Transitions

It was a bitter sweet and exhausting day. This morning we were back at Cornerstone for worship and then a farewell luncheon that was really well done. We felt appreciated, affirmed, and commissioned for the next phase of ministry.

Over the past month the Cornerstone kids have had a lemonade stand at the coffee hour after worship and they raised over $60 (!) for our support. Then one of my former confirmation students -- a teen -- emptied out her savings account so she could be a part of our support. It was like the widow's mite in Luke 21 where the poor woman put her last two coins -- coins worth less than a penny -- into the offering. Well, this contribution was actually not in the small change category. She had obviously been saving for some time. But it was HER SAVINGS! It's very humbling to have supporters like that.

In the afternoon we packed up what was left of Kirk's stuff and hauled him and the load to his new apartment in San Francisco. It's amazing what you can put in a Caravan -- dresser, desk, loveseat, television, armloads of hanging clothes, and a couple hundred dollars worth of household supplies he bought yesterday at Target. It took about 37,000 trips up the stairs but we got it all situated in his third floor apartment.

I probably will not see Kirk again until he comes to Guam to visit in December -- assuming he can get the vacation time -- that is at least the plan. Being separated from the kids by such a distance is probably the hardest thing. They're all really solid and capable of being on their own -- and should be on their own -- but I still haven't gotten over the fact that they grew up and went to kindergarten. (Kirk works as a linguist at H5 in SF, Kent is a student at UC Irvine but is currently studying in Chile for a semester, and Betsy starts at UC Berkeley in a few weeks.)