So last night as a way to welcome our new housemate, Don, to Elgin we all went to dinner at Panara Bread. So we all piled into our totally awesome white, eight passenger van and headed off to Panara. We got there and were up at the counter to give our orders, and I had actually already started, when one of the guys behind the counter (pretty sure a manager of sorts) started asking questions about who we were. Apparently we looked a little odd strollin in together as a group of young adults. I started listening to their conversation and completely forgot that there was a worker trying to take my order!
So the guy asked who we were. And so we told him that we are a group of volunteers in the Brethren Volunteer Service all working for the Church of the Brethren. He got really excited and started telling us about his daughter who is spending 11 months volunteering in the Kentucky mountains. We had a good, yet brief conversation with him. (And for those of you who are wondering, I did finally finish ordering my food.) As the rest of us ordered our food I asked the guy if he had any discounts for volunteers. I asked it half joking and half serious. He responded that there might be some brownies involved with our meal at some point. We all laughed and got rather excited about the prospect of free brownies. You know, as volunteers we REALLY like free things. :)
So we were at our booth eating our dinners having a great time. Lots of laughter was involved to say the least. Anyways, suddenly there he was, he popped his head over the end wall of our booth and started talking to us again. Not gonna lie, it startled us just a wee little bit! He asked us how our food was and then asked if we had room for a treat. We all looked around at each other and said 'uh, yeah!' He told us to create a space in the middle of the table and he set down a tray that had seven or eight different kinds of pastries on it. It was absolutely awesome!! We looked at each other and at him almost speechless. He kept talking to us, asking us more questions about what it is that we each did as volunteers and asking for more information. It was funny because everyone looked at me because it's my job to talk to people about BVS!
After the question and answer time, he finally left us to dig into our goodies. It was funny because we each had staked out which pastry we wanted almost before he had even gone. And they were all pretty much delicious!
Needless to say it was the best Panara visit ever.
And the point of the story: tell people that you volunteer! It just might mean getting something delicious for free!!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A Youthful Perspective
I just attended one of the best, most relaxed yet challenging conference. Work took me to National Older Adult Conference in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina at Lake Junaluska. An absolutely beautiful location. You can't go wrong with a lake surrounded my mountains. At least not in my opinion.
I find myself in the minority since I am very much under age of being eligible to attend this conference. I'm about 26 years ahead of the game. For these four days I consider myself so lucky because I had about 900 sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles coming to talk with me and to learn more about me. Always wondering why this youngster as at their conference.
I had a blast though. Everywhere I went people were always telling me "you're too young to be here!" and that was the typical opening into a wonderful conversation about who I am and what their story is. The theme of this year's conference was Legacies of Wisdom. And I think it is so fitting for all ages to ponder. For three days I was surrounded by so much history and wisdom. One of the speakers talked of writing legacy wills, rather than the typical will that says what is to happen in the end. These legacy wills are a way to tell your story. To preserve it for generations to come. So that they know the life and legacy of their loved ones. I love hearing people's stories and with my work in BVS I encourage people to tell their story. I think it might be one of my favorite parts of the work I do. I wish I had the words to express how much this means to me. But, words are escaping me. When I listen to these stories as these older adults are retelling their story, a part of their life that has shaped them in so many ways, chills come over me. There is definitely the Spirit present in these moments. The Spirit is moving in each one of us.
Many times through the week people were thanking me for coming and sharing about the work of BVS and for taking the time to join them. But really, it is me who should be thanking those who took the time to share their story. And I did. As someone who could easily be their daughter, or grandaughter, or neice, or nephew, it meant so much for me to hear these stories. I wish there was a way to record them all before they are lost.
