Agape

Have you ever been to a place that feels magical and you fall in love instantly? If you have, don't you love it? That place holds a special place in your heart. If you haven't, I hope you have the incredible feeling someday.

Vermont is that place for me.

This past weekend my roommates and I spent some time in East Craftsbury, Vermont on invitation to attend the presbytery meeting of the Presbytery of Northern New England. Being the Presbyterian nerd I am, I was excited to attend a presbytery meeting in a different presbytery than my own but I was also REALLY excited to see another part of New England I had never seen before (I've never been to New England prior to setting off on this year long journey).

Our travels starting with a seemingly easy drive from our home base in Watertown, up through where Alex works north of Boston, all the way up to Haverhill, MA on Massachusetts-New Hampshire boarder. There we met with my pastor and his wife and carpooled to Vermont. Well wouldn't you know... traffic. We arrived in Haverhill later than expected but with enough time to arrive in Vermont before dark. In all, we were on the road for 5 hours. Boy was it worth the trip!

Welcome to Vermont!

 We drove through the most picturesque Vermont country side, saw road signs alerting us to be on the look out for moose (sad to report we didn't see any), and listened to all sorts of music including Mumford & Sons because lets face it, we were in a car full of Presbyterians.

Its hard to complain about spending 5 hours in the car when this is your view.

East Craftsbury and Greensboro, Vermont are neighboring towns on the Caspian Lake. My heart was full of awe when we pulled up to the lake house we would be staying for the night. It pushed all of my nature-loving buttons. Lake. Trees. Mountains. Flowers. Fresh air. And a trusty black lab mix, Shadow.

The hosts were a lovely couple, the Stoners, who are friends to many in the Presbyterian circles around Boston and the Northeast. They own a gorgeous lakehouse and allowed 8 people to crash at their place to attend the presbytery meeting the following day.

THE lake house.

Presbytery was interesting in the Presbyterian nerd sense but it was also interesting because there was some drama. I can't/don't want to go into the details but it was really different than what I'm used to concerning presbytery meetings.

What I learned during our time in Vermont is that God leads you to places and puts people in your life to teach you a lesson. This is not meant to be like a parent teaching a child but more like someone shedding light on an issues or perspective you're having trouble with or perhaps have never thought about. Vermont was a weekend of glimpses of the fullness of God. The weekend happened to coincide with a bittersweet anniversary for me and I saw little love reminders everywhere. Everywhere and in everything. God is Agape.

John 14:27- Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Learning a new language

Things I've learned since moving to Boston:
-drop your R's
-add R's to the end of words that end in a vowel (ie: pizzar, drawring)
-Worchester= Woostah; Watertown= Wahtatawn
-shopping cart= carriage
-the Jets and Yankees are evil incarnate, its a good thing I love baseball, I will need to learn to love football
-drive like a bat out of hell to keep up with traffic... unless traffic is at a standstill, which is often

Waatatown.

Some of the plates are in the cabinet, 
some are on the dining room table.
My warm fall and winter clothes, 
that may not be adequate, 
are still in my duffel bag.
Empty boxes are stacked in the living room.
Our bookshelf needs books.
There's a bike on our back patio,
one windy, narrow staircase away from pavement. 
Nights are spent tossing and turning
on an air mattress that loses air with each movement.
Such is life in Watertown.

We have moved into our house/unit/apartment in Watertown. (What does one call a part of a multifamily house?) Its a wonderful place and has great architectural detail, the wooden floors that cover the house creak and moan, we have a small backyard, and we're a block away from a bus stop. Its what I was hoping our Boston YAV house would be.
The move in process has been a bit slow as we have been working this week as well. After dinner my roommates and I go through the boxes of donated items that almost assuredly have been sitting in garages for some time. While we have found some odd items we have also struck gold. We have tons of great pots and pans, a set of 4 matching plates and bowls from Target in beautiful condition, loads of containers for leftovers and bringing lunch to work, and even a mug with a big K on it which instantly became my favorite.

A mug made for me.

Due to the holiday we started work on Tuesday. I spent Tuesday at my church, Hartford Street Presbyterian, and I learned all about the ins and outs of the garden project. The church has partnered with the city of Natick but the city, as government tends to do, has been dragging its feet on clearing the land. We can't plant until the land has been cleared. I've also started to reach out to people and organizations that might have grants for these sorts of community garden projects but we haven't had much response in this department either. I just have to keep on keepin' on. Slow and steady wins the race I'm told.

