Life Announcement

When I was 18 and “graduating” from my homeschooling days, I wrote a rather obnoxious and self-righteous letter describing my plans to be a stay-at-home daughter until such a time as I married and had children. I wrote about wanting to learn history, theology, and herbology, of all things. And then spent three more years pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history, living in my parents’ home until I did, indeed, court someone, marry, and have children. So diligent was I in following the good-girl homeschool fundamentalist evangelical model, I was lauded by many as an example.

It has been nearly 20 years since that time. I have deconstructed and reconstructed my faith. I have birthed four children, mourned two miscarriages, sent my children to public school, became a CNA, divorced, became a chaplain, and various other sundry experiences. My “good girl” example days are long behind me.

This autumn, I will begin seminary classes in Austin, Texas, with the end goal of ordination to priesthood in the Episcopal Church. I can safely say that 18-year-old me would be surprised by where I am. ( I think that is true of many millennials).

This move and new step have been some time in the making. I am not a person who acts impulsively, nor am I prone to sharing widely. There has been a great deal of prayer and discernment. My own experience of moving from California to Montana at the age of 12 made me mindful of how this will impact my children, who will be barely 15, 13, 12, and 5 at the time of the move. Seminary is a three-year commitment, and then we will be back in Montana, though not necessarily the Flathead Valley.

For all of us, there is a mix of excitement and trepidation. Each of us has things we are sad to leave behind and dreams about what Austin may hold for us. However, life is not a static experience from the cradle to the grave. The path one starts on is not straightforward to the end. We all make choices that open and close other choices.

For the past few months, I have been writing less on Substack, largely because I have been putting in extra hours of paid work in order to save up for the move. I cannot predict with any certainty how much time I will be writing on Substack for the next three years either. But writing continues to be a way in which I process the world, my questions, and my unquenchable thirst for learning. That desire to learn was true when I was 18 and will continue to be true for the rest of my life.