Now you've read about the people, here are the faces. Clockwise from the top: Leah, Lindsey, Courtney, the Silent Nun, Jamaica, Brittney, Addy, Jes, and Clayton.
January 22, 2009
Facing
Now you've read about the people, here are the faces. Clockwise from the top: Leah, Lindsey, Courtney, the Silent Nun, Jamaica, Brittney, Addy, Jes, and Clayton.
January 14, 2009
"How I Became a Protestant Nun" - to now
The third and final installment of my review:
"And we needed women to move into the house. I was the first woman to move in after the transition, and Leah made two. But we needed eight women, and it is hard to disciple women if no one is living in the ministry house. So began what has been a five month test of faith as we struggled to pay bills, find women to live in the house, convince the investor to continue his support and ultimately to trust the Lord to provide the means and women to fill the house if it was his desire for this ministry to continue. I cannot deny that there were times when we were faced with the possibility that Maison de la Vie might close. Brittney was the first woman to move in, and then came Addy. And there were four of us. Not long after came Lindsey, who works at the Jefferson Street Baptist Center. Until a couple of weeks ago there were five of us.
Here too came a lesson of love, faith and patience. Here were five women who (except for Brittney and me) had never met before we moved in together and covenanted together to be a family to one another in Christ. Familial intimacy does not happen immediately or by chance, especially amongst total strangers. And in a house the size of Maison de la Vie, it can be so easy for people to share the same space and never see each other. Thus there was quite a bit naturally working against the formation of strong relationships. But God intervened here as well and answered the prayers of many people. At some point this fall, the barrier among all of us seemed to crumble and love and trust have filled the gap. If this all happened because we were sick together or mere coincidentally with our illnesses, it is clear to me that something changed at that time; and I am convinced that the Lord uses many means to accomplish his purposes and answer the prayers of his people.
But a house with a large mortgage and room for eight to ten women will not survive long if only populated by five women. And so we continued to pray for more women to move. And once again, the Lord has answered prayer. Jamaica moved into the house the week before Christmas; this itself was so very good. But God will continually work to boggle my mind. For the Sunday before Christmas, Ryan announced in church that the house is looking for more residents, and immediately after the service, Neil came up to me and told that one of his co-workers was looking for a place to live. I told him that to have her call me. That very afternoon, Courtney did call, and we set a meeting for the next day. We met up at Taco Bell and talked about the house and started to get to know each other's stories. By the time we parted, Courtney seemed very excited about the house, but wanted to take some time to think and pray. A couple of hours later she called with her decision to move into the house. By that Sunday, she was moving in.
I must confess that while I knew we needed and did pray for more women, I was somewhat anxious about the change this would bring in the house dynamics as we all would have to repeat the process of learning to love total strangers. And once again I have been shown how futile it is to worry, for God has already been working in our relationships. Evidence of grace abounds everywhere I look as I witness all of us encouraging one another and being encouraged and getting to know each other (not that things have been perfectly smooth. Put seven sinners in one house together, and there will be problems, and there are kinks to be worked out as we figure out how to function as a house. But overall, the good far outweighs the bad. And this too is a test of patience and grace toward one another.)
The Lord's crazy providence was demonstrated in one more way this week [New Year's week]. When Courtney moved in, we did not have a mattress for her. We have several beds, but no mattresses. And I really had no idea where we were going to find one – not that I doubted we would. Courtney moved in on Sunday, and on Monday, out of the blue, Adam sent me a message on facebook, asking if we still needed a mattress. Absolutely yes!
So that brings me to today, the first day of Anno Domini 2009, where I cannot but praise my God in Christ that He truly is faithful and loving far beyond what I or anyone else deserved, and He works in so many ways to do his people good, eliciting praise from their lips. Is life easy, smooth and pleasant? Oftentimes no. As I think on the stories of each woman at Maison de la Vie, there is much pain and brokenness. But we are a broken people praying to the God who has known has known what it means to be broken, and we know he is not distant. And as I look back on 2008, I can only see the miraculous providence of God everywhere, both in the joy and in the striving."
