bringing you up to speed...

i finished my second day EVER as pastoral care coordinator, and i'm pretty much not dead, yet. it's pretty cool. pretty much it's checking up on people who are sick at home, or in the hospital; checking in on folks in assisted living facilities; fielding phone calls and drop ins for various kinds of assistance--light bill, rent, shelter info, grocery and gas money, bus tickets, etc. basically helping people out and training other folks in the church to help me help other people, or better yet, take the bull by the horns and find a ministry of their own. the job description has gotten bigger since i applied, and probably will be added to daily, until further notice. i took a big bite of something, for sure.

i have to keep reminding myself that this job is not saving the whole world in one fell swoop--it's about helping one person save themselves one person at a time. when i tell myself that, i'm not so scared i'm going to mess this up and send my parishoners and myself to the nut hut for an extended, and unplanned vacation.

i'm going house hunting on saturday morning, which seems utterly surreal and slightly bizarre, considering the fact that i haven't a) ever even owned my own house or other fit domicile, and b) haven't even lived on my own in like a year and a half. the thought of moving my stuff and unpacking it all in the midst of learning a new town and a new job is a little daunting at the moment. but it's oddly exciting and BIG at the same time. i can hardly wait to begin.

i never thought i'd say this, but thank God and the sweet baby Jesus that my first job was working in dc for a real butthole, because everything after that has seemed like a cake-walk. and i'll be honest with you, aside from learning how to ignore the random fart during staff meetings, i also learned alot about what i'll be doing now, and made a lot of good memories that are very comforting to me, now. there were also some initiatives i worked on in dc that could bear repeating in the alamo city, as well. i'm trying to keep it all in perspective, and remembering that austing and dc were their own experiences, and not everything has to be replicated. it's a lot like packing--keeping, sorting, throwing away, reusing, regifting, etc. thank goodness i've learned something to apply, huh?

life is good. it is very full. and as i look toward next thursday with some sense of nostalgia and an insatiable hunger for pecan pie, i have many things for which to be thankful, the challenge before me among the foremost. you can be sure this is the first of many posts. you can also be sure that i will try and tell you as many funny stories about the mishaps i'm sure i'll be working on just as soon as they happen. i am on a great adventure.

mil besos--rmg