Our New Life
As I mentioned in my last post, it's been an interesting transition out of full-time ministry and into full-time seminary. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, but first, a few updates:
Last Sunday, the weather was perfect, and we ended our day by taking a long walk around campus. A new youth group comprised of students from several local Episcopalian churches has begun using the campus for worship services, and last Sunday was their first meeting. We walked past the Refectory as the kids were arriving, and TJ slipped back into youth pastor mode. "How cool! Ashley, do you wanna go? It feels weird not being there."
*a little backstory for those of you who don't know: TJ has been working with youth in the church for the last 12 years, as a volunteer and as an employee. In my biased opinion, he is a fantastic youth pastor. He truly comes alongside his students no matter where they are -- on the highest mountaintop or in the lowest valley. God has blessed him with many gifts, and He has blessed me with being able to partner alongside my husband in his ministry.*
As you can imagine, after being involved in youth ministry in one form or another for more than a decade, it feels incredibly strange to suddenly... not. Once the dust settled following our move and we began attending Christ Redeemer in Milwaukee, TJ and I talked about whether or not we would volunteer at our church or in any other ministry capacity. We absolutely love serving together, but we quickly decided that this season of our lives would be dedicated to quiet.
Things have significantly slowed down lately, and we are totally okay with it. When we decided to come to Nashotah, TJ mentioned that he was excited to have a time of rest. Which is funny, because the M.Div. program here is known for being very rigorous and demanding. For TJ to enter into a season of rest, he needed to take a break from full-time ministry and immerse himself into a time of study and learning -- very different from my idea of rest, but it's exactly what he needed.
Ministry is hard. One of my favorite phrases I've ever heard in response to someone finding out that TJ was a pastor is "oh, it must be really nice to work one day a week". If you didn't get the sarcasm there... I was being sarcastic. Aside from the obvious tasks a pastor has -- prepping for Sunday School, sermons, youth groups, etc. -- there comes an added burden of always being "on". I'm not a pastor, so I'm not an expert on exactly how hard it is, but I'm married to one. Pastors carry the burdens of their congregation. Pastors are sinners just like everyone else, and deal with their crap in a very public forum. Pastors wrestle with demons. Pastors feel the weighty responsibility of their congregation's spiritual health. Pastors are constantly pouring themselves out, and to be perfectly honest... they don't get filled back up very often.
TJ and I have been talking a lot about what these next three years will mean to us, and how we hope to be shaped by the end of this experience. We both agreed that this is a time to take a step back and be quiet. It's time to learn and allow ourselves to be changed. It's a time to be quiet.
Here's another honest statement: sometimes prayer doesn't come easily to me. When this happens, I get quiet. Being still in the presence of the Lord has been huge for me, and I want this to carry over into every other aspect of my life. Listening and learning -- learning by listening. I can't speak for TJ, but I think this is what we are both looking forward to during this time.
- I started working at Studio One Dance Company, and am loving it so far! I am teaching three nights a week in September, and then I'll add a fourth night in October. I'm teaching ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, strength and conditioning, and doing a ton of private lessons.
- TJ is totally in his happy place. He is loving all his classes and his textbooks -- so much that he reads them even when he doesn't have to, because "they're so good".
- Jason just turned nine months old, and is changing more and more every day. He finally cut his first two teeth, and started crawling (his style is more of a hybrid of inchworm/army crawling, but he gets around anyway). He says "hi!" when he sees himself in the mirror, and says "dada" and waves all the time. The other day, he waved at me while nursing, which was hilarious.
(the only non-blurry picture of a wiggly 9-month old)
(a recent, chill Friday night: pizza, a walk in downtown Oconomowoc, and
waving at all the boats on the lake)
- Over Labor Day weekend, we met my parents in Door County, WI for a few days away. It was wonderful to spend time with them, and enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of Wisconsin.
(the view from our room in Sturgeon Bay)
Last Sunday, the weather was perfect, and we ended our day by taking a long walk around campus. A new youth group comprised of students from several local Episcopalian churches has begun using the campus for worship services, and last Sunday was their first meeting. We walked past the Refectory as the kids were arriving, and TJ slipped back into youth pastor mode. "How cool! Ashley, do you wanna go? It feels weird not being there."
*a little backstory for those of you who don't know: TJ has been working with youth in the church for the last 12 years, as a volunteer and as an employee. In my biased opinion, he is a fantastic youth pastor. He truly comes alongside his students no matter where they are -- on the highest mountaintop or in the lowest valley. God has blessed him with many gifts, and He has blessed me with being able to partner alongside my husband in his ministry.*
As you can imagine, after being involved in youth ministry in one form or another for more than a decade, it feels incredibly strange to suddenly... not. Once the dust settled following our move and we began attending Christ Redeemer in Milwaukee, TJ and I talked about whether or not we would volunteer at our church or in any other ministry capacity. We absolutely love serving together, but we quickly decided that this season of our lives would be dedicated to quiet.
Things have significantly slowed down lately, and we are totally okay with it. When we decided to come to Nashotah, TJ mentioned that he was excited to have a time of rest. Which is funny, because the M.Div. program here is known for being very rigorous and demanding. For TJ to enter into a season of rest, he needed to take a break from full-time ministry and immerse himself into a time of study and learning -- very different from my idea of rest, but it's exactly what he needed.
Ministry is hard. One of my favorite phrases I've ever heard in response to someone finding out that TJ was a pastor is "oh, it must be really nice to work one day a week". If you didn't get the sarcasm there... I was being sarcastic. Aside from the obvious tasks a pastor has -- prepping for Sunday School, sermons, youth groups, etc. -- there comes an added burden of always being "on". I'm not a pastor, so I'm not an expert on exactly how hard it is, but I'm married to one. Pastors carry the burdens of their congregation. Pastors are sinners just like everyone else, and deal with their crap in a very public forum. Pastors wrestle with demons. Pastors feel the weighty responsibility of their congregation's spiritual health. Pastors are constantly pouring themselves out, and to be perfectly honest... they don't get filled back up very often.
TJ and I have been talking a lot about what these next three years will mean to us, and how we hope to be shaped by the end of this experience. We both agreed that this is a time to take a step back and be quiet. It's time to learn and allow ourselves to be changed. It's a time to be quiet.
Here's another honest statement: sometimes prayer doesn't come easily to me. When this happens, I get quiet. Being still in the presence of the Lord has been huge for me, and I want this to carry over into every other aspect of my life. Listening and learning -- learning by listening. I can't speak for TJ, but I think this is what we are both looking forward to during this time.
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