Full Circle - Sort Of

“June of 2011 was my last official month in the UMC. As the first weeks of July came to an end, we sat down expectantly waiting for the latest news on the grant-writing process. It was revealed that the grant I had hoped for had gone to someone else. I was unemployed.” That line is from the first installment of this blog. It’s a bit vague. And it’s a bit misleading. The grant didn’t go to someone else. It was written by them for themselves, so that they could have a job. 

Honestly, I can’t begin to describe how angry I was at the time. I made the reference vague because as Christians we’re not supposed to be mad. Especially when God is clearly in the details. We’re supposed to be forgiving.

Not gonna lie. I was not in a forgiving mood. At all. Strange how time heals.

It’s been a few months, but now that we’re through the busy retail season I’m dipping my toe back into Restorative Conferencing. Covering a few conferences here and there. Remaking some of my contacts. Getting back in the game so to speak. This afternoon I’m heading over to the office to pick up my first new case.

Guess who I’m picking the case file up from. Uh huh. That part of the story has come full circle.

Apparently she has come to the insight that there were some hard feelings. Ironically, there aren’t any anymore. Had that not happened, we would not be in the process of preparing for Thailand. We would not be connected to Pioneers and we would not be heading overseas. 

Did God cause that to happen? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t tend to think God causes the bad things but he certainly uses the bad things. There is no question in our minds that God used this bad thing to turn it for good. That part of the story has come full circle.

But the circle is far from complete. It’s more of a spiral, and we will have opportunity to revisit this event many times for many purposes. The journey is just beginning.