Seeing the World

Welp, today was my last official day of responsibilities at Harbor Chapel. It was a somber, sad, exciting and hopeful day all in one. Wierd. It will take weeks, no probably months, to process my transition out of this role that has been central to my life for the past 6 years(w/SVCC and Harbor). Janny has her last day at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley tomorrow and then we have a few open weeks of no responsibilities or work! It will be an important time for us to slow down and process the past and prepare for the future. Especially in evaluating how our vocations are going to connect with our work/careers. Looks like a teaching credential/master's degree is leading the pack for me, while we are still very interested in starting or working at a local non-profit. We will see.

For now...We are going to continue to pursue what has been so formative to our perspectives and relational growth with each other...Traveling!! We found some ridiculous travel deals and will be leaving on Wednesday for Europe and the Middle East. I am really looking forward to stops in Ephesus, Corinth, Malta(where Paul was shipwrecked if I remember correctly) and Egypt. We are also going to spend a few days driving through Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

I will do my best to get some pics up of our travels as soon as I can. Hope all of your friend/family gatherings have been relationally rich and hopefully not to disruptive to the digestive system!

My Old Roomy

My old roomy and one of my best buddies, Ryan Mcrae, just left tonight after hanging out with us this weekend. It was a GREAT time. I didn't think anyone could love our little, cripple dog Harry more than Jan and I...I may have been wrong. Our couch held two males this weekend. Ryan and....Harry. Inseparable.

Jan and I are at a crazy spot in our lives right now. Weird, exciting, scary and hopeful all at the same time. The things we have spent 90% of our time being part of are all now ending: My work at Harbor Chapel in one week, Jan's work at Bernardus Lodge in one week, and we both FINALLY got our Bachelor's degree's finished in the past month. Now we contemplate Master's, credentials, neither or both. For now, we just look forward to getting our barrings and soaking in/learning our new community here in Santa Cruz. We are excited to experiment in new ways of living out community, church, service, work and lots of fun! Of course, it seems they are all connected anyway.

With most of our responsibilities wrapping up in the next week and no commitments until my next speaking engagement in the end of January, we are going to do some more traveling! We have found that traveling is something we greatly value for a variety of reasons. Especially since we are still holding out on kids! We will keep you all filled in on what we end up doing.

A Night of Reflection

Pic of Annual Broomball Trip


Last night was a night that Jan and I won't forget for the rest of our lives. As most of you know, we are stepping away from our role as Youth Pastor at Harbor Chapel as of Dec. 31. We have been part of that community for the past 4 years and last night they threw an incredible appreciation dinner for us. Not only did they serve one of my all time favorite meals, Lobster Bisque, but we were showered with some serious love.

It is easy for me to feel like I could have done a better job in my time at Harbor. Whether that means spending more time with students or leading in a different direction, etc...Last night, as student after student took the mic and shared memories of our time together, I was blown away by how much God has used what I often feel was so little. I rarely cry, not that I am proud of that, but since crying in my wedding ceremony(take that however you want!), I can only remember crying once. Last night, I couldn't keep it together. Jan and I were both a crying mess and at the end of night when we were handed the mic, I just about lost it. I squeaked out a few words that sounded like the voice of a 6th grader. Humbling, but very real.

As I reflect on it now, I realize that is exactly how it should have gone. Our time in this community was not marked by words...it was marked by action and relationships. No words needed.