It was a week where I could be super goofy and at the same time could become involved in a serious conversation about life and the church and the direction that BVS is headed. I could take time to relax and take a nap if I wanted to (which one day I did!), or to sit outside on the rocking chairs and enjoy conversation with whoever was already there. This is how I managed to stumble across some relatives that I didn't even know! It was really cool. I sat down and Mart looked at my last name and said my something something something double cousin something something something married a guy with that last name. And I said yep that's my parents! It's not often that you cross someone in the CoB with the last name Flaten! That's for sure! It was a really neat evening.
It's so hard to remember everything that happened in my week. So much to say the least. All I know is that I had such a great and meaningful time. I'm already trying to figure out how to make it to the next NOAC even though I will still be waaaaaaaaaay too young! Yep, these Brethren know how to have a good time!
I find myself in the minority since I am very much under age of being eligible to attend this conference. I'm about 26 years ahead of the game. For these four days I consider myself so lucky because I had about 900 sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles coming to talk with me and to learn more about me. Always wondering why this youngster as at their conference.
I had a blast though. Everywhere I went people were always telling me "you're too young to be here!" and that was the typical opening into a wonderful conversation about who I am and what their story is. The theme of this year's conference was Legacies of Wisdom. And I think it is so fitting for all ages to ponder. For three days I was surrounded by so much history and wisdom. One of the speakers talked of writing legacy wills, rather than the typical will that says what is to happen in the end. These legacy wills are a way to tell your story. To preserve it for generations to come. So that they know the life and legacy of their loved ones. I love hearing people's stories and with my work in BVS I encourage people to tell their story. I think it might be one of my favorite parts of the work I do. I wish I had the words to express how much this means to me. But, words are escaping me. When I listen to these stories as these older adults are retelling their story, a part of their life that has shaped them in so many ways, chills come over me. There is definitely the Spirit present in these moments. The Spirit is moving in each one of us.
Many times through the week people were thanking me for coming and sharing about the work of BVS and for taking the time to join them. But really, it is me who should be thanking those who took the time to share their story. And I did. As someone who could easily be their daughter, or grandaughter, or neice, or nephew, it meant so much for me to hear these stories. I wish there was a way to record them all before they are lost.
It was a week where I could be super goofy and at the same time could become involved in a serious conversation about life and the church and the direction that BVS is headed. I could take time to relax and take a nap if I wanted to (which one day I did!), or to sit outside on the rocking chairs and enjoy conversation with whoever was already there. This is how I managed to stumble across some relatives that I didn't even know! It was really cool. I sat down and Mart looked at my last name and said my something something something double cousin something something something married a guy with that last name. And I said yep that's my parents! It's not often that you cross someone in the CoB with the last name Flaten! That's for sure! It was a really neat evening.
It's so hard to remember everything that happened in my week. So much to say the least. All I know is that I had such a great and meaningful time. I'm already trying to figure out how to make it to the next NOAC even though I will still be waaaaaaaaaay too young! Yep, these Brethren know how to have a good time!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Good Weekend
After a summer of busy travel and new experiences, a weekend here at home to do with whatever I pleased was so extremely refreshing and much needed. I haven't had a free weekend since May. That's a long time.
So here is my fabulous weekend in a nutshell:
Saturday: slept in; played Ultimate for oh, I dunno, about 3 hours; created a feast of the infamous stuffed mushrooms (they never get old!) and vegetarian sushi for the housemates; watched Slumdog Millionaire
Sunday: attended church; ate lunch at the end of summer all church picnic at Wing Park (you really can't go wrong when it comes to Brethren pot lucks); came in second place in a croquet match; did laundry (gotta love those clean clothes!); went to dinner at the Barley House; watched a movie while folding laundry and attempting to download my photos from California and Oregon
Throw in there a lot of laughter and good conversation, blue skies and puffy white clouds with a bit of chill in the air and I've got myself a perfect weekend. It may sound busy to the average joe, but to me, it's exactly what was needed.
Believe it or not, that's an extremely chill weekend. And those are hard to find these days. Yup, it was a good weekend.
