I had my last spiritual direction meeting today with my friend Megan Babayco. She was in the process of getting her doctorate in spiritual direction and needed some "guinea pigs" to practice on so I jumped at the opportunity a year ago, July. It's been a wonderful journey with someone who asks good questions and helps me take notice of things that might otherwise slip by. When we first met I felt like I was really starting to come out of the fog of grief and, after keeping God at arms length for a season, I was ready and wanting to draw near again. I was looking at how life is NOW, not what we envisioned it to be at this stage. Certainly ministry-wise I had very different expectations about what I'd be doing and it's been awesome to have someone (and actually I have quite a few someones) who will point out the ways that I'm still very much ministering to others. Beyond the families I talk with in my work, we started hosting a house church in the Spring of 2022 with eight couples. We meet a couple times a month on Sunday evenings and we're now up to thirteen people and every so often we add another one or two. I also started writing more regularly. In January I wrote a daily devotional that I sent out to some friends and family each day. After January I cut it down to twice a week and just recently took it down to once a week with all that's going on. I have a dream of doing a podcast with Sarah one day. I think between the two of us we'd have some good content...the technology is intimidating though - along with finding the time that we can both do it! Something to aim for though.
We had lots of company this summer with our nephew Alex and family (Brittany, Blake, Aliyah, Jordan and Wren) along with the Saturno clan of five in June. There were lots of hikes, swims, meals, trips to the park, Mexican Train and good conversations. The next month my sister Lee with Ron and Emily came for first a week in Vail at their timeshare and a second week with us. Again, lots of hikes and pool, wine tasting, mountain exploring and good conversation. I can't help but note how as our families grow and mature we still have to work hard on communicating well and giving lots of grace.
It's mind-boggling to think about the long histories I have with so many family members. I think I know them really well but then realize that they have many years of living that I have no clue about, those day to day interactions and events that I may not even know about that also feed into their experience and worldview (let alone their personal thoughts and processing). Then you add all the family that I haven't had much interaction with, who also continue to have daily living and personal processing that add to their experience and really, it's amazing that we can communicate effectively at all. We each have such vast experiences and perspectives. Different personality types, motivations, traumas and triggers that can point us in totally different directions talking over or under or around each other, all the while thinking we're being perfecting clear. Oh Lord, help us all!
I'm thankful though that despite bad/missed/under/over communicating we still love each other deeply and desire to keep trying to come together in meaningful ways. I'm so thankful for the people God has surrounded me with, be it family or friends. I am rich in community and grateful.
Happy Summer!
~Sally
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