"Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: They feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship." ~ Anne Lamott

I love this quote from Anne Lamott because it covers so much of why I do what I do, trying to bring light, hope, and love into the world. And you, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ at St. Paul’s UMC Bay Head, have so graciously allowed me to spend the last two years answering my call with you. You have allowed me to dive deeper into who I am as a child of God, to reclaim bits of myself that were lost over years of schooling, and to rediscover a passion for making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Thank you.

Part of that work has been writing to each of you each week through this newsletter turned blog and through sermons. Yes, I’ll admit, some were better than others. Some were divinely-inspired and spot on. Others nothing more than the ramblings of a Pastor trying to figure out how to live a faith-filled life and lead others to do the same. My goal has always been to be open, honest, authentic, and vulnerable through it all, just as Jesus did, and I hope you have seen that. I pray it gives you the courage to do the same.

Reading and writing has always been an important part of who I am. I was the kid that got in trouble at school for reading under my desk and for not paying attention while we were reading out loud as a class, not because I was distracted, but because I had read so far ahead in that moment, I couldn’t figure out where we were. It has always been a way that I have grounded myself, and a way that I have learned. It’s the way that I have worked through stress and found hope. And there is a reason that when we talk about life, we talk about it like a book.

We are finishing a chapter, or a section really, of ministry together. Come July 1st, we will turn the page and a new section and chapter will begin. Only this time, we won’t be reading and writing it together. You will get to discover what is to come and it is a section I will not get to read. I will go on to discover the next chapter for me in my new section of ministry, and you won’t get to read that either. We might hear about the other, but we won’t know every word.

It’s important that we remember this. God needs each of us to start a new section adding new characters and storylines. And it will be a beautiful piece of the story. This is my farewell to you;

Continue to write your story. Continue to read ahead and see what God has in store for this place. Continue to deepen your understanding of this world, yourself, and of God. Continue to let it lift you up so that you can get through the chaos of this world with the peace of Jesus Christ.  

For those of you that I will not see on Sunday, “bear witness to the love of God in this world, so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you a generous friend. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forever.” Amen.

Blessings friends,
Pastor Nicole