I am so blessed to be serving a congregation of such gracious people.  So many of you have asked about how the transition is going and how much you are looking forward to meeting my family.  In this upside-down world we live in in this COVID-19 era, sometimes the best I can answer is that the sands keep shifting.

When I first came to St. Andrew’s, I needed to start (in March) before we sold our house (in April).  At that point, Leticia was working on getting her medical licensure (as a doctoral level nurse practitioner) secured in Virginia.  Then due to the world pretty much blowing up, her job asked her to stay through August, so we sold the house and she (and Elizabeth) got a short-term lease on a house in Columbus, anticipating a move to Virginia then.  Then her job asked her to stay through October and so we went through the arduous task of moving from the rental house when the lease ended to another short-term lease (through October) on an apartment.  Apparently, the administration at Leticia’s job assumed she was staying through the end of the year, though that was not Leticia’s understanding, thus the apartment lease only through October.

In the meantime, Leticia was notified that she had been accepted into an eighteen-month academic (essentially a Masters) program focusing on mental health.  Already having so many academic credentials, she really debated whether to enter the program, but this was now the third time she had been accepted and told me “I keep coming back to it.”  In the realm of theology, I know what that sounds like: discernment – not just to an academic program or a job, but a calling to a vocation.  This is something she really does need to pursue and I fully support it.

The unfortunate thing, as we have since learned, is that even after securing her medical licensure in Virginia, Leticia’s program does not have arrangements with anyone in Virginia for her to complete her clinical hours and thus she cannot do the program if she moves to Virginia.  Consequently, she will remain in Indiana for the duration of her program.  I, of course, have only just begun at St. Andrew’s and, with the impact of COVID-19, under highly unusual circumstances.  It isn’t feasible at this point for me to consider relocating again (and the only Episcopal Church in Columbus is the one I just left), so I will remain at St. Andrew’s until the Spirit directs otherwise.  This is certainly not ideal and not what we were anticipating when this saga began last year, but it’s an upside-down world at the moment and what we simply have to deal with.  (Anyone have a little garage apartment they want to rent to a quiet tenant?)

I am appreciative of everyone’s interest and graciousness and especially Anne’s support as we try to navigate these shifting sands.  Like everything else in these crazy times, we’ll make the best of it and be thankful for God’s faithfulness through it all.

Marc