A Goodbye to RHF aka Family

It has been a strange and surreal experience saying all of these goodbyes.  I know that I am doing something momentous. I know that I am leaving for a year. But I am not certain that I know this. It has not yet sunk in. It is starting to.

On Sunday I said goodbye to my church family, and that was hard. The people of Rock Harbor Fullerton have truly been the church; they have been my brothers and my sisters, my support system, the people with whom I choose to spend my time. How can I leave this? How difficult it is to say goodbye. But this is not really "goodbye", just "see you later." I refuse to let these people, this family, slip out of my life.

With all that said, my final Sunday was perfect. It was an evening of family. It included a surprise of being pulled up in front of the entire church to have Steve give us an emotional send off, and Nick, some much-needed prayer. I covet these prayers, and I trust that they will continue. And the night was ended by new life, by the beauty of baptism. People chose to move from death to glorious new life in Jesus Christ. There is no more perfect final memory of RHF.

The last year with RHF has been truly wonderful. The lessons I've learned and the growth toward God and toward community that I have experienced has been good on unimaginable levels. To see the growth we have come through as a community and individuals is inspiring and makes me feel like I have been a part of something real and right.

Thank you family.

Staying true to the nature of this blog, here is a pictoral look at my life and farewell to RHF...