oh this city! an update.

My blog hiatus has been wonderful but without real excuse.

A quick update:

I got to spend Christmas first in Iowa with Drew's family and then at home in CO with my own. In the week at home I got to catch up with Lauren and Jonathan and Annie and Katelyn - a great reunion of some of the people most dear to me from church during high school! Jonathan and I got to discuss the finer points of how to rid our world of injustice in regards to community, family, market, education, politics and well, you may send letters of thanks to us, my new address in chicago is 1220 N State, Chicago IL 60610....

I'm also accepting any sort of letter or package you might wish to send! :)

Drew visited for New Years before he jetted off to oxford for the semester (I'm visiting him over easter!!) and I enjoyed a few last nights at home before heading back to school for my final weeks on campus.

The bulk of January was spent in an interim class on Monastic Spirituality. One of my favorite professors and good friends taught this course, which studied the Rule of St. Benedict and a few other books about applying monastic values to our lives today. Needless to say, I absolutely loved the course and have been trying to adapt some of the principles to my life - particularly those regarding living with intentionality and hospitality as I seek to live a life full of worship and relationships that can honor God! If you have any wisdom or thoughts on the subject I'd love to talk more about it - it's something I need encouragement to continue seeking out and I'd love to worship in this way with others if anyone is interested!

The last week of January was spent in a hotel downtown for orientation for the program I'm doing this semester which is titled, profoundly enough, Chicago Semester. There's students from a number of small christian colleges around the midwest participating in the program - and although I spend more time with other social work students, I see most of the students during our weekly arts class and events which have been both challenging and enlightening! We get to go to art events around the city in loads of different venues, from well known theaters to little neighborhood projects.

And how is Chicago? Well, for starters, I absolutely LOVE this city! I love living here, I love working here, I love worshipping here, I love calling it home and feeling at home and finding a place, my place, in a new place.

I've got an internship with an organization called San Jose Obrero Mission in the neighborhood of Pilsen. It's a really unique neighborhood, founded by a number of polish immigrants, but shifting towards many mexican and latino immigrants over the last thirty years. It's bursting at the seems with culture and I've come to find a place there as well - even coming as an outsider who doesn't speak the language or fully yet appreciate the culture - I'm loved and it's so good.

San Jose is an interim housing and services shelter for men who are experiencing homelessness. In January, the city asked San Jose to take on a women and children's shelter that already existed just down the street. It's been a bumpy first two months, and there's a lot of change to come, but it's an exciting time to work with SJOM! I've taken on a bulk of the volunteer coordination and that has led to creating programs for the children here. Thus far, we've just been trying to handle the logistics of implementing basic services, like employment training, case management and housing assistance for the women - so it's been a great challenge to advocate for programs for these beautiful and wonderful kids! I'm getting to really put my frustrations with social work as a value system on the line and offer what little I've learned to my many business background co-workers. I'm learning loads and loving it all the way!

So that's been the last two months - ever so briefly. It's been a lot of adjusting to new places, new routines, meeting new people and finding a place here - in newness, newness that I hope will soon become my own. I'm so thankful to find a sense of peace here - that as much as I still miss my mountains and my family and our kitchen and the smells of home, I'm also so at home here in this city, riding these busses and walking these busy, quirky streets. I have so much passion for the work that God is doing here, and even as I rejoice to hear about the good work he is doing at V7, in my family and church community there; I know that God is calling me to work here. What a blessing!

I know that's a brief summation of a lot of happenings. If you have questions just ask...or call....or write letters...

I'll try to be more diligent with blogging - but no promises - I've got too much city to see! :)

A view of our wee studio from the door

my bed and our desk

and kendra's bed

and of course, I'm making excellent use of our kitchen! these are mom's best black bottom cupcakes. yum!