What Do You Get a Cloistered Postulant for Her Birthday?

Many mornings during each week I find myself at St. Clare's Monastery for Lauds  at 7am and Liturgy at 7:30. It's a wonderful start to my mornings which I will share about sometime soon.

After  this last Christmas,  a new person appeared on the Sister's side of the chapel. And in a community as small as St. Clare's, she stood out. Young. She was not in a habit...which told me that she was probably a Postulant; that is someone searching for God's will for her in Cloistered life.

Not too many weeks into her presence there, she crossed the chapel to me (WOW!) and presented me with a beautifully soft scarf that she had knitted.... "I love looking at your scarves each day and when I started knitting I knew this one was for you."

I can't begin to tell you how that touched my heart.  Seriously. Someone I had only waved "Peace" to across the chapel had made me something special...that took time and work.

I was able to ask the Abbess the Postulant's name. "Annemarie. But we call her Annie." she had said with a smile. So, I had a name for a thank you note.
Since then, Annie and I have exchanged letters, notes, nods, smiles, laughter across the chapel...words on social media (yeah, no kidding!) and recently some conversation.

We also discovered that we share a birthday week. Another July baby!
Now really, one can't celebrate one's birthday with cake, dinner out at a restaurant, and balloons, from inside a Cloister,  so I've searched for something that I could do that would be my version of my lovely, warm scarf.

A month or so ago, as I was leaving the monastery, I heard singing...not people, but a bird. I stood and watched and listened for quite some time. I grabbed my phone to capture a few pictures. Not great, but the song and the sight stayed with me. So... this is for Annie...on her birthday...which is tomorrow...in thanks for her friendship, prayers, smiles and caring.


The Monastery Mockingbird
hops about the lawn,
listening intently
at the Chapel window.
    She hears the prayers,
    has learned the words,
    feels the Spirit,
    sitting tall on the cross of Christ.

In a flash of dark and white,
in habit,
she flies out -
Extern to the world-
Praying as she goes.
   Bold, -- insistent upon sharing
   what she knows of Christ's love-
   she's memorized the Psalm, the verse,
   the intention, the Call.

Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Spreading Cloister Calm in prayer
as Jubilant canticle to the world-
   Beyond the wall...the gate...
   the lawn
   from where her Sisters kneel.

(Blessed Birthday, Annie! Amen! Amen! I say to you!)

Sometimes You Just Have to Say Yes

So what was it that took me to IF:Boston (The Local event for IF:Gathering) in the first place? Really, it doesn't seem like my kind of thing if you think you know me. And if you really DO know me, you know that it really IS...and really ISN'T.

2 things got me there. Well, 2 people anyway got me there.
Allison asked and  Ann Voscamp wrote.

Allison asked. She asked if I'd help...or be involved...or something. I was surprised...honored, really. I'm this short, chubby older lady. Weird really.
And I said, "Yes." Because it was Allison. She's one of the Christians who has an authentic heart, an honest spirit, and a strong faith...and it shows. She doesn't know this, but if she asked me to help with just about anything, I'd say yes again. --- Now really, I did very, very little with this, and I felt kind of like the oddball. Not young, not hip, not a forever "I so get it and work hard to walk the walk" kind of Christian in the sense of the word that I think of all the other women involved. But I did a couple things. Because IF:Boston was a vision of Allison's and when someone like her has a vision, people should get behind it...get behind them... ESPECIALLY when God is in the mix and leading the visionary. Allison was led. No question.

One Thousand Gifts was a life changer. For me and for my BFF. If you haven't read it, don't, unless you're ready to be impacted and want to be challenged.  But if you want to be, do work at it. It's hard.
Ann Voscamp , the author, is involved with IF...and a speaker. I needed to hear her. Was she real?

So, I did it...and dragged a few people along with me, because if Allison was being led and Ann was speaking...then the rest of the event was going to be loaded with God. And hey, speakers are always good to learn from...when they don't have to talk for too long each. I believe those who came with me found truths that they could attach themselves to.And who knew? Perhaps God had a message for me.

So I continue on. Because He did have a message...and I continue to try really hard to listen.

Voscamp keeps writing to inspire... I read her blog daily. And I'm touched daily by her not-prose-not-poetry writing-that-speaks.  Try her on for size if you haven't already. Today's struck a chord. But don't read her if you want superficial, because she simply isn't that.

 Allison hasn't asked me to do anything lately, but I was really glad that she did and that I couldn't say no.
I hope you have someone whom you can't say no to and who gets you to do things outside your comfort zone, because wow!, when you are still thinking about it almost 4 months later, it's amazing.

Ebenezer

"Here I raise my Ebenezer;Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home."- Come Thou Fount

"As a reminder of the great victory God gave to Israel, Samuel took a great stone and raised it as a memorial between Mizpeh and Shen. As he raised it he called the name of it Ebenezer [or stone of help], saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us (1 Samuel 7:12). Whenever the Israelites looked at the stone, they would remember how God had helped them"  - House to House/Heart to Heart

It seems that every spring I try again to write more and come to this page and share something, even though it's quite likely that few read it. I think maybe it's because I'm trying to leave something behind when I go. They say, after all, that  what goes out on the web will stay there forever, whether you want it to or not. But perhaps this page is a small part of something else. Something bigger.

 I came to this page this afternoon because of this new computer, but since I have time and am not compelled to "work" perhaps I'm here because it's time to start putting some things down. I was endeavoring to make sure that all my programs were brought over to this machine before the inevitable day when the  Dell goes back to the company and my dinosaur Toshiba chugs to a halt. So, this machine really is the first (or second) baby step of an  effort to begin what I've felt pulled  driven  led to do for some time now and then heard and felt again back in February at IF:Gathering BOSTON.

As IF closed 3+ months ago, we were given  rocks to write on...what we were committing to in an effort to be more "with" Christ. I handed back my first rock because it was too small, and took this one with the hole because it  spoke to what I felt.  So I wrote:

     Fill the Gaps...
     Move On...
     Get Started.

Fill the Gaps. The kids are just about done with me as a homeschooling mom. They are big. I'm not saying my job is over, but really, most of it is. So. What now? What are the holes in me? The holes where He should be. The holes that His purpose in my life...for the next few decades or whatever is left...should fill. Note the hole in the rock.

Move on. It's time to step away from the safe and same'ol...and move on to the big things that are next. The things that matter. The things that aren't about making money for someone else or simply amusing myself. Time to stop staying where it's comfortable and see what God has in store. 

Get Started. What am I waiting for? How much of His plan can I accomplish if I give all my time to other endeavors? Time to get a move-on. Stop waiting. Get started.

And then I put the rock on my desk. And that rock of help sat there. But God wasn't going to let me off that easily. He's been louder lately and He's been making things happen so that I am uncomfortable enough start moving. I'm not saying it's not scary. It's very, very scary. 

More to come soon. Please, pray for me, because I want to be singing when the evening comes.

"The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes." 

-Redman

Friday Links: The Great American Backyard Campout!

Getting outside is what summer is all about. If you can't go camping away from home, go camping in your backyard! If you don't have space in your backyard, go camping right in your own home! Pitch a tent, or create one! Pull out the sleeping bags and the flashlights. Enjoy the night sky, and the sounds of the out of doors. June 28, 2014 is the date for the Great American Backyard Campout!  Mark your calendars!