The Old and The New

Sometimes is seems that there isn't much that can be new anymore. I'm not getting any taller, I've had the same haircut for more than a year (and don't plan to change it anytime soon), I'm at my third project and in my fourth BVS year. "Coasting along" would be a pretty accurate description of how I feel many days.

Despite the familiarity of it, springtime is never quite a coast-along time, though. The first of our garden seeds - kale, I think - sprouted on Saturday, followed by the quick-germinating alyssum that had been planted indoors just a few days earlier.

They're tiny lil' suckers, alright. Part of the excitement with these is due to it being the first success story of an effort begun by Kristen and me last fall. We'd been collecting seeds whenever we happened to think of it and saving them away "for such a time as this" (sound familiar to anybody?). These seeds came from LeAnn's house which she's currently renting to Don. As exciting as sprouting seeds can be (but seriously, I love it), it's even better when there are stories of friends and travel intertwined with them. Still yet to come (hopefully): Cosmos and Zinnias from Kristen's parents; Marigolds from Taste of the Himalayas at Chelsea's farewell meal; Moon Flowers from the Mid-Atlantic District youth advisor's house (which I remember seeing when I was there as a youth for meetings); some more seeds from the Spring Street house; and Columbine and Chinese Hibiscus gathered during a walk at fall orientation in New Windsor.

In other news, I joined the smart phone world. As much as I'd resisted it, I had to acknowledge that there are some benefits to access to this sort of technology. Considering how much I traveled this past year, it would've been pretty nice to have a map readily available that 1.) didn't need to be printed and 2.) was smaller than my U.S. road atlas. I'm also able to keep up with (read: learn how to use) Instagram and potentially Twitter. This Snapchat thing has happened, too. Apparently I snap current and former female housemates quite a bit. This was me learning how to take a screenshot, FYI.

Another first happened this past weekend. Theresa (whom I've taken to calling Tessa without really realizing it) and I spent the entire weekend with the house to ourselves. To preserve the sanctity of housemate relations and bonds of trust, I will not go into any further details regarding movies watched and amounts of ice cream consumed. Suffice it to say we enjoyed ourselves.

Maybe it's not as old and boring as I'd initially thought. To be fair, ice cream always helps. Until next time...


Ben

We're all here! Here's a great shot of everyone in the house, plus our friend Kelley, at the house for Spiritual Direction.

This was a novel photo, as we only had about four days during the last two or three months where we were all together. Crazy, huh?

Here are a few more photographs from the past weeks including mid-year retreat, my time pet-sitting, fun remembering and celebrating Easter with good friends and dying eggs, a birthday story in pictures, and gardening!

Our fantastic mid-year retreat group at Camp Dickson Valley:

 No. Way.

 

 Yeah, that's right, Jessie! We DID make all of these! :D

Easter sunset in Kansas

To round it out, here's a look at our gardening and planning thus far.

 

These beautiful flowers, "Siberian Squill", can be found ALL OVER ELGIN. It's crazy!!! It is not uncommon to see a front lawn covered in hundreds of these little things, making a wonderful sea of blue beauty. Gorgeous.

Happy spring, everyone! From our house to yours, have a peaceful and fresh start to the spring season!

~K

Adventures in California

What were were up to traveling this time, you might ask?!

Well, as Hannah alluded to in her recent post, Laura and I both went to the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE for short), a vocations conference, hosted in beautiful Lake Arrowhead, CA. 

Throughout my 6 months in Elgin thus far, Becky and I have come up with a weekly project, similar to a check-in, to help me think about life after BVS and what direction I want to go. Spoiler alert: I have no clear answers yet. Becky, Laura, and I are in this, what we are calling a "Faithy-Professional Development" (referred to further as FPDJ), and the way I find best to learn is by interviewing people, interviewing myself, and creating journals based on this information I've gathered. 

The following are pieces of a reflection of myself and experiences in the midst of our FTE gathering. 

