First Gate Cleared!

My discernment committee has deciphered the call that I'm receiving as a call to the deaconate! Yeay! Woohooo! Yowza! Ha cha cha!


Okay, now that that's out of my system, let me clarify what they said. There were no balloons, or confetti, or uncorking bottles of bubbly. I came to the meeting after the group had already convened to make their final decision. I got to Rick's house (Rick was the chair and the host for the meeting), was greeted and ushered into the living room where everyone was chatting. I sat down after our hellos, and Rick said they had come to a decision. I said, "okay," or something like it, equally lame, and someone asked if I wanted to know what the decision was. It was going to come sooner or later, but part of me was really scared of knowing. Move forward? Is that good? Go back? It that better or worse? But I mustered a smile, and said, "Sure," and they said I should keep going. But...


Let me emphasize the "but" here. The group has reservations about my moving forward. Now, I've had many people express reservations about me, so this is not a new sensation. I almost had to do first grade over again because my teacher wasn't sure I was ready because I wouldn't do my work-- I'd hand in blank worksheets. I almost didn't make it out of of fifth grade for the same reason, and I told my teacher off. I was allowed to get my first master's degree, but with the caveat that I not go on for Ph.D. work because the faculty didn't think I was ready for that. I got tenure at JJC, but with the Vice President's concern that my teaching practices were unorthodox and of concern to him.

So I get to move on to the next step, applying and meeting with the Canon to the Ordinary (assistant to the bishop) and the bishop. I'll write more about the reservations soon, but I wanted to get the good news out. I'm moving forward! Praise the Lord!