From the Loss of My Father to Seminary

Today I want to put all the remaining puzzle pieces together and bring you to where I am now, which is a Master of Divinity Candidate at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.  After I lost my father in February 2024, I still retired. The process had already started for me to retire and I did not have the will, strength or energy at that time to roll it back.  

I honestly think I was kind of in shock at that time.  I felt a huge void with the loss of my father.  I missed everything about him.  He was always a big part of my life and his loss hit me hard. He was a huge part of my life in the final months of his life when he was so sick. His loss was overwhelming and I knew I needed something to focus on. Since staying in my current position did not seem like a viable option, I thought about finding another job, starting a business and a few other endeavors.

I am not exactly sure when I decided, for sure, that I would put my time into reading and studying the Bible, but I believe it was just about six weeks after my father’s death. After that, it was just a matter of clearing my plate of as many distractions as possible and waiting to get started. I was so excited to start my beautiful journey of reading the Bible cover-to-cover.  I just had no idea where it would take me.  

Sometime in the summer of 2024 when mom and I were back in Maryland, attending church regularly, when I had facilitated my final book club for the not-for-profit and officially retired, which was June 2024, I started to formulate the idea of not only reading the Bible cover-to-cover but also facilitating a monthly Bible Book Club.  I wrote a two-year month-by-month schedule and just waited. I had decided to announce the Bible Book Club in December 2024 and to start it in January 2025.  

Faith was a huge part of my life in 2024 and I was determined that it would be the biggest and best part of the rest of my life.  It has all fallen in place beautifully to bring me where I am now – two short years later - a proud and very enthusiastic Master of Divinity candidate! My blog from now on will focus on the present and take you through my weekly journey in real time – with some throwbacks to when I started this journey in December 2024 and beyond.

I am so excited to bring you with me as I continue this beautiful exploration of my faith. I hope you enjoyed my Tuesday Tracy.