Wasn't I supposed to have all this time?

  An interesting thing happened on the way to Columbus, Ohio.

  On the bright side, Caleb now knows how to spell Ohio, which will serve most useful this fall.  (We have football tickets!!)

 
  So I'm no longer an installed pastor.  I'm still a pastor--that's part of who I am, and I don't know that you can remove that any more than you can take away any other part of my identity.  I won't stop being a pastor.

  But it's going to look differently than it does now.  I won't be in an office serving as pastor for a particular group of people.  I don't know whose pastor I'll be... and it's hard to be a pastor without people to pastor, just like it's hard to be a shepherd without any sheep.  (Fortunately, my sheep didn't all flee from my presence!  It was my decision to move forward into a new stage, and it was not an easy one, but I believe that ultimately it will prove to be the right now.  Again, as a disclaimer, I also believe that navy blue and black are the same color.  I'm not always right.)

  Ministry is evolving in this country, and I think more churches are going to be forced to look at part time ministry and bi-vocational ministry as necessary options.  Church attendance and church budgets are shrinking, and the churches that were built upon and sustained by an older generation will have to evolve as we face challenges with new generations.  I do not for a moment believe the church is in trouble--Christ assures us of that.  I even am bold enough to believe that the church will thrive in this country, as it is already thriving in others.  But there may be a challenging time of adaptation as mainline churches struggle to find their footing.  I hope to be a figure able to help with the process of stabilization with a business degree and theological training.  I believe God will use it all for his glory.

  The kids, well, they're doing great.  It's been wonderful to have so much time to play with them lately, although it can be exhausting and trying.  More good than bad, though, as we've run through the aquarium and climbed through the children's museum and slid down the slip-n-slide.  We've discovered that Caleb has seemingly endless energy reserves, except when he doesn't, and even then there is always an hour of energy he holds back for when it's time to nap or go to bed at night.  On the days when he seems the most tired, those are the days when he's still singing 'Happy Birthday' to himself an hour after we've put him to bed.

  Kids... what an adventure.

  We've talked to the kids about moving, and Caleb knows the big concept of it... but I think the actual change is going to be hard.  New place to call home, new school, new church, new friends--it's a lot to take in.  Rachel and I struggle with it, so I expect he will, too.  But kids are also tougher than I tend to give them credit for, and so I have a hunch he'll fall right in line, moving ever forward, as Rachel and I watch in wonder as he and Danielle grow and change before our every eyes, and we drink in the gift that God has poured out upon us.