, and so I love to I did too. Yeah, I did. I went to RTS in Atlanta. Oh wow. Yeah. So anyway, so I know that she lives there because she's a professor there, but when she comes to town, what are her favorite things, places to go and do and eat and all those things?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Oh yeah. So we um you know, we love to cook, but we're exhausted. And as with so many families, right? So it's so great to have these great local restaurants. And so uh Taco Billy's quick and amazing. And um I have some health conditions that push me into the vegan world. Okay. And so they've got they accommodate well. And if we want to sit down and be quiet, Lugwingette is very special. And trailhead's always fun. Sure. And there's just a lot. Anyway, all of those are are just great. And we usually would do takeout. Yeah. And fresh, we would do also. Yeah, there's so many good. There's so many good. You can't name them all. You can't name them all. And it feels tough to start naming a few when there are so many more. That's right. But that's right. Blue Ridge Biscuit is like a regular for me.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Oh, I but they I can eat everything there.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

You can order the pastor's plate, David's plate. If you want all the vegetables, just the vegetables.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

I like them.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Okay, so asparagus, beets, lettuces, potatoes. I know it's terrible to do there because I love the traditional breakfast foods.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

I never thought about ordering vegetables there. Maybe I could do that. Hello? I'm not happy about this, but I'm doing it. It's part of life.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

I'm proud of you. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

That's good. No, that's good to know because I don't always think about that. I always think, oh, I'm gonna want to eat that gigantic biscuit. And I should not eat the giant biscuits. We were even though they're fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

They're incredible. And we we got the mix and made them at home and gave them as gifts. Yeah. It's cool. It's incredible. And then they're like family. So I hang out there a lot and see a lot of our church folks and town folks. So it's really a cool spot. That is a cool spot.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Good, good, good, good. So you're Presbyterian, USA. You've got to spend some time in Montreat.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

What are you doing up there?

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Well, we usually will do the youth conference, which is for high school youth. And a lot of special programs come through, of course, some on Celtic spirituality, some on the Inklings, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. That has a nice tie-in with Montreat College and also crosses a lot of these denominational boundaries because almost everybody respects Lewis when they read him deeply and understand Tolkien and it goes beyond the church. So it's really cool to have those scholars in town. And actually, Corey Green at Blue Ridge Brisket is one of the scholars, along with several at Alantry College. I know that. That's right. And they're exploring liter literature and the imagination and how faith can be nurtured by that. So I love that piece. Then the conference center, lots of amazing guests come through. And then the we have the soccer team comes down and does service. When we have our service days, and so it's great to meet the soccer team, and we'll go up for some basketball games and just it's good to be a part of the whole community.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Jared McCall is one of the soccer players, and he works at the visitor center on some Saturdays. So good kid. We really, really like him, and he's uh he's great.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

And I and I love having college kids around town and young adults because it's hard to live here sometimes for young adults. They'd rather be in a bigger city that isn't as expensive. Right. And um and we we really connected with them during Helene relief. A lot of young adults step forward. So good.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Well, we're working to keep Jared here in the Black Mountain area. Yeah, good. I don't know if you knew that.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

