Has it been only two weeks since we stood at the brink of this new year — gazing back at the year we’ve left and wondering what the coming days will bring?!? Our memories span the spectrum from fondness to pure relief. Pictures in our minds, like the pictures in this edition of The Beacon, draw us back to moments now past, even as we shift our sights toward what’s next.
There were an unprecedented number of firsts crammed into the months of this past year. For me and for many of you, there were nearly as many lasts. Before I let the distractions of today and tomorrow pull me too far from yesterday, I want to stop and savor some moments that I will forever treasure. Friends, this past year, so many of them have been with you. Thank you.
Thank you for the welcome I received when I came to meet all of you a year ago this month. Thank you for everything that took place behind the scenes to bring us together. Thank you for your affirmation of the Search Team’s work in the vote that made me your new pastor. Thank you for all that has come since.
Thank you for the number crunching, storage space scrounging, moving managing, office prepping, worship wiggling, hospitality offering, experience sharing, guidance giving help that so many of you put into making my first days and months go so smoothly.
As our time together began to unfold, I thank you for your encouraging words, your creative ideas, your inspiring energy, your courage, your candor, your commitment to this church and your continuing patience as we wander together toward whatever will become our new normal.
Beyond the deeply appreciated practical parts of all that you did to bring me aboard, I am grateful for the generous spirits that made your efforts such gifts.
With blessings, gratitude and anticipation,
Pastor Karen