My day was empty….There are two parts to my feeling empty. The first part is that today I stood in front of a group of people that I love. It’s not just that I love them but they love me and my family. The past four years I have loved my church and served the people with their needs in mind. I have emptied myself in so many ways that today….as I stood before my church to tell them that I was going to serve God in another location, I literally felt empty. I know God has been preparing me for the next season of life for a long time. He has been preparing my heart and I guess in some ways purging my heart as well. Anyway, I got up this morning and in my prayer time I was overwhelmed with the thought that my time at Forest Hill is over. I had not really dealt with this part of the transition yet. I had not really let the reality of my time here coming to an end set in. I started my day with this question. “What does it mean to have something come to an end?” Well, for me-- I only have one clear reference point to this question right now. My current and perhaps very unhealthy reference point to something “coming to an end” is losing my mom. After a full life with her, all I have right now are memories. They are good memories but when I sit still and let them run through my mind they still hurt. So, when I think of something coming to an end ---it means that all I have left are memories. No matter how good the memories might be I feel empty when I think about the last four years of my life being summed up as a memory. The second part to my day being empty is the guilt I feel for my excitement for what God has in store. I feel somewhat guilty at how ready I am to be in Austin. I look out and see tears from people I am leaving and at one point I asked myself “what is wrong with you?” I should not feel the deep joy I feel…should I??? I mean it bothers me to know that my new church family met today and I was not among them. My day was empty because I was not at my church, I was not home. I am looking forward to my new coffee pot/popsicle meetings. I am ready to pray with, worship with, lead with, reach people with, grow with and dream with my new church. Although my day was empty----The Long Horn’s logo I got as an email today made me smile!