Take two!!

This was only my second time attending the E, but there is something so incredibly holy about this time. I didn’t even know what I was missing, but now I can’t get enough of it.

My friend ST had been trying to get me to come to the E for FOREVER! And my German Russian stubbornness got in the way until last year. And now the E is a priority for me.

The E totally is a well that refills my empty cup. It gives me new life as I spend holy sacred time with amazing people. The E simply restores my soul.

This year a friend and I decided to gather together a gathering of Word and Service folk to talk about the proposed changes to our roster in 2016. I honestly thought we would just get a few and we had almost twenty. It was such holy time for me.

One morning a FB friend and I even met in real life. I was humbled and awed that she called me her mentor. Craziness!! Again sacred holy time!

I spent tons of time with friends from all different times and places in my life. As we talked about story, I was reminded of how these people were and continue to be a part of my story as our paths crossed. Yet again sacred holy time.

It’s hard to put into words what this community means to me. It is a community that forever will connect different times and places in my life. It is a community that will always welcome me and YOU (my dear youth worker friends, volunteers, etc) with open arms.

It is a community that I know will wipe my tears in my moments of deep sadness and will rejoice with me in those moments of overwhelming joy!

It is a community that sees my gifts; sees your gifts and continually encourages me; you to use those gifts. Sometimes this community names these gifts before we even see them in ourselves.

This community, my friends, is an amazing holy gift to each other and to our wider church. Thank you for inviting me, welcoming me and showing me the power of community. May many others find this community and join us in our story together.