Hey folks,
I've decided to move my mumblings and random rumblings over to tumblr. I have already transferred all of my old posts over there and will continue to update you on my life from that platform. I am paring down this site to be only my posts from my VIDES+USA service so that it will remain linked to their site as a mission blog, and nothing more. I will no longer continue to update this blog, but I will leave it up.
You can keep up with what I'm doing now and follow me over at <howdoyourbananasgrow.tumblr.com>
Thank you.
It's been rad.
PS see comment below. I couldn't post the new URL there for some reason so here it is: http://september8th.tumblr.com/
Love.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
It's a story you've heard before, but it bears re-telling...
Dear Jesus,
Hello dear love, I need to write to you. I always do. Save me from my own comfort and complacency, may our constant contact truly be, constant. I love you; more than that, I need you. I need you for breath, I need you for life, I need you every day that I try to be the woman you created me to be. I am nothing before you, but all of you is strong enough for me. All of you is more than enough.
I have moved back to the great Pacific Northwest and am living with my sister in Tacoma. I have my own space here, and such beautiful company, and joyful meals and so much time spent in fun and fellowship. The hours I spend applying for jobs are just a small piece of the beautiful life I have begun here. In the face of all that God has given, I am so grateful. I am so at ease however, that I must fight to stay conscientious of my behavior and presence in the world. Most of all, I must fight to maintain prayer. I need to talk to God, often, constantly, to remain grounded in his purposes for me. I can never take a vacation from being God’s child, so I should always behave like it.
I have been thinking about humility lately. What is it but recognition of the great love and forgiveness of God in comparison with my own failings? God knows I am so far from His perfect will in everything that I attempt, yet I am not too far for His grace. He is so good! Humility is knowing the truth about myself, and accepting it, and also accepting that there is still hope for me because of God’s great mercy.
God himself was so humble that He came down, from His eternal dwelling place where He had existed with the Father from the beginning, and became man. He took on our flesh, our humanity, our own sinful imperfections and made them perfect in his most perfect nature, giving us an example of how to live and showing us carefully how to love rightly. But He went further and not only humbled Himself in the extreme in coming down to our level, but also sacrificed Himself in our flesh for our sakes, in our stead, in order to redeem us. When first we chose sin and the knowledge of evil over true love and trust, God could have abandoned us and started over, but He didn’t. Knowing full well what it would require to bring us back to Him in communion, he set events in motion to prepare for His own son, His own being to be with us, convert our hearts, and ransom our souls with his perfection, and perfect sacrifice: abandoning Himself to the divine will, as we all should do. It was necessary that it be done in this terrible way, because it was never a question of God’s forgiveness, acceptance and love for us, but rather our acceptance of God. It was necessary that this sacrifice be made so that we would realize the depths of God’s love for us, so that now knowing evil, we might be made to understand good. Knowing sin, that we might understand love, forgiveness, faithfulness and trust. Knowing pain, that we might understand redemption. That we might understand Hope.
Humility is what opens the gate. It is what breaks down the door unlocked by Christ but closed in so many of our lives so much of the time. It is that which blasts open our small isolated knowledge (the fruit of that tree) which keeps us comfortable, complacent and striving for our own good, into a huge and awesome reality: the truth about ourselves and the universe. Humility allows us to see beyond our senses because it allows us to enter the awesome mystery God. God humbled Himself so that we, in our own humility, might meet Him. He is the gate and the destination, which is opened through humility.
Thank you Love, for loving me. I am so unworthy, and in need of Your grace! You are so good.
...
“Humility is like underwear. You should always have it, but no-one should see it.” –Fulton Sheen
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Hello again!
Well, I know where I am moving now: I will be heading to Tacoma this Sunday, where I will dwell with my lovely sister, at least for the time being. I am still looking for work, but I think the sort of jobs I'm looking for will be easier to get in person, so I have more confidence about finding something there. Also, my wonderful cousin has been helping me A Lot with my resume, etc. and I am ready to keep trying. I am really excited to be coming back up to somewhere cooler (!) but most of all I'm looking forward to seeing all of you lovely people who live up north. I know I haven't written much while I've been down here, but I've been really busy and had pretty limited internet access, so sorry about that. You haven't missed out on too much, just office work and 50 crazy grade schoolers clambering for more exciting bible lessons (alas, I do not know how to juggle).
