Transition TIme

I am in SOuthern California today for a major reunion at the La Sierra Spanish SDA Church in Riverside, California.  Of course, that means I get to see my family in Riverside.  Just a coincidence, of course!      

By now, you may have heard that I have officially announced my intent to return to California at that end of the present school year.  It has been a gut-wrenching decision on many levels.  A big part of me does not want to leave a job that I have just begun.  There is so much to yet to do.  AAF is just beginning to establish itself at Thunderbird.  The transition has not been one without some serious adjustments.  I believe God brought me here to be part of that transition.  It saddens me to think that I may be leaving before my role in this incredible journey is completed.

The elementary educational system is still in a state of transition as well.  Although enrollment has been up every year since I arrived, there is little comfort in that.  There are changes that need to take place that require more time.  It can’t be done in three short years.  Some changes are in place.  Some are about to take place.  Others require more time.  I am saddened that I will not be able to see those changes through.  I trust God will find the person to continue the move towards continual improvement.

Ultimately, this is a family-based decision.  Penny and I miss the family.  I have resisted conference-office work for many years because of family.  I thought that it might be a workable scenario now that that my children are all independent and relatively established in their respective calling.  I responded to a need and I do not regret the decision.  I had to respond—it is how I raised my children.  It is what I taught my youth groups.

But I also raised my children to treasure family.  I have made most of my professional decisions with family in mind.  When I did not do that I lived to regret the impact it had on one or more members of my nuclear family circle.  I have missed so much of the lives of my children and grandchildren.  Little and big things—some people might even consider them insignificant.  But they are not.  They are moments forever lost.

My melancholy is tempered by the amount of work that remains in the months to come.  I ask for your collective prayers for the events, the tasks, and the decisions that have yet to be made.   God is still at work.  The best days of education in the Arizona Conference remain to be seen.  God will raise up who he needs.