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Elizabeth's avatar

This has me feeling all kinds of goose-bumpy and excited. This is a beautiful reflection. Still reflecting on my earliest sense of God or transcendent experience, but I can name places and moments where the veil has been very thin... Ein Gedi in Israel, Blue Spring and the glow worm caves near me in NZ, Bonita Park in New Mexico...

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

I am loving this thread you’re weaving of significant places in your life & your feeling of God’s presence in each of them! I also know you love spending days outdoors exploring with your family, which doesn’t surprise me now as you share about these ‘thin places.’

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

Another profound memory for me is when I spent a summer in Ecuador before I began attending college. The city was nestled between mountain ranges, and I can remember spending most every afternoon... you guessed it... swinging on the edge of the football pitch. I would swing high enough that my feet, from my view, would go higher than the mountains. In these quiet moments, I felt the grandeur of creation, my own creatureliness, & God’s presence with me.

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Kristin's avatar

I am so excited to go on this journey with you. I just finished my third unit of Clinical Pastoral Education as a hospital chaplain. So much of what you wrote resonates with my soul! And A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my all time favs. Can’t wait to read it again alongside you and this crew.

I particularly love “self-care is whatever makes you feel like a person.” It’s not about fitting someone else’s mold, it’s about finding what makes you flourish. Thank you for your words!

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

Hi Kristin! It’s so lovely to have you here. Where are you doing CPE? I did two residences at Dallas Children’s from 2014-2016. I’ve got big love for CPE and hope your program is going well.

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Kristin's avatar

I’m at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas. My Educator did his CPE at Dallas Children’s as well. Do you know Ryan Tidball?

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

That’s amazing, I do know Ryan! We overlapped when he was doing his Educator training. I really learned a lot from him and appreciated his demeanour so much. And I remember his theological integration seminars being particularly helpful. Please tell him I said hello.

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Corinne W's avatar

I am having a hard time remembering when I really began to have an awareness of God. The first thing that comes to mind is a feeling I began to have at a young age being in church, and just feeling like “yep, God loves me and He loves His church and so my life will be spent in service here” (not that specific church but to THE church). It was a strong awareness at that point that some sort of leadership was on my life. I began to have visions around the age of 9 about communicating the love and truth of God to His bride.

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

Corinne, this doesn’t surprise me about you at all. I feel like this is something I have always known about you... your deep love for the church. And I feel like that’s probably something that contributed to our bond back in the Superchick forum days. Having you here feels a bit like going back to the beginning for us, huh? 💛

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Corinne W's avatar

I never really thought about that but, it's definitely an underlying bond which is something so beautiful and precious to me.

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Janette Parker Platter's avatar

Same same! I still plan to bring my fam your direction one day. Jonathan has to see how beautiful PG is!

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