Transition

This past weekend we travelled 11 hours through the beautiful landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico to Ghost Ranch for a transition retreat closing our last year of service in Belfast.  Karl and I are not the only second year YAVs in Tucson, so we were accompanied by Ellison, who served in Belfast with us, Austin, who served in Guatemala, and Brandon, our site coordinator, during our journey.  We spent the long drive beginning to re-remember and reflect on our experiences of the previous year.  Brandon prompted us with questions like, “Who are some people who impacted your time in an unforgettable way,” and “When did you feel you had completely arrived in your place of service?”  We took turns sharing and listening to stories of people and occasions which touched and changed our lives last year. 

I realized during our moments of sharing in the car that I had not spent a lot of time intentionally recalling moments of our past year.  Since returning from Belfast, Karl and I have had a generally smooth transition.  We have had a few bumps in the road, but are slowly learning how to move on from last year while still remembering and incorporating the lessons we learned and relationships we gained through our time with the people of Belfast, the congregations of Whitehouse and Woodvale and the 174 Trust.  It was nice to have the car trip to warm-up my mind and soul for the events that were to come during the transition retreat.  When the rest of the volunteers arrived at Ghost Ranch we jumped straight into worship and group processing activities.  The facilitators of the event helped us to understand the stages of transition (remembering the journey, letting be and moving on) by sharing their own personal stories and facilitating small group discussions.  Talking through how this transition is going with other YAVs, YAV Alumni and YAV staff was very helpful, and I am thankful for the thought and consideration the YAV program puts into helping us transition into our next stage of life. 

The most powerful part of the weekend was when we came together with our entire group from Northern Ireland and had a hand washing/healing service.  We took the time to share with one another what we are in need of healing for or from as a result of our experiences this past year.  The potential for this type of exercise was enormous, and our group took advantage of the opportunity which presented itself.  Rather than hide our feelings and thoughts from one another, we opened up and became so very vulnerable in our group.  We shared about parts of us we had to hide during the year, feelings of guilt and shame, brokenness amongst our families and friends as a result of changes in ourselves, and shortcomings of the community we shared as a group of volunteers in Belfast.  We spent over an hour sharing, crying, laughing, praying and washing ourselves clean from our sufferings and pains.  At the end of the service, we felt whole and felt a great sense of closure for our Northern Ireland group.

As we were leaving Ghost Ranch to head back to Tucson, back to our next step in life, I felt a little burdened.  I felt the physical and emotional exhaustion of the processing and reflection from the retreat, I felt the sadness of saying goodbye to so many YAVs who served with me and who I don’t know when I will see again, and I felt my past year in Northern Ireland crashing into my new year in Tucson.  The beauty of it though is that my past experiences are colliding with my new experiences.  I might not know how exactly the people, places and things I learned and am learning are going to come together in the future, but I do know that God has placed Karl and I in these places for a reason.  He is allowing us to try new things, to succeed and fail at these new things, to go new places, to meet new people, to experience His call and to live our life to the fullest in this world He created. 

Norn' Iron Group

Beautiful Scenery of Ghost Ranch

Chimney Rock