Hello Dear Friends!
As I write to you this week, I am filled with a wide range of emotions. For starters, as many of you are all keenly aware, Aaron (my husband and one of your former Associate Pastors) returned to full-time active duty in the military in September, serving as a Chaplain in the Navy. What we didn't know when this journey began was that his first billet would a shore duty assignment (meaning he will not be deployed). As such, we feel it is important for our family to be reunited sooner rather than later.
After talking with Rev. Catherine Fluck-Price and Rev. Steve Price, as well as our District Superintendent, Rev. June Edwards, it was collectively determined that a workable time for us to join Aaron would be at the end of February. This means that my time with you as your Associate Pastor will be coming to a close in just 7 weeks, at which time our family will be moving to San Antonio, Texas.
While we are very excited about what this news means for our family, it also means that we will be saying good-bye to all of you three months earlier than we had originally anticipated. Thus, this update is very bitter-sweet.
I cannot thank Catherine and Steve enough for their unwavering support through all these changes. And, I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support you have shown our family over these past six months. I am blessed to call many of you dearly loved friends. Over the coming weeks, I will be praying for you and our church during this transition, and I would welcome your prayers for our family.
I would also ask that you join me in praying for our Board of Ordained Ministry who will gather next week to interview candidates for Provisional and Full Connection pastoral ministry in the Florida Conference. I will be one of those candidates. After seven years of preparation, including seminary, writing hundreds of pages of theological reflections, and serving as a Provisional Elder here at Trinity, I will be interviewed on Tuesday, January 15th, at 8 am, for Ordination as a Full Connection Elder of the United Methodist Church in the Florida Conference. I welcome your prayers for me and all those who will be a part of this process over the coming week ahead.
Last, but certainly not least, this Sunday, I will be preaching from Job about the challenges we face When Words Come Too Easily as part of our current message series, Why, God? In our time together, we will explore the impact faulty assumptions and misguided advice can have on our faith and how Job offers us an example of what it looks like to faithfully respond to God and others in those situations. I hope to see you in worship!
