I Have Accepted My First Call

This was announced today in the https://stpaulsnewnan.org newsletter:

There are moments in life when two truths exist side by side. This is one of them.

In many ways, this feels like coming home.

St. Paul’s is the place where I was confirmed, where my discernment first began to take shape, and where God quietly planted seeds that would grow over many years. Though I have left Newnan multiple times, moving to other states and even living internationally twice, this community has remained home since I was ten years old. So to return now, after all these years and all these miles, feels deeply sacred.

And yet, this is also something entirely new.

I return not as the person who once sat in the pews trying to understand where God was leading, but as someone stepping into a new vocation and identity: soon to be Mother Nicole. That reality still humbles me more than I can fully express.

Over and over throughout this discernment process, God opened doors with a clarity and grace I could never have orchestrated myself. This call to serve as Associate Rector at St. Paul’s feels like an extraordinary fit for me, for my family, and, I pray, for the life of this beloved community. I could not be more grateful or more excited for what is ahead.

Six weeks from tomorrow, I will be ordained to the priesthood. At the same time, I will be saying goodbye to teammates and nonprofit clients I have walked beside for almost seven years. As always, the transition is bittersweet. I am immensely grateful for how I've grown through this work and these relationships and the flexibility of a communications job that allowed me to juggle family, work, seminary, internships, and this entirely wild ride.

After ordination, I will spend six weeks away (As several friends are taking maternity leave at the same time, we have joked that this is my maternity leave as well. I am becoming a Mother again, after all) presiding in the communities that have shaped and formed me, traveling with friends and family, quieting my soul, and preparing my heart for whatever comes next.

I step into this next chapter with deep gratitude for every church, mentor, friend, teacher, and community that has carried me here. And I step forward trusting that the God who began this work will continue to guide the way.

Alleluia indeed.