My only real fear about moving again is that I always seem to say "this time" I'll make it. This time I'll get a job I can live with, that pays me in real money. This time I'll stay in one place and won't have to move again. This time I'll succeed. So far, "this time" hasn't worked out. Please God, let this time be it. Please help me to find a job so that I can move forward in my life. Help me to find a way to stay in one city for the next year+. Please God, I don't want to feel that I am running away again.
Peace and blessings, and Puget Sound I love you!
My only real fear about moving again is that I always seem to say "this time" I'll make it. This time I'll get a job I can live with, that pays me in real money. This time I'll stay in one place and won't have to move again. This time I'll succeed. So far, "this time" hasn't worked out. Please God, let this time be it. Please help me to find a job so that I can move forward in my life. Help me to find a way to stay in one city for the next year+. Please God, I don't want to feel that I am running away again.
Peace and blessings, and Puget Sound I love you!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!
Hello lovely people. Thanks for all your love and support. Life has been, as per usual, rather mad lately. I appreciate that you are all in my life. I just want you to know that.
I wrote something a bit longer on facebook recently, which you can read here if you like.
I am gearing up for an move to an unknown location for the unknown work that the Lord will provide, and I am am thinking about how wonderful his Divine Mercy is. It is an ocean in which we can all happily drown. Let us not despair but have hope, hope in our Lord and his great rewards. Today is a day for trusting completely. For moving out of the shadows of despair into the light of truth and love, which is so much greater than the world we can see and imagine.
Thank you people for being as Christ to me, for showing me that there is good in the world, that we can love courageously in this culture of death, and that we can just trust in our sweet Jesus.
Amen.
I wrote something a bit longer on facebook recently, which you can read here if you like.
I am gearing up for an move to an unknown location for the unknown work that the Lord will provide, and I am am thinking about how wonderful his Divine Mercy is. It is an ocean in which we can all happily drown. Let us not despair but have hope, hope in our Lord and his great rewards. Today is a day for trusting completely. For moving out of the shadows of despair into the light of truth and love, which is so much greater than the world we can see and imagine.
Thank you people for being as Christ to me, for showing me that there is good in the world, that we can love courageously in this culture of death, and that we can just trust in our sweet Jesus.
Amen.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Happy Holy Sat
It's time for another round of exciting news in Mary's life! Yay! Wa-hoo! Ladies and Gentlemen, I got into graduate school. It's an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy at a university in England. Just pretend you know what that field is. I have deferred my entrance so that I can accrue some of the necessary funds through more of the sweat and tears we call jobs...or in my case volunteer positions. This time I mean it though, guys, I'm gonna find something that pays me. I would love any prayers you could send my way on that front though, because the employment field so far has been just as disappointing as the last several go-rounds.
Getting into grad school is both a relief and a stress: it means that somewhere, somehow, if I can just make it through this year, there is a future waiting for me. In the meantime though I need to read up on the field and figure out what I want to do my doctoral research in and start contacting the appropriate people. But I'm going to try not to think about that too much until I have a job.
VIDES has been great, I love Austin and have worked with some truly fabulous people here. I have gotten to have my hands in a lot of development and communication projects, which has been really rewarding, and I have started to build some really nice relationships with the kids here. Unfortunately, as is the all too frequent refrain of my life, I will be leaving them soon. Lord, bless them as they continue to grow in wisdom and years.
Getting into grad school is both a relief and a stress: it means that somewhere, somehow, if I can just make it through this year, there is a future waiting for me. In the meantime though I need to read up on the field and figure out what I want to do my doctoral research in and start contacting the appropriate people. But I'm going to try not to think about that too much until I have a job.
VIDES has been great, I love Austin and have worked with some truly fabulous people here. I have gotten to have my hands in a lot of development and communication projects, which has been really rewarding, and I have started to build some really nice relationships with the kids here. Unfortunately, as is the all too frequent refrain of my life, I will be leaving them soon. Lord, bless them as they continue to grow in wisdom and years.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Kitchen Soup
Today I went with two of the sisters to a local church's soup kitchen. It was just a couple blocks away and I have driven by it all the time without ever really realizing what it was. It is a short building made of white stone; the curtains are always drawn, the door is metal. The sign reads Austin Baptist Chapel and though they have a church service there on Sundays it seems the primary function is to feed the hungry, in the physical sense.