So here is my fabulous weekend in a nutshell:
Saturday: slept in; played Ultimate for oh, I dunno, about 3 hours; created a feast of the infamous stuffed mushrooms (they never get old!) and vegetarian sushi for the housemates; watched Slumdog Millionaire
Sunday: attended church; ate lunch at the end of summer all church picnic at Wing Park (you really can't go wrong when it comes to Brethren pot lucks); came in second place in a croquet match; did laundry (gotta love those clean clothes!); went to dinner at the Barley House; watched a movie while folding laundry and attempting to download my photos from California and Oregon
Throw in there a lot of laughter and good conversation, blue skies and puffy white clouds with a bit of chill in the air and I've got myself a perfect weekend. It may sound busy to the average joe, but to me, it's exactly what was needed.
Believe it or not, that's an extremely chill weekend. And those are hard to find these days. Yup, it was a good weekend.
Who is Sharon?
So for some reason people have trouble remembering my name. Youth I work with call me anything from Karen and Shannon (which actually kind of make sense), to Lauren and Jill (apparently I look like I could have these names...).
One day, soon after returning from my workcamps, I wrote on my Facebook status that I was having an identity crisis and two very important people to me responded.
Beth, one of my housemates and closest friends wrote this:
One day, soon after returning from my workcamps, I wrote on my Facebook status that I was having an identity crisis and two very important people to me responded.
Beth, one of my housemates and closest friends wrote this:
Friday, August 21, 2009
Mushrooms? YES PLEASE!
So I took today off. A personal day you might say. To come into the city of Chicago to visit my good friend Amber before my two British boys show up. (That's an entirely different story.) So we slept in this morning which was absolutely fabulous, not getting up until 9:30ish.
The morning started out with the making of eggs in a hole using the amazing multi-grain bread that I bought for Amber and Bethany as a 'thank you for letting us take over your apartment' gift. It was the beginning of something beautiful. As I sat on the floor of Amber's kitchen eating my egg in a hole, I was flipping through a cookbook and ooohing and ahhhing over the recipes and the photos that are ever so helpful. And that's where our day of food began.
We had a plan. This plan was to make ourselves a wonderful meal as an early dinner before picking the boys up from the airport. We had all day to go shopping for food and then create our masterpieces. We knew that we wanted mushrooms in some form or another. So after looking through the cookbooks we settled on chicken and mushroom risotto and asparagus for the main dish and then a strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Amazing? I think so.
I wish I could say that we went to the store and got the things we needed and put on our aprons and created these amazing things. Well this wasn't the case. I got a message that my friends were actually going to be getting in at 6:3opm rather than the original 7:00pm that we had planned into our days events. This cut a very crucial 30 minutes off of the time we had counted on. But no worries we regrouped and came up with a new idea.
NOW the idea was to have a light, late lunch of whatever struck our fancy at the grocery store and then take the boys out for some Chicago style pizza as a late 'welcome to Chicago!' dinner. Then Amber had the idea to make stuffed mushrooms using cream cheese, bleu cheese and green onions. I said I could make home made guacamole to go along with it. Then while we were at the store we decided to splurge on roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips. Throw in with those things some carrots, snap peas and grapes and we had ourselves a feast.
Oh and what a beautiful feast it was! The mushrooms were divine and simply melted in your mouth. The guacamole was amazing (once we figured out what spice was missing...silly salt). The hummus went brilliantly with the pita chips, carrots and snap peas. The grapes and blueberries were extremely refreshing. Add to that a mango green tea and SNAP. An amazingly, awesome and perfect meal.
So now we get back to the mushrooms. You know the ones that simply melted in your mouth? Yeah, you know you're jealous (as you should be!). Well, the very last mushroom I ate was by far the best one. It had great flavor. I can't even begin to describe it to you. For those of you who have seen Ratatouille, it's kind of like when Remi is experiencing food and there are all sorts of colors and shapes that explode around him as each flavor comes out in the dish. Yeah it was ten times better than that! Needless to say that after I ate this last mushroom, I was absolutely devastated. I wanted there to be more! In fact, I told Amber that I wished that someone would ring the doorbell at that very moment and have a dish full of these stuffed mushrooms. And I honestly really did!
