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.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sorry it's been so long...
Well the truth is it has just been a rather boring couple of months. I've been healing and now feel SO much better and I think cutting gluten out of my diet played a huge role in that. Upon reflection, I think I have probably had problems with it since college and my anemia has steadily been getting worse as a result. At any rate I'm done with the shots and can now run and skip and do lots of fun things.
I have gone on a couple of trips though, I visited my grandparents on the other side of the state and ate the most delicious gluten-free brownie of my life and I also just got back from a come-and-see retreat with the Salesian sisters in LA. That was especially fun because I got to visit some old friends while driving down and back. It's amazing to see people you care about grow in goodness over time and have beautiful life experiences that broaden their perspectives on life without fundamentally changing their quirky wonderful selves. In LA we (my older sister came too) stayed with a childhood friend and played monopoly, which was a staple of her birthday parties when we were young, along with Star Wars marathons and gnawing on gingerbread-Jericho fragments from the traditional birthday cake alternative (in which we would construct a gingerbread house, load candy on the roof and march around the table seven (or more) times blowing loudly on recorders until the house collapsed-so fun). The other two friends we visited were equally magical and nostalgic, as was seeing the postulants whom I had met this summer in VIDES training.
Moving around so much has made it hard for me to figure out how to say goodbye well, so mostly I just don't, believing with all my heart that we will see each other again. I am often pleased to find that this is the case. It's difficult to feel like you are really contributing to the world on some level when you are changing occupations so frequently as different positions expire or the circumstances push you forward, but I just want all of my friends to know that leaving does not mean I don't care, it doesn't mean I'm not still interested in what's going on or who you are becoming, it just means I'm still looking for what God wants me to do on a more permanent basis. I have never desired a normal job in which I will make money to support a quaint yuppie existence; that idea actually horrifies me. I have no desire for the "stuff" of the American dream. I am utterly disillusioned with consumerism and so the means to achieve that lifestyle also has lost all appeal. What is most important to me is that I am doing something meaningful for the world, and though I like seeing new places, moving so much is a side-affect of not being able to find a position that allows me to do that long-term, rather than the goal in itself.
Having said all of that, I have started looking at grad schools in the past few months and have been trying to imagine my life doing one thing for a long time...what would that look like? Now that I know so much more about myself and the world, what sort of things would I be happy doing for-(dare I say)-ever? What is God calling me to? Going to the retreat with the Salesian sisters really helped me to trust God more with my life and stop doubting his plans for me. I have begun the grad school application process and am excited about what the future holds. I am still heading to Austin, TX in mid-January to finish my year of service with VIDES, and I am really looking forward to that experience as well.
To all my friends, new and old: I love you still. I care about your lives, and thank you for having patience with the insanity in mine. I am still learning to be the person God wants me to be.
I have gone on a couple of trips though, I visited my grandparents on the other side of the state and ate the most delicious gluten-free brownie of my life and I also just got back from a come-and-see retreat with the Salesian sisters in LA. That was especially fun because I got to visit some old friends while driving down and back. It's amazing to see people you care about grow in goodness over time and have beautiful life experiences that broaden their perspectives on life without fundamentally changing their quirky wonderful selves. In LA we (my older sister came too) stayed with a childhood friend and played monopoly, which was a staple of her birthday parties when we were young, along with Star Wars marathons and gnawing on gingerbread-Jericho fragments from the traditional birthday cake alternative (in which we would construct a gingerbread house, load candy on the roof and march around the table seven (or more) times blowing loudly on recorders until the house collapsed-so fun). The other two friends we visited were equally magical and nostalgic, as was seeing the postulants whom I had met this summer in VIDES training.