When we entered the building I felt like we were going underground because the lights were so low, but once inside, I could see out to the street through the shade screens and the typical food-court style seating arrangements in front of me. We walked past the guests who had arrived early to the back of the kitchen and got suited up with gloves and aprons. We wrapped spoons in napkins. We prayed. We set out the food and make sure everyone knew their job. Mine was to put the bowl of soup on the tray and slide it from the "preparation counter" to the "serving counter."
When we started serving the guests, I was struck by how many young people there were...and how many nicely dressed people. Young people who looked like students, older men eating with such refinement and care, faces that have not seen the streets for so long. Kids with laptops plugged into their ear listening to their jams. There were of course those who were visibly high, those with missing teeth and prematurely wrinkled skin, the long unkempt beards: the hallmarks of those who make their life on the streets. There were also a few girls with black eyes. These however were not the overwhelming majority, but only a portion of the diverse group whose lunch we handled.
I have helped in soup kitchens before on numerous occasions but it has been a few years since I've done it regularly. So many of the people who came to eat looked just like me; I felt the counter was superficial: a barrier between my rich privileged life and their life of need, except that this time, I could easily be one of them.
I graduated from college just in time for the economy to fail and have been struggling to find employment since. I have done a lot of volunteering and quasi-volunteering and I even went back to school for a brief moment. The fact of the matter is, if I did not have the strong support of my family and the friends who have helped me out with food and lodging, I would be depending on services like these for my meals. The savings I accrued from doing well in school and the little my quasi-employment has paid would be long gone and I would be trooping gladly over to the nearest soup kitchen. So much for being gluten-intolerant. I would just have to eat my bread and take the consequences. The service counter is a lie. Who serves who? We are all brothers and sisters.
I don't know how those who had cell phones or laptops acquired them and I certainly don't judge them for having them. Our society plays by different rules than a lot of the world and these things are pretty essential for finding employment or communicating with social services. I don't know where the young people came from or what their stories are, and I don't know about the older ones who ate with such dignity. All I know is that with the right combination of circumstances, any one of us could be grateful for that meal.
Having said that, I need to say this: that the food we served contained far too much sugar (some of them got 3 donuts and a piece of cake) as it was donated in large part by local bakeries (farmers! where are you!), much of the food was wasted by those who received it, and kitchens like these often enable cycles of simultaneous poverty and either addiction or materialism. But this is the hard truth we are called to live, and the line we are called to walk: Standing by what is right even when it is imperfect, and working for its improvement even when we face decades of negative social trends, and an increasing rather than a decreasing need for services we created with the hope that one day we wouldn't need them.
Friday, March 11, 2011
New Plates and Springtime...
Hello again!
Apologies for being so woefully negligent in letting you know what I'm up to, I only just now discovered which libraries are open on what days and therefore where I can get internet access :)
I've been having a lot of fun here in Austin. Aside from the traffic mess from South by SouthWest, the music fest, right now downtown, this is a lovely and really fun city. My roommate, another VIDES who is originally from El Salvador (!), has been here since the fall so she already knows a lot about the city and how to get around, which has been wonderful. I felt at home right away and for the first time in...ever? I feel like I want to stick around for awhile...it's a good feeling. Actually, the sunshine isn't bothering me as much as I thought either ;) For the last month it's been about 70 degrees and sunny every day, which at first was weird and prompted the immediate abandonment of my wool sweater knitting, but there's a funny thing about sunshine: people stay outside and do stuff. Which is awesome. Also, the copious amount of hipsters and Latinos makes me feel right at home. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and the summer heat to drive me mad, but for the moment, I love this place very much.
