The picture is of my sisters, Kati, Heidi, myself, and my brother Joel.
My life has been in a bit of an upheaval in the past week and a half. I am back visiting my parents in my hometown. It has been a good time. I spent the last week in New York gathered with my family to celebrate as my brother graduated from West Point Military Academy. (Note: I protested the commencement speech given by the Secretary of the Army by listening to my Ipod. The Indigo Girls raged in my ears with their “Despite our Differences” CD.) I find this to be one of the paradoxes in my life that I easily embrace. I struggle to live and embody peace, and peaceful choices, and come from a family that continues to embrace their own definitions in different ways than I do. I find that I can embrace these differences because we respect each other. I am so proud of my brother, and it was a truly moving experience to se the “long gray line”. Each of us siblings is so different, we have all chosen to participate in different fields of work, and yet each of these fields inherently finds its roots in service. That is a value that both of my parents have worked hard to instill into our daily living.
My week in New York:
Great food
Kayaked the Hudson River with my sister Kati at sunset!!! –Gorgeous!
Hiked a mountain in the Hudson River Valley with Joel!!!! - Gorgeous!
Fell down the mountain and sprained my ankle—Grace is still not my middle name!!!
Found out that I will NOT be going to Austin, Texas for the summer, rather, I will be in Phoenix, Arizona working with Ironworkers.
Went to the Broadway production of Spamalot! -Fantastic! (But no Jersey Boys!)
Had a great time with my sister Heidi and my common-law-brother-in-law Dominic!
My book came in for my ILP portion of the CPE experience.
I leave for my orientation training in Chicago on Sunday. Once there I will be posting twice a week, and will be doing one posting specifically on the practical happenings- the learning’s, and the second post will most likely focus on how I am internalizing this experience, and what this will mean to me.
Please pray for me, the other men and women taking part, and for those we will be working with and for.
2 comments:
Chiquita, you will be fabulous because you _are_ fabulous! :)
I'll pray for you, of course. I predict that this will be a summer of many surprises and insights for you.
Love!!!
I love that the Indigo Girls joined you in protest. I thin they would have been proud. But I love that you can hold your strong beliefs in tension with your love for your brother and your pride in his life/work. Sassy Shoes would admire your maturity - measured by your ability to live with ambiguity!! :)
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