Friday, March 06, 2009

with a full heart...

i have made a major life decision (yikes!)

i will be attending trinity evangelical divinity school in chicago this fall. while i don't know the end, the means will be an mdiv degree.

some of you may known i've had a desire to go to seminary or that i feel a constant thirst for change... the culmination of these two factors woke me up every morning with the same thought: i want to go to seminary. and i want to go somewhere new.

i sent away for info from the east, west and in-between. the west coast... how exciting! however... after visiting trinity over the holidays and finding it quite enticing, i deliberated, prayed, and eventually succumbed to practicality and the achings of my heart to not only be at an excellent school, but closer to my family (now what will they bug me about??)

the gradual peace and confidence that God has given me to do this was long awaited but now consumes me. i am excited and totally freaked out. while i grew up in chicago, i have lived in boston for almost 9 years.

9 beautiful years including college, epic ocean moments, the red sox winning the world series, life-long friendships and a church home.

so it is with a heavy heart that i say goodbye. goodbye to a place that i fell in love with, have had a relationship, and will now leave for a city only known in childhood. goodbye to the dearest of friends, the best of co-workers and a network of people who have supported and loved me.

but it is with a full heart that i welcome a new opportunity to learn, to stretch my comfort zone even within a familiar place, and that i embrace the love of a family i have so dearly missed. while chicago is not portland, seattle or san francisco, it is a chance at something new, something different and now something i am truly enthusiastic about.

so, come august: my dear east coast friends, i will be blowing you kisses through the tears; and my dear family and soon-to-be chicago friends, i look forward to undeniably good times ahead.

and Big G... thanks for the invitation and for giving me the heart to say yes.