My journey back to the Midwest

Greetings Southeast Iowa.

I grew up in a small town in Northwest Missouri called Cameron. I believe we had around 4,000 people in our community. We all knew each other and someway somehow, we were all connected. I enjoyed that small town feel. As I grew older, I went to Truman St. University, then settled down around Kansas City. I went to seminary in Kansas City and served my first church in Napoleon, MO. Those were some good times!

I took the leap of faith and moved to Tucson, AZ, and was the Campus Director for United Methodist Ministries, then served a church just west of Phoenix. Finally, I headed to the beautiful Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff is in Northern AZ surrounded by mountains and federal parks. Sitting at 7,000 feet it is just beautiful year-round. Hot summers and beautiful snow filled winters. Arizona is just a beautiful place to be, it is no wonder why people flock to live there even if just in the winters. Then why in the world did I come to SE Iowa?

God and I had a lot of talks about this. Everything was going great in Arizona. I loved the people and there were just so many things to do. I was truly blessed to serve great churches there. I was, however, 1,200 miles from all my family and there was just something missing. I had a very big health scare several years back and honestly; we weren’t quite sure if I was going to make it. This whole event made me realize that I need to live closer to my family. I began looking for opportunities in and around MO and IA where it would be much easier to see my family. Long story short, Mount Pleasant became my home, and I am extremely grateful.

I mentioned that there was something else that was missing while I lived outside of the Midwest. When you are driving in the Midwest, there is a simple gesture of a head nod, or a couple fingers go up to say hello, even to strangers, while you drive by. In most of AZ that wasn’t the case usually you got nothing and sometimes you got 1 finger if the other driver was having a bad day! That is what was missing! A feeling of hospitality and kindness. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of nice folks in AZ but in the Midwest, we are nice, but we take it a step further. We want to get to know you! That is the difference.

I write all this to remind you how important it is for all of us to keep kindness and respect each other regardless of our differences. Politics, religion, money, health, social media, and so many other things pull us apart. Somehow it is OK to hate and tear down one another nowadays! That is not who we are, it is not who God created us to be. Love and respect God and love and respect our neighbors. Easier said than done, but we must do it! Much Love my friends!

Much Love,

Rev. Court M. Fischer