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Two weeks ago (ish) was sitting at the Nebraska Heart Hospital, waiting for the good news concerning a 90 something year old man having heart surgery. Just last week I had to go visit his wife because she fell and broke her hip, after getting her hair done in anticipation to see her husband.

Just a week ago, I left Adams, Nebraska to head back to Michigan for my final semester at Western Seminary. I had a great time and looking back, I could not have asked for a better internship. I got to preach a lot, I was involved in the different ministry teams at the church, worked with a local church plant in Lincoln, made new friends, and go fed really well. 

Malorie and I were at our church here in Michigan this morning, Third CRC, and it was great to see the warm welcome as people realized we were back. It is rather sad having left Pella, where we did make such good friends there and were deeply cared about, but it is also good to be back where we have served as youth pastor and youth leader for the last two years. 

I'm excited for Pella Church as they continue their search/vision process and truly narrow down what they are looking for in a leader. I pray that they find someone who is people oriented, and desires to reach people in the community, outside of the cornfields. Pella will hold a special place in our hearts for what they have done for us. They allowed me to try new things in worship, cut me some slack when pre-schoolers fell asleep during my lesson at VBS, or gave me crap out of sport(because yelled Go Iowa, or making fun of how I kill spiders). 

Pella Reformed Church taught me a lot of things, and taught me a lot about myself. Made me think about ministry differently, and challenge my thinking of what all a pastor is asked to do. I could not say I came away with a deficiency of experience in one way or the other, but have come to realize that there are always things to learn, and there are always things to grow from.