Hard Decision, Brighter Times

 

On my last post, I left a cryptic note about hard decisions and brighter times.  It wasn't a devastating event but it WAS difficult because there were so many people involved - my family, my church community, the people I work with.  But finally, after a lot of thought and anguish since September/October, I finally decided it was time to retire again.  The first time was in 2010.  Then when we moved here I was asked about a year later to be the secretary for the church.  It would be part-time and after giving it some thought I decided to take the job.  After all, it's always nice to have a  bit of  pin money for the sweet extras in life that might come along.  The kids were settled in Indiana and Tennessee and the Pirate and I were sticking close to home as we continued our own settling in after our big move from California.  

Having the church job integrated me into the community life of our parish in a way I had never
 experienced before in all my life.  For the first time, I felt like part of the greater parish community.  It was a wonderful feeling.  Through the ups and downs and ups again of my faith life, I felt I had arrived at a home that was warm and welcoming.  I had a lot of catching up to do as I learned more about the lives of the people, many of whom had known each other all their adult lives not to mention some who had known each other their entire lives.  It was gratifying that many of them helped with that heaving lifting.

So now, as I approach the end of my time here, I'm feeling a bit wistful but not enough to backtrack.  The door has closed but life and God have a funny way of opening other doors and there is one cracking open already.  No, it's NOT another job (the Pirate flipped when I mentioned "another door opening") but it is an unexpected, creative effort that, if come to fruition, will definitely be fun.