Speaking of the weather, springtime is here in full force! I currently have dirt under my fingernails, and the sweet smell of ripe soil in my recent memory: I talked the sisters into planting a garden and bought seeds the same day. Every morning I come early to the convent to water the baby plants in their newspaper pots, mix up new potting soil, cultivate, prepare, plant, sing and bless the garden space. I have also started composting with the convent's food scraps; there was some resistance at first, but now that they trust I will follow through and no "friends" will visit our piles, they say things like "Everybody should do this!" Exciting compost story!: Yesterday one of the sisters was putting something in the trash and she saw a banana peel further down. What did she do? She exclaimed about its inappropriate presence and dug it out! And then she dug more food out! Go ahead, compost lovers: give a little shout! These sisters are compost converts!
In the spirit of enjoying Texas, I got Texas license plates. Not my choice but my tabs were expired and so I had to go through the whole ritual of getting my insurance switched over, my car inspected to make sure it's good enough for Texas, new tabs purchased, title surrendered, new plates handed over. Actually, they just grabbed the plates out of a box under the desk...I always wondered about that. Apparently they buy them in bulk and then the one you get is whatever they pull out of the box first.
I am really enjoying my work and the sisters and life...I went to Gratitude day last weekend (a celebration for the Provincial to say, you guessed it, thanks), and it was really fun to see all of the sisters from the western US gathered in one room, laughing at silly skits and songs, outrageous costumes and vibrant energy. Our community sang a song about shining like the sun and someone took my suggestion to do interpretive dance very seriously. So there was also dancing. To my surprise though, we were one of the tamest acts. The Province website has pics that are not to miss: http://suoprovince.weebly.com/
May God bless you and yours and happy Lent!
Mary
Apologies for being so woefully negligent in letting you know what I'm up to, I only just now discovered which libraries are open on what days and therefore where I can get internet access :)
I've been having a lot of fun here in Austin. Aside from the traffic mess from South by SouthWest, the music fest, right now downtown, this is a lovely and really fun city. My roommate, another VIDES who is originally from El Salvador (!), has been here since the fall so she already knows a lot about the city and how to get around, which has been wonderful. I felt at home right away and for the first time in...ever? I feel like I want to stick around for awhile...it's a good feeling. Actually, the sunshine isn't bothering me as much as I thought either ;) For the last month it's been about 70 degrees and sunny every day, which at first was weird and prompted the immediate abandonment of my wool sweater knitting, but there's a funny thing about sunshine: people stay outside and do stuff. Which is awesome. Also, the copious amount of hipsters and Latinos makes me feel right at home. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and the summer heat to drive me mad, but for the moment, I love this place very much.
Speaking of the weather, springtime is here in full force! I currently have dirt under my fingernails, and the sweet smell of ripe soil in my recent memory: I talked the sisters into planting a garden and bought seeds the same day. Every morning I come early to the convent to water the baby plants in their newspaper pots, mix up new potting soil, cultivate, prepare, plant, sing and bless the garden space. I have also started composting with the convent's food scraps; there was some resistance at first, but now that they trust I will follow through and no "friends" will visit our piles, they say things like "Everybody should do this!" Exciting compost story!: Yesterday one of the sisters was putting something in the trash and she saw a banana peel further down. What did she do? She exclaimed about its inappropriate presence and dug it out! And then she dug more food out! Go ahead, compost lovers: give a little shout! These sisters are compost converts!
In the spirit of enjoying Texas, I got Texas license plates. Not my choice but my tabs were expired and so I had to go through the whole ritual of getting my insurance switched over, my car inspected to make sure it's good enough for Texas, new tabs purchased, title surrendered, new plates handed over. Actually, they just grabbed the plates out of a box under the desk...I always wondered about that. Apparently they buy them in bulk and then the one you get is whatever they pull out of the box first.
I am really enjoying my work and the sisters and life...I went to Gratitude day last weekend (a celebration for the Provincial to say, you guessed it, thanks), and it was really fun to see all of the sisters from the western US gathered in one room, laughing at silly skits and songs, outrageous costumes and vibrant energy. Our community sang a song about shining like the sun and someone took my suggestion to do interpretive dance very seriously. So there was also dancing. To my surprise though, we were one of the tamest acts. The Province website has pics that are not to miss: http://suoprovince.weebly.com/
May God bless you and yours and happy Lent!
