Before the Crack of Dawn

This morning I was up way before the sun because Courtney, who was so generously allowed me to stay at her apartment, had to get up for work and so I did too. I was up about 5:30 am to take a shower and left her apartment about 6am. I figured since I was up why not go watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan but there was not really no sunrise because it was overcast, although I could see the brightness of day coming.

At 7am I opened Alterra on the Lake and enjoyed my hot chocolate and bagel while writing my talk about sustaining my faith through community for the Junior retreat.

Turkey for you and a Turkey for Me

Happy Thanksgiving!
Today is one of those days during the year that Americans get together to eat lots of food. Today at my house was no exception. We had 21 lbs of Turkey for the eight of us who were at my house in Shannon. Which is roughly 2.6 pounds of Turkey per person. Overall in the United States six hundred and seventy-five million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving. Now that is a whole lot of Turkey. With all that turkey no wonder people need a nap after that tryptophan (the amino acid in Turkey that makes you tired).

Though this day is more about being thankful than how much turkey we can eat. Be thankful for family, friends health and all the other blessings that are in your life. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. We must remember to give thanks in all circumstances for God places us where we are suppose to be. Hope that you all had a blessed Thanksgiving. "Count your blessings instead of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings."

Who needs a Bed when you can come home to a Tent?

Pokey was away for the weekend and it seems that every time he is away The Girls need to have some sort of "homecoming" present awaiting him when he returns. This weekend we decided it would be a great idea to move his bed and dressers out of his room into the guest room. Low and behold as we cleaned out his furniture there was tent stored under his bed, so we thought what better way to welcome Pokey home than to put up the tent in place of his bed. So Claire, Mo and myself put up the tent complete with bed role in his room. As you can see by the picture we gave ourselves a thumbs up for a job well done.

Pokey got home from his God's Tym to see that a tent had taken the place of his bed in his room. Despite his tiredness he didn't get mad, but was amused by the joke. He actually did sleep in the tent with his bedroll for the night. I am sure Pokey will find a way to get us eventually but until then we shall basque in the glory of our pranks.

Hiking Bear Mountain

What a beautiful day for a hike up Bear Moutain. Jon and Megan came up for the weekend for a visit, and it was great to get to see them. It was the weekend of the boys DDA so the female lay assistants had the weekend off minus a little kitchen palanca. On Saturday Jon, Megan and I went hiking at Bear Mountain. The weather was perfect at about 45-50 degrees and it was a sunny clear day. We packed a picinic lunch and then headed out. We hiked to the top and the view was amazing, we just sat there for awhile and just took in the view.
Once we returned to the bottom we ate lunch and then went in search of a Winery. We found one that didn't have a tasting fee but it was a small one, one room in a barn. They did have decent wine but it was a funny time.

Hunger for Christ - Prayer, Calling and Action

Since November is hunger and homelessness awareness month what better way to start the month than leading a retreat called Hunger for Christ. This was a bit differnt than most of the retreats that I lead because it was for college student and usually I work with middle and high schoolers, although the fun we had was more like kids.

What do giant leaf piles, skits, walking through the woods and campfires have in common. You guessed it, they all happened and lots more on this retreat. God was truly present in so many ways. Despite that I was leading the retreat it was a much more relaxed schedule than what we normally do. There were talks on what fills you up in your life, prayer, vocation, and ministry in daily action. Each talk gave me some insight on how to Hunger for what God wants us to do.

During our free time we made a giant leaf pile and had a great time jumping in the leaves. It started out that Nader was buried in the pile and Maureen didn't know it and was a bit sacred when she landed on top of him. The joke continued as Maureen was then buried in the leaf pile. Brother Lake came up and we asked him to jump in the leaf pile. Lake took a running leap into the air and landed in the pile of leaves, only to be surprised that Maureen was actually buried in them. You think it is over but not yet. Maureen gets buired a second time and Sr. Madeleine comes to take some pictures of us playing in the leaves. We ask if she would like to jump into the pile too. She says yes and jumps in to be surprised that Maureen is in the pile. Someone made the commet that Maureen should win an award for being jumped on the most in a pile of leaves. We all enjoyed the leaves and had a leaf fight as well. I found leaves on me even as I got ready for bed that night.

The leaf fights, and leaf pile was not the only fun we had with leaves. Nader started by making a leaf angel and so I made one too. What fun it was to hear the crackel of all the leaves around me as I created a leaf angel. This brought back memories of making snow angels last year when I was visiting CYFM during CCOP (College Capuchin Outreach Program).








Also duirng out free time in the afternoon we went for a walk to see the babbeling brook in the woods. I was not going to go because I didn't have shoes on but was convinced to still go. So I embraced the moment and walked barefoot through the multch, and stone down to the brook. It was a very freeing to feel the earth slide between my toes and knowing that I was in touch with God's creation, mother Earth. I did not cut my feet but rather I had a great experience. Yes the picture is of my bare feet standing on a rock, I took it to remind me that God will take care of us and sends people into our lives to help guide us on our path.





On Saturday night Pokey gave a talk on vocation and described three types of vocation, (1)the call to all people to be holy,(2) religious life, single or married life and (3)our career as a vocation.. He gave us a meditation on Romans Chapter 12 ( I urge you therefore brothers and sisters, by the Mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to god, your spiritual worship...) This helped to show us that God has a plan for us all and that we must use our gifts and talens where the world most needs them.

We had an hour of Eurcharistic Adoration and then went outside to enjoy the beautiful warm November weather as we sat and soaked up the smell of the campfire, and the crackel it makes. There was good conversation around the fire as well as some songs sung. We must remember as it says in 2 Timothy to fan into the flame the gifts the spirit has given us.

The next morning we celebrated Mass together and sent everyone on their way. Since the retreat was small I was able to connect with people and feel more like I was on retreat than giving it. Also, it was nice to be around college students again. May God continue to bless those on the college retreat and guide them on their journies.