But alas the doorbell did not ring. And there were no more stuffed mushrooms. But it was pretty much the most amazing thrown together meal ever! It was like we had a party. For the two of us. In our bellies. :)
Now onto the strawberry rhubarb pie, that's now going to be a strawberry (no rhubarb) crispish thing that we are creating ourselves....and the fun continues! YAY!
Bon appetit!
The morning started out with the making of eggs in a hole using the amazing multi-grain bread that I bought for Amber and Bethany as a 'thank you for letting us take over your apartment' gift. It was the beginning of something beautiful. As I sat on the floor of Amber's kitchen eating my egg in a hole, I was flipping through a cookbook and ooohing and ahhhing over the recipes and the photos that are ever so helpful. And that's where our day of food began.
We had a plan. This plan was to make ourselves a wonderful meal as an early dinner before picking the boys up from the airport. We had all day to go shopping for food and then create our masterpieces. We knew that we wanted mushrooms in some form or another. So after looking through the cookbooks we settled on chicken and mushroom risotto and asparagus for the main dish and then a strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Amazing? I think so.
I wish I could say that we went to the store and got the things we needed and put on our aprons and created these amazing things. Well this wasn't the case. I got a message that my friends were actually going to be getting in at 6:3opm rather than the original 7:00pm that we had planned into our days events. This cut a very crucial 30 minutes off of the time we had counted on. But no worries we regrouped and came up with a new idea.
NOW the idea was to have a light, late lunch of whatever struck our fancy at the grocery store and then take the boys out for some Chicago style pizza as a late 'welcome to Chicago!' dinner. Then Amber had the idea to make stuffed mushrooms using cream cheese, bleu cheese and green onions. I said I could make home made guacamole to go along with it. Then while we were at the store we decided to splurge on roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips. Throw in with those things some carrots, snap peas and grapes and we had ourselves a feast.
Oh and what a beautiful feast it was! The mushrooms were divine and simply melted in your mouth. The guacamole was amazing (once we figured out what spice was missing...silly salt). The hummus went brilliantly with the pita chips, carrots and snap peas. The grapes and blueberries were extremely refreshing. Add to that a mango green tea and SNAP. An amazingly, awesome and perfect meal.
So now we get back to the mushrooms. You know the ones that simply melted in your mouth? Yeah, you know you're jealous (as you should be!). Well, the very last mushroom I ate was by far the best one. It had great flavor. I can't even begin to describe it to you. For those of you who have seen Ratatouille, it's kind of like when Remi is experiencing food and there are all sorts of colors and shapes that explode around him as each flavor comes out in the dish. Yeah it was ten times better than that! Needless to say that after I ate this last mushroom, I was absolutely devastated. I wanted there to be more! In fact, I told Amber that I wished that someone would ring the doorbell at that very moment and have a dish full of these stuffed mushrooms. And I honestly really did!
But alas the doorbell did not ring. And there were no more stuffed mushrooms. But it was pretty much the most amazing thrown together meal ever! It was like we had a party. For the two of us. In our bellies. :)
Now onto the strawberry rhubarb pie, that's now going to be a strawberry (no rhubarb) crispish thing that we are creating ourselves....and the fun continues! YAY!
Bon appetit!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
What if I Stay? What if I Go?
I was thinking today at church about the many people I know and the various types of relationships and friendships there are in the world. Well the world might be a bit broad, but I can at least think about the ones in my life.
