Appearing before Session

I am a step closer to my goal. I postponed my trip to Arizona (I leave in the morning) so I could appear before the session (governing body) of my church tonight. This is what the paperwork I had been filling out earlier this week was for. I wasn't sure who was even on session, so I was unsure just how many people would know me, but I found that I knew most everybody in the room very well which was very encouraging. I was asked to let them know a little about myself and to express why I thought I was being called to work in ministry. That was easy, but then came the can you give us an expression of your faith question. I know what I believe, I just answered the question in print the other day, but I still feel like I stumbled all over the place in answering it. Sometimes I wish I could be more eloquent in the way I talk, instead of just putting together all my random thoughts into words. I felt better after the associate pastor mentioned that I had done a better job describing my faith then he had heard at a Committee on Ministry meeting earlier in the day (Yes I love the Presbyterian Church, but they do have too many meetings). I was asked what schools I was looking at, and then they asked me to leave the room so they could discuss my request and vote. It seems like it only takes a few seconds to discuss something when you’re involved in the discussion, but when your outside it seems to take an eternity. When I was called back into the room everybody applauded me, and the pastor told me that I had been recommended to the presbytery (the next step is to appear before the Committee on Preparation for Ministry) unanimously after a few members of session gave me good recommendations. So now I get to mail off the paperwork, and go enjoy Arizona for Christmas.

With that in mind, I think I had better go pack. I leave at about 10:00 in the morning, and I haven't packed a thing. Still have some other things to do real quick too, It could be a long night.