First Day of School - Me!

I survived my first day of DFI!! And it was amazing~simply amazing!

My first exercise of the day was to not get lost ;-) I should let you know early on I am directionally challenged and a serious mess with a map. I am going to ask for a GPS for my bday because I can get lost in my own neighborhood. But it doesn't help that I live in a state where the same road can change names 3-4 times AND what in the world is a Turnabout - I drove through 3 yesterday and that was just the weirdest thing - but I didn't take the wrong road off the turnabout so all is well. I have to tell you the best part about the drive. I was going south a majority of the way and I had the mountains on my right hand side and the sun rising up out of the valley onto the mountains. At one point I looked out and there were two church steeples just standing out against the mountains in this fantastic wave of blazing sun, you know when the sunrise is like fingers reaching out to grab the earth? Glorious. If there had been 3 steeples I would have had to stop and take a picture, gotta love the trinity.

I was the first one there, no surprise as I gave myself an extra 45 minutes in case I got lost. It was great though because there was a farmers market right next to the church where my classes are being held and there were some really neat farmers, bakers and artists to mill around and talk to. And I discovered a quaint, very bookish coffeeshop with two really neat women opening up. It was so fun to talk to them and watch them cook and they had some great teas to choose from. I have a feeling this will be my favorite little place to catch my breath after my drive and just get centered before classes start.

We all met in the sanctuary for Morning Prayer. It was so neat to be there with everyone, there are 19 of us in the formation process. It was great to be in a room full of people who are sharing the same journey with you. It is almost as if a new language starts to form immediately. I am sure it is that way with any schooling or profession, my husband uses acronyms like they are air and I listen to people debating their college teams knowing mascots and players like they were their kids favorite toys.

Morning Prayer is a great way to start the day. I love Morning Prayer and I am so blessed to help lead it at my sending church 2x a week - if you have never tried it, you should. Then we had a few business items to discuss and then class! My first class was on the Book of Common Prayer - which I could write ad naseum about my love of the Book of Common Prayer. Next class was History of Anglican Spirituality and Theology. Awesome stuff - it never ceases to amaze me that a lot of what is considered "new age" is really ancient. We did a lot on contemplative prayer; centering prayer and lectio divina, which are two of my favorite ways to pray - add in gospel contemplation and let's have a retreat! Then we did another class on the BCP - this time being instructed on how to lead morning and evening prayer. Then we did a class on the History and Theology of the Diaconate. This was my favorite of the day just because I want to inhale everything about "what is a Deacon?" Everytime I am given a new book to read, a new website to visit or a new scripture to read and take in about the deaconate I feel myself understanding who I am more and more.

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well."

Romans 16:1-2

The connection I am making right now is that I am to serve my God by serving within my church, leading people to prayer and then challenging them to act on their prayer, to join me out in the world. It is a good and joyful thing to pray for the hungry, it is a necessary thing to then feed them. I am the bridge between the church and the community, it is my responsibility to know the needs of the community, to live in communion with the community and then go inform the Church of who the community is and how they need us to serve them, minister to them and with them. I need to keep doing what I am doing and pray for Christ to be in the midst of all I do and all I am.

I can't wait for my next class - in the meantime I get to place a massive order on amazon and start inhaling books. I have the best life!