update

since my last entry is from the end of the community and almost a month old, I thought I'd better update. a lot has happened.

I'm working for Kaplan now, which is fun, if not 100% stable. I've already got two classes lined up, which is pretty impressive apparantly. I start teaching the 10th, but it's been nice to be getting a pay check for the last month, even if it is small.

I'm also looking at two other jobs - one with the city and the other for Group publishing. We partnered with them on the PDYM extreme makeover last year, and they seem alright. I didn't really think God was leading me back into ministry, but maybe I just needed a break for a while? And of course there's the teaching - I got my substitue licence in the mail the other day (yay!) and I've contacted the two districts around here to see what's next.

The fourth is Tom's dad's birthday, so we're headin to Junction to see what we can see. I hope that it will be a nice break, and my goal is to finish my digital portfolio (which I have to make for the city job and which is taking me forever) before Friday so I don't even have to take my computer. Yay!

These are things that Tom and I have recently discovered:

- bread + garlic and herb butter + strawberries + cherries = complete(ly delicious) meal
- reading books you don't like is a waste of time
- Mel likes fantasy books afterall
- putting together legos for three straight hours will make your back hurt
- hps have fans that sound like jet engines
- thunderstorms and lightningstorms are really cool
- it's okay to walk around the neighborhood with your bike helmet on
- in fact, if you do it when it's raining, the visor will keep your eyes from getting wet
- sleeping in is nice to do
- Penelope is old
- we want a puppy
- and a house
- having friends over for dinner is the best way to spend an evening at home
- the end of an era is not the end of the world

fin

The last issue. Up. The last email. Sent. To my credit, I didn't start crying until just now, when I started getting emails back. I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm equally blessed by the difference I have been able to make in these people's lives.

"I'm so sorry to hear that you'll no longer be with the PD Worship Community. You've always had a way of making us feel like we were all part of one big family, and all within reach of one another. I've appreciated your quick responses to my emails, and for your excitement and enthusiasm for the Community."

I have succeeded, and in a big way. And that makes me so happy, and I know it's okay to move on to something new, because I completed the mision that God gave me. So I'm crying because I'm sad, and I don't want to leave this family, but I am also filled with a joy beyond myself.