Craig graduated from seminary on Friday. Yay! He is now a Master of Divinity. I am so amazingly proud of him. Four years of work and he made it! We've been together for his entire time here at the seminary save for 1 1/2 semester - a little over 3 years now. We have great friends from here. They have (for the most part) all graduated as well. Craig's path is a little different than most of his classmates and so, it will be that in the next few months we'll watch our friends leave while we stay behind. One family is moving tomorrow. Another is leaving the following week and then it'll probably be about a family every two weeks or so. I'm so amazingly happy for everyone and I'm pretty happy with where we are but it's a very unsettling feeling nonetheless to watch your friends pack up and leave without you doing the same thing.
We're in a really good place at the moment given what's going on "out in the real world." I have a good job. We have a nice (reasonable) apartment. Craig was admitted back into the seminary to work on an STM (Master of Sacred Theology) which is a year-long study and would allow us to keep said reasonable apartment and continue to live fairly within our means. That extra year would give me time on my job and give us time to pay off some debt and stay in one place for a little while.
We'd both really like to be moving to someplace permanent. I have this overwhelming desire to plant our family roots and find a place to call home. A place where we can belong to groups and church and build a network of friends. We have a great network here but no one's really, truly, permanent. We're all at that age where we're living and shifting and drifting as life takes us - few have children, few own houses - we're just experiencing life. However, we're also at that age where that balance is shifting. More and more are having kids, buying houses, and getting careers instead of jobs.
So it is with happiness and sadness that I watch this weekend of family and graduation come to an end. I am beyond thrilled for my friends who are moving, who are buying homes, being ordained, and suddenly feeling crazy. I will miss seeing them around campus, knowing that they're just steps away for an impromptu hangout, seeing them at a party or trivia or Idol or other tv marathon. I'm excited we'll have friends to visit and new stories to hear about.
I know there are plans for Craig and I in the works - somewhere out in the ether. I have faith that we will fit in to a place and a plan when the time comes. My whole time east of the Mississippi has been a test of my patience and my ability to let go. I (think) am better than I used to be. We will be the ones packing and moving and going crazy over a quick succession of changes at some point soon - I just don't know when.
In the meantime, I plan to watch the ground move, time shift, and people leave with smiles and tears. Life is, like I said, shifting.
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