The past three weeks have been a blur. I spent a week in Denver at school, the following weekend in California speaking at a women’s retreat, writing my first official paper for school, and trying to process some yucky goings on in my life (while managing my regular, everyday life). I’ve been running and running and finally my body said, “Enough!”
I’ve been pretty sick over the past several days and am starting to feel a little bit better. I realized that the beginning of this crazy season began with a very powerful and exhausting week in Denver and with my life moving into high gear, and I’ve not had a chance to process any of that week.
Being the introvert that I am, the thought of going to school with new people, having discussions, making connections…it is just overwhelming. It’s not that I can’t do it, it just takes a lot more energy for me than the average person who is comfortable in those situations. My new cohort is an interesting bunch. I am probably in the top 8 of being one of the older students in my group, and I am the same age as one of my professors, so that was a little eye opening. Six full days of classes for 7 1/2 hours and one day long retreat and the only way to describe it is that it was like drinking from a fire hose! So much information to process, so many new terms and
concepts that I have never truly considered made me feel more than a little inadequate. But when our group started opening up and talking more, I realized I was feeling like everyone else.
We are all on a journey together and some know exactly what they want to do with their MDiv, and others of us don’t, but we are all connected to each other and that has been empowering. The little round profile pictures in online discussions are real people now. I can even “hear” the voices of many of them in their comments and their words ooze with their personalities. We have been brought together by the desire to dive deeper into our understanding of faith and what that looks like in our world. Even though there were a few people I did not get to interact with, we have all started an adventure together. We’ll have our good times and bad times, but when we reach out in our Facebook group or online discussions thinking that we are alone in our struggles with an assignment or understanding of a concept, someone is there, feeling the same way and always offering some needed encouragement.
Despite this being a little late, I want to officially thank my cohort for being the amazing individuals that they are. They each represent a story, a walk of faith, a presence in the world that encourages me to take the next step in my journey.
They are the forces in our world that we turn to when we need support, counseling, and shoulders to lean on.
These are my people and I am so glad I found them.
Today I Am Thankful For:
- Roasted pumpkin seeds
- Breathing treatments
- Traffic (with my son)
- Candles
- The dollar store
