Living in Elsewhere

By Barbara Walsh

Newly ordained, Pastor Toby Armstrong accepts his first church assignment in the quaint town of Dobbs, New Mexico, dubbed Elsewhere by a television reporter. In this little town thirty minutes from the Mexico border, he discovers early on that the encounters and friendships he develops are blessings. Pastor Toby realized his calling early on, and worked hard to make that a reality, even if it meant losing his first love in the process. He wonders if hell ever fall in love again.

Nestled at the foot of the Florida Mountains, Elsewhere offers hope and tranquility for this young pastor, and its anything but boring. A tiny puppy, a beautiful pediatrician, a stressed-out church secretary, a variety of townspeople, and many other parishioners from his Methodist congregation exemplify their faith and show how it can help to solve lifes everyday challenges and troubles.

Pastor Toby discovers that God works in and through the lives of people everywhere, including the residents of Elsewhere. The town becomes one he wishes he could call home forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Nov 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781462410699

Barbara Walsh

Barbara Walsh writes a column, “Thought for the Day,” that has been published in newspapers for twenty-eight years. She and her husband, Mike, live in Deming, New Mexico. They have one son. Walsh is also the author of On Angels Wings.

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Copyright © 2014 Barbara Walsh.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inspiring Voices

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www.inspiringvoices.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1068-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1069-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014920277

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 11/18/2014

CONTENTS

Endorsements

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Epilogue

To Mike, for everything—and then moving me to my own Elsewhere.

ENDORSEMENTS

Barbara Walsh writes with a keen intellect and a huge heart. Put these two elements together, and you have fiction that is real, authentic, and uplifting. Her writing soars with faith, hope, and love, and the reader comes away a better person. This lady is the real thing and life feels better because of the way faith, hope, and love shine in her novels.

—David Okerberg, Methodist pastor

As an author, Barbara Walsh shows evidence of her own personal relationship with God. Each of her characters is enveloped in God’s love, not because any one of them is perfect, but in imperfection, each one learns of God’s grace. Although the story is a fictional one, the spiritual journey is very real.

—Carol Krum, teacher and friend

Barbara Walsh is a dear friend who writes as she lives—caring, loving, creative, witty, and inquisitive. Her written words reflect the high moral character that she models in her daily walk. When you meet her, you begin a conversation that will turn into one of many as you share your daily adventures over a cup of hot tea and warm piece of chocolate cake. Whether this is through the pages of her book, the aisle of the local general store, the middle of the church fellowship hall, or riding in the back seat through a snowcapped mountain, you will not miss a word of the stories she weaves. I am privileged to call her a friend.

—Mary Lou Cameron, associate superintendent, Deming Public Schools, Deming, New Mexico

"Barbara and I have had a close working relationship since 2004. Her weekly ‘Thought for the Day’ column on the Deming Headlight’s Viewpoints Page offers insightful commentary and personal accounts into faith and spirituality. She has grown our readership and provides a thought-provoking break from the day’s manic routines."

—Bill Armendariz, editor, Deming Headlight, Deming, New Mexico

FOREWORD

The characters presented here are fictional. However, the situations that Toby encounters as he follows the Lord’s path for his life are real. As a Christian writer who has written newspaper columns for the past twenty-eight years, I have had the privilege of hearing stories of how Christ has entered the lives of ordinary people and changed those lives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Barbara Okerberg, who called me one night after hearing the weather forecast for New Mexico. The reporter stated how cold it was in places around the state, ending by saying, Elsewhere, it’s just cold!

Laughing, Barbara said, We’re living in Elsewhere—thus, the title of the book.

Special thanks to Dr. Sam Homsi and Mary Frosch for their insight into the stages of comas and coma recovery.

Many thanks also to everyone from Inspiring Voices who was patient and supportive during the publishing process.

Thanks also to my friend, Dave Pug Chrestman for his computer advice.

Very special thanks to Jan De Maggio and Special Spaces, a nonprofit corporation that helps children throughout the country who are battling life-threatening conditions. Kudos to you wonderful people—may God continue to bless your work.

Pastor Ernie Vineyard, many thanks for one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard on forgiveness. I hope I captured the heart of your sermon in Toby’s words.

Thanks to Mary Lou Cameron for the author photo.

