May 18, 2019
Let’s go, graduation day!!!
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Let’s go, graduation day!!!
After 19 years in education,
today was my
last
day
of
school
on American soil.
(I go to India on Thursday for my last class in grad school, and I’m an ethics fellow in Germany and Poland in June!).
But today...
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt From an atheist to a recipient of a Master’s of Divinity degree in less than 6 years - one of the most thrilling adventures I could imagine. Seminary absolutely fits the description of something I thought I could not do. I am forever grateful that Princeton Theological Seminary chose me before I chose them, that they saw a call on my life that I was too afraid to claim, and that they funded my education and told me to come, no matter what it would look like for me to be a student here. I know that I am a better person and minister because of my time here. It has been an incredibly challenging and wild 3 years, and yet I fully believe that there is nowhere else I was supposed to be. There is nowhere else that could have prepared me this much for ministry, something that I once knew nothing about. There is nowhere else that I could have experienced such growing pains and joys. It has been surprising and beautiful. It’s hard to explain just how much gratitude I feel right now. Since my hashtag throughout this journey has been #becomingevermoredivine, I suppose it’s time to say that I #masteredthedivine? #Becamedivine? JOKES! I ended up with many more questions than answers. I learned so much about myself, not just about my strengths, but also my flaws. I struggled through many of my classes and got reamed on many of my papers. I sometimes needed accommodations left and right. I had to learn how to laugh at myself loudly and often. I had to let go of my desperate hope of perfection. For all of this, I am thankful. I am so much more joyful, authentic, and at peace because of all of this. I have come closer to the person that God wants me to be and continue to become. More thanks and praise than I can express be to God, my family, friends, faith communities and mentors, supervisors and field ed sites that have welcomed me with open arms, educators from preschool forward, the admissions committee that made me enroll, donors, international travel hosts, and every single person who has believed in me, prayed for me, and loved me along the way. WE DID IT!!! "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." – Matthew 28:20b (NIV)
To say that doing ministry with my beloved community yesterday gave me delight would be an understatement. The love of people near and far who surprised me and showed up big time almost made me cry when I entered the chapel. The words of affirmation from people who couldn’t attend in person filled my soul. I have more gratitude than I can express to my liturgists, musicians, mentors, friends, family, and larger communities - I haven’t even found the words yet to thank them one by one. What a holy and precious time it was yesterday, and I will forever walk taller and have more courage because of it.
Happy Saturday, beautiful people. You’re a big part of how I’ve gotten to where I am.
I had my last first day of school on Tuesday. Alllll sorts of feelings, y’all, but gratitude overwhelms them. With the illnesses I face on a daily basis, I never could have imagined getting to the end of a graduate school program. This is a dream. Happy Saturday, beautiful people.
Update: I PASSED MY BIBLE CONTENT EXAM!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for praying for me! Look at God 🌟🌻
Happy New Years from your favorite chaplain. I hope today is wonderful for you!
Soooo I have this thing tomorrow that I’ve been preparing for for nearly a year (and definitely pretty intensely over the last six months if we’re being more conservative in this estimate) and I’m feeling grossss, y’all. Please pray for me to regain my voice, since I’m singing and preaching and welcoming people to the communion table and blessing them as they go? And please pray for me not to be gross so that I can feel comfortable holding the bread (in a napkin, but still)?