Meeting with the Church in Florida
Greetings, I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Melissa and I had an excellent time down in Florida. We were very encouraged in our meetings with a variety of different folks in the diocese. I was able to spend a good amount of time with Father Andrew, who is mentoring me through the discernment process and he was very kind to allow me to preach on the fourth Sunday in Advent. Father Jon Davis, a friend of Melissa's showed us around his church plant in Oviedo and we very excited to learn of all the great things that are happening at the new mission. We also met with Bishop Howe, who strongly urged us to look into Nashotah House Theological Seminary and so we are planning on visiting the seminary toward the end of March. Afterward, Tom Rutherford, our commission on ministry representative, was very kind to take us out to lunch and get to know us. He is a very genuine man and we are grateful to God that he is assisting us with this process.
On the first Sunday after Christmas I was honored to be invited to preach at the parish of Father Al Jenkins, who Melissa and I came to know while we finished up our undergraduate studies at Southeastern University. We also met with Beverly Jennings who, along with her husband is graciously leading the parish discernment committee which will be helping us to determine whether or not we should move forward in the ordination process. The people to whom God has led us to down in Florida have been a tremendous blessing and very encouraging-- especially in this tumultuous time of questioning and searching, making mistakes and trying to discover where God is leading.
Fun with Family
We also had a nice time visiting with family. Melissa's sister and her husband generously hosted us and lovingly put up with our hectic holiday schedule. We spent much time going back and forth from house to house seeing Melissa's mother and father, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends, and going to multiple Christmas parties. Attempting to fit months and months worth of family relationships into a couple of short weeks is not a simple task. One of our Christmas gifts was to be able to go and see an amazing indoor display of ice sculptures- something one would not normally expect in sunny Florida. A giant freezer was created inside of a hotel and with a temperature of a mere nine degrees in which we, while shivering, were able to see life size sculptures of people, a train and a breathtaking crystal clear nativity scene along with other stunning works of art. At the very end we climbed up a set of steps made out of ice and slid down an ice slide -which was extremely cold, but great fun.
Life in Massachusetts
The day after our return to Massachusetts it was back to seminary classes. I have excellent professors this semester and am thoroughly enjoying my studies, although the pile of work that is growing before me seems overwhelming. Melissa is taking classes at Boston College this semester, as well as at the seminary, and she is looking forward to completing her course work for her master's degree by the end of this summer. This past weekend we took the youth skiing and snowboarding for the weekend. Those few days of swimming, video games, movies, multiple late nights and sore muscles from the slopes were enough to wear out an entire army of youth leaders, however we survived. Near the end of each day we gathered together for Compline and reflection on the workings of God in our day and it was always interesting to hear how the youth saw God working in their lives-from a near death experience on the slopes to another while flying a plane (one of the youth has his flying license) to helping out a fellow skier who had injured himself in a painful fall. On Sunday Father Bart presided over our own Eucharist Service up on the slopes-which was somewhat physically challenging with each of us trying not to slip and slide down the hill during the short service. However it was a peaceful experience surrounded by God's beauty of snow whitened mountains and the voices of a group of young people singing the doxology.
Thank you for all of your prayers. Melissa and I would love to hear about what is happening in your life. Feel free to email us.
