Counting Down

Today was the final class of my Middler year of seminary. Though there are two exams and two papers yet to write, the countdown keeps ticking away towards this summer’s pilgrimage: Greece, Jordan, Iraq, and The Netherlands.

In 10 days, I will head for WI to spend time with my family. The time there will include a getaway of my grandmother’s three daughters with their three daughters. It will be the first time the six of us have vacationed together. The weekend is the brainchild of my aunts for which I am thankful for.

In 14 days, I will head for Athens, Greece. Joining me will be friends from the Diocese of Fond du Lac and members of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. The pilgrimage is an educational and spiritual journey to the sites related to Saint Paul and Saint John. It will include Athens, Phillippi, Thessaloniki, Corinth, Meteora, and the Island of Patmos. We will be joined by Father Kamal who has led other such pilgrimages that my friends have raved about. I look forward to learning about the lives of the early Christians in the communities that were their homes!

In 34 days, I will head to Amman, Jordan. One of my dear classmates, Wadie, will have just returned home after his graduation from our seminary. The time spent with him will allow me to share and process some of what I’ve just experienced while also visiting Petra and the port city of Aqaba.

Currently, the plan is to fly from Jordan to Iraq for refugee relief work. I have friends who have been working there for a number of years. I feel confidant enough to join them and cautious enough to pay attention to world events. IF it becomes impossible to make the journey, I will pursue other avenues to work with refugees. One possibility is to join other friends in Croatia to help with the work that they do there. Basically, a month of my life is currently “unknown” to me. It is completely in God’s hands (as it always is). That gives me strength and courage.

In 71 days, I will depart from Amsterdam, Netherlands to return to the US. My flight will return me to DC where my daughter will have “held down the fort” in my absence. She will be surrounded by the seminarian community family that calls her one of her own. She will have their full support and will not need to be alone (unless she chooses to).

There will be much to process once I return. There will be much that I will share here along the way. There will be many prayer requests that will also be posted here as the journey unfolds.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting. Thank you for praying. Stay tuned.