So it Begins

Well folks, I promised to keep you updated in my travels and adventures and experiences so here's the first of it. I really can't believe that it is already the middle of June and that I leave in a day for my first workcamp!

I have grown so much these past few months and if I could, I would try to explain it all here, but it simply isn't possible. I've learned to live in a house with up to six other volunteers all sharing one vehicle. I've learned how to live in a community with the same people that I work with every day and still manage to live peacefully...well most of the time : )
I've learned how to eat on $15 a week and live on $60 a month. I've learned that it's okay to put myself out there and meet new people and create a name for myself. I've learned that the weather here is crazy and that the winters never seem to end and then when they do, you have to watch out for tornadoes. I've learned and grown to love the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren and I have made many amazing friendships there. I've learned that as much as I love my job that it is still very trying at times, but that in the end it is all worth it. I've learned that having a spiritual director is an amazingly powerful thing and a great blessing.

As I go forth into the many adventures this summer I find myself well prepared. I have been blessed through my experiences at the Bridgewater CoB, and the Westminster CoB and now the Highland Avenue CoB. I get weekly e-mail updates from Bridgewater which bring news of joy and of sorrow and I am grateful for those because they have kept me in touch with my extended family. I go into this summer knowing that there are many people praying for me and my work. People that I know and people that I have never met before. Prayer is a very powerful thing and it isn't something that I am really comfortable doing in a formal out loud way. But I am constantly having a conversation with God and I know that is a great thing. Here in the Youth and Young Adult Office, we come together once a week to have a time of worship and the office comes together on Wednesdays for a short time of worship as well. It is a great thing. We take turns leading and everyone does it a little bit differently. We'll have hymn sings or meditative times, or Taize singing, or short messages...basically anything and everything goes.

The latest service I led for the Y/YA Office focused on grace and what grace is. Grace is a word that we hear in our everyday lives because it is such a common word, but I had never taken the time to understand what it truly means. And, truth be told, I still don't really have a firm grasp on it, but I'm learning. I asked the five of us in the office to take some time and ponder of what it is that grace means to us and to listen and reflect on an instrumental version of Amazing Grace. After doing some thinking I came to realize that grace is an invitation. It is an act of kindness as well as a way to forgive and to show one's faith. Grace is a gift that God has given us. Grace is something that I will keep exploring throughout the summer as I work with these youth and learn from them and grow with them.

I know this has been a bit random, but I have a feeling they will be for awhile. My goal is to keep you all up to date on my adventures as well as to give you a feel for what my life has been like these past nine months. I feel that I am in a great part of my life. There are so many new things to come in the future and many things that have happened in the past to reflect on.

The concept of "the journey" has been a huge part of my life since I've moved here. The first time I met with my spiritual director, David, he told me that while he didn't have all the answers he was, and is, willing to accompany me in my journey. Hearing him say that meant a great deal to me nine months ago, and still means a great deal to me today. Here is an invitation for you to join me on the journey that I am on. I will gladly join you in your journey as well all move forward in these lives that we live.