An Endlessly Changing Horizon: Bittersweet

I am currently sitting in a coffee shop trying to digest the bittersweet ending to an indescribable year at the Diocese of Virginia.

Today was my last day at my yearlong internship in the Office of Mission and Outreach at the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. This will be a short post because I cannot truly describe in words what the past year has meant to me. I was blessed with opportunities to challenge and grow my skills such as writing articles for the Virginia Episcopalian to website management to running a couple of meetings. I was, also, gifted with unforgettable experiences like translating on a medical mission to the Dominican Republic to seeing firsthand an organization's work fighting for human rights in El Salvador to sharing new ideas about mission in Bogota, Colombia.

Office of Mission and Outreach!

However, the truly amazing part was waking up every morning and loving the thought of going into the office knowing I would be greeted by wonderful people. I looked forward to the anticipation of not always knowing the day's tasks. While work is work and there are always parts of the job you won't enjoy.The saying is true, "if you choose a job you love, you will never work a day in your life."

My empty office.

I will greatly miss everyone at the Diocese. They truly were like a family that welcomed me with open arms! They taught me a great deal throughout the year which has prepared me for my mission and journey ahead. And it is wonderful to know their support is always behind me! I know it is not really goodbye because I will be back in a year to share with them about my year in the Philippines!

They threw me a wonderful goodbye party today with some filipino food, a grass skirt, goodbye blessing and beautiful gifts! Here are some pictures from it: