I arrived safely at my destination on Thursday, albeit at around 11:30pm. Fortunately I haven't totally lost my Spanish because that is all that the lady at the gate spoke, and it turns out that this is a very bilingual hoI am so enjoying being here with the sisters, because this house is just full of joy. The Holy Spirit is so present here; everyone is just so in love with Jesus-I love it!
It is especially precious to be here because I am working as a secretary for a sister who is trained as an occupational therapist and oversees most of the treatment, medication, and care of our elderly sisters. Because this is the Provincial House, it is essentially where the sisters go to retire, so most of our sisters here are elderly. My own sister is in school right now for occupational therapy and she Loves to speak in therapy language and talk about what she is learning, so every time I see a door handle that has a tab-pull rather than a knob, or a stiff seat cushion, or the easy-push foam soap dispenser, I think of all of her "positive environmental adaptations" and I smile. I feel like I'm getting to live in her world for a little bit.
The meal situation has proved to be not a problem, since we eat a lot of beans, rice and otherwise tex-mex food here. It's delicious, usually pretty nutritionally balanced and gluten-free!
Right now I'm working on putting together mental engagement activities for some of the sisters so that we can have a sort of mental exercise program here too. Sister Vuogn had a book with lots of suggestions, most of which sound really fun and can be adapted to a group setting fairly easily, and I will start doing those on Thursday. Right now I am spending a lot of time with Sister Gloria, who is the director of VIDES, because she came here after her surgery (the reason I am not in Austin right now helping her) to convalesce. I am so excited she is here! She of course is so concerned about all of the missioners and wants to help them even though she is in a lot of pain. I am sort of serving as her secretary already, as well as a part-time nurse and secretary for Sister Vuogn. It is really good because it keeps me busy, by which I mean that in between our scheduled 2.5-3 hours of prayer and meals and recreation and free time, I am busy. Am I in heaven? It is like a perfect schedule.
God is good, my heart is with Jesus and I know he will order all things to his glory! Praise be to God!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Heading out again...
Well friends, as of Monday I will no longer be a resident of Washington (at least for the foreseeable future). I am heading back to Texas to work with the Salesian sisters again in their Provincial House. I was initially going to help in the office for VIDES but the sister in charge is having back surgery and will be unable to work (or supervise others) in the office for a little while so I will begin my service elsewhere and then return to the VIDES office in a month.
It has been good being home, I have loved spending time with my wonderful family and enjoying the comforts of my old living space and the freedom to go where I want and do what I want. When I am with the sisters those freedoms are definitely reduced, as I submit my will to the good of the community and the tasks that the sisters have for me, and sometimes this is really hard for me, but I feel prepared now to go back and persevere. I have healed really well, my blood results came back good and though I can no longer eat gluten, the sisters will be able to accommodate that and I anticipate continuing in health. My time here has been filled with lots of learning about myself and my body, dentist trips, car maintenance, silly escapades, seeing old friends, dealing with insurance debacles, and trying to figure out some sort of long-term plan. I still don't have that last one down, I'll know a little bit more when I hear back from my graduate application, though getting accepted does present the problem of financing, so as usual, one open door brings us to another hallway with more choices and unknowns.
Please don't take this the wrong way my dear Washingtonians, but I really hope I don't move back, at least not for several years. You have no idea how much I am going to miss all of you, honestly the only way I'm dealing with it is not thinking about it, but I have to keep moving forward. Sometimes I feel I get stuck in repetitive behaviors because I haven't learned some lesson that I was supposed to or because I was a sap and just wanted to go back to something comfortable, but I want it to be different this time. It's all in God's hands, and I pray his will be done. I know I'm a hopeless idealist, so I guess I'm just telling myself that something will work out, I'll get a job I can believe in, I'll make a difference, and maybe I'll even be happy. I don't know what's going to happen, but when I does, I know I'll know.
In all peace and goodness,
I'll be seeing you.
It has been good being home, I have loved spending time with my wonderful family and enjoying the comforts of my old living space and the freedom to go where I want and do what I want. When I am with the sisters those freedoms are definitely reduced, as I submit my will to the good of the community and the tasks that the sisters have for me, and sometimes this is really hard for me, but I feel prepared now to go back and persevere. I have healed really well, my blood results came back good and though I can no longer eat gluten, the sisters will be able to accommodate that and I anticipate continuing in health. My time here has been filled with lots of learning about myself and my body, dentist trips, car maintenance, silly escapades, seeing old friends, dealing with insurance debacles, and trying to figure out some sort of long-term plan. I still don't have that last one down, I'll know a little bit more when I hear back from my graduate application, though getting accepted does present the problem of financing, so as usual, one open door brings us to another hallway with more choices and unknowns.
Please don't take this the wrong way my dear Washingtonians, but I really hope I don't move back, at least not for several years. You have no idea how much I am going to miss all of you, honestly the only way I'm dealing with it is not thinking about it, but I have to keep moving forward. Sometimes I feel I get stuck in repetitive behaviors because I haven't learned some lesson that I was supposed to or because I was a sap and just wanted to go back to something comfortable, but I want it to be different this time. It's all in God's hands, and I pray his will be done. I know I'm a hopeless idealist, so I guess I'm just telling myself that something will work out, I'll get a job I can believe in, I'll make a difference, and maybe I'll even be happy. I don't know what's going to happen, but when I does, I know I'll know.
In all peace and goodness,
I'll be seeing you.
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