Feb. 26, 2015     
Give and Take, Ebb and Flow

Reflecting on the state of my well-being (incorporating musings from conversations with Becky, myself, leaders at the FTE conference, and others)

                I am very aware of the wonderful and strong network of support persons I have here and surrounded in various communities I’ve found myself a part of throughout my short life. I know this is a luxury that many don’t get to see and experience, and frankly one that I have not and will not always have. For this space to talk, and muse, and reflect, and speak, I give many thanks.

                I think I spend a lot of time trying to pinpoint what is going on, whether it’s good or bad. I spend a lot of time in reflection. I’m not sure what is affected directly because of that, but I can probably surmise that once in awhile I should probably start thinking about the future. During a recent conversation in which we discussed the self-care I was neglecting and needing to create space to embody that again, there was a huge release of tension. I do try so hard sometimes, that those fall second to what is happening or needs to happen and how I should respond. All of that control, all of the trying hard, really does wear on a person and creates exhaustion.

              In the grand scheme of things, taking that time for myself – what? – will actually create space for me to think about next steps and future plans. But what if I did give myself some room to grow and muse, on my own? Well, not necessarily “on my own,” I have a whole community of support.

                This is a weird phenomenon for me, that I have not looked after myself intentionally that I remember well, and looking ahead. After listening to church services and other faithful sources, I think that, “Wow, God has a plan for me, and I’ll know because doors will open that I hadn’t heard of or known of before.” I still believe this is the case; it is less easy, admittedly, to believe that I have to put in effort, too. “How much is enough? How much is too much? How am I influencing myself and the outcome of the situation?"

                In letting go.

                One important lesson we learned from one of our first sessions at that beautiful retreat in CA for Forum for Theological Exploration, discussion led by Callid, was the concept of discernment and what vocation meant. His explanation really helped me and others, understand in a new way what discerning might look like. Think of a salad bowl, and imagine you are using it to rinse something (yourself in this case?) through a colander. He said, the colander is like the discernment process. Vocation comes out of the sifting of what you already have, filtering between what is important and meaningful to you and your work and your ministry, and what is holding you back, or no longer necessary and important, or something that is not holding your attention at the moment.

                What do we use to identify us? Which of those identifiers could/do we need, to give up in order to look ahead? (Sound familiar??!!)

                Susan, one small-group leader and spiritual director for the entire group, said this as she led the workshop Jesse and I went to, about Listening to Your Life. “Imagine you are holding on to something so tight… so tight that it will not leave. Now, open your hand up.” It is only as we are acknowledging our action in letting go, that something has the potential to be placed. (If that’s not revolutionary enough, it’s worth noting that’s not the first time I’ve heard that in the past couple of weeks.)

                So now, I wonder what I am needing to “let go”. Do I have the answer now, or part of the answer, or am I still searching? Surely, the process of the week is not lost; in fact, conversation with others since, is invaluable and totally part of my journey. 

symbolism:

              

Path to the lake from the conference center

                In another interesting note, to tie in I think with both the premise of this FPDJ and the conference itself, I went to a grant-writing workshop. We opened with a set of expectations that included every member’s opinion, definitely acknowledging our previous experience and what we hoped to learn by the end of the session. Joscelyn named these for us, and we had exactly 10 minutes to write what was important, vital, life story-esque, that we would then have the opportunity to share in the group.   

                Everyone’s interpretation of the assignment was different and we all ended in different places. New ground was broken that afternoon; we heard stories told as they hadn’t been shared before or ever, we connected with each other, and we reflected on our feelings in our interactions with each narration and words. She also gave constructive feedback and tools that would enhance our story-telling skills.

                Because. For grant-writing, Joscelyn explained to us that the simple motive was to create strong relationships (I’m good at that!) and to notice that everyone does have a story to share (which includes the premise for the FPDJ and other desires I’ve had before this BVS year). With each story we were telling, as individuals, we were telling stories we thought were important for others in the group to hear and to give reflection about. It really was quite the affirming and healing place, to be in a group of intentionally disciplined discussion of emotion and reaction.

We closed that session, again in community with each other, in seeing each other.

Greetings we used during conference, from South Africa:

Sawa bono - greeting in Zulu, meaning "I see you"

Seecona - greeting in Zulu, meaning "I have been seen"

--

In peace,

~Kristen

Where in the world are the BVSers?

