So today I am thinking about beginnings and endings, and every ending is a new beginning.

I was watching the rector's, the rector of Christ's Church, or last day, or last Sunday,

as today, and I was thinking about when I left the Church in 2008, after serving there

as clergy for 10 years and having been a parishioner since 1979.

So it was a long time, we had a long, wonderful rich history with that parish, and I loved

serving there and loved all of the people there.

And it was really hard to leave, and I'm sure that her decision to leave was also a very

difficult one, because she does have a few years before, quite a few years before mandatory

retirement.

But whatever the reason, you know, I think sometimes you just know when it's time to go.

And I know that was true for me when I left the Church.

I had been there with Joel Hudson, who was the founding rector of that church, and it was

really time for new leadership and a fresh start for the parish.

And I was the remnant of the past, and I just knew that it was time for me to step aside,

to let her, you know, start new life in the parish.

And it was the right decision, it was a good decision, and I'm very grateful for the time

I had, but I also knew that my work there was done.

And it was the same way at Rainbow Village, when I left, I left a couple of years earlier

than I had planned to retire, I left in 2017 and had planned to stay until 2019.

But the timing was so right, once again, the timing was just so right.

The village had been built, and you know, there were 30 homes now for homeless families

with children.

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