Those who know me well know that I love to meet new people and to learn what I can about them. I love to learn what their story is. It's a great thing. I know a lot of people from many different parts of my life. I know people from church in Bridgewater and Westminster and now from Highland Avenue. I know people from Brethren Woods, Camp Swatara, Camp Mount Hermon, Camp Ithiel, Camp Myrtlewood. I know people from the dozen or so workcamps that I've led these past several summers. I know people from John Wayland Elementary, Pence Middle School, Turner Ashby High School, Bridgewater College, and the University of Glouschestershire. I know people from National Youth Conference, Young Adult Conference and Annual Conference. I know people from my BVS Unit. I know people in England and Germany and Nigeria.
Needless to say that through all of these places I have met my fair share of people. And in many cases I have this knack of remembering many of these people. AND I attempt to keep in touch with them. This is the hard part. How does one keep in touch with everyone that they've met over the years? It just isn't possible. And believe it or not I do recognise this fact. I'm not going to say that I like it, but I do realize that it isn't possible. I'm awful at keeping in touch. I'm not good at writing letters, or e-mails. It's nothing personal, I'm just not practiced in writing. I struggle with keeping up with this blog much of the time!
One thing I have been thinking more and more lately is how there are some people that we meet who are meant to pass through our lives after leaving their mark on our life. Whatever that mark may be. I struggle a great deal when I lose touch with a friend, someone that I thought I'd never lose touch with. It does sadden me, but this thought that people pass through our lives for a reason gives me a sense of peace. This is something that I am still thinking about and pondering but that is okay because relationships of all sizes and strengths matter to me.
Those who know me well know that I love to meet new people and to learn what I can about them. I love to learn what their story is. It's a great thing. I know a lot of people from many different parts of my life. I know people from church in Bridgewater and Westminster and now from Highland Avenue. I know people from Brethren Woods, Camp Swatara, Camp Mount Hermon, Camp Ithiel, Camp Myrtlewood. I know people from the dozen or so workcamps that I've led these past several summers. I know people from John Wayland Elementary, Pence Middle School, Turner Ashby High School, Bridgewater College, and the University of Glouschestershire. I know people from National Youth Conference, Young Adult Conference and Annual Conference. I know people from my BVS Unit. I know people in England and Germany and Nigeria.
Needless to say that through all of these places I have met my fair share of people. And in many cases I have this knack of remembering many of these people. AND I attempt to keep in touch with them. This is the hard part. How does one keep in touch with everyone that they've met over the years? It just isn't possible. And believe it or not I do recognise this fact. I'm not going to say that I like it, but I do realize that it isn't possible. I'm awful at keeping in touch. I'm not good at writing letters, or e-mails. It's nothing personal, I'm just not practiced in writing. I struggle with keeping up with this blog much of the time!
One thing I have been thinking more and more lately is how there are some people that we meet who are meant to pass through our lives after leaving their mark on our life. Whatever that mark may be. I struggle a great deal when I lose touch with a friend, someone that I thought I'd never lose touch with. It does sadden me, but this thought that people pass through our lives for a reason gives me a sense of peace. This is something that I am still thinking about and pondering but that is okay because relationships of all sizes and strengths matter to me.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Whirl Wind of a Life - Summer 2009
spending a weekend with fabulous young adults in the Church of the Brethren at Camp Swatara, learning and talking of 'one another,' singing beautiful traditional hymns as one body, getting in an awesome game of Ultimate
flying to Kansas City, Kansas to spend a week mentoring and learning from the amazing senior high youth of the Western Plains District at Camp Mount Hermon, watching the youth interact with community members at a soup kitchen for a random act of kindness, staying up all night talking over a flaming camp fire and not thinking anything about it
traveling to Harrisonburg, Virginia by train (one of my favorite ways to travel) to join 700 junior high youth and their advisors for a weekend of worship, fellowship, and fun, getting to visit some good friends in Bridgewater for an evening of good food and laughs, being bombarded by some of youth from workcamps last summer,sharing with youth about what Brethren Volunteer Service has in store for them when they are older, remembering the oh so famous hand hug
