Pictures and paperwork

Here in Chicago, the weather changed this week, so that the air is crisp and the wind causes the branches of the trees to sway. It feels like the senior class, too, subtly changed from focusing on the joy of being back together at LSTC to looking towards what the next step in our journeys will be. On Monday, we had our senior pictures taken for our composite class photo, which will hang in the second floor hallway of LSTC after we graduate. (It reminded me of having my picture taken in elementary school, only with a clerical collar this time)! Yesterday, many of us met with Rev. Paul Landahl in the Field Education office to learn how to fill out the paperwork that will help us be assigned first to a region of the country, then to a specific synod, and finally, will aid in determining where our first call to a ministry setting will take place.

It is hard to believe that in less than a year, my class will be scattered around the country, in small towns and big cities, preaching, working with youth, serving as chaplains, and leading worship. I'm excited as I think about the different gifts that each person will bring to the setting where they end up, but realizing that, as a class, we don't have that much time left together here in Hyde Park makes me pause. I want to savor our days here, as we walk through the changes of these days and months, and enjoy the time that we are living in now, as we prepare for the time to come.