Yesterday I was at my non-profit placement, A Place to Turn. Its a wonderful place that serves thousands of people annually. A Place to Turn (APTT) is a "choice pantry" where clients come with a referral, they are logged into the in-house database, and a volunteer or employee walks around with them as they choose what they want from the grocery area (the employee or volunteer even bags the groceries for the client). There is a color code system to designate for different family size so that those with young children can take formula and baby food, for example. APTT also has clothes, shoes, personal care items, home care items, and even some toys for little ones. I have really enjoyed my time there and the employees are friendly as can be.

As a client was leaving the clothing area this morning, talking to his friend he came with, he said "This is the best pantry I've been to... by far... by far." I just happened to overhear the comment and it made me feel like I made a tangible difference in someone's life today. What can you do but keep that in your pocket and thank God for being so blessed? I will remember that moment for years to come.

Thanks for embarking on this adventure with me.

In peace.

Welcome to Boston!

Welcome to Boston!

What a week its been! We arrived in Boston on Monday and have been on the go ever since. Wednesday was my favorite day we've had so far in our new town. Boston is a very pedestrian friendly city- walking and biking are big here.
Hubway Bikes are the talk around town, for good reason. Hubway Bikes are rent-able bikes that people can take for an hour or all day and everything in between. We rented bikes and traveled all around the city, seeing all the different neighborhoods. It was difficult to get the spacial layout down but I really enjoying seeing the places I've only seen in pictures.

Boston is the history lovers dream, especially a colonial history lovers dream! You know me...

This is my kind of town- history is living, and its everywhere.

"Fellow the red brick trail..."

The site of the Boston Massacre

Old State House- the Declaration was proclaimed from this balcony!

The oldest tavern in America, "The Bell in Hand."

The statue of a soldier at Lexington Common, where the Battle of Lexington was fought.

Spirit, I Have Heard You Calling

Annnnnnd... GO!

The journey has begun.

While I have not started my mission in Boston, I have officially started my term as a YAV with PC(USA).

All of the YAVs serving for the 2013-2014 year have descended upon a Presbyterian conference center in Stony Point, NY. There are 60ish (I don't have the patience to count all the names on the list) of us that will be serving this upcoming year, a handful of YAV alumni, and another handful of YAV staff- all totaling 80+ people at this one place, focused on service, for a week. Its a very powerful thing. 

Days are jam packed with scheduled group time, lectures, worship, meals, and discussions.

*Just as a side note, my introvert core is struggling to just get through these first 24 hours with little me time with just me, myself, and I. I have 5 more days to go. Prayers are welcome. :-)*

I have learned a lot but I'm also very positive that I have missed some golden nuggets due to my weary state of post-lunch haze. By evening worship my eyes are pink and I likely have a glazed look on my face. Said look is not from boredom or any unpleasantness; rather it comes from mental exhaustion thinking about what all of this means in different contexts.

Today's theme was "critical cultural competency" and multi-faith/inter-faith relations. Some discussions felt more like philosophy class rather than mission training. It was heavy, intense, real.

Then there was small group. Small group is a blast. I would venture to say I have the best small group in the whole program. Our fearless leader, Luke, has an odd and borderline obsessive love for manatees. His sign for us to come circle around is this manatee face that can't really be described, only experienced. We get weird looks from the other groups but we take pride in our ability to circle around without verbal cues. We are a tight Herd of Manatees. We seem to all get along and the group dynamic is very open and group time is actually refreshing to me which is somewhat rare for me.

At some point during this week I will post about the Stony Point gardens, pigs, and composting. Yes, there are gardens and pigs. This is my kind of place.

Peace be with you.

Transitions

Whelp, I have finished my time at Broadfork Farm.

5 months almost to the day.
100+ days.
Too many hours to count.
Infinite seeds, plants, drops of water and sweat.

I don't know how to express my feelings of gratitude, sadness, contentedness, exhaustion, ambition, and the list could go on and on.

The folks are Broadfork are TOP NOTCH and operate a responsible, humble farm that provides local, sustainable produce for the area. Farming is an ongoing learning process and they have learned to manage the curve balls as well as one can in a constantly changing environment.

I'm transitioning from working to packing to Boston.
For the next week I will be packing, cleaning, sorting, and trying my best to catch on sleep. There will also be copious amounts of soaking up time with friends, favorite RVA sites and sounds, and reminding myself that Richmond will always be here. It may be home but I have to fly the coop and I can always return.

In the words of a famous country singer:

When your wheelhouse is the land of cotton,
The first time you leave it can be strange, it can be shocking

...
Oh, Dixie Land,
I hope you understand
When I miss my Tennessee Home
And I've been away way too long
I can't see this world unless I go
Outside my Southern Comfort Zone

(just replace Tennessee with Virginia)

Tomorrow as I spend time getting my act together I will think about Broadfork and what they've given to me. If you ever get a chance to know farmers or work on a farm, do not pass it up. You won't regret it.