A Week for the Ages

Remember that Full House episode when our beloved Uncle Joey strikes it big by getting free cable, winning a radio contest, and ultimately landing the heralded “Ranger Joe” TV gig? In his excitement he sent a “hug-o-gram” to the retiring Ranger Roy, only to uncover afterward that the exiting ranger had a physical condition that prevented hugs of any kind. Suddenly, dear Uncle Joey is fired before his first day and his really great week unravels.

Of course, since it’s Full House, everything worked out for Uncle Joey in the end, and Mr. Woodchuck entered all of our lives forever. Don’t you wish life ran exactly like Full House?

All that to say, my last week was phenomenal. No disastrous, failed hug-o-grams to report. Yet. Just when I thought my week couldn’t keep getting any better, it did.

I made a couple thousand bucks last summer, but like the Road Runner it’s beep-beep gone, and I’ve been struggling financially. I currently work at a middle school and tutor students for a living, and then an announcement was made in church that they needed tutors to help out at a nearby school. My ears and heart perked at the announcement and I spoke with someone after the service, encouraged. I’m hopeful not only for some financial relief, but also for connecting deeper with my church and the community.

That same Sunday I joined my church’s new mentorship program, not as a mentor but as a mentoree. Simply put, I’m anxious about this coming summer. I’ll be a camp counselor in North Carolina, and that’s a leadership role I’ve never quite held. I was sort of a camp counselor with YouthWorks last summer, though the primary responsibilities over the students fell upon their adult church leaders. This summer, however, I’m the leader. I’m the godly role model.

As someone largely unfamiliar with the leadership role, that’s scary. My hope for mentorship is to glean invaluable wisdom and encouragement from someone older and more experienced. I attended the information session last week, and I’m excited to get paired with a mentor soon. Excited to grow and be groomed before my crazy summer of leadership begins.

Finally, and perhaps greatest of all, I partook in some incredible conversations this week. Messy conversations I’ve only engaged in with a small handful of people across 25 years. I basically told these two guys my entire life-story — the wonderful and the not-so-wonderful parts alike. One was a fellow church member I’ve known for several months, the other a phenomenal author/blogger whom I’d never even met before.

Regardless how long I’ve “known” them, they’re both my brothers in Christ. I’ve been an introvert struggling with relationships my whole life, so connecting deeper into an eternal, spiritual siblinghood like I did this week makes my heart dizzy with joy. Incredibly uplifting conversations that I’ll remember the rest of my life.

It’s tempting to remain reveling in this past week and completely neglect this next one, which surely won’t be as “good.” Such is life — you have great weeks, you have wretched ones, and you have normal, forgettable ones. As the calendar changes from February to March this week, I want to treasure my moments and embrace these next seven days just as much as the last seven.

How was last week for you? Anything exciting to look forward to this week? Other than LEAP DAY, of course, which I’ll write all about when that heralded day arrives.