In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ (Isaiah 6:1-8)
It was in the eleventh grade that I heard the voice and nudging of the Lord into ordained ministry. And like most, I thought God had the wrong number. Surely, God needed the most handsome, the most popular, the most outgoing, the most talented - not me. But, no, God was calling me. I tried every argument I could find, and God countered each; for after all, He is God. I finally said, "I will go on some conditions that I need to overcome. (Basically, I was asking God to make me a new person). And God provided. Oh, how God has provided in so many ways, too numerous to count, so many doors, and not just doors, windows! The way to college was paid, as was the way to seminary; even a detour I took when I tried to hide in "the belly of the whale" was a brief blessing of further training and on June 13, 1976, I was ordained a Deacon in the United Methodist Church by Bishop O. Eugene Slater at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, at a session of the Río Grande Conference. And in 1980, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bishop J. Chess Lovern ordained me an Elder in the UMC. The most precious memory I had of that morning was I was on my knees in prayer, and our first born, Nellie Maria, awoke, saw me and rolled (her only means of movement in those days) and came and touched me and made the noises she knew would make me laugh. I still get teary-eyed at that touch on that special day. Later that morning, my wife's hands on me, along with what seemed the weight of the world were on my shoulders and head, I was ordained, set apart, for the ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Order.
Today, is the day that I retired from active ministry. After some forty-one (counted) years of professional ministry, the Río Texas Conference will recognize the vote taken yesterday by my clergy peers at the Clergy Session, where some of my dearest friends yelled, "No!" when my name was mentioned.
I am blessed and I believe I have been faithful and fruitful. I said Yes to God, and throughout my ministry God has allowed others to say yes to His call into ministry and into service as believers and witnesses of what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do, for us all.
What tomorrow holds is a mystery. One thing I do know is that Nellie and I have bought a new home in Seguin, Texas, and we will have our base there for whatever God is planning for us. We know we have much to give, and with your prayers, love, support, and invitations, we will continue to serve Him. I resonate with what the young man said, after all those years in ministry: "One thing I do know; I was blind, but now I see." (John 9:25). I have seen God's hand at work, I have counted many miracles as God's involvement and movement in my ministry, and I awake the new surprises and blessings of this amazing and loving God we serve.
¡Adelante!
Eradio Valverde
