Love Never Is, It Is Only Ever Becoming

Fall has finally come to Georgia! The mornings are crisp and cool and the air smells like a fire. It really makes me miss Connecticut! Its hard to believe that I've been here for over a month now, almost two. So much has happened and I'm learning so much, that its tough even to write it all down in a blog. The days go by fast and the nights even faster, it seems like the alarm goes off only moments after my head hits the pillow.

I think though that everything I am learning can be summed up in a quote that I recently heard from Pope John Paul II. He said, "Love never is, it is only ever becoming." When I first heard it, it was as if my soul exhaled, as though it was saying, "see, the pressures off." Its freeing to know that I can never love perfectly, that I am always learning how to love better, love more fully. It gives me freedom to try and fail, and then to get up and try again, freedom to say, I am imperfect, and that's ok, freedom to ask questions and admit mistakes. Its also a call to keep learning, to keep evolving in my faith and my love, which is pretty wonderful too.

Hospitality

This past weekend we, the missionaries, went to St. Monica's in Duluth, GA for a Theology on the Body conference with Christopher West (it was amazing, and I highly recommend to all to read about this great teaching, you can go to www.tobinstitute.org for info, but more about that, hopefully, later). The people organizing the event were gracious enough to give us free tickets and found us places to stay so that we could attend. This beautiful woman named Lisa took us girls into her home and made us feel more welcome than we could have ever imagined. Not knowing any of us, and having no connections with Covecrest, she welcomed four strangers into her home, and didn't just give us a bed, she had laid out baskets of snacks and toiletries. She was incredibly kind, what a testament to her faith. She was a witness to all of us, who sometimes struggle with taking people into our new home, that giving and welcoming should and can be done without reservation, and even more than that, with joy.

I am also constantly amazed by the hospitality of my fellow missionaries, not only in their ability to welcome the groups that come up for retreats, but also in the way that they welcome each other (and me) into their lives and hearts. When we were driving back from the conference, Reggie and Chris were talking, and Chris just stopped Reggie and said, "listen, I sometimes feel like you feel as though you have to prove yourself, like you have to defend yourself, and I want you to know that you don't. Nothing that you can say or do is going to make me love you or listen to you any more or less."How awesome is that! The acceptance and validation Chris gave Reggie in that simple sentence, said with such sincerity, is, I think, something that we all want to and need to hear from those in our life. And hospitality is at the heart of it. Chris is willing to let Reggie, flaws and past and baggage and all, into his heart fully, with joy, and without reservation.

Rolling In the Kingdom of God

On Wed. evenings the Covecrest community has Kid's Praise, a much anticipated part of the weekly schedule. The entire community gathers on the Lodge porch or, if its raining, inside one of the meeting rooms to sing praise songs chosen by the kids. There are a bunch of different possibilities, all have hand motions and require active participation. Its really quite a work out. The best part though is that the entire community, adults and children alike, is enthusiastic about this and fully participates. One of the songs is "Dancing in the Kingdom of God" and we all dance around in a circle while singing. The lyrics are simple: "Dancing, dancing in the kingdom, dancing, dancing in the kingdom, dancing in the kingdom of God, cause we want to glorify His Name." After dancing, someone shouts out the next thing we'll do in the Kingdom, anything from spinning to skipping to marching and everyone does that. This week we rolled in the Kingdom of God, and let me tell you, the sight of 15 adults rolling around on the floor is one funny sight. And we all do it, gladly, because its a chance for us to be witnesses of our faith to these children. Its a chance to totally make a fool of yourself for God, and I think of David telling his wife, who had just reprimanded him for dancing and singing in front of the Ark and all of the Israelites, that he was making merry before the Lord, and that he would continue to do so, even if others thought he was silly.