Why Iowa?

For the last couple of weeks, Allen has been singing a song from The Prairie Home Companion.  The lyrics are:  "Why Iowa, why Iowa?  We could have gone anywhere...why Iowa?"  For any of you who listen to the show, you can hear the melodious voice of Garrison Keillor singing these words to the hymn tune "Love Lifted Me."

Well, I'm sure many of our friends and family are asking the same question--why Iowa?

I thought I would start by posting just a few pictures of the beautiful little town that we will call home:  Decorah, Iowa.  Decorah is in the North East corner of the state and is only 15 minutes from the Minnesota border.  The twin cities are a little over 3 hours away, and the nearest "large" town is Rochester, MN (with a population of 100,000).  Rochester is about an hour drive from Decorah.  There is a mall there (yay!).

But, I digress.  For those who are curious about our new town, here are some photos.

In Decorah we will actually have 4 seasons--including my favorite--FALL!  I'm really looking forward to experiencing a real fall season. 

But, of course, being so far north means brutal winters!  We are going to need heavier coats!

Decorah is known for its beauty.  There are several walking and hiking trails right in the town.  Caroline will love watching the waterfalls!  There are also several bald eagle nests in the area--very cool!

When we go to visit Decorah next week, the College is putting us up in this lovely bed and breakfast--a town favorite!  There are many B&B's in town.  Many city folk from the Twin Cities often come to Decorah for a weekend getaway.

As you might have guessed--being Iowa and all---there is a lot of farm land in the area.  Allen said that there are plenty of red barns to go around!  Of course, what excites me about this is FRESH ORGANIC PRODUCE!  The people of Decorah pride themselves on their fresh produce.  There is a great co-op called Seedsavers.  They have a website (seedsavers.org) and it will be so fun to have such great fruits and veggies right at our fingertips!

 Many have asked what church we will attend.  Well, we aren't sure.  As you would guess, most of the churches in town are Lutheran!  We will see where God leads us!  I am actually quite fond of the Lutherans--I was choir master at a Lutheran choir when we lived in LA--while Allen was across the street leading worship at a Presbyterian church! 

Of course, our reason for moving is to impact college students at Luther College.  Luther is a small Liberal Arts College that has an outstanding Choral program (see above pictures).  We are really excited about  joining the music faculty there.

Allen will be conducting the Nordic choir, which is a very fine choir with an outstanding legacy.  He really felt like he made a wonderful connection with the students during his audition and was really stimulated by the music making and conversations he had with students.

Okay, so we are asking for some serious prayer in finding a place to live in Decorah!  Please pray that God will provide a place that has the room we need and at a price we can afford.  We are actually looking to rent for the first year.  Right now, there doesn't seem to be a lot of houses for lease.  Pray that God would open doors for us--literally!

We fly up to Decorah June 12th.  I will post some of my own pics when we return and update everyone on our progress!

Blessings,
Kristin