{"id":3190,"date":"2013-08-24T15:52:23","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T20:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2013-08-24T15:52:23","modified_gmt":"2013-08-24T20:52:23","slug":"four-months-seven-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2013\/08\/24\/four-months-seven-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Months, Seven Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I thought that the first Sunday after the congregation learned about my retirement<\/a> would be the hardest. Wrong. Second Sunday worse. People I hadn\u2019t seen the first Sunday coming up to me and reminding me again how much I will miss them. And then there is Addie.<\/p>\n

Addie, daughter of one of the faithful families in our congregation. Addie, young, innocent, loving. Addie\u2013she represents to me so much of this congregation. Sunday, after her dad and I had exchanged a long, tearful look, she came back in from the parking lot and wrapped her arms around me. \u201cI love you so much. You can\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addie: a year ago, after I had undergone a surgery, she and her mother came to the house to bring some food. Addie sat down on the couch with me, looked me closely in the eyes, then reached over and put a gentle hand on my cheek and said, \u201cBe well, Pastor Christy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh dear\u2013yes, the second Sunday was worse.<\/p>\n

And then I begin thinking, \u201cwhat sort\u00a0of church do I want to leave for the person who will be appointed after me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, a clean, perfectly run, ministry-rich, thriving, financially abundant, full of grace and redemption, orderly place. I think I\u2019m going to leave \u201cministry-rich\u201d and \u201cfull of grace and redemption\u201d ok, but the rest of it? Dream on. It\u2019s full of change, chaos, questions, undone tasks, people in various stages of maturity, leadership in flux, stretched, stretched, stretched . . . but also thriving. Bursting with life. And bursting with never-ending challenges. Anyone coming after me who thinks, \u201cThis will be a piece of cake\u201d is in for a rude awakening.<\/p>\n

After Worship and then a Trustees meeting last Sunday (where I am imploring: \u201cremember, it is your job to make sure the building is given a thorough scrub-down a couple of times a year, not mine to make this happen!\u201d), I was treated to a musical production of my all time favorite movie, The Color Purple<\/em>, at the Denton Community Theater.<\/p>\n

The spectacular production was as much worship service as theatre. The book and movie tell the powerful story of redemption given to the most unlikely of people by the most unlikely of people.<\/p>\n

The musical ended with a powerfully sung \u201cAmen\u201d in multi-part harmony. It was the last performance. The actors had tears streaming down their faces. And did I and the friend who had treated me for the afternoon.<\/p>\n

How mysteriously God works. For that story, the freedom and answer to heartfelt prayers on the part of Celie, the downtrodden, heartbroken and mistreated narrator, comes from, of all people, Shug. Shug is Celie\u2019s abusive husband\u2019s lover and the preacher\u2019s daughter, utterly disowned by said preacher because of her wanton ways.<\/p>\n

Shug, overly sensuous, has no conventional moral code driving her behavior. She flits from lover to lover, often drunk and sometimes unkind, and nonetheless shows Celie the only love she has ever experienced except from her sister Nettie. Moreover, Shug crossed moral boundaries in opening up this world of love for Celie.<\/p>\n

And yet . . . new life and new hope came from Shug\u2019s promiscuous love. \u00a0I remember a number of years ago writing a newspaper column on God\u2019s promiscuous love<\/a>. \u00a0Think I got a lot of criticism on that one. But God surely does spread love around indiscriminately.<\/p>\n

Back to retirement. Last week<\/a>, I wrote about a couple of my big concerns: an apartment and a car. \u00a0Tuesday afternoon, I thought, \u201cI\u2019ve got to start looking for a place to live.\u201d \u00a0By Wednesday, I had found it, just the location I wanted right in downtown Denton. \u00a0Spending so much time in NYC and in London has given me a taste for urban living, and the Square in Downtown Denton is simply wonderful.<\/p>\n

I ended up getting a much larger place than I had planned (and at a higher cost, of course) but it was the only one available when I needed it. \u00a0The other occupants of the building are primarily older professionals. As the owner and I talked on the phone, it became clear to both of us that I would be a good fit and he was offering a great place to live. It also means I don\u2019t have to downsize nearly so dramatically, and I can see how this will work out wonderfully.<\/p>\n

As for the car . . . it is very possible that by Monday I will own an older, low mileage, well-maintained reputable vehicle that really was driven only to church or the beauty shop by a little old lady. \u00a0If my mechanic signs off on it, I will buy it. All this came about through a friend who simply wanted to be a blessing to me and called checking on me and heard about the car need. Then she made an unexpected connection and . . . well, God\u2019s grace does appear in the most mysterious of ways.<\/p>\n

I am grateful. \u00a0I still often awaken thinking, \u201cWhat HAVE I done?\u201d by making this decision, but as the days pass, I continue to sense the gentle leading of God\u2019s Spirit into this unexpected new adventure.<\/p>\n

And I still worry about the ten trillion things I will have left undone at the church!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought that the first Sunday after the congregation learned about my retirement would be the hardest. Wrong. Second Sunday worse. People I hadn\u2019t seen the first Sunday coming up to me and reminding me again how much I will miss them. And then there is Addie. Addie, daughter of one of the faithful families […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2704,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,94,194],"tags":[476,1718,1756,1888,2048],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-calling","category-grace","category-retirement","tag-celie","tag-redemption","tag-retirement","tag-shug","tag-the-color-purple"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Months, Seven Days<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I thought that the first Sunday after the congregation learned about my retirement would be the hardest. Wrong. 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