The View From the Porch

Yesterday was graduation at the Castle. I feel an affinity with the class that graduated because I transferred in at the same time that they began. It was so great to be with them as they reached this milestone. It was also so weird to realize that it has only been a year since I was in the same spot. It feels like a lifetime ago.

Sitting on my old front porch afterward with Rab, it was easy to pretend no time had passed. It was so easy to set aside the congregational life and the grown up pastor responsibilities that are part of my every day life now. I sat on that porch, like I had so many times before, and caught myself expecting to see Mark or the Brink of Disaster or Sally or even PMC or any other myriad of people coming down the Kinder hill any minute. I watched my kids joyfully run around the circle, laughing and connecting with old buddies.

As I reveled in all the happy and warm memories (forgetting the struggles, of course), I leaned into the freedom of that space. Then along came my gaggle of little girls - my buddies. They began picking dandelions and any flower they could and bringing them to me. As my hands overflowed with the growing floral arrangement, little Naomi said, "We're giving you all these flowers because we really love you and really, really miss you." It was the best Mother's Day gift anyone could have given me.