I'm excited that today we posted our covenant on this page. We will have covenant groups soon, to help companions live the lives we are called to live. We have said at each stage that we will listen for God rather than choose rules or shapes of community, and something is beginning to emerge.
Thanks to our fabulous Dream Team for walking with us and speaking their desires, and for committing to next steps. We may not be big as residential numbers go, but we are making a difference in the world together. Thanks to all of you who are following us and cheering us on. I hope that now we will start to feed you in turn, and that together we will light up the world.
Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine!
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
Finally, back
I can't believe I haven't written for a month and a half - but then again, of course I can. If you get our newsletter you know what's been going on, so I won't rehearse that. Instead, I want to reflect on how good it is to be home, in our new home, and how much further I have to go toward leading a balanced life.
We all have seasons of quiet, and seasons of expansion in our lives. This past year has been a huge process of expansion for me, for us. Just last January we moved in together and began our life as Companions of Mary the Apostle. Just last January, I have to keep reminding myself. We trusted that ministry opportunities would come, that people would find us and respond to our message of hope. But we had no idea what we were in for.
We have grown faster and further than we had any idea, or any plan for. You who read this are part of that network. I am grateful, but it's easy to get overwhelmed. It's easy to rush to respond to any request, any offer to serve. It's very validating.
But since July, since our clothing, we've been saying we need to step back and focus more on our own formation as monastic women. We need to prioritize our reading and reflection and prayer and worship (including music practice). But then week follows week and one or the other of us is out of town, or leading a retreat. Or we're moving, and everything but the worship and meal schedule falls apart. Because we're so small, if one of us is gone, life for the other is dramatically different.
Can you relate to any of this? We say something is a priority, but then "life happens." Really, we let it happen. We decide that unpacking is more important than doing Bible study together. We decide that we need the retreat to be good - we need to look good before the retreatants - more than we need to practice our chants.
On Monday I returned from leading my latest retreat. I spent three days unpacking and arranging, cleaning, reading Sandra Schneiders' new book, and doing centering prayer. By yesterday I began to feel like myself again - not driven, not praying to God just to hang on, but centered and renewed in God. This morning, we said again that our formation has to come first this year. We will meet for three days this month to plan that, and we will commit to it.
So please pray for us. Pray that we might be the women we say we are, the women we believe God calls us to be - women of prayer, who have a word to bring because we listen deeply to God. Pray that we learn, not balance, but centeredness in all we do. Pray that I can let my ego get out of the way. And let us know what prayers you need.
Thank you for your prayers and support. It means so much to me when I see that we are being read in some far-away place, and when I hear from people close to home. Be blessed today!
We all have seasons of quiet, and seasons of expansion in our lives. This past year has been a huge process of expansion for me, for us. Just last January we moved in together and began our life as Companions of Mary the Apostle. Just last January, I have to keep reminding myself. We trusted that ministry opportunities would come, that people would find us and respond to our message of hope. But we had no idea what we were in for.
We have grown faster and further than we had any idea, or any plan for. You who read this are part of that network. I am grateful, but it's easy to get overwhelmed. It's easy to rush to respond to any request, any offer to serve. It's very validating.
But since July, since our clothing, we've been saying we need to step back and focus more on our own formation as monastic women. We need to prioritize our reading and reflection and prayer and worship (including music practice). But then week follows week and one or the other of us is out of town, or leading a retreat. Or we're moving, and everything but the worship and meal schedule falls apart. Because we're so small, if one of us is gone, life for the other is dramatically different.
Can you relate to any of this? We say something is a priority, but then "life happens." Really, we let it happen. We decide that unpacking is more important than doing Bible study together. We decide that we need the retreat to be good - we need to look good before the retreatants - more than we need to practice our chants.
On Monday I returned from leading my latest retreat. I spent three days unpacking and arranging, cleaning, reading Sandra Schneiders' new book, and doing centering prayer. By yesterday I began to feel like myself again - not driven, not praying to God just to hang on, but centered and renewed in God. This morning, we said again that our formation has to come first this year. We will meet for three days this month to plan that, and we will commit to it.
So please pray for us. Pray that we might be the women we say we are, the women we believe God calls us to be - women of prayer, who have a word to bring because we listen deeply to God. Pray that we learn, not balance, but centeredness in all we do. Pray that I can let my ego get out of the way. And let us know what prayers you need.
Thank you for your prayers and support. It means so much to me when I see that we are being read in some far-away place, and when I hear from people close to home. Be blessed today!
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