No, I did not.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

So his uh his friend Treselin is my intern at the chamber, and so she plays for the women's basketball team at Montreat College, and the two of them alternate on Saturdays, who's gonna be there, depending on who has a game. That's really what it boils down to. But uh but both of them are great, and they got engaged a couple few weeks ago, and uh I think they're gonna stay. So I'm pretty excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Well, I I think it's great, you know, again the energy that they bring. And we have we have a graduate who played two sports up there. Katie Duvall is our youth director, and her husband Phil also went there. And so just the connections in town with families who've lived here, right, who aren't just Presbyterians dropping in to Montreal. Correct, it's a wonderful mix. And and Britney Williams is like that too with Chad, who's on the fire department, and Britney's been here and gotcha. She's our children and congregational life person. So really fun to have the the local strength. You probably know the Patton family some. There's lots of patents all over. Sure. Alice Patton has run our weekday school for that. Gotcha. Okay. So again, the local has felt really important for our our community. Right. To to be connected.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Well, and I love I love that that your church, who actually owns the parking lot that's where Whitehorse is. So, and y'all loan it to Whitehorse and the community, and we appreciate that because that that's tight quarters when you're trying to find a spot. Oh, yeah. And then they all bleed over into your parking lot when you're not having church services too. But I love how a lot of churches are and do have outreach and it's great. And I'm not saying that anybody's better than the others, but y'all do a really, really good job. I mean, I I don't even like to talk about Helene anymore just because I've I'm over it. But I mean, your response to that was amazing. And then just uh just the just the way y'all are a part of everything. You I mean, you fixed my parking lot, you made it look beautiful. And I I mean, just everything y'all do. People don't even know everything that you do, and and and that's the way it's supposed to be. We're not really supposed to know everything you're doing. Yeah, but uh I love how connected you are to the to the community.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Yeah, and and I would say it it's an amazing joy to overlap with so many different groups and churches. And so when we drop drop out some of the things where we might disagree and we go, hey, we have more in common. That's right. And every level. So when we work with St. James Episcopal or with Valley Hope or any, you know, we we work together. Yes, and that's what it's about, even though we may not agree on how we do particular details of faith. That's right. And it's a delight to work together. Yes, it is. And when those Mennonites and the Amish, like I walk into one of our rooms routinely at the church, and there is there's maybe four or five elders from the Amish community in Pennsylvania sitting in the room. That's cool with Nathan West and who does the Fuller Center. That's right. And it's amazing, again, to think we need to be that a catalyst and a place of crossroads. That's right. Love that.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Well, and you've let me have use your space before for the chamber because one thing our town does not have is a lot of meeting space, meeting rooms. There's not a restaurant that has a closed-off area. You can't get a room and have it to yourself in a restaurant or anywhere in town. At least I haven't found it. And I have looked. Except for Phil's. And Phil's does have one, and it's upstairs though. You have to, it has to be, you gotta have somebody, everybody has to be able to go up the stairs. That's the only thing. That's right. You can be outside. Yes. But yeah, it is. But you're right. There are not a lot of meeting spaces available, and I appreciate that y'all let us. We had a we had the uh state rep and the state senator both come a couple of months ago, a month, I don't even remember how long ago it was, but you and I met in the in the lobby that night and didn't even know it. Right. Like we found out later. But but anyway, we do appreciate that y'all are so helpful when you when you can. Sometimes you can't fit us in there, and that's okay. Yeah. But we appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Can I mention the Korean kids that were there?

unknown 18:48

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

So so that night when you had the forum, we had about 30 high school kids from South Korea who were visiting, and they were sort of uh giving us a shock of what what Koreans do in high school, and they they did a performance and they were warming up in the North X while you guys people were coming in the forum, and they saw 30 Korean South Koreans doing sort of a K-pop Christian thing. Which was cute. Which was very funny. So that that's another joy is these traditions of the international people coming through here at so many different retreat centers and conferences, just wonderful sort of fertilization ri richness of uh people.

Why Black Mountain Became Home

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Right. Right. Yeah. So you came you did you come here because of a job? I mean, is that why you came here in the first place?

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Well, so I lived in Atlanta for decater precisely for uh well, we're on year 23. Oh wow. So we've lived there and our we raised our sons there primarily there after Blairstown, New Jersey, where I was the chaplain at Blair Academy. But I would drive by here and I would look longingly at Black Mountain, at Montreat, at Asheville, and just go, this is an amazing place. And I would love to live here someday. So I kept my eyes open. And as I moved out of teaching and school management and camp management into thinking, you know, I'd really like to fulfill that goal of being a pastor to a community and not more of a figurehead men leader. And it came open, the job opened up, and I applied. And it there were a lot of doubts on the committee about this long distance marriage and about me having been a camp director and a director of a school and a teacher and not a pastor in a church very much. I did a few short stints in between things, but um they they took a chance and we've had a wonderful time together. So the job brought me here. Right. And uh I had a house over in the Nanahela Gorge that was sort of my my place to go to to get out of the city. And I I'm a kayaker, so it was a great place to be near the NOC and NOC founder Horace Holden and sold me the house. Gotcha. And uh and so to switch to this area just made so much sense. Perfect to be able to be up here. And my wife and I would love to stay here and live here, so we were able to buy a house and we've gotten connected with a lot of the people out at Lake Eden, good and Rockmont, and uh and just that that community spirit that lives so strongly here.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Correct. So a job brought you here. What kept you here? What's keeping you here?

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Well, the job.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Well, of course.