Last but not least, worlds of thanks to my husband, Mike, best friend, proofreader, critic, supporter, walking dictionary, and the one constant who urged me to finish this book.

Forever hugs, to YE.

CHAPTER 1

It all happened because of a weather forecast.

One cold winter night, the southern New Mexico town of Dobbs unofficially became known to the locals as Elsewhere.

A TV reporter from up north read the forecasts for that evening. Most of the towns reported temperatures in the low twenties, with a few coming in even lower. As the reporter ended the forecast, she added, "Elsewhere, it is just… cold!"

When the good people of Dobbs heard the report, the town was immediately dubbed Elsewhere.

He stood taking in his office window’s view of Dobbs.

Shaking his head, he recalled the Scripture that reminds us that the human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs our steps. He’d always heard that if you followed God’s lead, you would get to where He wants you to be.

In this case, he hoped it was true.

Just when he thought he’d planned the direction his life would take, God directed him to a higher challenge. For some unfathomable reason, God let it be known that he should enter the ministry. And now, after years in seminary, he was an ordained minister.

He’d fought God for a long time over this decision.

In his heart, he knew that in his younger years, something had been preparing him for this vocation. God had orchestrated his decision along the way, everything leading up to this very moment.

After serving as an assistant pastor in the Carolinas, Toby Armstrong was assigned to his first church in a town in New Mexico.

He was more familiar with larger towns in northern New Mexico, but he’d heard a lot about Dobbs when he was younger. When he’d heard the assignment was open, he asked to be placed there for personal reasons.

Toby’s family had made the acquaintance of a world-famous wood carver, Juan Miguel Ortiz. A family friend had met the artist years before at an artist convention in Georgia. He invited her to come to New Mexico to visit his studio, since she had shown a great interest in his carvings. She, in turn invited Toby’s family to visit her there. Over the years, Toby’s family formed a bond with Juan Miguel. They spent many summers traveling to New Mexico. Young Toby learned the art of woodcarving. What started as fun slowly turned into a passion. He now had many blue ribbons to his credit, and people throughout the country were blessed with beautiful hand-carved angels and Santas.

Still at the window, he mused at how the relationship with Juan Miguel had changed his life.

Dobbs!

Imagine that.

He’d known a little bit about the town, so when he heard there would be a need for a pastor, he wanted to be the one to serve.

Dobbs was a little border town situated thirty miles from Mexico and housed border patrol, ICE, and local law enforcement, who all worked hard at securing the borders.

It was a town like many small towns in the Southwest.

At times the main street looked downtrodden. Businesses would come and go, leaving the main hub looking like empty gaps in a row of teeth.

The town, like many places throughout the country, was feeling the effects of the economic times.

Yet the businesses that remained were doing very well, and several big names had come into town recently. Walmart, Walgreens, and a six-screen movie theater had all opened their doors earlier in the year. The people of Dobbs were as excited as children on their first trip to Disney World.

Slowly the town was beginning an upswing.

One thing that was evident to Toby was the townspeople’s resilience. The spirit of the town was evident in the spirit of the people.

Dobbs was a true desert town flanked by the Big and Little Florida Mountains, which the locals pronounced floor-ee-da.

Typical of desert areas, when the July rains came, the town was a profusion of color.

Each year the town proudly had a kielbasa dinner put on by one of the local churches, and another held a barbecue. People came from all over for these special events, which also featured artists and musical groups. Dobbs was also well known for its annual Duck Race Day, which was held during the barbecue. The event was so popular that CNN once came to film the races.

Trying, as yet unsuccessfully, to pull himself away from the window, Toby realized he had to get down to business and address his first sermon, which he’d have to give in only six days.

His first sermon—in his first church.

After nights of trying to come up with a meaningful sermon, he’d decided on one titled Bloom in the Desert. Having visited the desert of New Mexico often over the years, he’d discovered how true that was.

Still looking out the window, he reminded himself that he was hours late for his morning jog, something he’d been doing religiously for years. Yet he could not pull away from the view of the Florida Mountains. It was one he was sure he’d never tire of. During the day, the mountains were golden in the sun, and in the evenings, they were drenched in the blues, purples, and soft pinks of sunset.

Raking through his curly black hair with his hand, he smiled as he watched people buzzing