This past weekend was my last weekend with two churches; one which I've worked at for two years, the other a church that I've attended since I first came to Boston in 1999 my freshman year at Boston College.
First, Watertown Evangelical. While many of you probably don't know much about my time there, I'd have to say that I was very quietly and consistently blessed by this group of people. I've never been in a church that was small in number in this way, and yet I've never been so taken aback by the amount of giving and praying they do for others on a regular basis. It really was an amazing experience, with friends I hope to keep throughout my years in Boston.
The latter, NCPC, really takes me back.
I can't even begin to tell of the countless things that have happened in 11 years since I arrived in Boston. The friends I've made, the lessons I've learned...even the food I've eaten.
It's hard to even write at all in this moment; I see before me such a swirl of events and things that have happened. Moments of deep and extreme sadness, and moments where I saw Heaven open and hope return. I cannot even begin to describe it.
I hoped to have some insight here...something I could share which would encapsulate that which I would impart to someone else if I were only given the briefest of times to impart that which I've been given..but it's just difficult. But a few very incomplete highlights...which probably don't encapsulate even a fraction of what mattered....
I remember...
- Arriving at Boston College in 1999. The sweltering heat in unconditioned dorms.
- My naive (but not ill-placed!) commitment to the faith of my youth...and the crushing of it through doubt and questions
- Experiencing deep relational pain and reconciliation...some of it taking years. Learning that, indeed, it sometimes takes years.
- Attending NCPC....learning what it means to be with family. To quote someone: "I don't like you, and you don't like me, but we're going to suck it up and learn to love each other." Oh how precious that commitment. I have friendships I will keep for life, and now have the ability to form new friendships that I never would have before.
- My Perspectives class at BC; when I saw school and faith intersect in a way unprecedented, and when I began to think philosophy as being less than "useless."
- Knowing without a doubt, for the first time in my life, that there was indeed an Other whose presence I could not shake at all despite my best efforts. And that I was loved.
- Forget The Girl. Walk Around In Your Head.
- Classes: Philosophy of Tolkien, Does God Exist, Two Existentialisms, The Heidegger Project, The Non-Fiction of C.S. Lewis...the classes that grounded me into better understanding my self, my existence, and the Light. The end of my doubts regarding Eastern religion. The vision of the Throne.
- Being called to the ministry...then being called to InterVarsity.
- Working for InterVarsity...years packed with so much learned, and yet also with grief and suffering unprecedented...even while much of it was self-inflicted. Time spent in counseling, in blind grasping, fraught with mistakes and foolish decisions. But emerging with the knowledge of my deepest weaknesses, and having grasped the precious treasure of being able to accept that I am not the standard or the "happy middle ground"...and being able to actually listen to others who can see my blind spots. I also gained ministry experience I will carry forever.
- Realizing what real friends are.
- Learning from my biological family more each of these years what it means to be family. Our love for each other has only grown. Except for that one year I was being a dummy.
- Joining a group bet to try and get a six-pack in six weeks....and while failing, discovering Stronglifts, the value of squatting and consistent strength training, and the reinvigoration and restoration of my body, health, and confidence. I don't take this one lightly; it seems even my soul has been affected by this one.
- Being called to the seminary...then to China. Meeting my wife.
- Getting engaged to my wife. Getting married in the company of family and friends, and even in the company of the new family in Russia.
- Realizing seminary was just too expensive if I was going to be a responsible man. Discerning God's call, and by chance meeting Jan Vezikov at a birthday party, giving way to my joining City on a Hill church.
To everyone who's been a part of these past 11 years (and that would be most of you, since Facebook's only been around that long), thanks. Looking forward to the next decade.
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