"And we needed women to move into the house. I was the first woman to move in after the transition, and Leah made two. But we needed eight women, and it is hard to disciple women if no one is living in the ministry house. So began what has been a five month test of faith as we struggled to pay bills, find women to live in the house, convince the investor to continue his support and ultimately to trust the Lord to provide the means and women to fill the house if it was his desire for this ministry to continue. I cannot deny that there were times when we were faced with the possibility that Maison de la Vie might close. Brittney was the first woman to move in, and then came Addy. And there were four of us. Not long after came Lindsey, who works at the Jefferson Street Baptist Center. Until a couple of weeks ago there were five of us.
Here too came a lesson of love, faith and patience. Here were five women who (except for Brittney and me) had never met before we moved in together and covenanted together to be a family to one another in Christ. Familial intimacy does not happen immediately or by chance, especially amongst total strangers. And in a house the size of Maison de la Vie, it can be so easy for people to share the same space and never see each other. Thus there was quite a bit naturally working against the formation of strong relationships. But God intervened here as well and answered the prayers of many people. At some point this fall, the barrier among all of us seemed to crumble and love and trust have filled the gap. If this all happened because we were sick together or mere coincidentally with our illnesses, it is clear to me that something changed at that time; and I am convinced that the Lord uses many means to accomplish his purposes and answer the prayers of his people.
But a house with a large mortgage and room for eight to ten women will not survive long if only populated by five women. And so we continued to pray for more women to move. And once again, the Lord has answered prayer. Jamaica moved into the house the week before Christmas; this itself was so very good. But God will continually work to boggle my mind. For the Sunday before Christmas, Ryan announced in church that the house is looking for more residents, and immediately after the service, Neil came up to me and told that one of his co-workers was looking for a place to live. I told him that to have her call me. That very afternoon, Courtney did call, and we set a meeting for the next day. We met up at Taco Bell and talked about the house and started to get to know each other's stories. By the time we parted, Courtney seemed very excited about the house, but wanted to take some time to think and pray. A couple of hours later she called with her decision to move into the house. By that Sunday, she was moving in.
I must confess that while I knew we needed and did pray for more women, I was somewhat anxious about the change this would bring in the house dynamics as we all would have to repeat the process of learning to love total strangers. And once again I have been shown how futile it is to worry, for God has already been working in our relationships. Evidence of grace abounds everywhere I look as I witness all of us encouraging one another and being encouraged and getting to know each other (not that things have been perfectly smooth. Put seven sinners in one house together, and there will be problems, and there are kinks to be worked out as we figure out how to function as a house. But overall, the good far outweighs the bad. And this too is a test of patience and grace toward one another.)
The Lord's crazy providence was demonstrated in one more way this week [New Year's week]. When Courtney moved in, we did not have a mattress for her. We have several beds, but no mattresses. And I really had no idea where we were going to find one – not that I doubted we would. Courtney moved in on Sunday, and on Monday, out of the blue, Adam sent me a message on facebook, asking if we still needed a mattress. Absolutely yes!
So that brings me to today, the first day of Anno Domini 2009, where I cannot but praise my God in Christ that He truly is faithful and loving far beyond what I or anyone else deserved, and He works in so many ways to do his people good, eliciting praise from their lips. Is life easy, smooth and pleasant? Oftentimes no. As I think on the stories of each woman at Maison de la Vie, there is much pain and brokenness. But we are a broken people praying to the God who has known has known what it means to be broken, and we know he is not distant. And as I look back on 2008, I can only see the miraculous providence of God everywhere, both in the joy and in the striving."
January 12, 2009
Review Part 2 - or "How I Became a Protestant Nun"
Here is the second part of my journal entry from the end/beginning of the year.