working countless hours with Beth to create a totally awesome tree for Annual Conference out of recycled cardboard and tin cans focusing on being environmentally friendly and reusing the things that we have available rather than getting more than we need, making my first trek to the west coast, having the opportunity to take a group of youth to a beach in San Diego, California for a day of learning and experiencing what Brethren Volunteer Service is all about and then treating them to ice cream afterwards, lounging by the pool at the resort we stayed at, eating fabulous raspberry sorbet
going on a road trip with Beth and Momma Merrill and Rachel from San Diego to Fremont and being amazed at how large California is and how diverse the terrain is, meandering around the great city of San Fransisco by myself and then again with my good Matthias, going around to some of the different nature parks in Fremont and hiking straight up them, watching fireworks on the 4th of July after taking our volunteers out for some fantastic Thai cuisine
flying into Eugene, Oregon not sure of how I would get from the airport to the Greyhound Bus Station downtown, sort of hitch hiking a ride from the gentleman who sat beside me on the plane (nice guy by the name of Bob), sitting beside a young man, named Jason, who was on leave from the army and on his way home while on the Greyhound, spending a week at Camp Myrtlewood and helping to prepare and eat wonderful home cooked food, having the opportunity to talk with John and Margaret for hours about life and our place in the world, taking hikes with Marley, the awesome Boxer pup, and running with him through the forest, watching the sun set over the Pacific, taking the time for a spontaneous camping trip in the Oregon wilderness with Niko and Tyler and sleep out under the open sky (despite the rain that chased us back in our car at 2 in the morning), realizing that I need wilderness in my life, oh and a dog (or two)
meandering around Portland and falling in love with the city even though I was there for a short time, taking public transportation everywhere, thinking about the possibility of moving to Portland and taking a class or two at a university there, walking through Powell's Bookstore and feeling as though I was in heaven, meeting my first pirate who happened to be completely decked out in pirate attire with a Scottish accent (no joke), talking with Pastor Kirby about the beauty that surrounds us in nature that God has blessed us with so abundantly, attending the Peace Church of the Brethren for Sunday morning services before flying home to Chicago
returning to Elgin for three very busy days, spending an afternoon at Camp Emmaus with a bunch of fabulous senior high youth, giving a presentation on BVS and almost choking myself on the dust in the lodge, eating mountain pies made with biscuit dough = GREAT idea, seeing all my frisbee friends and getting to play Ultimate
orientation for BVS found me in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a week, climbed some mountains in West Virginia and went swimming at Blue Hole on Route 33 West, spent an afternoon at Our Community Place, created a labyrinth that represented my life journey, met 15 totally awesome volunteers and wished them luck during their time of service
leading two week long service oriented camps, one in Keyser, West Virginia and the other in North Fort Myers, Florida, was able to spend those two weeks with some awesome youth and being extremely blessed by each of them, getting my hands dirty and the great sense of satisfaction that comes along with that feeling
attending the wedding of two friends from my time at Bridgewater College and wishing them well as they begin their lives together, eating super yummy crepes and chatting with a good friend, driving through the night to join my family at Smith Mountain Lake for a short holiday, talking for hours with Allison while floating in the wonderful waters of the lake, playing card games with grandma and winning, enjoying a time of no stress before the storms come again
driving my car from Bridgewater to Elgin in one day and enjoying the solitude and freedom that comes from having the windows down and the music up, seeing the smiling faces of my long lost housemates as I return home again
flying to Kansas City, Kansas to spend a week mentoring and learning from the amazing senior high youth of the Western Plains District at Camp Mount Hermon, watching the youth interact with community members at a soup kitchen for a random act of kindness, staying up all night talking over a flaming camp fire and not thinking anything about it
traveling to Harrisonburg, Virginia by train (one of my favorite ways to travel) to join 700 junior high youth and their advisors for a weekend of worship, fellowship, and fun, getting to visit some good friends in Bridgewater for an evening of good food and laughs, being bombarded by some of youth from workcamps last summer,sharing with youth about what Brethren Volunteer Service has in store for them when they are older, remembering the oh so famous hand hug
