My first day at First Evangelical Lutheran Church was on Sept 1st. That was also the first time I led a funeral service. Since then I have had many firsts. I conducted my first baptism Sept 19th. It was the son of the first neighbors that I met when I moved to town. I officiated a wedding for the first time on October 9th. This is the first time I have had to preach every Sunday. I own a house for the first time. And this is the first time I have moved somewhere without knowing when I would be moving away.
All these firsts are overwhelming. Everything takes a lot of prep work and organizing. There aren't a lot of established protocols because I have not established them yet. And yet I know that soon enough I will be at the other end of this journey and I will be experiencing a series of lasts.
