“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1
As most of you have probably recognized, especially if you have school-age children or grandchildren, we’re fast approaching the end of the school year. As apparent as it is for me as a parent that this is true, it’s also very noticeable here on our church campus, as our preschool ministry, Children of Hope, prepares for its final days of school until summer break. In fact, by the time most of you read this newsletter article, teachers will have given their final hugs for the year, and many kids will have stepped foot on this campus for their very last time as students of Children of Hope, as they prepare to transition into kindergarten next year. It’s a bittersweet moment for all of us, as we are all very excited for their next adventures, but also keenly aware that our community will look different next year.
Of course, one of those reasons our community will look different next year is the fact that we’ll also be saying farewell to two Children of Hope staff members. A longstanding teacher at Children of Hope, Mrs. Angilletta, is retiring at the end of this year, and our beloved Mrs. H, our director of Children of Hope for the vast majority of its existence, has also announced her retirement. As Mrs. H transitions toward retirement, we know that the mark that she made, and the legacy that she leaves behind, will continue to influence our entire community – both church and preschool – for years to come. I’ll be honest: When Mrs. H informed me several months ago that she was anticipating retiring from her position, I was more than a little irritated. Selfishly, I didn’t want to lose a valuable part of the team that has welcomed me so well and proved to be exceptional partners in ministry. I think it’s kind of like those kids who are about to leave our preschool: We’d love to have them for just one more year. We know they’re special, and to say goodbye is hard.
But much like our preschool youth, we know that Mrs. H and Mrs. Angilletta are both looking forward to new adventures of their own. And as much as we will miss their presence, we know that new opportunities await Children of Hope, with new staff members who will soon make their mark, as well as a new incoming class of children who will bring adventures and joys all their own. So today, as I reflect on bittersweet departures, I look ahead with hope, knowing that the Holy Spirit will bring new vitality to our preschool ministry through new leadership, and also through the continual growth and joy of young lives being transformed through the love and care of this place.
In our own lives, we also know that change is hard. Some of us are anticipating kids going off to college or perhaps moving into new careers that may take them even farther away from home. Even though we know these changes come with the potential for greater joy in the future, we also keenly feel the absence of the things that were once familiar. It’s hard to know what to do when we feel these absences. Unlike our preschool program, where positions will be filled and a new generation of students will enter in to make their own mark, in our homes it’s rarely this simple. But I do believe that these changes do offer the opportunity for new things to enter in, even if they don’t truly fill the gaps that have been made through these changes. So I ask you today, as you go through your week: when changes happen in your life, and spots that were previously filled with busy schedules such as carpools and practices are no longer as full, how do you fill your life? I hope that you fill these places with hope.
Maybe that hope looks like making time to build new relationships or strengthen existing ones. Maybe it looks like spending more time bringing hope to others through acts of service. Maybe it looks like some much-needed self-care, choosing to live your life in a better way so that there is more hope to share for longer. Whatever it is, know that as we live each day in hope for those who are departing, here at Esperanza, we also join in hope for those who are left behind, knowing that the legacy of love and compassion that we are given will truly bless the community that we are all a part of, in the continued growth and change that we all live into from season to season.
Pastor Chris