It’s great to be back at CFC!  And it’s hard to know where to begin as this is the first Thursday Thought I’ve written in months. 

While on Sabbatical, I went to Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, spent two weeks with my parents (Debbie & Bruce) in my hometown: Wadsworth, Ohio, went on a vacation with Neill & Colin in Fairlee, Vermont, went on a vacation with Neill, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law (Maureen & Scott) to Oahu, Hawaii, and finished up with two weeks in Washington State visiting Maureen & Scott.  I haven’t been able to spend this much time with my family since 2016 (when I was on Sabbatical from my former church in Lexington, Massachusetts).  Along the way, I reflected on each part of the journey.  I’ve been blogging since 2014, and you can read the Sabbatical posts if you’d like here:
https://laurenostrout.com/ 

I also made a list of the 11 books I read and a favorite quote from each.  Reading these books was the learning component of this time away.  It was amazing to have the time and space to focus on a varitey of topics, from the reshaping of the American Church to a new history of Medieval Europe!  My Sabbatical Reading List can be found here:
https://laurenostrout.com/2023/09/26/sabbatical-2023-reading-list/

Something I’ve been contemplating during the time away is how each of us have various roles and identities.  Here’s what I mean, and I’ll start by speaking for myself: I am the Pastor of Colchester Federated Church and an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ.  Those are professional roles/identities.  Though I am also a wife, daughter, sister, stepmother, cousin, niece, friend, colleague, dog owner (poor Hildy hated my Sabbatical!), etc. (among other aspects of personal identity).

Think about your life and relationships for a moment, all the roles you play. 
It’s a humbling exercise to consider the web of relationships each and every one of us has in our lives, all the people who help make us who we are in some ways. 

It’s worth remembering that each of us has varied (and important) roles.
No wonder it can feel overwhelming when those roles are hard to balance! 
While it is perhaps impossible to achieve a perfect balance (let alone to be perfect in all these roles), it’s good to keep the web of relationships in perspective. 
We can even thank God for the relationships that sustain us and help us grow.

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

Photos by Rev. Lauren Ostrout.

Thursday Thoughts 10/5/23.