The beginning

I don't have my computer with me, I'm writing this with my phone. I can't spell check, so please forgive the mispellings and grammar flaws. It has been a busy four days in Omaha! Before I dive into what's happened so far, here is a little more information on my program. Resurrection house is a program through the Episcopal Service Corps (which started here in Omaha.) My program emphasizes discernment for young adults, particularly ordained ministry, but not excluding lay ministry. I am here with two other individuals, and for the next 9 months we will be living in intentional community. We each have our own bedroom, but we share a bathroom, dining room, living room, kitchen, and food allowance. Aside from our own community we will each be assigned a parish, and non profit to work with. We will also receive spiritual direction/mentoring, this will be both through an assigned spiritual companion, as well as from many clergy members here in Omaha. Ok, here is what I've been up to: I arrived Saturday afternoon, along with the other two interns. We quickly picked our rooms in the Resurrection house, and began unpacking. That night we went to dinner at the house of the director of the program. He, his wife, and their three yr old twins were great hosts. On Sunday the other interns and I were invited to attend Church of the Resurrection, the church we live next door to. It was a beautiful service, filled with many smiling faces, and happy greetings. I closed my eyes during the nicene creed (as i almost always do), and it was a strange, but marvelous sensation. As i began saying and hearing the comfortable words of the creed, i heard warm voices ive never heard before. These were new voices, full of mystery. I smiled thinking of my congregation back home, and confregations across the country, and across the world, standing together saying the words of our church, our home. I smiled because, on this particular sunday, hearing new voices meant hearing new family members. Knowing I have parts of me to share with them, and they have parts of themselves to share with me. I found hope in the voices I heard, and it reaffirmed a peace I feel knowing I'm in the right place. After the service we ate lunch with the congregants, which is a usual weekly happening. Sunday mornings at COR consist of an hour of Christian formation, followed by Eucharist, and conclude with a meal for all to share. It's a wonderful community, and I felt warmly received. On Labor Day we attended a BBQ at the home of two COR parishioners. We were well fed, and met many more lovely people. We were even invited to take home fresh tomatoes, beets, okra, corn, zucchini, and yellow squash from the garden. Tonight we hosted a dinner for the Bishop, a priest from each of the churches we will be working in, and their spouses. Before dinner the Bishop performed a house blessing, which the interns and I prepared the liturgy for beforehand. Once everyone arrived, we began the blessing, and walked through the house together, blessing each room. As a fun side story, I was thrilled that the bishop used an asperger throughout the house. This is a tool used to sprinkle holy water. In my mycology classes in college I learned that a monk discovered a genus of mold, which he named aspergillus (which includes thousands of species) because a microscopic view of the mold reminded him of an asperger. Now I've seen both aspergillus and an asperger, for which it was named. After the blessing we ate dinner, which was amazing. We made lasagna, with homemade noodles and sauce, a veggie lasagna with the zucchini we picked from the garden, homemade bread, and watermelon-feta salad. One of the interns is amazing in the kitchen, and was definitely the leader of our courageous kitchen endeavor. the interns and I had the chance to introduce ourselves to the priests we will be working with, as well as hear a little bit about each of their churches. After we said our goodbyes the interns and I celebrated with a glass of wine. We were very pleased with how our dinner turned out, but even more so, there was a sense of joy and peace that seemed to fill each one of us. It was almost like an endorphin rush, we were ecstatic, and loved getting to talk with everyone. This is going to be a great year.