One of my mentors, Jay Thomas, told me during my call search that I should look for a church with people I can love. His reasoning being that (1) as a pastor, you're around people a lot and (2) as in any other job, there will be things that drain life out of you... so, if you love the people you'll be amazed at all you can put up with in order to serve and be served by those people.
I have found people that I can love.
Each new person I spend time with at Mission Bay Community Church is interesting and exciting! I find myself insanely curious about who they are and what they're passionate about and why they're here. I'm engaged by their stories and have a keen appreciation for each of their personalities. And let's face it, they're FUN.
I'm not sure I ever knew work could be so fun :)
At the same time that I'm building new relationships (soul feeding), I'm also on a steep administrative learning curve (soul sucking). I'm trying to look for the familiar and remind myself to take one task at a time, one new program at a time, one breath at a time, but those of you who know me well know that I tend to dive right in and exhaust myself treading water.
It's Jay's advice that brings me back to dry land. (Breathe) I love these people. (Breathe) It's going to be o.k. (Breathe) I love these people.
Ok. Quickbooks. Bring it on.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Radical Hospitality
O.K., I have given unfair credit to the South for "southern hospitality." San Francisco has been incredibly inviting and hospitable thus far. The church, Mission Bay Community Church, and San Francisco Presbytery in particular have opened their arms to us and helped us to feel comfortable here.
San Francisco is an exciting city, so much to see and do. Tim and I have had to take constant breathers to remind ourselves that we do not need to exhaust ourselves as tourists taking in the city, but WE LIVE HERE NOW and can take our time to explore and see. It's definitely surreal that we are so far away from family and beloved friends and the place that we have called "home." It will take time to relocate ourselves and feel the ground beneath our feet.
These last few days (since we arrived) we've been exploring the city by apartment hunting. Padmapper.com is an incredible ap! It takes apartments listed on Craigslist and places them on a map, so we have an idea of which neighborhood we're in and how close we'd be to public transportation, etc. It has been fun to dream with Tim about what our new "home" might look like. Where things would go, where we would get coffee and run, go out to dinner and meet up with friends. Even the small details of where we would put this chair and that...I've picked a mighty fine man to take this journey with and I am grateful everyday to continue dreaming with him.
I start work at Mission Bay Community Church this Friday. The learning curve will be steep, I'm sure, but I am excited to do work that I am passionate about and will feed my soul. I'm also not alone in this...and God reminds me of that all the time. I'm grateful for old and new friends alike that walk this journey with me in body and in spirit. Thanks for your prayers and love.
Dawn
San Francisco is an exciting city, so much to see and do. Tim and I have had to take constant breathers to remind ourselves that we do not need to exhaust ourselves as tourists taking in the city, but WE LIVE HERE NOW and can take our time to explore and see. It's definitely surreal that we are so far away from family and beloved friends and the place that we have called "home." It will take time to relocate ourselves and feel the ground beneath our feet.
These last few days (since we arrived) we've been exploring the city by apartment hunting. Padmapper.com is an incredible ap! It takes apartments listed on Craigslist and places them on a map, so we have an idea of which neighborhood we're in and how close we'd be to public transportation, etc. It has been fun to dream with Tim about what our new "home" might look like. Where things would go, where we would get coffee and run, go out to dinner and meet up with friends. Even the small details of where we would put this chair and that...I've picked a mighty fine man to take this journey with and I am grateful everyday to continue dreaming with him.
I start work at Mission Bay Community Church this Friday. The learning curve will be steep, I'm sure, but I am excited to do work that I am passionate about and will feed my soul. I'm also not alone in this...and God reminds me of that all the time. I'm grateful for old and new friends alike that walk this journey with me in body and in spirit. Thanks for your prayers and love.
Dawn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)