A brief visit

Last night, I was at a ceilidh at my home church. It was the first time I'd been there since I began my placement. Though it was lovely to see many of the people there and, admittedly briefly, catch up with some familiar faces, it just didn't seem as much like home as it once did. And I know that's only right and proper. I will always regard that church as my home church, in every sense of the word home. But, as every child must leave home one way or another, I am also leaving home. Consequently, home doesn't feel the same anymore. I will always be welcomed, affirmed and loved there, no matter where I go in ministry, but like leaving the family home, as I return I go back slightly changed every time. As that change takes place, I grow away from home – away from familiarity, but towards where I need to be. And it was only a ceilidh.

I did receive a few lovely comments, though. A couple of women mentioned how much I was missed. That was a bit heart breaking. Someone mentioned how well I looked and happier (that's true – this ministry thing is, as I expected, challenging, yet I very much feel it's what I should be doing and it gives me energy in a way I didn't think it would, even when draining me!). A group of children who were there ran up to me to get me to dance. They haven't seen me for 6 months and, of all the adults there (and it was a mixed age range), they asked me. Must have made a good impression, then.

I hope God will be with them as I no longer am. I know he is and hope they know that too.