Transitions and Coming Out of My Turtle Shell

Sometimes there’s so much going on that I just don’t know what to say.

That’s how these last several months have been for me. My heart, my mind, my life has been spinning so fast that my fingers couldn’t keep up. I had to pull my focus in tight, to myself and the people immediately in front of me, to keep from being flung off this merry-go-round.

Here’s what’s been going on, aside from the rank-and-file chaos of my ordinary life:

First thing: From the beginning of August to the beginning of November, I filled in as interim pastor at Faith United Methodist church in Superior, WI while their pastor was on leave. It was a wonderful, amazing, incredible three months. I’ve typically attended large, multi-staff churches pastored by men, so while I wasn’t opposed to the idea of solo pastoring, I had a hard time imagining what that would look like for me. Discovering that it actually fit quite nicely was amazing.

Second thing: In mid-August, my Grandma Irma, one of the great loves of my life, fell and broke her hip, requiring a hip replacement (actually, we aren’t sure if she fell and broke it, or if it broke and she fell). She has suffered from small strokes for years, but this incident triggered a series of at least three strokes that eventually robbed her of her ability to speak and eat. My aunt and mother did a month of round-the-clock care, and I pitched in whenever I could, until she died peacefully at home on September 26th. You can read the obituary I wrote for her here. I am still processing, still grieving, and I will miss this precious woman forever, until we are reunited on the other side of the veil.

Third thing: While I was playing Tour Guide Barbie at Faith UMC’s annual ham dinner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toFm4CkDaUE I met some folks from Darrow Road Wesleyan Church, a nice country church not to far from where I live, and discovered that their young adult pastor had just left. One thing led to another, and I wound up accepting the position of young adult and worship minister at Darrow Road. I start on Monday—just in time to put together the Thanksgiving service and start thinking about Advent.

(I mean, seriously. It’s at the end of the rainbow.)

Uffda!

So, yeah. It’s been a crazy couple months, but I am hoping, as I move along in the grieving process and get settled into my new routine, to start doing more writing and blogging again. I even had an idea for a fun new series the other day, so I must be getting ready to peek my head out of my virtual turtle shell soon. 🙂 Thanks for accompanying me on this journey, friends!