After Retreat

So what's the news?

The retreat was good. It was really nice to get away, have some time to play and pray and think and relax and not work. And there were some unexpected surprises.

For instance, when this lady name Cody asked who was going to jump into the slushy Lake Michigan with her, I was surprised to find myself saying Me! She wound up not doing it. She'd had a heart transplant less than a year ago, and we all had some legitmate concerns for her wellbeing. But for me? I'd never done it, and I figured since it came up and I had a chance and no real reason not to, it was my moral obligation to go through.

And I did.

And it was incredible. The greatest feeling ever, no matter how very uncomfortable. I can't even describe it to do it justice. It's life. So very vivid, it's life.

Also, I've set into motion the chain of events that is going to split my work hours. I'll be dropping down to probably two days a week at St. Paul, and will probably spend two days a week at Su Casa. It's a Catholic Worker House that has a lot of need right now, because it's struggling to stay open. I feel good about this change. I'll be splitting my hours after Easter, so there is still time left that I'll be here at St. Paul full time. I can transition out.

Maybe I'll find my place at Su Casa, maybe not. There's also a possibility that I'll be trained for prison ministry. And maybe I'll shift some hours back to Holy Cross. I've still been working with HOPE Program this year, and I still love it. Gave a presentation two days ago and holy cow, I love it. At any rate, I'm taking steps to change my position to something I'm more comfortable with, that I enjoy more, and that makes me feel more fulfilled and less like a failure or a fraud. So we'll see.

Oh! Also, I've got some news about the Marathon.

It turns out that, after five years of doing the AIDS Marathon in Ireland, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago has decided to try something new. Their overseas Marathon is in Florence. Which has me kind of bummed, because I was all set for Ireland. But now there's this possibility of Italy instead, which has me kind of un-bummed. Also, I could run the Marathon in Honolulu, or in Chicago or DC. At any rate, training, etc, will start in June for Florence and Hawaii, earlier for Chicago. I'll keep you all posted.

What else is fun? I took three of the teens to the Marquard Center on Monday. It's a soup kitchen, with a shelter a few blocks away. We served dinner--well, they served dinner. I was the coffee person. It was really neat. They've got a great operation up there. It's also a fulltime volunteer program, and I think four of the volunteers that live there are from Germany. It was neat to talk with them, and the other part time volunteers that were there, and the lady who was there for community service, and people we got to serve. It was really good.