68 Days

 This is me.  Tonight on the porch sitting in the humid, AL air feeling just plain thankful.  I turn a year older in a few days.  I have bags under my eyes now, which I tried to blame on N-95's and hospital air...but honestly, even those remind me of the cost of choosing to really live.  A year ago I was not sure I would ever stand behind a pulpit again, having lost the joy and feeling of Divine-connection that had always been present in those moments of proclamation.  

Many of you reading this have been on a spiritual journey of your own since we met. My prayer is that my influence on that part of who you are has been a positive, challenging, and affirming one.  You know that's the most amazing part of being called to ministry, right? No matter where I find myself I have been given the real gift of walking alongside persons as they discover and claim their God-given gifts.  Everyone has these gifts and I believe with all my heart that when we come together in the sharing of these gifts we begin to see a glimpse of the Kin-dom of God.  Every single person we meet has something to teach us about the identity of God, and that makes me really love people...and really get excited about ministry.

So tonight as I sit here pondering the last year-with Al, my roommate's cat, I realize that I have learned the most life-changing lessons during this time of CPE.  There were so many moments last fall when I would sit in my room and wonder with fear if following my heart meant that my life would never have purpose again, if I had let God down, and if it was even possible to figure out the path ahead.  Slowly, the process began to take hold and as a mirror was held up to those false narratives I had lived by my whole life I was made to stay in the hard and to give words to emotions I had never let arise. I began to embrace the reality that being the real me is way more fun than being that person trying to figure out how to be what she thought everyone else wanted her to be.  

Friends, many of you have been my companions in the truest sense this last year. You've checked in on me, you've prayed for me, you've encouraged me, and you've shown me grace.  To be honest, thank you doesn't seem to express adequately how my heart and eyes overflow when I think about it.  I cannot wait to be able to spend time with many of you...only 68 days left in AL!

Here's the most exciting part of tonight, I have been dying to share...as of today I have been officially appointed as the Associate Pastor to The People's Church of Lansing.  In this capacity I will get to do lots of things I love, like work with college students at MSU and be in ministry with young adults, I'll get to preach and teach and work alongside an amazing Senior Pastor.  The best part for me is that this interview process felt more real, more authentic, than any interview previously, and the person they chose was the realest version of me I have ever been.  This is going to be fun!  

So...if any of you fine people have a lead on a place to live in Lansing...please let know! 

Thanks for being a part of my journey....you matter to me!

Devon