Greetings Epiphany,
This week for me marks one month at Epiphany and also one month of living in Boston!
I have never driven so many rotaries in my life and I have learned that it is important to have a winter hobby in order to have something to look forward during the cold days. I am currently taking suggestions for winter hobbies so that I can prepare for my first New England Winter.
I am so grateful for the welcome I have received from those of you whom I have met and I look forward to continuing to meet more of you. It’s already clear to me that Epiphany is a special church and I have enjoyed hearing your sacred memories of these people and this place. I also sense an energy and excitement about you all for what is to come. That is something that excites me as well. It feels like a gift to be at a place that is looking forward to the days ahead as we continue to grow together in community.
As I get to know you all, here is a little bit more about me:
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I am from San Diego, CA and am very proud of my California roots.
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I come to Boston from Atlanta where I went to seminary at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
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I spent this past year as a hospital chaplain, specifically in a rehabilitation hospital, skilled nursing facility, and behavioral health units.
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I am in the ordination process which means that you all get invited into this journey with me. I will be ordained to the transitional diaconate this December in Atlanta and next summer to the priesthood. My first call is with you all and that is really meaningful to me.
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I studied Graphic Design/Art in college.
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The primary reason for moving up here (besides you all!) is to be closer with my fiancé, Peter, who is about to start his second year of law school at BU. We are getting married October 8th in Atlanta!
As we come to the end of summer and prepare for the upcoming fall, I find this time of year to be fertile ground for reflection.
One of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner, passed away a few weeks ago. To me, his words often felt like coming home. In his book Now and Then he says this: “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”
Perhaps the invitation in these winding down summer times and in this season of ordinary time is: to listen. To reflect on this year and acknowledge all the ways that God has gently been guiding us to this time and to this place.
I am excited to journey alongside you all,
Janelle
