Homecoming

This past weekend found me in a semi-unfamiliar place. I went home after being in NC for six months now. It was a busy weekend filled with interviews and meetings that I knew were going to have quite the impact on my future, not only my future at Luther but my future beyond it. It seems like I shouldn't have to start thinking about my year back quite yet but then again, I handed in my six month eval the day before I flew home. And it was a great visit. The meetings and interviews were affirming. It was also great seeing friends and family.

I wandered the Luther campus part of two of the days I was home due to meetings and coffee dates. It was actually fun watching people do double takes when they realized, wait a minute, she's supposed to be in NC and not here (and sorry to those who I didn't get to see). I didn't really plan much on the Luther side but the meetings were very fortuitous and I was happy to see old friends and hear how they were doing. Many of them were either dealing with internship interviews or anxiously awaiting assignment (where the graduating class is told where they are going for their first call). And here I am, caught between those two life changing moments. I actually was on campus exactly a year after I had interview with Scott for Christ Lutheran. Who would have thought a year ago that I'd be here now? And who knows where I'll be in another year from now?

What this visit really reminded me was how dynamic life is and how it's constantly changing. Up until I went home, I never really had anything to measure change by. Everything was unfamiliar here and no one really knew me well when I started. But going home really helped me put in perspective. I have been in school for the past 20 some years and I happen to "do school" well. I know how to study, write papers, use my time wisely, and do a lot at once. But being at Luther I realized that though I am looking forward to my senior year, to taking certain classes with certain professors, to being reunited with all my friends who are on internships all over the country, I actually could be perfectly happy if I didn't go back to school again and just stuck it out in a parish. Granted, that's not necessarily an option because I want my degree more than anything mainly so I can serve at a church as a pastor. But, I realized in a big way that I am ready for assignment, I'm ready to be more than an intern. And I realized that I am chasing the right dream.

Despite all the interviews, meetings, and general soul searching, I did manage to have a really good time. I got to eat at Old Chicago and Chipotle, drink some Leinikugels, hang out in Uptown, listen to good German polka music at Gasthoff's, have a great time with friends and family, and be reminded that some things never change like the love of the God and the love of the family and friends that will always make me call MN my home.