The title of my column seems particularly appropriate this month. Journeying together. We have been on quite a journey together the past three years. I am deeply grateful for the time that we have shared together – the time we’ve spent laughing, the time we’ve spent crying, the time we’ve spent working on some grand idea, and the time we’ve gotten little things done, too. Thank you for sharing from yourself both with me but also with each other.
We’ve done some neat things together, too. I am especially proud of this church’s work around end of life planning. It’s your interest and willingness that led me to create the end of life planning materials titled Intentional Conclusions. In my last sermon, I shared that if I had one hope, it’s that those workbooks and plans wouldn’t just sit on a shelf and collect dust – that you would think about them and share your plans with your family. The booklets are available in the Book Corner, and digital versions as well as a variety of other resources can be found at http://intentionalconclusions.weebly.com.
When I’m leading worship, I often (almost always) close with the words “blessed be.” And I often sign off emails with “blessings.” Blessings are a big thing to me. Blessings invoke a hope for the present and the future, and hope shared from one person to another. Blessings also say that we are somehow different for the time or interaction that we have shared.
I have been truly blessed by our journey together. I have grown as a minister and as a person in ways that I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the time that we shared. I hope that you have felt blessed through my ministry on that journey. And going into the future, I wish love and blessings for each and every one of your lives, for every day of your lives and for the time and work that you share here at First U. I wish blessings and passion for you here at First U – both for the big things and for the little ones also, for the things that are easier and for the ones that are more challenging, too. May you all have joy and compassion, energy and enthusiasm, and may that fire be sustained. And I mean all of that when I say, with deep deep gratitude in my heart…
Blessed be!
Rev. Michelle Collins