Well Hello!
I arrived in Erlanger, KY on Sunday afternoon and time has flown by since. The orientation has been taking place at a retreat center right in Erlanger - The property is extremely nice (great sitting room for card games like monopoly deal, great downstairs for catching up on the Olympics at night, beautiful roads through wooded areas for walks, and a nice pond that is just a little too weedy for a swim).
Now, I would love to tell you all about each and every part of the orientation thus far but I'm going to shorten it up to hopefully only a paragraph or two: The first day or two however was devoted to getting a background on the Sisters of Mercy and their foundress Catherine McAuley. Whom I have learned was an amazing woman as you might have guessed. I will have to update you all on the history of it all a little more later however because I don't have my information in front of me right now! So after that background information we moved on to the three main themes of MVC.
Each day of the orientation has been centered around one of the three central themes -Yesterday was Compassionate Service and we traveled into Cincinnati to visit Mercy Neighborhood Ministries (which provides multiple services to residents of the city - most importantly adults seeking education and opportunities for employment) It was a day full of amazing talks in which several main messages stuck out to me that will no doubt help me continue to move forward in this year of service. One such message that seems to ring very clear for me right now is to move towards an attitude of "Not asking why I am doing this year of service but rather coming to a realization that this is where I am meant to be right now whether I understand it or not"
Today was based on spirituality, and we had the opportunity to explore our own prayer type (similar to Meyers Briggs testing for prayer type - I'm apparently a Franciscan "Lover" prayer type) Ill spare you the explanation for now - if you are more interested ask me more about it! We also had the opportunity to discuss in our specific communities more about what our expectations are for spirituality nights. This was great - It will truly be an experience sharing in prayer and spiritual growth with the three women I will be living with.
And yes, that is true - I will be living with three women in a four bedroom house: Stacy from Chicago area, Mary Rose from Ohio, and NaShia from D.C. Each day, we seem to enjoy each other's company more and more (Hopefully this continues as we move to our actual house!)
Well, I could continue on and on, but I think I am going to go finish a game of Monopoly Deal with some other volunteers. There are a total of 33 volunteers serving through Mercy Volunteer Corps this year in places all over the country - I believe there are communities in Arizona (of course), Baltimore, Philadelphia, Erie PA, Savannah GA, Sacramento CA, and New York. I know them all by name already and have had a genuine conversation with each as well (That was a goal of mine) They are all pretty cool people! OH and I'm not the only guy - there are 4 of us! haha! Alright, I am off for now - I will try to post once more before leaving for AZ on Sunday. Thanks for reading! peace
Pictures?
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