Time to transplant


Don’t go through life, grow through life– Eric Butterworth
A tree blossoms with rain – Tanzanian proverb
The time for transition has come again to my life.
As of April 28, 2013 I will be concluding my four years of undergraduate study at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg VA. I have grown much during these years. The EMU soil is rich with inspiration and has nurtured my passions for community, for justice, for building peace.  I have honed useful skills, such as research, writing, analysis, etc.  I have questioned often, and perhaps learned to live into the questioning. I have eaten from dumpsters, participated in protests, and critiqued systems of injustice. I have been humbled by interactions across cultures, languages, faiths, denominations, and theologies. I have seen God reflected in many people and many places. I have cried much and laughed more. I have loved lots. I have been watered by wonderful people and I have grown.
And now it is time to try new soils in new places filled with different challenges and new people.
This fall I expect to be transplanted to Rochester, New York where I will serve with Mennonite Voluntary Service. MVS is a 1-3 year commitment to engage with service on behalf of the Mennonite church within a local community. I anticipate volunteering fulltime with a justice oriented organization in Rochester, building community in a house with 2-4 other MVS volunteers, and engaging in the worship and service of the local Mennonite Church, Rochester Area Mennonite Fellowship. I am certain it will be a period of growth and continue to shape my passions and my faith. 
Thank you for the role you have played in my life. Many of you have grounded me, challenged me, watered me, and even pruned me throughout different phases of my life. Now as I graduate and enter into a new period of growth with MVS in Rochester, I invite you to continue to grow with me. I covet your prayers, thoughts, and conversations as I enter this time of transition and learning. If you feel so called, I would also appreciate financial contributions to my year of service.
May this next phase of growth be just as meaningful as the last.

I will grow. I will become something new and grand, but no grander than I now am. Just as the sky will be different in a few hours, its present perfection and completeness is not deficient, so am I presently perfect and not deficient because I will be different tomorrow. I will grow and I am not deficient.
  - Wayne Dyer

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