Springs of Water

I had a three part series about Sarah Crosby started on my computer. My plan was to put up each part a few days apart, at most a week, and keep the momentum going as the book became available. Two parts made it to the blog but, as it happened, the book became available just weeks before I packed up my life into a U-haul to move back to my hometown.

I’ve been in transition these days, and not just from grad student to published author. My husband and I have taken a step of faith and moved to Saskatoon to follow a dream where we see doors opening relationally. We have some opportunities to do ministry alongside some great people. We return to the hometown I left 15 years ago where my family welcomes us. We have a long term vision for connecting with the neighbourhood we moved into and using our gifts to fill a need we see. But, none of that comes with a paycheque. Yet.

So here we are a few months into a new place and feeling the emotional range of the transition. Most days it’s exciting and hopeful and intuitively it feels like we have make good choices. But when the phone call for a job interview are still absent ... when we long for friends who have known us for years, not months ... when the rhythm of the day is as formless as our plans for the future ... I just feel a little lost.

"Spring Water" photo by Viola El

In the midst of transition is not the best place to expect creativity and clear thought to rule the day. One of my profs from Regent, Maxine Hancock, shared a metaphor with a good friend of mine. My friend was trying to write poetry for her thesis in the midst of life change. Maxine talked about how a spring of water gets covered my leaves, rocks, dirt and things as the world around it changes. It may seem like that spring has stopped. But as things settle down, the water will work it’s way to the surface and flow again. The spring is still there, all is not lost. And it’s a natural process for the debris of life to cover the spring at times. For me, I think it is hardest for me when it feels like my identity is in that water, and there is no clear evidence of the flow anymore.

So here I sit, with the third instalment of the Sarah Crosby series started on my computer. It’s coming, but it’s not here yet. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you would like me to come and speak to a gathering about the topic of holiness or Early Methodist Spirituality, please don’t hesitate to contact me! My calendar is wide open! Also I hope to do an encore presentation of the lecture from my book launch in Saskatoon this fall. Stay tuned for more details about that, as well.