i am a chaplain

honestly, this just dawned on me the other day when i thought of what to name the url. combining my occupation with my initials seemed a revolutionary thought. chaplain? me? what?!

yet i prefer it to pastor. sorry. even minister is better than pastor. but let me not get too deep into crazy talk. that's another blog for another vulnerable day.

i am a chaplain and (clearly) i'm still getting used to the idea. i don't have a lot of preconceived notions of what it means. i do believe that it includes a large amount of care giving and outside of hospitals/hospice/prison/and-other-institutional-spaces it's often hard for me to envision exactly what that care should look like. as an introvert, i've been known to respond negatively to the idea of giving care because it means i won't have as much time to spend alone and in my head. rather, i'll be with people, asking them about themselves, reading into what's really wrong and returning home absolutely void of energy.

this journey asks me to adjust without complaint, find joy instead of sulk. and i have. it has been hard but i have adjusted and i have found joy. and though the knowledge that i've still got a looooong way to go could be daunting, i find it a welcomed challenge...at least for now.

bring it on.

i 
am 
a chaplain!

hehe. oh and did i mention that i'm Adventist and working with students on public university and college campuses? did i mention that i'm one of few Adventist chaplains in this arena? did i mention that it's all still very new almost a year and a half in?

yeah. uncharted waters.