With the craziness of a life with three young children, I don't think that I truly appreciated how many friends I really have. I was so caught up with my busy schedule which did include seeing so many of you, but I didn't realize how full my life is with wonderful people.
Of course, my family has been a constant blessing throughout my life and a source of unfathomable love. What is surprising to me though is how over the course of only a few years I have met and grown close with so many great people who fill my days with joy and contentment.
Until a few years ago, I was never one to have many friends. Some are shocked to discover that deep down, I am an introvert...meaning I am quiet by nature and prefer alone time over social settings. I do think that I have become less so with age, thankfully. I've been fortunate to discover creative and spiritual passions that have drawn me to discover so many of you.
I have my scrapbooking buddies, Candy and Michelle. We used to meet every week to scrapbook and chat. Through our creative interests we soon discovered that we are very similar women. I love how we have similar styles of parenting, priorities, and have grown to support each other outside of our shared hobby.
And then there's the volleyball gang. While coaching always provided a mixed bag of frustration and enjoyment, my favorite thing about being a volleyball coach was the camaraderie and companionship of the other coaches that I worked with. We all had similar experiences in common, and were supportive of and anxious to learn from each other.
The biggest change in the last few years of my life has been the discovering of my church family. I'll never forget the time, after we had discovered Good Shepherd, that I saw my friend Kerry in the YMCA and she told me about this group of Moms that meets at church once a week to talk about life and God. She told me about a mom who was struggling with the direction of her life, balancing the decisions of career and family. And I thought, "Wow, that sounds just like me!" So, I took the leap and went the following week and only missed a few weeks since! There I found a place where I could talk about my faith, my struggles, and also learn about God with a bunch of women in a similar circumstance. We had so many great discussions, cried more than a few tears, prayed together, and I think we all grew in our faith together. Better yet, these were all women from my church that I would continue to see on Sundays and at church events, women that would teach my children in Sunday School. So it's easy to see how we could all become so close.
A few months after joining the church, I finally got the courage to ask to be in the Praise band. They seemed like a nice bunch of people, and they didn't seem to get too upset when mistakes happened. I really felt God pulling me to sing...so after service one day, I approached ihe band and introduced myself. Fortunately, I survived my "audition," and so began a fun journey with music. Band practice is always so fun because everyone has such a great sense of humor. We laugh so much and have so much fun together, sometimes I wish we could do more than just sing on Sundays together.
Since I end up being at church so much anyway, it's hard not to become attached to everyone that works and volunteers there. I've gotten to know my pastor as a friend, which is something I've never had before. And I know that I can find support and friendship in the office any time I need it.
My recent months leading youth events were a new and invigorating experience for me. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know so many "Shepherd Youth" in such a short period of time. It's crazy to think that I only spent 8 months or so working with the teens of Good Shepherd and how much I am saddened that I will be missing these next 2 years of their lives. It brings me joy though to think that I will be able to attend the confirmation of some of the kids that I got to know the best when I return.
One of the coolest things that I will miss is the Couples Bible study that Sean and I participated in for the last 6 months. When meeting with the Moms group, I always wished that I could share those discussions more with Sean and that he could have something like that to fuel his journey of faith. And then we were invited to participate in this Couples Bible study with a handful of couples from church. It was so wonderful for Sean and I to learn together and to also grow close in friendship with other couples on a similar journey. It really does feel like we have brothers and sisters in Christ. Sean and I have been so overwhelmed by the love that we have felt from these wonderful people.
OK, well if you know me at all, you know that I am an extremely emotional person. It doesn't take much to make me cry. So you can imagine that thinking about leaving all of you is bringing on the tears. I just feel so blessed and honored to know you all, and my heart is breaking at the thought of leaving you. I am comforted though in knowing that we will be returning and I pray that technology and visits will be enough to keep us in each others lives.
I know that distance can sometimes make us think of each other less, but I want you all to know that I will be thinking of you frequently and looking forward to seeing you again. I pray that your lives are truly blessed while we are away and that we will be able to stay in touch during this journey.
Love you,
Gretchen
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