One of the blessings (and sometimes curses) of being an Elgin BVSer is the travel that we get to do. For recruitment, workcamps, orientations, and regional and national conferences we travel across the country visiting with organizations, youth, pastors, churches and colleges. This year we will travel more than most people around the world will in their entire life. That’s a pretty cool and humbling realization. Sometimes travel can get exhausting, but we’re also getting the opportunity to see many new places and meet with truly interesting and inspiring people!

Here is where some of us have been lately:

Kristen and Laura escaped the negative-degree wind chill weather of snowy Elgin and spent the past weekend in Lake Arrowhead, California. They were at a Forum for Theological Exploration Regional Discernment Retreat where they learned about different opportunities in ministry and had time to discern their purpose and call in the future of the church. They also got to meet up with a pretty cool guy from our orientation unit who was also attending the retreat (shout- out to Jesse Winter!). Of course the place they stayed was gorgeous and it wasn’t all sessions and learning, I hear they even got to dance!

While Laura, Kristen and Jesse reunited on the West Coast, I got to spend time with Katie Furrow (also a unit 307er) in the Nation’s Capital. She is directing the Washington DC workcamp with me so we got to spend a wonderful two days re-connecting, sight-seeing, visiting organizations and planning for the workcamp!
#awesomeleadershipteam

#watchoutDC

Theresa made it to Seattle on Monday for a workcamp site visit out West! She told me that she has already had some famous Seattle coffee!

One of the perks of traveling is getting to visit places that are special to us! Last week (before California) Kristen got to go to Manchester University with Ben to help with recruitment at their career fair. As a Manchester alum she was a huge help in making connections with professors and current students. I heard that she was a total rockstar on campus!

At the end of this week Laura and I get the very special opportunity to go to Juniata College’s career fair for BVS recruitment. I know we are both looking forward to being on campus again and sharing about our BVS experience so far.

It’s been awhile since we’ve all been together in the house, and this is just the start of the busy travel season. 

Let the crazy, fun times begin! 

Peace, 

Hannah 

A fun weekend!

This past weekend we had lots of fun with friends and family from Highland Avenue! Let me break it down for ya. 

On Friday evening we had a potluck dinner and movie night at the Lehman's house. In Sunday School we have been watching a series on Islam and discussing Muslim/ Christian relations. So, we watched the movie "Arranged," which was about an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman, who became friends during their first year of teaching. They bonded over the fact that both of them were in the process of meeting spouses for their arranged marriages. It was a really good movie, and I highly recommend it! 

Saturday was nice and relaxing. We walked around the local mall, ate lots of chocolate, watched Pitch Perfect, and Jessie finally returned home from orientation! 

On Sunday, for the Offertory at church, Ben, Kristen, Don Knieriem, and I did special music.   Kristen played piano (Hannah turned pages!), Don played guitar, Ben sang, and I danced to the hymn "Be Thou My Vision." After church we had an open house! It was great to be able to have people from the offices and church over, especially people who had never been here before. Kristen's parents were here visiting for the weekend, and they kindly provided the snacks. We (okay mostly Ben) gave many tours of the house. On Sunday night, I watched "Mean Girls" at the church with the Spirited Sisters group. It was fun to watch the movie with people who had never seen it before. Lots of laughter and the popcorn was yummy!  

Kristen, Theresa, Ben, Jessie, and Hannah right before the open house started! We were only missing Laura, who returned from a fun weekend in Chicago about an hour later.

Thanks for reading. 

Peace, 

T

Orientation observations

This past Friday we had a visitor come through the BVS office - Genelle! She was one of the Orientation Coordinators for my unit (along with Callie) and was in town visiting her sister, LeAnn. We reminisced a bit about my unit, talking about where everyone was and what they were up to. It got me to thinking about the differences of our BVS orientation experiences here within the house.

There were 31 volunteers in Unit 277. We split our orientation time between two Missouri towns: Peace Valley (pop: 455) and Kansas City (pop: 464,310). The only time we slept in real beds was at the Missouri-Arkansas District Conference and Internet availability was largely non-existent for us. I headed off to Colorado at the end of orientation where I wouldn't know anyone for a few hundred miles in any direction. This would be my first of three projects plus a stint in Portland, Ore.