working countless hours with Beth to create a totally awesome tree for Annual Conference out of recycled cardboard and tin cans focusing on being environmentally friendly and reusing the things that we have available rather than getting more than we need, making my first trek to the west coast, having the opportunity to take a group of youth to a beach in San Diego, California for a day of learning and experiencing what Brethren Volunteer Service is all about and then treating them to ice cream afterwards, lounging by the pool at the resort we stayed at, eating fabulous raspberry sorbet
going on a road trip with Beth and Momma Merrill and Rachel from San Diego to Fremont and being amazed at how large California is and how diverse the terrain is, meandering around the great city of San Fransisco by myself and then again with my good Matthias, going around to some of the different nature parks in Fremont and hiking straight up them, watching fireworks on the 4th of July after taking our volunteers out for some fantastic Thai cuisine
flying into Eugene, Oregon not sure of how I would get from the airport to the Greyhound Bus Station downtown, sort of hitch hiking a ride from the gentleman who sat beside me on the plane (nice guy by the name of Bob), sitting beside a young man, named Jason, who was on leave from the army and on his way home while on the Greyhound, spending a week at Camp Myrtlewood and helping to prepare and eat wonderful home cooked food, having the opportunity to talk with John and Margaret for hours about life and our place in the world, taking hikes with Marley, the awesome Boxer pup, and running with him through the forest, watching the sun set over the Pacific, taking the time for a spontaneous camping trip in the Oregon wilderness with Niko and Tyler and sleep out under the open sky (despite the rain that chased us back in our car at 2 in the morning), realizing that I need wilderness in my life, oh and a dog (or two)
meandering around Portland and falling in love with the city even though I was there for a short time, taking public transportation everywhere, thinking about the possibility of moving to Portland and taking a class or two at a university there, walking through Powell's Bookstore and feeling as though I was in heaven, meeting my first pirate who happened to be completely decked out in pirate attire with a Scottish accent (no joke), talking with Pastor Kirby about the beauty that surrounds us in nature that God has blessed us with so abundantly, attending the Peace Church of the Brethren for Sunday morning services before flying home to Chicago
returning to Elgin for three very busy days, spending an afternoon at Camp Emmaus with a bunch of fabulous senior high youth, giving a presentation on BVS and almost choking myself on the dust in the lodge, eating mountain pies made with biscuit dough = GREAT idea, seeing all my frisbee friends and getting to play Ultimate
orientation for BVS found me in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a week, climbed some mountains in West Virginia and went swimming at Blue Hole on Route 33 West, spent an afternoon at Our Community Place, created a labyrinth that represented my life journey, met 15 totally awesome volunteers and wished them luck during their time of service
leading two week long service oriented camps, one in Keyser, West Virginia and the other in North Fort Myers, Florida, was able to spend those two weeks with some awesome youth and being extremely blessed by each of them, getting my hands dirty and the great sense of satisfaction that comes along with that feeling
attending the wedding of two friends from my time at Bridgewater College and wishing them well as they begin their lives together, eating super yummy crepes and chatting with a good friend, driving through the night to join my family at Smith Mountain Lake for a short holiday, talking for hours with Allison while floating in the wonderful waters of the lake, playing card games with grandma and winning, enjoying a time of no stress before the storms come again
driving my car from Bridgewater to Elgin in one day and enjoying the solitude and freedom that comes from having the windows down and the music up, seeing the smiling faces of my long lost housemates as I return home again
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Dana, one of my former housemates and another close friend continued with:
I read these things that had been written on my behalf and I'm not gonna lie, there were a few tears threatening to fall from my face. So thanks to you both for the kind and ever loving words. They mean more than you can imagine. And believe me my friends, the love and friendship is mutual to the end of the world (and in Beth's case, the end of the universe) and back again a million times.