"But the biggest change of all I have only mentioned in passing. I said that I moved twice this year, which is an excessive amount for anyone. But it is the reason for the second move that still boggles my mind. Late in July, while I was in the middle of the application process at UPS, one night at VBS (I don't remember the date. Like I said, I don't have a good notion of time) Jeff King came up to me and asked me what I thought about Old Louisville. I did not have a clue what was coming, so I non-nonchalantly replied that I really like the neighborhood and had lived there once. And then he asked me if I would be interested in living there again. At this point I was thoroughly baffled, until Jeff explained that there was this ministry house called Maison de la Vie and that the elders had suggested that I take on the role of head of house. Thinking back, I am still amazed and can barely comprehend it, except for the fact that I am sitting here, writing all of this in that ministry house called Maison de la Vie. I mulled over Jeff's words for a while not quite sure what to think. I hadn't ever sought out ministry to college students and had just moved two months prior to a new apartment. Later, I talked with Ryan Fullerton and found out more about the house and the situation. Here was a house that existed to be a purposeful community of single Christian women, seeking intentional discipleship and living to minster to each other and to people outside the house—all under the authority of the local church. In this house was the combination of everything that I love—teaching, discipling, showing hospitality and cultivating a beautiful home. And the elders of Immanuel asked me to lead it. Whatever possessed them to do it, I may never understand. Not that I object, mind you. But it seems to me that there are other women more qualified to teach, lead women in showing hospitality and who have desired this sort of ministry more than I have - tremendously godly women.
1 January 2009 – I was interrupted by a few things, and so now continue in my meanderings over the past year. I had not set out to lead any sort of ministry. Actually, most of the ministry in which I have been involved has been of behind-the-scenes variety—nursery, ESL, sermon recording, running the projector and other stuff like that. What was there to recommend me for this I am not sure. But this I do know, whatever was there could only be by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, for there is nothing of myself to qualify me for anything except the wrath of God. So I praise Him and Him only because He is the author and giver of all good things. And I am reminded that even when I am short-sighted, blind to His work, He is still faithful to sanctify His own - to sanctify me. So this that I cannot comprehend must have come only from His hand and tend only to His glory.
(Interjection: forgot to put this in the journal entry, but it is worth recalling God's sovereignty in orchestrating my circumstances to allow me to accept the role. When I moved last spring, it had first been my goal to find a totally new apartment with Anne Kirsten. We looked for a good long while but couldn't discover anything that would suit. In the end, I into an apartment at Village Manor with another girl who already held the lease. Because I did not move in with Anne, I had no lease to which I was tied and was therefore free to move at any time.)
Within a couple of days, Ryan Fullerton and I met with Ross McGary, Lisa McGary, Jason and Donna Shaw, and Jes and Clayton Rothwell. Within about two weeks, I moved into Maison de la Vie. During the whole process, I met with Lisa a couple of times and this woman named Leah Proctor who was recommended to me as a co-leader (I am so glad I listened to Lisa and Jes's advice).
I must emphasize that at this point I was jumping into something about which I had almost no prior knowledge, head first, body and soul, at the same time as I was going through the process of becoming a supervisor at UPS. The month of August was so very hazy as I made the transition in my job, moved, worked on plans for the house Bible study and generally had no clue what I was doing. I was simultaneously incredibly stressed out and was walking through life as in a cloud. So much new, and I was clueless about what was happening."
"But the biggest change of all I have only mentioned in passing. I said that I moved twice this year, which is an excessive amount for anyone. But it is the reason for the second move that still boggles my mind. Late in July, while I was in the middle of the application process at UPS, one night at VBS (I don't remember the date. Like I said, I don't have a good notion of time) Jeff King came up to me and asked me what I thought about Old Louisville. I did not have a clue what was coming, so I non-nonchalantly replied that I really like the neighborhood and had lived there once. And then he asked me if I would be interested in living there again. At this point I was thoroughly baffled, until Jeff explained that there was this ministry house called Maison de la Vie and that the elders had suggested that I take on the role of head of house. Thinking back, I am still amazed and can barely comprehend it, except for the fact that I am sitting here, writing all of this in that ministry house called Maison de la Vie. I mulled over Jeff's words for a while not quite sure what to think. I hadn't ever sought out ministry to college students and had just moved two months prior to a new apartment. Later, I talked with Ryan Fullerton and found out more about the house and the situation. Here was a house that existed to be a purposeful community of single Christian women, seeking intentional discipleship and living to minster to each other and to people outside the house—all under the authority of the local church. In this house was the combination of everything that I love—teaching, discipling, showing hospitality and cultivating a beautiful home. And the elders of Immanuel asked me to lead it. Whatever possessed them to do it, I may never understand. Not that I object, mind you. But it seems to me that there are other women more qualified to teach, lead women in showing hospitality and who have desired this sort of ministry more than I have - tremendously godly women.
