“What I Did On My Summer Vacation”
While the idea is popular, I’m not sure I actually ever had to answer the ultimate ‘back-to-school’ question while a student. And certainly I’ve had more productive and more adventurous summer breaks than August 2020. There was no international travel, no visits to exotic or interesting churches, no big parties, or summer concerts, no mission trips to Honduras or Colombia or Uganda. Instead I spent most of August entertaining a 4 year old and an 8 year old, struggling with keeping them engaged and not too upset about not seeing their friends or doing the things they wanted to do this summer, fixing things around the house and praying about what Jesus might have in store for us at Memorial and for my family. In the end, I continued to be amazed at how blessed we continue to be. We are both employed, we were able to spend a lot of time outside hiking and playing in the Chesapeake Bay, we were fortunate enough to to take a quick trip to the Mountains of North Carolina so the kids could see their cousins and grandparents.
I can’t say I came back rested, or ready, or sure about what the future holds. I won’t pretend to have it all ‘together’, or even being particularly stable! I, like all of you, have my moments of doubt, anxiety, worry and stress. Throughout the month I have kept this scripture close to my heart: “We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day…” As Americans we often feel immense pressure to solve problems, make a difference in the world, to ‘be the change we want to see in the world.’
But as Christians that is not what we are called to. We are called to do God’s work while it is light. Nothing more, nothing less. In a time when problems seem insurmountable, when solutions seem impossible, impractical or just too far off, this can be very liberating! It is not on me, or you, or anyone else to ‘fix it’ — all we have to do is do a little bit of God’s work.
While I was gone, it was heartening to see that so many of you were continuing to do the work of Jesus while it was light. In conjunction with St. Katherine’s you all worked on a back to school supply drive; you took significant steps in removing the plaques from the rear of the church and charting a path forward to replacing them; we submitted two significant racial reconciliation grants including one to develop an entirely new community counseling program for young black women impacted by COVID; you’ve developed new ministries to provide video visits to some of our members quarantined; and worked on a plan to make communion safe and accessible for all of us this fall.
This of course does not take into account all of the regular things you all continue to do in your personal lives in these most extraordinary times. I want to thank you for your continued service in doing God’s work and I look forward to joining back with you in that work this fall!