Moving around so much has made it hard for me to figure out how to say goodbye well, so mostly I just don't, believing with all my heart that we will see each other again. I am often pleased to find that this is the case. It's difficult to feel like you are really contributing to the world on some level when you are changing occupations so frequently as different positions expire or the circumstances push you forward, but I just want all of my friends to know that leaving does not mean I don't care, it doesn't mean I'm not still interested in what's going on or who you are becoming, it just means I'm still looking for what God wants me to do on a more permanent basis. I have never desired a normal job in which I will make money to support a quaint yuppie existence; that idea actually horrifies me. I have no desire for the "stuff" of the American dream. I am utterly disillusioned with consumerism and so the means to achieve that lifestyle also has lost all appeal. What is most important to me is that I am doing something meaningful for the world, and though I like seeing new places, moving so much is a side-affect of not being able to find a position that allows me to do that long-term, rather than the goal in itself.
Having said all of that, I have started looking at grad schools in the past few months and have been trying to imagine my life doing one thing for a long time...what would that look like? Now that I know so much more about myself and the world, what sort of things would I be happy doing for-(dare I say)-ever? What is God calling me to? Going to the retreat with the Salesian sisters really helped me to trust God more with my life and stop doubting his plans for me. I have begun the grad school application process and am excited about what the future holds. I am still heading to Austin, TX in mid-January to finish my year of service with VIDES, and I am really looking forward to that experience as well.
To all my friends, new and old: I love you still. I care about your lives, and thank you for having patience with the insanity in mine. I am still learning to be the person God wants me to be.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
It's all alright
Sorry it's been awhile since I've put anything up here, I don't have any excuses other than a lack of interesting things to report. I still feel about the same: really tired, a bit out of it mentally. I finished the meds and am now waiting for confirmation from the doc that my little friends really are dead. When I went back in to give them a post-med sample I talked with my doc for a few moments and he was surprised to find I wasn't feeling better, but assured me that I did actually have what they treated so this exhaustion is either something else or a slow healing process. We'll see. It's in God's hands.
In the meantime I have discovered Radiolab on NPR which is awesome, though I'm also a long-time fan of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, another NPR classic. I have been going to a lot of potlucks and ceremonies for my little brothers in Karate and Boy Scouts...my how quickly they grow up! Apparently the Karate teacher had to call a special conference with Mom because of some issues that had arisen during class, namely b.o. These young men need to wear more deodorant. ;) Noisetrade continues to supply me with awesome new music, and I love couches right now. I also really enjoy the great American luxury of putting the toilet paper in the toilet. The pipes down south were too small to accommodate such frivolity, so the trash can next to it was always a bit smelly. It's a small thing, but it still makes me feel cool, like I'm breaking a rule ;)
I am also finishing sewing a skirt I began a year ago...to be fair though, I am sewing it all by hand (never got the hang of those machines) and I made up the pattern myself (aka am making it up as I go), and am using an old dress (ugly), leftover quilt batting and two torn silk skirts to make it. So for it looks...interesting. I'll post pictures when it's done, but right now I'm just enjoying the process and the challenge of working with such diverse fabrics.
One of these days, when I have a brain again, I will post something of more substance up here. I have been reflecting on things a lot and on a lot of things in my convalescence but haven't had the energy to explain them just yet...
In the meantime I have discovered Radiolab on NPR which is awesome, though I'm also a long-time fan of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, another NPR classic. I have been going to a lot of potlucks and ceremonies for my little brothers in Karate and Boy Scouts...my how quickly they grow up! Apparently the Karate teacher had to call a special conference with Mom because of some issues that had arisen during class, namely b.o. These young men need to wear more deodorant. ;) Noisetrade continues to supply me with awesome new music, and I love couches right now. I also really enjoy the great American luxury of putting the toilet paper in the toilet. The pipes down south were too small to accommodate such frivolity, so the trash can next to it was always a bit smelly. It's a small thing, but it still makes me feel cool, like I'm breaking a rule ;)
I am also finishing sewing a skirt I began a year ago...to be fair though, I am sewing it all by hand (never got the hang of those machines) and I made up the pattern myself (aka am making it up as I go), and am using an old dress (ugly), leftover quilt batting and two torn silk skirts to make it. So for it looks...interesting. I'll post pictures when it's done, but right now I'm just enjoying the process and the challenge of working with such diverse fabrics.
One of these days, when I have a brain again, I will post something of more substance up here. I have been reflecting on things a lot and on a lot of things in my convalescence but haven't had the energy to explain them just yet...
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