Mary
Thursday, February 24, 2011
VIDES VIDES VIDES
If you repeat things sometimes it sounds like you actually have more to say...
Well folks, I have been as busy as a little bee since I got to Austin but I am having SO much fun! If you want to see a little taste of what I've been up to, check out http://gravatar.com/videsusa. I've finally been putting those photoshop skills to good use! Thanks WSULA! Also, feel free to friend me on any of the sites you stumble across if you click the above link, because it makes me feel good and like all my hard work hasn't been in vain :P Also because VIDES is a fabulous organization.
Love!
Well folks, I have been as busy as a little bee since I got to Austin but I am having SO much fun! If you want to see a little taste of what I've been up to, check out http://gravatar.com/videsusa. I've finally been putting those photoshop skills to good use! Thanks WSULA! Also, feel free to friend me on any of the sites you stumble across if you click the above link, because it makes me feel good and like all my hard work hasn't been in vain :P Also because VIDES is a fabulous organization.
Love!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Austin, Here We Come!
Hey yo,
So on Monday I will be heading north. My "sister" has a doctor's appointment in Austin and she decided that she feels strong enough to stay up there afterwards so we will be making the one-way trip on Valentine's Day. Once there, I will be working more intensively with development issues for VIDES and helping out with the Oratory at the parish, among other things I'm sure.
Most of the sisters are heading out for a retreat for religious this afternoon, so I have some quiet time to myself which I plan to use for packing and sharing a few more stories of these delightful ladies with you all.
Last night there was a Spurs game on and, not being a big basketball fan, enthusiastic nuns aside, I decided to go see what was going down in the other room. One of the sisters and I had started this tradition of meeting up in the activity room after the "good-night" and watching a movie together while doing quaint domestic tasks like needle-work and mending. We watched "The Waltz King" about the Strauss family, a movie about Mary appearing in Syria, nice, wholesome gems. She always turns the volume waaay up and then asks "Is this good for you? I have a hearing aid so I am fine but if you need it louder you can turn it up." :) So last night I went in there and sure enough she was getting her stuff set up and she had the newspaper with her. She said we could watch a movie or there was something that she had seen in the paper, "a premiere" which we could watch too. We scanned the page for awhile until she found it again..."Ah, the 40 year old virgin, look, three stars!" "Look, rate at R" I yelled. "Huh?"
Fortunately she is sweet-natured and accommodating so when I pulled out another movie she was willing to acquiesce. ...And then I realized just how much swearing is in "Return to Me." Oh well, she liked the cute animals.
Yesterday at breakfast one of the sisters told us this story about when she had to sub in a classroom for another teacher. They were talking about Epiphany and how the three wise men came to see baby Jesus because he was going to be the king of the Jews, and how Herod stopped and questioned them on their way because, you see, he was also the king of the Jews and was nervous about there being another king. One of the kids interrupted and asked "What kind of Jews, apple jews or orange jews...?"
Well, that's all for now. It's been beautiful and lovely and I love the sisters so much but I feel ready to go. Another sister came up to me this morning while I was drying the dishes in the kitchen and singing "Remember When It Rained" at full volume and said "Don't make me cry. You are leaving us?" "Yes." "Why you want to leave us?" "It's time. I will miss you, I love you all so much, but we'll see each other again." "Okay." "Okay."
Hugs and love,
Mary
So on Monday I will be heading north. My "sister" has a doctor's appointment in Austin and she decided that she feels strong enough to stay up there afterwards so we will be making the one-way trip on Valentine's Day. Once there, I will be working more intensively with development issues for VIDES and helping out with the Oratory at the parish, among other things I'm sure.
Most of the sisters are heading out for a retreat for religious this afternoon, so I have some quiet time to myself which I plan to use for packing and sharing a few more stories of these delightful ladies with you all.
