My Cup Runneth Over

I was ordained nine years ago today.

At the time, the ink on my Harvard M.Div. was still wet, and I was a nervous, nervous lady.

What in the world would a life in ministry be like?
I had no job.
I had no idea what was coming.

Little did I know that, nine years later, I would be in one of the happiest eras of my life.

I would serve two congregations in the mid-Atlantic region and love them, even while experiencing trial by fire. And fire. And fire.

I would find my heart's home back in Massachusetts.

I would have a beloved gang of colleague-friends, and my family would be healthy and happy and solvent, thank you Jay-zus! I would be given two absolutely adorable nephews I had no idea were even a possibility. I would reside in a beautiful home, always spoken of as "your house" by my generous parishioners.

I would have the prettiest cat in America as my parsonage companion.

I would have the privilege of being trusted and loved and welcomed by a church I respect and admire. I would not grow to love the congregation, but would arrive already loving them --by virtue of the shining spirit of their Search Committee.

I would learn to look forward to board meetings and congregational meeting.
I would look proudly on as one lay leader after another came to understand more fully and deeply the power of covenant to guide and undergird their selfless efforts.

I would be supported in all that I do by the most beautiful and competent staff anyone could ever dream up. If you ordered them from central casting, any director would send them back and say, "Too perfect. Too cute. Let's give them at least some rough edges, for God's sake."

I would find a place as a teacher and speaker in the wider UU movement.

For all that fate and God may have in store for me, I will draw on the goodness and blessing of these days for as long as I live.

As I heard in a call-and-response the other day:

"God is good."

"All the time!"