The last several weeks have passed by so quickly! I can hardly believe that Advent and Christmas are past and the New Year has arrived. Here we are in the season of Epiphany already! I hope that the anticipation of Advent and the joys of Christmas were blessings to others as they were for us. May we all continue to grow in our awareness of the active presence of God in our daily lives as we move into and through this Epiphany season in the weeks to come.
After worship on Christmas Eve, as we greeted the pastor, he asked us how we were doing in this in-between time – for as he knows, we are between semesters and between approval and call. We realized then that this is for us, in many ways, the eye of the storm. And given some of our unique experiences on our seminary journey, it seems like a very appropriate image!
The past semester has indeed passed like the front wall of a hurricane with its triple threats: the heavy rain of homework assignments; the high winds of the approval process, and the rising tides of anxiety as we felt like we were holding still and the storm was moving over/around/through/past us!
After the work for the semester was done and the quiet begun, we had another flurry of activity as we prepared for Christmas and accomplished some long-delayed household chores, like installing a new storm door before the cold winds invaded our home!
Now, we are experiencing a week of quiet rest and vacation, trying to fully enjoy this time away while still anticipating the return of the second wall of the storm. We are fully aware that the storm is not yet over. Our final semester of seminary will begin very soon, since we have enrolled in a J-term class which begins next Monday! This two week intensive course on educational ministry with adults will get our semester underway. Then at the end of January, the regular semester begins.
Along with the pounding rain of schoolwork, we face gusting winds again as the long anticipated assignment event occurs in late February and the process of being called to serve in a congregation begins. And I have no delusions about either of us remaining totally calm in the face of all this. In spite of our excitement at the prospect of graduating and accepting calls to serve and our faith that God is with us through every step of this journey, the tidal surge of anxiety will no doubt come as well!
For now, we are deliberately savoring this calm and peaceful vacation time, while preparing for the storm to return…
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