Last night there was a Spurs game on and, not being a big basketball fan, enthusiastic nuns aside, I decided to go see what was going down in the other room. One of the sisters and I had started this tradition of meeting up in the activity room after the "good-night" and watching a movie together while doing quaint domestic tasks like needle-work and mending. We watched "The Waltz King" about the Strauss family, a movie about Mary appearing in Syria, nice, wholesome gems. She always turns the volume waaay up and then asks "Is this good for you? I have a hearing aid so I am fine but if you need it louder you can turn it up." :) So last night I went in there and sure enough she was getting her stuff set up and she had the newspaper with her. She said we could watch a movie or there was something that she had seen in the paper, "a premiere" which we could watch too. We scanned the page for awhile until she found it again..."Ah, the 40 year old virgin, look, three stars!" "Look, rate at R" I yelled. "Huh?"
Fortunately she is sweet-natured and accommodating so when I pulled out another movie she was willing to acquiesce. ...And then I realized just how much swearing is in "Return to Me." Oh well, she liked the cute animals.
Yesterday at breakfast one of the sisters told us this story about when she had to sub in a classroom for another teacher. They were talking about Epiphany and how the three wise men came to see baby Jesus because he was going to be the king of the Jews, and how Herod stopped and questioned them on their way because, you see, he was also the king of the Jews and was nervous about there being another king. One of the kids interrupted and asked "What kind of Jews, apple jews or orange jews...?"
Well, that's all for now. It's been beautiful and lovely and I love the sisters so much but I feel ready to go. Another sister came up to me this morning while I was drying the dishes in the kitchen and singing "Remember When It Rained" at full volume and said "Don't make me cry. You are leaving us?" "Yes." "Why you want to leave us?" "It's time. I will miss you, I love you all so much, but we'll see each other again." "Okay." "Okay."
Hugs and love,
Mary
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Nuns are fun...!
Something very exciting happened here a few days ago...we had snow!!! By which I mean the ground was dusted in a 1/4 inch of powder and resembled frosted flakes. Everybody was really freaked out about it, but I couldn't for the life of me understand the fuss. I asked one of the sisters when the last time they had snow was, she said: "1985." "Nuh Uh. No way. Really?" "Yes." Everybody was really concerned about the ice too; having just driven on a fair bit on my way down here I felt like people were over-reacting, but then I read in the paper that there were 500 accidents in those 2 days. Maybe I should have stopped being snarky and started praying...
The sisters here are a class act. We have been having a lot of fun because, as Catholics, we have an important feast day at least several times a week. The sisters actually celebrate them. We decorate, and reflect and eat special food...it's all rather fabulous. These last two weeks have been Big though: Laura Vicuna (a "blessed" Salesian pupil in Chile who gave her life for her mother's virtue), then Francis de Sales (one of our patrons, our namesake and a doctor of the church), the conversion of St. Paul, Sts. Timothy and Titus, St. Thomas Aquinas (another d to the c), then DON BOSCO (our founder, along with M. Mozzarello), the Presentation of Our Lord (in the temple-used to mark the end of the Christmas season, and there is a Mexican tradition involving a plastic baby in the King's cake (from the 12th day of Christmas) where the person who gets the baby has to throw a party...the animator got the baby and tamales were enjoyed by all), then St. Blaise (we had our throats blessed) and finally St. Agatha, one of many virgin martyrs in the early church. Man, it's been an exciting 2 weeks! Oh and did I mention there have been 3 birthdays so far? And we just celebrated the Chinease New Year and our Vietnamese sisters prepared a wonderful feast...basically it's a party all the time.
Okay, not really. There are a lot of very serious aspects of being here, we spend a lot of time in prayer, entrusting ourselves to the Lord, and many of the sisters have very real and prohibitave medical conditions that set the tone of everything we do here. But at the end of the day, it's all about having joy in the Lord and delighting in the good things he does and continues to do for us.
The mental enrichment programs are going well, the sisters really seem to be getting something out of it and I really enjoy the time to get to know them better and challenge my own mind and laugh with them about how silly we are. Rather than treating it like school, I really have tried to make it something that is meaningful for them personally, and the sisters have responded with such grace and appreciation for my efforts.
Most of all, I feel that the community has really welcomed me here with open arms. I felt instantly at home, probaby due in part to the time I spent with the Salesians in El Salvador. One of the sisters told me that she was praying for me, and at first I kind of scoffed (like, "why are you praying for me?") and then I caught myself and she explained, "No I'm serious, you gave up everything to come here and help us and be with us." "Thank you" I said.