1 January 2009 – I was interrupted by a few things, and so now continue in my meanderings over the past year. I had not set out to lead any sort of ministry. Actually, most of the ministry in which I have been involved has been of behind-the-scenes variety—nursery, ESL, sermon recording, running the projector and other stuff like that. What was there to recommend me for this I am not sure. But this I do know, whatever was there could only be by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, for there is nothing of myself to qualify me for anything except the wrath of God. So I praise Him and Him only because He is the author and giver of all good things. And I am reminded that even when I am short-sighted, blind to His work, He is still faithful to sanctify His own - to sanctify me. So this that I cannot comprehend must have come only from His hand and tend only to His glory.
(Interjection: forgot to put this in the journal entry, but it is worth recalling God's sovereignty in orchestrating my circumstances to allow me to accept the role. When I moved last spring, it had first been my goal to find a totally new apartment with Anne Kirsten. We looked for a good long while but couldn't discover anything that would suit. In the end, I into an apartment at Village Manor with another girl who already held the lease. Because I did not move in with Anne, I had no lease to which I was tied and was therefore free to move at any time.)
Within a couple of days, Ryan Fullerton and I met with Ross McGary, Lisa McGary, Jason and Donna Shaw, and Jes and Clayton Rothwell. Within about two weeks, I moved into Maison de la Vie. During the whole process, I met with Lisa a couple of times and this woman named Leah Proctor who was recommended to me as a co-leader (I am so glad I listened to Lisa and Jes's advice).
I must emphasize that at this point I was jumping into something about which I had almost no prior knowledge, head first, body and soul, at the same time as I was going through the process of becoming a supervisor at UPS. The month of August was so very hazy as I made the transition in my job, moved, worked on plans for the house Bible study and generally had no clue what I was doing. I was simultaneously incredibly stressed out and was walking through life as in a cloud. So much new, and I was clueless about what was happening."
January 10, 2009
Review
So regular posting hasn't exactly been happening. September to January, yeah not much going on here - at least not on the blog. There has been no lack of activity at the house, and so this will be the first of a short series of excerpts from my journal as I have reviewed the past year. I normally wouldn't post a journal entry, except I hope that this may encourage you as much I have been encouraged in the remembering.
It is the last day of 2008. Usually I would not wax eloquent on my thoughts and experiences from the past year, for oftentimes one year simply blends into the next. I do not perceive the passage of time very well—at least in terms of minutes, hours and days. It is not that I purposefully ignore time, I simply don't notice it. However, it does seem fitting to review this past year, for so much has happened. As I tell my friends, I do not often seek out adventure, but adventure seems to find me wherever I go. I rather fancy myself a quiet homebody, preferring a fire and a good book (maybe a drink or a pipe to go along with it). But I always seem to be like Bilbo, running out my front gate with no pocket handkerchiefs, having no idea what I am about to do or why I was selected. (Here I must admit the possibility that my life is no more exciting than anybody else's, and that it may just be my incredibly vivid imagination carrying me away. Or perhaps it is a combination or my imagination and reality.)
What then has happened that would cause such a change in my regular habit? Let me begin by saying what has not happened. I have not graduated from college yet; I still find myself plodding along through my studies. I have not gotten married, nor am I even dating anyone (though I did go out with that one guy back in February). I have not traveled overseas anywhere—not Europe, not Africa, not Asia. In fact, my travels have mostly been limited to Michigan and Mississippi.