Here's Theresa's unit, #303, which began a year and a half ago. She had a full unit of 24 (apparently 31 was a bit much) and roughly three quarters of her unit has already finished their time in BVS. She went to Texas for her project, where I think the only person she knew upon her arrival was her housemate whom she had met three weeks earlier at the beginning of her orientation in New Windsor, Md. Theresa is now in her second year of BVS in a much different setting and workplace than last year.

Jessie was in a winter unit, 304, which meant they met in Gotha, Fla. for their three weeks together. At 13 members, her unit was larger than many winter orientations, but still the smallest unit among those in the Elgin house here. Jessie was the first BVSer at her project in New York and only had five other volunteers with her for her mid-year retreat last summer. Jessie's unit is also unique in that possibly only one volunteer from the entire unit will be done with their term of service exactly one year after beginning due to some not making it a year, taking two-year international placements, or serving at an interim project while they waited for their first choice to open up.

Unit 307 went through orientation this past fall and included Hannah, Kristen, and Laura. At 17 members, it's a somewhat small unit for the fall. Like Theresa, they met in New Windsor, Md. for their orientation. They were a younger unit than many, too - eight of the volunteers from this group are still teens. Unlike Jessie, Theresa, and me, it was already known where Hannah, Kristen, and Laura would be going after orientation because it had been decided months before.

It's interesting to think about how our orientation experiences shape our time in BVS. I never occurred to me that not every unit gelled like mine until I got to my first mid-year retreat and met the summer unit. Surely technology plays a role as well with access to things such as Facebook, cell phones, and texting. SnapChat is pretty popular with some of the housemates here for keeping up with what's going on with other volunteers at their projects. To imagine what it would've been like to enter into a program like this twenty or thirty years ago is pretty wild. Brief phone calls and snail mail letters must have been a remarkably sustaining energy source.

And then there's the current unit, 308, that is down in Gotha, Fla. with Jessie and Jocelyn. This isn't a picture of a food group, but the entire unit - all six of them. There are some similarities that surely we all would recognize - food runs on small budgets, trying to stay awake during sessions, curiosity and awe for the new place they are staying, etc. They're even roughly half from Brethren backgrounds like all of our units were (which is not always true - only one out of 12 from the summer unit, for example). What awaits them when they reach whatever comes after orientation is still anyone's guess. Maybe one of them will even end up here in the Elgin BVS house someday and they'll get a chance to tell their story on here, too.

Estate Sale Extravaganza!

As many of you probably know, part of BVS means living on a simple budget. But, the fun in that means figuring out how to have fun as a house without spending a whole lot of dough. 

So, last Saturday we all adventured to the next town over to check out an estate sale. 

I, personally love secondhand adventures: thrift stores, church bazaars, and yard sales are like treasure hunts to me. I know that many other people in our house enjoy secondhand shopping as well. I've heard of people finding some hidden treasures at estate sales, but I have never gotten to go to one. 

If you don't know what an estate sale is, basically when an elderly person passes away or moves to a nursing home or something of the like, they or their family may choose to have an estate sale. The house is open to the public and you move from room to room looking at different items and see if anything catches your eye. Also, it is kind of interesting to catch a glimpse of someone else's life. For instance, the estate sale that we visited, the woman that lived there had many dachshund themed items and from pictures in the house, you knew they had a beloved pup. 

We certainly all had a lot of fun searching for items that we enjoyed or suggesting items for other housemates. 

So, for this week's blog, I decided to share everyone's favorite items! 

Theresa found this adorable shamrock mug for only $2!

Kristen found this unique vintage journal for $0.75. 

Ben found a couple household items, including some non-alcoholic sparkling juices - which we enjoyed for our anti-Super Bowl/Snow Day party today! These yummy drinks were only a $1 per bottle. 

Finally, I found this amazing floral rug for only $1! 

Hannah wasn't with us because she was in New Orleans for a workcamp site visit, while Jessie is still in Florida for orientation. We can't wait to hit up another sale with them in the future!

xo, 

Laura