Last Day

Today ends 5 1/2 years working for my church.  It ends similar to my first day - alone in the office with me directing my own time and work.  

My first day at this job was by myself, the other office person was on vacation and the pastoral staff had Mondays off.  The second day started by finding and disposing of a spider for a co-worker.  And also, my first week was the last week of the former youth pastor's employment.

Today, I am mostly by myself and able to say that I have completed my job and left it better than it was before.  No longer is our church calendar on a desk blotter, or the church records in a stage between Excel worksheets and an under utilized database program.  This is also the first week of the last days of our senior pastor, I didn't know it was in the works until we were asked to send out a letter this week. And so I slip in and out of my job here, between pastoral staff changes.

Though I have enjoyed my time serving the church in this way, it does feel as if a burden is lifting.  There is some weight to a position in ministry when your paycheck comes from the sacrificial giving of others.  I don't regret these last years, it is just time for the next stage of life.  

I am looking forward to having a break from work and putting my time and energy into our home and things that went to the sidelines this last year.  There are ideas percolating for the next stage but I am holding them lightly, and listening to where God wants me to go next.

Soli Dei gloria.