Ending internship

It has certainly been too long since I've updated. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of closure, packing, and stress. During one particularly rough few days, I wondered if my Dad would have to have quite risky surgery (he didn't). I wondered if I would even make it to my final Sunday service and reception at my internship site. Then the car broke down and I thought my clutch was going out (it wasn't).

In all of it, I have tried to pray instead of worry. Sometimes I have done this more successfully than other times. I'm human. I fret and get grouchy and tired. I'm so glad that God keeps taking me back anyway, despite the fact that I don't deserve it.

And now comes that final year of seminary...I am eager to go back and see old friends. I am excited to make our new apartment a home. I definately welcome the multitude of coffee shops on every corner! But...I will definately miss this place, this church. It's a place where I was changed, where I grew and started to really take on the mantle of pastoral leadership. It will be strange not to be here on Sunday mornings. It will be strange to no longer be responsible for the people here. I will probably wake up one morning and realize I hadn't checked in with so-and-so lately...and THEN remember that it isn't my responsibility anymore. Because I poured my whole heart into this place, it's wierd to pull it back. You don't stop caring just because you leave.

And yet, the journey continues. The journey of a pastor is kind of always one of coming and leaving. Saying hello and saying goodbye. Bittersweet moments. But we do it because we can't do anything else.