The Next Season

Two and a half months since that glorious May afternoon when we all ceremonially processed from Edman Memorial Chapel, most of my peers from the Wheaton College Class of 2011 are well on to the next season of their lives. And I am proud to say that my class is well represented among career fields and new homes. Many have begun their graduate or professional studies, and a fair number are now on the mission field – and taking into account their varied locations, the sun currently never sets on the Class of 2011. As for me, the pieces of the next season of my life have slowly come together over the summer, and with the traditional end of summer coming up next weekend, I finally have a clear picture and can give a full report of what is in store for me going forward.

The big news for me recently is that I have officially begun my career as a music educator. Just last week, I was offered an assistant band position at Hadley Junior High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It was a bit of a whirlwind how everything happened. I signed the contract on Monday, and classes began on Wednesday. I have immensely enjoyed my first week. The faculty, staff, and administration at Hadley, and in the entire district, have made me feel very welcome, and I look forward to serving the students and their families. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing where this starting point of my career will lead me.

I must note here, for the record, that I write on this website as a private citizen, and not as a spokesperson for my district, or any other organization for that matter. To protect the privacy of my students and their families, I will not be naming any of them here, and will not give details about my interactions with them either. If you are a student or the parent of a student in my district and wish to contact me, please do so through official school channels.

I am also busy aside from my professional responsibilities, primarily at church. One of the reasons I was most looking forward to moving back to Oak Park after graduating was returning, for the foreseeable future, to my home congregation, Calvary Memorial Church. I had been very involved there during my high school years, and had been looking forward to resuming my active participation. There have been a quite a few staffing changes in the last few years, as the pastoral staff of my childhood has been largely called to minister in other places. In the few months since moving back home I have made a point to get to know these new ministers who I had previously only seen in passing when home on breaks. I am grateful to God for the godly, talented, visionary pastors he has given to Calvary. Great things are ahead for this church.

Including the upcoming launch of our restructured young adult ministry! Since midsummer, the leadership team for Adelphoi (the name of the young adult ministry) has been preparing for the fall. We have read excerpts from several, varied books on the topics of leadership and discipleship, and prayed intensely for what is ahead. Starting this fall, while we will continue to meet for a Sunday morning “Sunday school” class, our primary meeting time will be Tuesday nights. We will alternate between worship gatherings on first and third Tuesdays and home-based dinners on second and fourth Thursdays. The first large worship gathering is set for Tuesday, September 20, and the dinner gatherings begin the following week. If you are a young adult in the area and are otherwise free at 7 PM on September 20, feel free to join us at the church! All of us on the leadership team are excited about the new programming structure and how it might reach the young adult population in our area.

Hadley and Adelphoi, together, will definitely keep me occupied this fall, and beyond, but especially these next few months, given how much is new about both (the former only in relation to me, of course). I am extraordinarily grateful for the Lord’s provision of these two opportunities.

Every night, before I go to bed, I read a psalm. I choose a psalm based on the current time: I take the current minutes past the hour and reverse the digits. Last Friday, the day I received the job offer, I picked up my Bible, noted that it was four minutes past the hour, and turned to Psalm 40. The very first verse stood out to me. In the English Standard Version, it reads, “I waited patiently for the LORD/he inclined to me and heard my cry.” I think I will let that text speak for its own appropriateness.

This is Rubio, over and out.