I am blown away by thier gratitude, generosity and sweetness.
These women are funny too. One of the sisters dances to the ABCs with pom poms for the kids she teaches. On her birthday she wants to have it "high key" and plans to seranade the community with mariachi music. Another sister was telling me about her youth in Egypt and how she used to get in trouble for goofing in class and have to write lines. So she started writting the lines ahead of time; she would finish her homework (sometimes doing a wrong copy and a right copy for extra effect) and go straight to writing "I will not misbehave" 100 times so that she could whip it out directly after she got in trouble. We did a skit when the Provincial came to visit about excercising our prayer muscles and the ad-libbing was hysterical...so was watching them groove to "Go Make A Difference" with light up batons. And almost all of the sisters love the Spurs, they gather 'round the set and cheer and even stay up late (9:30!) to watch the games on the west coast.
The moral of this story is I'm having a very blessed time here, and I hope you are all doing well also.
Love love love
m
ps everybody knits (or crochets) :)
The sisters here are a class act. We have been having a lot of fun because, as Catholics, we have an important feast day at least several times a week. The sisters actually celebrate them. We decorate, and reflect and eat special food...it's all rather fabulous. These last two weeks have been Big though: Laura Vicuna (a "blessed" Salesian pupil in Chile who gave her life for her mother's virtue), then Francis de Sales (one of our patrons, our namesake and a doctor of the church), the conversion of St. Paul, Sts. Timothy and Titus, St. Thomas Aquinas (another d to the c), then DON BOSCO (our founder, along with M. Mozzarello), the Presentation of Our Lord (in the temple-used to mark the end of the Christmas season, and there is a Mexican tradition involving a plastic baby in the King's cake (from the 12th day of Christmas) where the person who gets the baby has to throw a party...the animator got the baby and tamales were enjoyed by all), then St. Blaise (we had our throats blessed) and finally St. Agatha, one of many virgin martyrs in the early church. Man, it's been an exciting 2 weeks! Oh and did I mention there have been 3 birthdays so far? And we just celebrated the Chinease New Year and our Vietnamese sisters prepared a wonderful feast...basically it's a party all the time.
Okay, not really. There are a lot of very serious aspects of being here, we spend a lot of time in prayer, entrusting ourselves to the Lord, and many of the sisters have very real and prohibitave medical conditions that set the tone of everything we do here. But at the end of the day, it's all about having joy in the Lord and delighting in the good things he does and continues to do for us.
The mental enrichment programs are going well, the sisters really seem to be getting something out of it and I really enjoy the time to get to know them better and challenge my own mind and laugh with them about how silly we are. Rather than treating it like school, I really have tried to make it something that is meaningful for them personally, and the sisters have responded with such grace and appreciation for my efforts.
Most of all, I feel that the community has really welcomed me here with open arms. I felt instantly at home, probaby due in part to the time I spent with the Salesians in El Salvador. One of the sisters told me that she was praying for me, and at first I kind of scoffed (like, "why are you praying for me?") and then I caught myself and she explained, "No I'm serious, you gave up everything to come here and help us and be with us." "Thank you" I said.
I am blown away by thier gratitude, generosity and sweetness.
These women are funny too. One of the sisters dances to the ABCs with pom poms for the kids she teaches. On her birthday she wants to have it "high key" and plans to seranade the community with mariachi music. Another sister was telling me about her youth in Egypt and how she used to get in trouble for goofing in class and have to write lines. So she started writting the lines ahead of time; she would finish her homework (sometimes doing a wrong copy and a right copy for extra effect) and go straight to writing "I will not misbehave" 100 times so that she could whip it out directly after she got in trouble. We did a skit when the Provincial came to visit about excercising our prayer muscles and the ad-libbing was hysterical...so was watching them groove to "Go Make A Difference" with light up batons. And almost all of the sisters love the Spurs, they gather 'round the set and cheer and even stay up late (9:30!) to watch the games on the west coast.
The moral of this story is I'm having a very blessed time here, and I hope you are all doing well also.
Love love love
m
ps everybody knits (or crochets) :)
Monday, January 24, 2011
VIDES at the Provincial House
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!
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!
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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