Last night I had dinner with some parishioners, a very gracious couple (good food too!). After dinner we talked for quite a while. It was great to get to know them better and it affirmed my interest/plan in making appointments to meet with other parishioners one-on one or in small groups in the near future.
During our post-dinner conversation my cell phone rang. I answered it briefly because it was my seminary classmate and good friend G. I planned to answer and ask if I could call him back in a little while since we hadn't talked in a week or so and had some things to catch up on.
I said "hello?" And I heard, "Happy Anniversary!" I paused for a split second doing the mental calendar/math calcuations and then said, "oh it is!" He had called to acknowledge that it was 2 years to the day since our ordination, our first ordinations, our ordinations as deacons. Two years ago yesterday, in two different states, on a Saturday morning, feast day of the Martyrs of Uganda (a bright sunny day where I was), people from the community lifted us up in prayer and expressed their will that we be ordained. Then our bishops laid their hands on our heads and changed our ministry.
In some ways it does feel like two years worth of time and experience has passed, but in other ways it seems like we just graduated from seminary yesterday and the time has flown. Several of us from our class have begun our second calls, and several more are in the process of discerning where God is calling them next (often a first position can be short, in the 1 to 3 year range). It's interesting to see how everyone's lives and ministries are unfolding.
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