For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.–Jeremiah 29:11
On Friday, I packed my office. It was my last day as Corporate Director of Marketing and Communications for Bethesda Lutheran Communities. On Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, I begin as Corporate Director of Faith Life Resources with the Bethesda Institute.
As I packed and labeled a box of Bibles, hymnals and other important books, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Imagine the luck to have a career of positions where Bibles and hymnals have a prominent place on the office bookcase.
This newly created position is “responsible for growing the spiritual life initiatives and resources on the Bethesda Institute, a division of Bethesda Lutheran Communities.” I’ll serve as the principle organizer for the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability (June 16-20 in Dallas); develop and direct faith-and-disability research initiatives; and direct the planning and implementation of all religious resources and periodicals.
I’ve served as Interim Vice President of Marketing and Communications since Laura Reilly resigned in November. While I enjoyed the interim, I quickly discerned the permanent position was not for me, and did not apply. I was especially happy, then, when David Morstad, Bethesda Institute’s executive director, approached me with this opportunity.
“You’ve been preparing your whole life for this,” Nancy J. Stelling, the first editor of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather magazine), will say whenever someone needs an encouraging push to do something new. In many ways, my years with LWT, and all that came after, prepare me for this new first-day. Forward!
—Sue Edison-Swift
Feb. 9, 2014
