684 miles.

Two years ago today was the longest ride of my life.  With Marley (my cat) by my side in a travel crate, we journeyed the 12 hours (684 or so miles) from Loogootee, Indiana to Robesonia, Pennsylvania.  It's a day that I went through a range of emotions in the truck as the journey began before sun up...and ended well after sundown.   I remember watching the back of a Uhaul truck for pretty much all of the driving time....and truth be told, I would have followed anywhere that truck went.  It was the Little Bo-Peep of moving vehicles and I was the little lamb.

It took a good 3 hours for the meds to kick in for Marley and for her to sleep for a majority of the trip.  To keep myself awake for the early hours of the trip, I sang, sang, and sang....and for the first several hours Marley sang with me.

Our best duet was to I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash provided a nice lead, and you can sing along with him in that link if you wish....)  My version was on the Gross Pointe Blank soundtrack.  I clearly knew most of the words to the verses, but Marley joined in on the chorus.

Me: It's gonna be a bright.

Marley: Meow

Me: Bright.

Marley: Meow.

Both: Sunshiny day/meow.

Good times....and hard to see it in her now, but she was quite uneasy in our new digs for the first week or so....but she has definitely learned to call this place home.

I, too, have learned to call this place home.  From the first meal with folks, through the deconstruction and reconstruction of the kitchen, to more relationships growing and deepening...to sharing God at work in our world and our lives....I continually feel affirmation of my sense of call to serve in this place.  It's a pretty amazing feeling.  That, yes, this is my home.  And yes, this is where I am called to serve, live and fall in love.

From that long ride....to this day, so many things have changed.  Yet the ebb and flow has been a real experience.  Not all experiences have been good, but God has been at work in them, all of them.

In the meantime, I realize that I am still the little lamb...following and following...maybe not a Uhaul truck....which some folks are worried about now that I'm engaged.  (Let me say it one more time, I'm not leaving Trinity.)  But I'm still following.....Still continually listening for God's call in my life and allowing it to take me to places I've never been.  Still meeting new people and being in new situations that are sometimes challenging, sometimes life-changing and most often call-affirming.  I'm blessed to work with a great group of folks and to have a great circle of friends nearby as well.

A good friend once said I did a pretty brave thing moving across the country all by myself.  Thanks, CT, but I didn't do it all by myself.  The call of God led me, the people of Loogootee sent me with blessings, the people of Robesonia transported me...and a congregation of 1,300 people plus my family and friends carried me in thoughts and prayers through the journey.  I've been welcomed with open arms....and continue to seek new ways God is working through the congregation and through me.

Thanks to you all who have been on the journey through the blog....