Turnover

One of the things that I carry around with me is an ache. Its a deep inside one - one that has been there for most of the year and has been exacerabated in the last few months.

I have over the last few weeks understood at least one reason for this ache. Its the loss of relationship with people who have worked with us.

Over the last year we have seen 5 of our longest staff and volunteers move on. Between them I can count at least 21 human-years of experience with us.

Its hard when people who we have been so close to - are not close anymore. There is a feeling of hollowness - a set of niggling questions that flitter around the edges of our mind. ... What happened? How come what was once such a daily sharing of lives - has now opened up into what seems a vast chasm...?

And then there is the nibbling away at memory... do we start revisiting the past and painting a different picture? Do the amazing times that we shared need to be revised and toned down?

No.

Life is real. We are broken people who are prone to make decisions that hurt each other. Those who are closest hurt us the most - and vice versa - those who have the highest opinion of us are wont to receive the cruelest twist from an action or word from us.

I refuse to undermine the amazing times that we have experienced in our journey with the JSK team. Its a conscious decision that I take - with the help of God.

The writer of Hebrews puts it in action terms: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Heb. 12:13-14)

And so we move forward - with what is in many ways a new-look JSK team. Its a new year. Its a new start.

Deep breath. Plunge in.