 It's been the people. I just loved the people. It's been a privilege and a joy to share God's love with them and to be a part of their lives, to share in their joys and their sorrows and their successes. And I am just so grateful for everyone who has helped and encouraged me in my journey. Throughout my life, my church family has been my extended family, so I'd like to take this opportunity to simply say thank you for loving me and putting up with me. Love you. When I think about my 38 years of active ministry, probably nothing influenced my ministry as much as I tend to see. Half of my years in the North Texas Conference were in rural areas and serving as a district superintendent of more of a rural district at the time. The rest have been in suburban and in urban churches, and so the variety, the complexity, and the nuance of serving rural urban and suburban churches has been a great delight. And all the congregations in the context for those settings as unique as they are, it's the gift of itineracy. Strange as that may seem and sound, it's probably itineracy. I was 15 years as a Roman Catholic priest before I chose to leave the priesthood and get married and then seek to have my orders accepted in the United Methodist Church. And as I look back on it, I really think it was a God thing for me because the very reasons that I chose to leave the priesthood had to do with the role of women in the Catholic Church, the role of the laity in the Catholic Church, and the role of the hierarchy in the Catholic Church. And then I think God had an incredible sense of humor to lead me back into the United Methodist Church where the role of the hierarchy is very different in terms of authority and rulemaking than the Roman Catholic Church. And the laity has such an incredibly wonderful opportunity of equal participation with clergy in all that transpires and takes place and that there are women ministers and the role of women and the opportunities for women in ministry. So I believe that every congregation is gifted with the voice of laity. And I think that within each congregation there are voices of laity who have vision and who have an opportunity to see the ministry that's burning in their hearts come alive. And so congregations need to listen to those voices and need to nourish those seeds of opportunity. It is from within the laity and their vision of how the church can reach deeper into their communities that faith comes to life. And I can think of a dozen ministries or more over the life of my ministry that were very impactful, but they started from the laity. The laity is not duplicating opportunities that people can find and get outside of the church in other places, which doesn't mean that we won't do some of the same kinds of ministries or opportunities. If I could just give you an example recently in this last year at Highland Park, we started Journey Ministry, which is as a support to persons with Alzheimer's and their caregivers as well. And there are other opportunities and places for people to go and get that kind of support out in the world. But what was really particularly unique about our situation was we learned ahead of time that persons with Alzheimer's may not remember what day it is. They may not remember where they were going. They may not have so many questions for so many things. But when you start to play for them the hymns of the church, it just floods them back with memories. And so we saw to it that in starting this program, that that was a very significant component of this new ministry, is that it had that time when they sit together and sing the old hymns of the church that they all knew and grew up with. I got some really good advice from a college advisor as I was beginning my first career, which was teaching. And very simple. Be flexible. Don't get stuck in ruts. Embrace change. If we are going to embrace change, we have to step out in faith. Change requires risk taking. And that means we got to do a lot of homework. We have got to definitely be good prayer warriors. It is to work as diligently as you possibly can on developing your own spiritual formation and your own personal spiritual growth. I think one of the greatest gifts of my life has been the opportunity that I had from the age of 14 when I went into high school seminary to study to be a priest of spiritual growth and spiritual formation. And that kind of strong spiritual preparation that went alongside the educational opportunities I had. For anyone new in ministry, I would say maintain a balance between your family life, your ministry, and that means taking care of yourself. I think it is important that we stay educated with the technology and the latest trends. And I think that we have to learn from our failures. And when we have the least bit of success, we need to give God thanks and praise. My encouragement, my advice, my counsel would be for the ordinance to seek out deep and abiding friendships among colleagues of clergy and families. It has been in that band of brothers and sisters that I have been able to know that somebody has my back and that of my family. We can relate and love and share at deeper levels. And there is a connection and an understanding when you are with your peers and when you are able to go to some friends who will be lifelong friends and companions in ministry. So seek that out in your life and you will go far. You will go far with friends.