Coffee, Housing Worries, And Peacemaking

SPEAKER_01 21:37

And I would say we we were fortunate enough to work with a unconventional realtor who founded an unconventional house for us, and we live next to a lot of public land now. Oh, wow. And we can see the reservoir from our house. Oh man. And being back in the woods has been a it was actually another one of those long goals was to live at the end of the road. And that's where we live. And so we're renovating a lot because it's a little old dog cabin that needs work, but it's a delight. And uh that's one many things. The community is the other one too. Just again, I I was saying it the other day. I I had a lunch with a retired psychiatrist. We had this amazing conversation. I learned something I needed to learn. I love that. I love that that was relevant about being a better listener, and uh, pastors need to do that. And not we all do, uh, because Fix it all the time. And also, then I walked around the corner and we were working on the the garden. And then I went further up the road and it was like, I I love living in this community. People are caring for one another. And there's a lot of respect for different jobs and demographics, and people can we can all work together. And also all the differences. There's there's not a lot of divert racial diversity or or that much economic diversity, but there's a fair amount of the economic, for example, if you just look around and get to know people. So that's been a real amazing part of being here and wanting to stay. Okay. Yeah. Favorite coffee shop?

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Dynamite. Okay. That was the right answer. There are lots of lots of coffee shops here. I think that I know of seven of them. And I I have found a favorite thing at each one of them.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

I I should say that. Definitely. I yeah. I don't I'm not a big coffee. I just threw that at you. I'm not a big coffee shop guy, but we we buy their coffee. Gotcha. And the Y started using it. Yep. It's local. Right. And has a strong fair trade base with those two things.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Yeah. The difference between them and the other coffee shops is that they actually they are more focused on wholesale, like two different restaurants rather than the coffee shop experience. So that's I we actually had Andy on the podcast earlier and I learned that. So that was kind of that was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

All right. What keeps you up at night?

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Well, there's always a lot a lot to be concerned with. And we always know there's people worse off that need care and support and encouragement and uh and good systems. So the housing thing has hit us pretty from the time I got here seven years ago. We knew we needed to help with housing. And so when I know people are who are struggling personally, that that keeps me up at night. Okay. I may say a prayer, but you've got it, you gotta move on it. That's right. And and act on it. And uh and I would say just it it is a little hard living the long distance marriage. Sure. And yet we we we work at it and uh and that's that's a little hard. And then the I would just say when people the hatred and the coming the sideways anxiety that comes out negatively is very hard. And yet it is our job to sort of listen, be peacemakers, work with it, and and move towards a constructive, constructive action together.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Oh, that was great. That was a good answer. Well, trying. I'm trying to I know, but I didn't even give you a question ahead of time. I just threw that at you.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

This is what we do, but we a bunch of us were just chatting. Like we a lot of us wake up around three o'clock. Isn't that funny? Mine's 2 20. Okay. Well, they're we've got I wake up right in the street. And we were just talking about a few uh an hour ago, our director of operations was like, yeah, I was thinking about this and this. That's funny. Yeah, I'm thinking about that and then that. That's it. And so again, but to be able to call Tyson Furniture at 9 a.m. and say, I have a family who still needs a mattress, three mattresses. Would you be able to give us one of your gently used returns or something? But you can't sell. Right. But they they make it, they really go out of their way to help out. Good. And those kinds of things, again, it's not just hitting a wall. It's actually hitting an entry point that's we can do more. And so I love that.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah.

Sabbatical And Learning To Slow Down

SPEAKER_00 26:00

All right, that's awesome. So what are you still figuring out about living here? You've been here seven years, right? Yes. What are you still figuring out?

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Well, as you know, I love the idea of being a sort of small town pastor and crossing a lot of these boundaries into good relationships with so many different people. That's great. And yet I do have to leave sometimes and and take a break. So I actually we have a sabbatical. I have a sabbatical this summer. Ooh. So that's a way of figuring out pacing. And I've moved from being more of a fix-it guy and an entrepreneurial style pastor teacher, working with leadership in schools and camps and things, to really wanting to grow deeper in my being a pastor, which means a lot of a lot of uh sitting and listening and study and prayer. And it's a different thing than action. So I've been an action person and I'm moving towards trying to be a little more contemplative.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Contemplative.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

That's a big word.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Well, I got it. Took me a second, but I got there. Yeah. Quiet and listening for what needs to be. I know. Neither of us have our style.

unknown 27:09

I know.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

I almost my family was in the furniture business. It's like a version of Tyson's up in Virginia. And I I was always thinking we'd be, you know, building, building buildings and and selling and running a business. And and we also were in small farms. And both of those are hustle, hustle jobs. You cannot be a small farm, small farm also a retailer without a lot of hustle. And so to slow down and and be really present is is work. And but it's it's work I need and it's work I believe in. And I I think there's a lot of precedent for the goals and attainment of goals you can do through being present.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Thanks for joining us on Exploring the Valley. Until next time, keep celebrating the pride of our community and discovering the magic of the mountains. In the meantime, you're free to move about the valley.