Groovin Forward

Have I mentioned the phenomenon of toddlers being strangely drawn to electronics? Either that, or Myles is already a techie. He loves the ipod, the phone, the cell phone, the blackberry, the remote control, the camera...just about any piece of electronics he can get his hands on. So Seth finally broke down and demonstrated to him the wonders of the ipod. Strange days indeed.

The last week feels like a decade. My (ex) colleague Gary said there's no way around this river of grief, anger, and disappointment, and he's right. So we are just wading on through. I know from pastoral care that everyone does grief differently, but in general it takes a good year to move through the various stages. And that makes me angry too, because I feel like we didn't sign up for this. On the other hand, we have lived very privileged lives and have not had a lot of experience with grief. Rejection, betrayal and grief are truly human experiences, and the more I talk to my clergy friends the more I realize that no matter how gifted you might be, no matter how well you attend to your relationships, rejection, betrayal, and grief are likely to find you at some point. And so it's more about the way we respond and less about the fact that these things happen.

Today we are leaning toward staying in our house, staying in Asheville. My WAND hours have doubled for the summer, and that's helpful. I'm also looking into another possibility for contract work. Neither of these positions will be the "answer" in terms of allowing me to live out my call to pastoral ministry, but for now they will sustain us and offer me meaningful work while we enter into a time of discernment.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are looking forward to getting away to Michigan at the end of the month with family.

An update on my dad: he is off of all chemo for two months. Yay!! It seems likely that he will go back on chemo in August, but who knows? Maybe the cancer will not grow in the next two months and he'll be able to have a longer break. So please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers as well.