High Tide or Low Tide

We had a guest a couple weeks a go that inspired me to pray. We talked about how we both like this song:

She's Only Happy in the Sun

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. I've never really thought much about the season of Lent but, it seems like an excellent time to reflect on God's goodness to us remembering and confessing our need for Him. I'm not sure how it will go but, I do want to make a more purposed effort at meditating on my need for His grace.

Joel 2
A Call to Repentance
12 That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
to the Lord your God as before.

Economics and Wendell Berry

On the Monday after Alumni Weekend (and the Superbowl) Grady talked to us about Economics in the morning. It was really interesting. I enjoyed it. I had to work Monday afternoon and didn't have a very productive evening. Even though I did do a little reading. On Tuesday Grady continued the class on Economics and we spent the afternoon class discussing an article about Wendell Berry. Arguing for the importance of localness and place. It was a good heated debate.

I had to walk out on the conversation to help prepare dinner. I like cooking here, its such a fun activity to cook for 20 people on a regular basis. Josh's friends where here from Louisiana and David and K.D. were there with Noah and Asher. It was a fun dinner. After we ate I got a phone call from my mom. I spent some time reading in the library with the wonderful new couches and then had room time with Miriam, Cindy, and Lauren (probably still one of my favourite times of the week).

Alumni Weekend

On Friday of last week we were finishing up all the last minute details for Alumni weekend. On Friday morning the board was here for a meeting and I got to have lunch and hang out for most of the afternoon with Dixie. She was delightful. Will, Sarah, and I were lucky that we got to spend so much time talking with her.

In the evening we were all prepared and felt the calm before the rush. Dinner was ready and we had 4 alumni. The evening was a confusion of random arrivals, happy greetings, confusion about schedules and excitement about seeing old friends again. I tried to talk to as many people as I had the energy to and was increasingly excited at belonging to such a cool network of people. The evening dragged on because people arrived late but, spirits were high.

On Saturday morning Amy set out and incredible breakfast. We had quiet conversation with everyone and I enjoyed the last couple conversations before I would spend the rest of the day in the kitchen. After Matins I went to help prepare the dinning room, help get the food ready, wash dishes, etc. I helped serve the amazing lunch that Ali had organized and prepared and after we finally were able to finish clearing lunch I started prepping dinner.

I think I was in the kitchen from about 11am until 10pm. It was incredible! The soup turned out well and we fed at least 70 people. It was fun to see people in excited conversation and to know that everyone was enjoying the weekend. Saturday evening they had a little open mic where a few people sang some songs. It was really cool. I was exhausted at that point and a little music was so refreshing.

We all got back to Windrush and were so exhausted we just sat around for a while and had the silliest interaction as a group that we'd had in a long time. Sunday breakfast, again, was amazing and I enjoyed some conversations before the clean up for the rest of the day began. Cindy and I stripped and reset 5 rooms. The Alumni were all very considerate and had stripped their beds for us, helping us out quite a bit. There were lots of things that we had to clean up, we'd think we were done and we'd remember something else and so on... it was a relief to finally be done.

I think that Alumni weekend was one of my favourite weekends of the whole year. It was exciting to realize that I'm a part of such a fun group of people. Not just fun but interesting and caring. What a special gift!

Last night I got to talk to Liana on the phone and it made me very, very happy.

Sometimes, it doesn't help to try to go back and retell everything that you've done "since the last time you wrote" but, I'll try to do it in the quickest possible way:

1. We went to hear Ben Rogers from Christian Solidarity Worldwide speak in D.C., it was very interesting and good. He spoke quite a bit about what the situation is in Pakistan and Burma. (1/10)
2. I got to go to a conference in D.C. called living and loving your neighbour in the city. It was really cool to meet some interesting people and have some encouraging talks. (1/11-12)
3. I got to hang out with Nathan, we went to church, saw Melody Blanchard, and then drove home to the Eastern Shore, MD. (1/13)
4. We were honored to have Francis Collins (who was/is in charge of the Human Genome Project) come have dinner with us (which I got to prepare) and speak to us about faith and Science. (1/14)
5. We had Peter Flannigan who was an investment banker in NY come speak to us about education reform particularly in NYC. (1/15)
6. I got to go with part of the group to a panel/lecture about current affairs in Latin America. The speakers were a former Ambassador to Brazil and a current Foreign Service Officer (I have not heard a more dynamic speaker in a very long time! It made me want to join the State Department). (1/17)
7. We had a guest speaker Ashley Berner who came and spoke to us about Religious Education in the UK and the US. The thoughts and insights that she had were very interesting. (1/19)
8. Some of us went to volunteer to do inventory at a little independent bookstore in town. It was a long job but it was kind of fun! (1/21)
9. We had a "silence & solitude" day where we tried to spend most of the day reading, praying, reflecting. . . (1/22)
10. All this time we've had class but it's too much to mention. A handful of us went Ice Skating this day. (1/23)
11. We had a "life together" meeting. The Hutcheson's (friends of the Academy) came to speak to us and took us all out for dinner. It was incredible. (1/24)
12. I worked this weekend which was real nice. I also watched two movies "Once" and "The Lives of Others" (I liked them both but the German film "The Lives of Others" was really good). (1/25-27)
13. This week we've focused mostly on prepping our research projects and getting ready for Alumni weekend that starts today.
    
14. We are going to be cooking for approximately 80 people this weekend. It's pretty crazy. I'm excited for the challenge and the sense of accomplishment that comes when you do something big like this.
    
15. I have to get back to work!