Back in Town

We got back from Orientation on this afternoon. The week was good; great community was formed, but it was wonderful to finally and officially “land” where the work is to begin.
Our house, now full with the five of us, was patiently waiting for us to arrive. After figuring out the tv & discussing how the bathroom sharing was to work, we ventured out into our East Nashville community for dinner. We stopped, happily, a few blocks East at a Mexican restaurant “Las Maracas.” (Very similar to El Canelo in PA). We enjoyed laughs, stories, and great food. It felt as if we had known each other much longer than just a week.
My housemates are wonderful women of faith and character. Diana is originally from Washington State, and served last year as a YAV in Tuscan. This year, she’ll be working with TCASK, an organization fighting for the abolition of state killings. Leslie, a native Tennessean, is a 2009 college graduate. She will be working with the homeless ministry, Room In the Inn. Lisa, another ’09 college grad is from Arizona. Lisa is to work with the Martha O’Brien ministries, which works in a public housing development to provide after school programs to the youth of that community. Rebecca, my roommate, is also a PA gal. She’s been teaching GED courses in Philly and will be working with a church just down the road (Eastminster Pres.).
It’s a great group of us to be sharing this house. We spent most of the evening talking and learning about each other. We should have been unpacking . . . but fellowship seemed more important. What was really great was that just before we were all going to go to bed, Rebecca called everyone into our bedroom. She felt (and we all agreed) that evening prayer would be a blessing to each of us. To quote her: “A family that prays together stays together.” We couldn’t have christened our time together any better.

heading South, again

Orientation is a few hours away from being over. I'm ready to hit the ground running in Nashville. We have a week of orientation once we get back to the city, but it will finally be time to get the work started.

Orientation

Stony Point, NY is unlike what I had expected. It's in a great community, that is very aware of God's glorious creation, and they strive to take care and preserve all that is around them. Set up much like Westminster Highlands, Camp Crestfield, and Lambec, it's a place of many buildings, great worship space, and free room to wander. I've meet the seven Nashville girls. . . we all ready have a great community forming. The larger group consists of nearly 70 YAVs, who will be serving both nationally and internationally. It's been a great blessing to meet and talk with each other, share our concerns, go through vocational discernment, self-care, and simply walk around. Through our activities up-to-now, I've discerned, thanks to the Meyer's-Briggs, that I'm an ISFJ personality--but I'm moving more and more to the extravert personality!, and that I have a hard time feeling my own personal energy. Right now there is a seminary fair going on. It was interesting to find that out of the YAV program, about 20-30% of all YAVs end up attending a seminary. I was impressed by that until I heard that from the Nashville site, the numbers jump to nearly 70%. Interesting. . . :)

right where I belong

There's so much to say right now. I feel a strange mixture of feelings . . . I'm sad to have watched Stephanie leave, and then almost heartbroken watching Mom & Dad drive away. And yet, at the very same time, I am feeling so confident and assured that this is exactly where I need to be right now. I need to be on my own, listening for God's gentle whispers. I need to live on $400 a month, and I need to learn the value of hard work and putting my heart into something new. (And really, what better time in my life to be "poor"?)

I've enjoyed my sight-seeing adventures here in Nashville. I feel somewhat oriented to the city and traffic patterns. But I'm ready to really dive into the city, into the ministry, into a new chapter in my life. When I met with Jennifer and Bob at Vanderbilt, I was excited to meet students, face fears with them, struggle with the issues that come up as a first-year student, cheer on the Commodores, and wear black & gold (at least when I forget that black & gold are also Steeler's colors!). When I met Susan, I was excited to see the cute house I'll be living in. She told me about my new church, Downtown Pres, the homeless ministries there, the couple that have volunteered to be my host family--a very sweet sounding couple, who have gone on several mission trips and work with Habitat, which I feel is a wonderful God thing.

It all feels so right.

Even though I'm sitting here, alone, with the last of my physical PA connections heading into Kentucky, I know that sometimes God's plan for our lives demands some sad moments. It takes moments that make you wonder what it really means to allow God to guide your pathway. Even though it is hard, and will probably be much harder in the months to come, I'm with God, and there's no better place to be than in the midst of His grace and love.

Listening to David Bailey's song "Life," right now:
". . . the music will tell you that right now, you're right where you belong."

welcome *home*

safely in Nashville! so excited to start off this new year.