Rockford and CPE Week 4

Week 4 is nearly over.  That means 7 weeks to go.  Crazy.  Summer is going by so fast and much too soon, I will be packing my stuff and climbing on an airplane going to Germany.  How on earth do I pack for a year?  What on earth am I going to do without Madelaine for a year? 
What if chaplaincy is in my future?  I was so excited about CPE in the past but that excitement was squashed into dread during fall semester by the interviews I had with supervisors in Minneapolis.  Now, 4 weeks in, I am more excited than ever about it.  Nursing home chaplaincy?  Hospice chaplaincy?  Will I make the necessary and difficult growth?  The possibility of chaplaincy lightens my shoulders by several loads.  What does this mean? 

Academic work has always captivated me, systematic theology especially.  It would be fun to continue study.  I probably will do some on my own.  What I have come to realize is that though I love academic challenge and theology, the real world is where the people are.  That is where I belong.

I've been accused of idolizing horses, which has pushed me to question whether I should walk through an open door to the horse world in Germany or if I need to prove to these people that I can make it without horses.  Horseradish.  I don't need to prove anything to anyone.  However, those who don't understand the physical, emotional, and spritual benefits horses can bring to people, the ministry they can do, the healing relationships that can be built between horse and human...they are the ones making decisions about my future.  "Maybe you belong cleaning stalls."  Sure, maybe I do, but I KNOW I am called to a wholeness that cleaning stalls cannot bring me to.  Horses will always be a part of who I am.  I am called to walk with people through the darkest places and climb beside people to the peaks of the highest moments.  So, chaplaincy?  We'll see.

Story of the Day
The first thing my supervisor said to me this morning when he walked into the CPE office: "Did you hurt your nose?" "No, it's a zit." So the whole group talked about my fat, red nose for the first 5 minutes of the day. Oh good.

Pax.