What has occurred then – Last winter I went to both the Phantom of the Opera and to an Over the Rhine concert, two of the best stage productions I have ever experienced, a feast for the eyes and ears. I am also fully engrossed in a book club that meets once a month. This may not seem like much to many, but it is a pleasant time that I savor. As a voracious gourmand of books, I spent the first couple of years in Louisville lamenting the lack of kindred spirits who enjoy reading for the love of language and story, who did not view it simply as a matter of spiritual discipline. But now I satisfy my literary cravings in book club discussion.
This would come as no surprise to anyone who has known me for any length of time, but I have lived in three different places this year. Sigh, I am now in my seventh residence since having moved to Louisville. I first lived at 2439 Idlewylde, then at 107 Fenley Ave (I had to think a while to remember that one) and now find myself back in Old Louisville on 1st St. I move more frequently than almost anyone else I know. But, Lord willing, I will still be on 1st St. at this time next year. Come May, I will throw an “Ashlea's Not Moving” party for all my friends who have helped me move in the the past.
Well, I am still at UPS. Who knew I would be there a year and a half with no view to leave in the near future? So while the employer hasn't changed, my position has. After having contemplated it for several months, I finally applied to be a part-time supervisor and was offered the job within two weeks of posting my application. It has been a good change, first because I am no longer in the union (yay!). Second, there exists a camaraderie amongst the part-time sups that is refreshing after the back-stabbing that goes on amongst some of the union members. Though it has been at times horribly stressful, I am grateful for my job and have no intention of leaving just yet.
It is the last day of 2008. Usually I would not wax eloquent on my thoughts and experiences from the past year, for oftentimes one year simply blends into the next. I do not perceive the passage of time very well—at least in terms of minutes, hours and days. It is not that I purposefully ignore time, I simply don't notice it. However, it does seem fitting to review this past year, for so much has happened. As I tell my friends, I do not often seek out adventure, but adventure seems to find me wherever I go. I rather fancy myself a quiet homebody, preferring a fire and a good book (maybe a drink or a pipe to go along with it). But I always seem to be like Bilbo, running out my front gate with no pocket handkerchiefs, having no idea what I am about to do or why I was selected. (Here I must admit the possibility that my life is no more exciting than anybody else's, and that it may just be my incredibly vivid imagination carrying me away. Or perhaps it is a combination or my imagination and reality.)
What then has happened that would cause such a change in my regular habit? Let me begin by saying what has not happened. I have not graduated from college yet; I still find myself plodding along through my studies. I have not gotten married, nor am I even dating anyone (though I did go out with that one guy back in February). I have not traveled overseas anywhere—not Europe, not Africa, not Asia. In fact, my travels have mostly been limited to Michigan and Mississippi.
What has occurred then – Last winter I went to both the Phantom of the Opera and to an Over the Rhine concert, two of the best stage productions I have ever experienced, a feast for the eyes and ears. I am also fully engrossed in a book club that meets once a month. This may not seem like much to many, but it is a pleasant time that I savor. As a voracious gourmand of books, I spent the first couple of years in Louisville lamenting the lack of kindred spirits who enjoy reading for the love of language and story, who did not view it simply as a matter of spiritual discipline. But now I satisfy my literary cravings in book club discussion.
This would come as no surprise to anyone who has known me for any length of time, but I have lived in three different places this year. Sigh, I am now in my seventh residence since having moved to Louisville. I first lived at 2439 Idlewylde, then at 107 Fenley Ave (I had to think a while to remember that one) and now find myself back in Old Louisville on 1st St. I move more frequently than almost anyone else I know. But, Lord willing, I will still be on 1st St. at this time next year. Come May, I will throw an “Ashlea's Not Moving” party for all my friends who have helped me move in the the past.
Well, I am still at UPS. Who knew I would be there a year and a half with no view to leave in the near future? So while the employer hasn't changed, my position has. After having contemplated it for several months, I finally applied to be a part-time supervisor and was offered the job within two weeks of posting my application. It has been a good change, first because I am no longer in the union (yay!). Second, there exists a camaraderie amongst the part-time sups that is refreshing after the back-stabbing that goes on amongst some of the union members. Though it has been at times horribly stressful, I am grateful for my job and have no intention of leaving just yet.
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