Hope

First of all, thanks for all the prayers, support, and well wishes for my interview- they said YES and I was approved for full ordination as an elder/pastor in the United Methodist Church! I've been in this for 8 years, so Monday was a HUGE sigh of relief and the end of a very long process, and the beginning of my life as a fully ordained pastor. So, on June 11, I will join my colleagues on stage at Annual Conference to be ordained by the Bishop, and I am so very excited. I'm even more excited that I'll get to share the day with my family and friends who will be there to celebrate with me. Hallelujah!

HOPE has been on my mind lately, mainly because of my interview, but also because it's seemed to be a theme in Bible study and just things and thoughts going on in my life right now. I just finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie. If you haven't read this, pick up a copy now and read it! After reading it myself, I believe that if every human being read this book, our world would be a much better place. It's a book about life, death, love, and above all, hope. It's about acceptance, tolerance, friendship, and family- all of the important things in life. It's about learning about and accepting yourself and where you are in life. It's about embracing the aging process and being comfortable in our own skin and celebrating whatever season in life we happen to find ourselves. I cried when I finished reading it- what an inspirational story.

It also called to mind those in my life who have influenced me, especially mentors, teachers, and professors who have taught me so much about love and life, and have walked with me through my call to ministry- I am so grateful for them.

And as a person who works with aging and/or sick people and see people sometimes at their worst, I am reminded about hope. I visited with an elderly woman from our congregation today in the hospital who is considered one of our church's "shut ins." I met her once before when I brought her Holy Communion to her home a few months ago. This time, she was in the hospital. When I got there, she expressed her feelings of feeling forgotten at times, but that God is always with her. We talked about the hardships of growing older and not being as independent as she would like to be, and not taking for granted the fact that just getting out of bed and walking around in the morning- the simplest things- are things we should appreciate in life. She has seen hardships and grief in life- the Great Depression, losing a daughter, etc. But she is happy that she has family that love her and that she feels her life has been full and fulfilling. She has hope. She trusts God. She believes that God is walking beside her. Hope and faith. They go together!

Today was another example of a pastoral visit where God's Spirit was present and this woman and I felt like "kindred spirits." We took Communion together, and there's just something about that, isn't there?

Hope- do we need to redefine it in our culture today amongst the chaos that we call life? That was a question in our Lectionary Bible Study today. What does it mean for us to really hope? What does it mean for you?

I feel like I am redefining hope for myself at this point in my life, especially at my milestone of ordination. I like Morrie's advice about the meaning of life: "Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. You notice...there's nothing in there about a salary..."