oh the places you will go!

Today was my final final evaluations.  We met at resident Andy's house, a parsonage in the woods, and curled up on couches and chairs to read our papers and listen to each other.  The content of the papers was to demonstrate what we have learned, how we have grown in our pastoral ministry, what has changed for us theologically and what impact the patients have had on us.  In between the evals there were breaks for donuts and sweet rolls in the morning and pizza, chips and guacamole in the afternoon.  There was lots of laughter and of course, a few tears.


I closed my five pages with this paragraph.  

"As I mentioned earlier the last few months have been very uncomfortable as I face transition and don’t know the end result. I feel that my faith has been tested, parts of my embedded theology unearthed, and my emotions have covered the gamet of despair, anger, peace and confusion. But through the doubts, questions, fears and tantrums I still feel a sense of God’s presence. My desire is to have the faith I read about with the fiery furnace. “The God we trust is able to save us….But even if He does not, (save us the way we have in mind) we will follow Him.” Daniel 3:17, 18"

When I collected my evaluations back, I saw that Taylor had circled we will follow Him and written under it  "oh the places you will go!  Peace my friend."  Thank you Taylor.

Tonya closed her eval with this reassuring quote.  I immediately copied it and have it visible to read often.

I beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.  Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is, to live everything.  Live the questions now.  Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noting it, live your way into the answer...  Rainer Maria Rilke


Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34