Intake Week 1

I feel like life has been an absolute whirlwind these past few weeks!  After we said our goodbyes see ya laters in Buffalo three weeks ago we took the long way to Louisiana.  We slept in 6 different cities, visited with tons of people who are very dear to us, celebrated a wedding, had a mini 3-day family vacation at Mammoth Caves, and finally arrived at Big Woods.  We spent a couple days getting settled into our new home and getting the kids acquainted with everything here.  It was such a blessing to have a couple of quite days before Intake began on Monday!  I had no idea just how busy our schedule would be!!

Our typical day here starts with community breakfast at 8am in the Community House, then some form of morning prayer with everyone.  After prayer the kids go to Children’s Ministry where they do some school work (assuming I remember to pull it out and send it with them) while Josh and I attend a morning session, which usually includes a teaching or talk and some time for reflection or possibly a small group discussion.  Then the kids join us and we do a big community lunch.  For the first week and a half we are doing a retreat, so instead of project and chore time in the afternoon we have another session that includes a talk or another kind of retreat activity.  There is often a bit of a break, then community dinner.  During the evenings there is praise and worship, mission formation meeting, Mass, a party or another event.  Sometimes there are variations to that schedule to make time for things like family dinners or downtime, but you get the general idea. If you know me, you know that being on time is not a strong suit of mine, so having a set schedule where we need to be on time, multiple times a day, is a really good challenge.  As you can imagine, when we go to bed here we are happy and exhausted!

Through the week there have been so many amazing moments.  The Sunday before we left Buffalo so many of you came to the 12:30 Mass with us, and it meant so much to us!!  The closing song at Mass that day was “Your Grace is Enough.”  Fast forward to Monday morning (the first day of Intake), we got to the community house a 8:00am for breakfast.  Usually as a community we sing a praise and worship song and then say a prayer before each meal.  That day they started with “Your Grace is Enough,” and it really was such a blessing to me.  First, of course, I started by missing everyone we left in Buffalo and Ohio so much.  But then I looked around and saw that those in the kitchen with me would also become family to us, and in a short time they already have!!  Somehow in that moment I saw just how connected we really are in the Body of Christ, that we carry so many of you with us in our hearts and in prayer, and you all (like it or not) are part of the FMC extended family.  Thank you for making this crazy journey with us! 

True to form, I wish I had taken more pictures this week.  But I have a few snapshots to share, and we will share more in the future.

The Community House has a beautiful back porch that overlooks the horses in the pasture; we get to see some amazing sunsets here!!  This is one of the favorite places for the kids to catch lizards and just play with the other children.  

 

  

Here is a picture of the dining area in the community house…and Naomi.  (Please excuse the blue cast on her face, you get the straight out of camera shot these days).  

One evening they had a Cajun night celebration, and it was wonderful!!  We had a Cajun dish that I can only describe as a slightly spicy alligator stew that was served over rice.  It was delicious!!  The kids enjoyed it, but Naomi LOVED it!!  She ate an adult’s portion of alligator that night!  They also had a Cajun band playing and dancing.  The kids had a blast, and Nathaniel spent the entire evening playing in the band.  

On Sunday we made it out to Lafayette as a family to celebrate Josh’s birthday.  We ate at a local place that was recommended to us.  We ate a variety of seafood, as well as a sample platter with things like fried alligator and frog’s legs.  It was delicious, and gave us some much-needed family time.

That is the run down for this week, know we are carrying all of you in our hearts and in our prayers!!