Getting back from vacation is a painstaking task! There are issues to get caught up on, things to fit into your schedule, visits to make, administration tasks that need tending, ministry to do, etc. While it was easy to post the first few days back (or so it seemed), getting back into a regular routine of writing has proven challenging! I wanted to write more about my vacation (and I am about to) sooner, but life took over!
In addition to my time with CRC and Nate, I need to say thank you to my host for most of my week away...his name is Mike. Mike saw to it that I had everything that I needed for a week away from the rest of the world. In addition to come and go status, a roof over my head, my own room, and some really cool roomies (See earlier posts about Mr. Lizard and Cisco and the bunnies), Mike showed extraordinary hospitality (especially in regards to the meals that he cooked...from fish to crab legs to steak to those thrice baked potatoes!). I am forever in his debt for the wonderful gift of refuge he offered by allowing me to stay in his home.
On the rainy day (big tropical storm Eduard...read some sarcasm here...after all, Eduard was a bit of a joke when it comes to Houston/Galveston storms), I was able to spend the afternoon and evening with Robert, Sydney and Danielle. They have been friends of mine for a very long time and it is always a privilege to get to hang out with them. We also enjoyed a fabulous meal together (the two most prevalent themes from my vacation appear to be eating and walking...see previous posts about walking---ie. downtown Houston, the beach, etc). After much talk, coffee, food, etc. we said our goodbyes and went on our way (I do hope that it isn't too terribly long before they come up or we go down and see them again).
I also want to thank Laura and Frankie for opening their lake house to our family and another (complete with 3 very young children!) for a weekend of relaxing fun on the water (well it was relaxing in some ways!). The food was wonderful here as well (I should probably feel ashamed for how well I ate that week, but I am not there...I am very grateful though) and the games were always fun...even when I couldn't seem to win!
One of the greatest gifts, however, came from the friend that I got to spend the least amount of time with - my friend Tammy.
Tammy and I go back to the spring/summer of 2004 when the church she is still a member of hired me as the director of adult and senior adult ministries. She was (and still is) heavily involved in leadership in the church and we had many interactions during my time on staff there. Those in church work (especially positions or denominations that require regular moves) know how hard it is to maintain friendships when going from one church to another (even in the very best of circumstances). I have a few friends from each church that I have served in the last 10 years, but to maintain all of the relationships is quite impossible. When I left this previous post, it was not because there was anything wrong...quite the contrary...I was receiving my very first appointment to my own churches (yes, that's right; plural-two churches). I had only been in my position at this church for about 9 or 10 months when I was certified and appointed to where I currently serve. I often wonder how many at my previous church really understood what happened (they and I all thought that my tenure there was going to be a little longer, even though everyone was aware that I was in the candidacy for ordination process). I have lost contact with so many folks there...but not Tammy. We email, comment on each other's blogs and talk on the phone in a regularly irregular kind of way (it seems that one is contacting the other at just the right time...always a God thing). So it was a real treat for me to get to actually sit down and talk to her face to face again!
Tammy and I are two peas in a pod. We share some of the same passions and challenges and are really good sounding boards for each other. If I didn't know better, I would bet that we are somehow related...we are that much alike in some aspects. In other areas, however, we are considerably different. I think that is what makes our dialog always meaningful. I always come away with a fresh perspective and a nudge or a push towards continued growth. After all, the scriptures do refer to iron sharpening iron, right!?!
My recent time with Tammy has left me feeling humbled, grateful and intrigued. In a recent post on her blog (you can check it out here) she referred to our time together as a cool cup of water. This is positively humbling and apparently exactly what I needed to hear. You see, the front lines of ministry (lay or clergy) can be a brutal place to exist. There have been days that I have received praise for a sermon, lesson, activity, or initiative. There are other days, however, where I have been referred to as a rabble-rouser, instigator, trouble maker, the spawn of Satan (yes, you read that correctly and yes, this is something that someone actually said), etc. Stresses of church growth (or resistance to that growth), not being able to meet everyone's needs (real or perceived), etc., are all challenges that are faced with great frequency (or so it seems to me). At the most stressful times, the negative can seem to far outweigh the positive (even if that is not really the way it is happening). With the current stresses of church transformation, commissioning, internship, one year old, and the like, I must have been in one of those places where the negative seemed to outweigh the positive. To have someone refer to time spent with me as a cool cup of water is a real gift and a real blessing to the somewhat arid sojourner. I am continually humbled at how God uses people, even (or perhaps most especially) me.
I am grateful for the authenticity, openness, and honesty that Tammy brings to our conversations. She is not distanced because I have that "pastoral" disease (you would be surprised how some people react around pastors). Nor is she shallow or superficial. I get the real Tammy (as real as any of us can be), warts and all. That definitely makes it easier to respond in kind!
I am intrigued at her latest questions (some of which I will respond to in comments to the aforementioned blog). I am also intrigued at where God is leading Tammy and the ladies that she ministers to each week. I have to admit, the group that Tammy works with is one of two groups that was (and continues to be) on my heart during my time there at her church. While I don't get the opportunity to be hands on in that ministry, I do get to live vicariously through Tammy's adventures and that just returns me back to gratitude that I at least had the opportunity for a short while to be on the ground floor of that ministry (back when it just started out as a van ministry!).
I hope it isn't going to be another couple of years before we can sit down face to face again...that would be entirely too long.
To those of you that are working at maintaining long distance friendships, I urge you to continue your pursuits. The blessings of having someone to connect with, having an outside perspective, and genuine community are too great to not take the risk and wrestle with the challenges that are inherent in such friendships (staying in touch, face time, etc).
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