My Journey in and out of Ministry

So the 100,000th visit to this blog came and went. It's not a precise measurement; the counter wasn't even set up for the first couple of months, and who knows how accurate it really is. But like seeing the odometer on your car turn over, it's kind of cool to watch it go by.

I was just discovering myself as a writer when the Quaker blogosphere took off. This form of writing (and reading) changed the way I understand both my own ministry and the Quaker world as a whole. Over the years I have had periods to devote myself more fully to Quaker ministry and periods where I worked for money that was another kind of service in the world. I was working part-time until the spring of 2006, and full-time from the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2011. All through it, I have been blessed with a fabulous husband and children who have taught me a lot about myself and about themselves. In October 2006, the blog reached 10,000 visits. In 2007, I posted almost every day. However, now I see that the blogs listed in the sidebar reflect my friendships from the early days more than current blogging. It's still hanging on to the "old" blogger format, and I can't change it much without a complete overhaul. Which may be in the cards. I may have to change the description in the sidebar soon.

I feel like this blog has mostly been a long, slow, drawn-out exploration of how to be a Quaker minister, interspersed with occasional trivia of my life and my favorite pie recipes.  But for today, I wanted to make a list of some of the posts over the last seven years that are most directly connected to this theme of figuring out who I am as a minister among the various other roles in my life.

Travel in Ministry 8/15/2005
O God have mercy on me a poor sinner... 10/19/2005
What does the emergent church mean to me? 11/3/2005
Blogger conversation after QHD 3/5/2006
My spiritual journey in five minutes or less 7/12/2006
My Candle Burns at Both Ends 9/14/2006
Runner? Writer? Quaker? 10/02/2006
Proposed Queries for a Clearness Committee 12/11/2006
Way Opens 1/15/2007
Mothers as Traveling Ministers 3/21/2007
Watch What You Fill Up On 4/5/2007
Traveling Companion or not? 5/9/2007
Faithfulness at RFMM 5/15/2007
Homemaker, writer, minister? 6/4/2007
What now? 9/14/2007
Undramatic and unheroic 11/7/2007
A new year, some new opportunities 1/4/2008
Gross Domestic Product 1/29/2008
Reflections on my workshop at FGC 7/17/2008
How do I find other convergent Friends? 7/25/2008
Can I do it again? Pleeease? 3/3/2009
Summertime 6/18/2009
Part-time Quaker 8/2/2009
Annual Report to Business Meeting 11/9/2009
Re-Entry 5/24/2010
Making Choices 8/6/2011
You Can't Have It All 7/15/2012

Some of the posts, especially the earlier ones, have links to blogs that are no longer available. I hope some of this is still relevant to you anyway. Thank you everyone of you who have read, commented, criticized or encouraged me along the way. I couldn't do it without you.