 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
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 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? Psalm 88:12-14 Which of us does not know the impenetrable silence of Holy Saturday? Who is unfamiliar with the obscurity of pain unresolved?  Photo Cred: https://emmamatthews.co.uk It is inevitable. I walk into Target and I am immediately drawn to them, like a moth to a flame. Rosy pink day planners with gold-pressed lettering on the cover. Desk calendars with inspirational quotes alongside neat lines on which to pen my “three core tasks” of the day. Journals for tracking everything from my eating habits and exercise routines to my reading goals and grocery list.
 We spout and spew through our fingertips. We belittle and ridicule, we mock and shame with a quick tap on a glowing screen. Individuals fade to fuzzy gray and meld into an amorphous anonymous unit: the Other. Names are replaced with categories, identifiers with unmistakable connotations. “Oh her? She’s a democrat. Oh him? He’s conservative. Oh them? They’re gay. She’s black. He’s Latino. Are they even from here?” Just like that, we exonerate ourselves. We need not listen to them because they are Other. We need not show respect because they are Other. We need not control our violent impulses because they are Other, and the Other is less than us.
It has been crickets on the newsletter front, friends. The last three months have been a whirlwind as we have settled into our new home in Mount Vernon, OH and I have jumped in the deep end of my new role as
Campus Pastor at MVNU.  It has been quiet on the newsletter front for awhile. The last couple of months have brought about dramatic changes, the biggest of which I could not disclose until the time was right. A little over two weeks ago, my husband and I announced our resignation from the lead pastorate we share in Mountain Home, Idaho. I have accepted the position as the Campus Pastor (formerly titled Chaplain) at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio. (Read more about it here!)
 These past three weeks have been a wild ride in our house with three separate trips to three very different parts of the country. I love ya, Southwest, but we need some space. It's not you, it's definitely me.
 It never fails. I sign up for a conference, excited to see friends and family, eager to learn new things, giddy about attending a worship service I am not in charge of for once…and then it hits. The pre-conference panic.
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