Thursday, December 31, 2009

Arrows 2009

It's time again for year-in-review segments on the news and weight-loss resolution advertisements on TV, which must mean it's also time for my annual "arrows" entry. Here goes:

Family ↑
Last year my family added a member: my brother-in-law Matt. This year we welcomed another fantastic addition: my niece, Hannah. She's an adorable, tiny person with lots of feathery, dark hair and deep blue eyes. She makes strange squeaking noises and fascinating faces. I've really enjoyed getting to know her, and I'm looking forward to seeing the person she grows into.

Travel ↑
This year did not involve overseas adventures, which is always a little disappointing to me. I also had to make several for work, interviews, and other less-pleasant reasons. On the other hand, I did get to do a fantastic family vacation to Colorado. I got to spend time in the mountains with my grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousins, mom, dad, and sister. We hiked and played games, swam and dined. It was a time of great laughter and bonding, and it reminded me of just how much I love the people on that side of my family. I also made a road trip of awesomeness with several of my friends in January. We drove through the night on our way to southern Florida, singing along with CDs and noshing on junk food all the way. We attended a friend's wedding, then spent a few days at Disney, going on rides, taking in shows, posing with characters, and having the kind of magical, silly fun that is only possible at Disney. Between those ventures and my treks to see my sister, brother-in-law, and new niece, it was a pretty good year for travel.

Sports ↓
All of my teams let me down this year. The Cubs... well, let's not even go there. And my Broncos and Mizzou Tigers both did well at first, then crashed and burned late in the season. Mizzou even got destroyed in their bowl game. It would take a miracle at this point for the Broncos to make the playoffs. *sigh* Maybe next year.

Ministry ↑
After five years of working through the process, I finally, FINALLY got commissioned as a provisional elder in the United Methodist Church this year. I survived the papers and the interviews, and got to start my ministry. I was appointed to a church and started working as an associate pastor on July 1. I may still be in the honeymoon phase, but so far the church and I seem to be really good fits for each other. I really like the people I get to work with, both the congregation and the staff, and my job responsibilities are both challenging and fulfilling. I've gotten to use skills and gifts that I had never anticipated using as a pastor. In redesigning one of our worship spaces, I ended up using my ASP skills to draw to-scale room sketches and apply for a building permit, then use a tape measure and power drill to facilitate the move. I have used my journalism training to create a weekly e-mail newsletter. Plus I've used TONS of things from seminary. The work is stressful, but I love it.

Moving ↔
This year I finished graduate school and left the city and community I had loved for three years. My friends scattered all across the country, which was incredibly sad. My roommate, who I had thoroughly enjoyed living with for three years, moved to the opposite side of the country, and I had to learn to live without that companionship. I had to leave behind my favorite restaurants and coffee shops, art museums and hang outs. I'm no longer in quick visit distance of my great aunt and uncle, and second cousins, and I can't just pop over to watch football with my aunt anymore. I really miss the city and my life there. On the other hand, though, I'm having fun exploring my new city. I'm starting to find new hangouts, restaurants, and coffee shops, and I'm enjoying the proximity to historical landmarks. Now I'm closer to my sister and her family, so I get to see my new niece more often, and I'm learning to like this new state. I also really like my apartment which, though I haven't used it, has a putting green. It has just been a bit of a tough adjustment.

Friends ↑
It was tough to leave behind my wonderful seminary community in May. But I have managed to stay in reasonably good contact with many of my friends both from there and from undergrad. One of my seminary friends even got called to a church pretty close to where I'm serving, so I get to see her every month or two. And, thanks to licensing school that I didn't really want to attend initially, I've made some great friends in my new conference. One in particular has rescued me from a cancelled flight, showed me places to hang out in town, and really helped me to feel at home in my new place. Another joined our staff in October and became my going-out buddy, my "date" for church events, and my "go ahead and do it!" supporter at work. A third meets me for sermon prep over coffee and even brought me a care package when I was sick. With these people, I'm definitely going to be able to adjust to this new city.

Dating ↓
There's almost nothing to put under this heading, since almost nothing has happened. In 2009, I didn't go through any breakups. I didn't start any new relationships. In fact, I didn't even go on any dates. Sad, I know. But between writing my thesis, getting through the commissioning process, graduating, moving, starting a new job, and adjusting to a new city, I didn't really meet any available men. And, in light of my schedule and my vocation, I may never meet any eligible men EVER AGAIN. Seriously. I don't know where I'd find them. There aren't any eligible men at church, and if there were I shouldn't date them anyway. I can't meet a co-worker. And don't even get me started on trying to meet strangers. I can't even have a normal conversation with a HAIR DRESSER once he or she finds out I'm a pastor, so there's no hope that a random attractive stranger in a coffee shop will be able to handle that information. I've even become skeptical of online dating options. Thus I have concluded that either I will be single forever or a man will miraculously be delivered to my doorstep.

Weddings ↑
I finally got into the proper spirit for all the weddings this year. One of my first actions of 2009 was to go to a friend's wedding in South Carolina. Then, a week later, I went to another wedding, this time in Florida. Both brides were beautiful, and the gatherings of friends at the receptions and during the travel were really, really fun. Then in the summer I started another round of weddings. I was honored to be the maid of honor in the wedding of two seminary friends in July, watching my friends so beautiful and in love that it brought tears to even my skeptical eyes. All of the people in the wedding party were friends from seminary, so the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, reception, and other wedding events became joyful reunions. I also got the joy of being the maid of honor for the August wedding of my best friend since childhood. She looked gorgeous, and I had a lovely time with her family, who are all close enough to me to be my own family. It was a blessing to get to celebrate the unions of such wonderful people.

? 2010
I'm intrigued to see what 2010 will bring, and to experience the adventures that I'm sure it has in store. I'm taking the advice of one of my friends, who has told me that my resolution for the new year should be to "get a life". I'm going to try to do just that by meeting new people, working a little less, and traveling a bit. We'll have to see how that goes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't give up on the clergywomen dating prospects! You are scaring the single seminarians!!!

Glad that you had lots of up arrows :-)

Diane

Angie said...

My friend who is a rabbi did online dating and discovered that he had to list his job as graduate student (he was in rabbinical school at this time) to avoid only being hit on by very needy girls, so maybe you could use a similar trick for online dating?