Departures and Arrivals

Reader caution advised: This one might will get seriously maudlin. 

We’re leaving Houston late in August. Not for good I hope, but for now.  We’re headed off to Austin to become part of the Seminary of the Southwest community.  More specifically, KB is going to be studying there in order to become a priest.  I will be studying there on how to be a clergy spouse: how to host a tea, the finer points of playing bridge, gossiping about the organist.  To be fair, I think that last one is a senior level class.  Okay, most of that last bit is not true (but God help me, I do love to gossip).  Seminary is something that has been in the works for KB and for us as a family for a long time, so this is an exciting time.

We’re less excited about the prospect of leaving those dearest to us.  They know who they are, and if you’re reading this and aren’t sure, assume it’s you.  It probably is.  And thanks for reading my drivel.  But I digress.

We are very fortunate to have formed some incredibly deep bonds with our friends and family here in Houston.  Aristotle says that friendship is based on finding another either good, useful, or pleasant.  Our friends are all three.  According to The Philosopher, a genuine friend is someone who loves another person purely for the sake of that other person.  We are fortunate to have friends like these; people that we love simply for who they are.  And who they are, is wonderful. 



Distraction!



I can’t help but think about making our exit from Houston (our fair city), and how that is a microcosm of life.  One of the wisest people I know once told me that how we make our exits in life (from a party, from a job, etc.) are foreshadowing how we will make our final exit.  Will it be kicking and screaming, upsetting those around us?  Will it be slipping silently out the back, hoping to leave unnoticed?  Or will it be a blessing, assuring those that matter most of your love, and how much fun you’ve had with them, before gracefully leaving through the front door?  I’ve tried my best to live by the third option, but this one will be tougher.  This one might involve some kicking and screaming.  I promise to do my best, though, because it is without a doubt the exact right thing for us to do.  It is the wonderful culmination of years of patience and prayer, and it's a very exciting new adventure.  But it is still a change, and it is still difficult.

We’re very fortunate, though, to have some impressively great people waiting for us in Austin.  People we’ve known for years and have always said “Boy, I wish we lived closer to them”.  And now we will.  So we depart with a heavy heart, but arrive into the arms of the best Welcoming Committee Austin could have provided us. 

For that, we wholeheartedly thank you Austin.  Let’s play bridge sometime.  I’ve got some serious dish for you…