Donna’s Pilgrimage - on the road to beautiful

It’s a choice…
I refuse to be disappointed!

…in God
…in myself
…in those I love

(Somebody hold me accountable.)

We surprised Joy this morning with a breakfast wedding shower. Lots of friends, lots of gifts, lots of fun. Leslie did an amazing job of gettting it all together and keeping it a secret.
I loved re-connecting with people I haven’t seen for years…and meeting some of the others that share Joy’s life.
May Joy and Jon’s shared adventure be colorful, joyful, and fruitful!

I just got back from a funeral.
I met a little (4′9″), old (80 something) red-haired Jewish woman walking the mall almost a year ago. She immediately let me into her life. We had lunch, talked often, I saw pics of her family, and her family gatherings. And when I was in Nazareth in Oct. with my mom who had just had heart surgery, Bea would call to check on mom, and encourage me to do whatever was necessary for mom, and I would never be sorry. Bea was amazing..she was so full of life and joy, and she did amazing things…tutored reading, threw parties, cooked gourmet meals, sewed amazing clothes, exercised, read voraciously, and loved extravagantly to the very end of her life here.
She died Wed. morning. Her daughter, whom I had never met, called to tell me. Today I went to her funeral and learned so much more about this woman. She married the love of her life, and shortly after her children were born, he died. She raised her children as a single mom. Some of those children died also. She graduated from college…she was also the only one in her fam to finish hs, then went on to get her masters. She “adopted” hundreds of handicapped children, made sure they were taught the skills necessary to live independently, and paid for much of it herself. She tirelessly advocated for group homes, and worked in many.
She volunteered at her granchildren’s schools when her children had to work. She was never too busy to show she cared.
She made people her priority. She taught her children the Word, and lived her “religion”, although not a single person would have called her religious. She knew how to pray, and spent lots of time doing it. One of her faorite expressions was…”I’ll be dead for a long time, I’ll rest then”.
I want to be like her when I grow up….No, I want to grow up now, and live that life. It was a privilege to take part in an old Jewish tradition of adding a shovel of dirt to the grave as a last act of caring for the person being buried.

I have never experienced anything like this….away in Gettysburg with a snowstorm threatening…those that didn’t let the weather report scare them away got more than their money’s worth.
Never before have I been to a gathering where God made Himself known as we set up, and never left.
Never before have I been to a gathering where every woman heard from God personally, was”ministered” to and “ministered” to others. Two of “my girls” came, and they were embraced by all the older women. There were no cliques, no groups, just women loving women in the most amazing ways. Now there were only 28 of us, but we connected with God and each other, and it was SWEET!
I even had requests for Lectio Divina on a regular basis. Only 4 of the women had ever done L.D. before, and it was with me. We used one of the hotel rooms where it was quiet, and we relaxed, and listened. Most of the women had never taken the time to slow down like that before. I tell you, it was sooooooo good.
There was no main speaker, no silly games, or activites, just lots of worship, prayer, Bible study, and quiet listening. Doesn’t get much better than that.
And now this snow….15 inches and still coming altho slowly. No place to go, a fire in the fire place, and time….I love it!

I was reminded of this the other night. It was something I used to hold very dear, but it seems to have gotten away from me lately. I’m taking steps to reclaim this vision and practice this ministry of presence.

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories, and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them.
Henri Nouwen from Gracias