Shalom, friends.
I hope this post finds you well. For about a month now I have had an itch to put to paper some of the stories that have unfolded in 2011. After about 2 years of transition from Sitka “down south”, I finally find myself in a more settled place and hopefully I have been able to sift through my mostly mundane experiences for some kernels of truth to bring closure to this volume.

In honor of this season's celebration of the incarnation, let this be a catalogue of how the Joy of Christ has been present to me this year.

I am grateful for priceless time with my grandparents.
Sharing life with my delightful and loving grandparents is such a nourishing way to start the day. Breakfast was a highlight when we lived together during the fall of 2010, and I made a point to continue to have breakfast with them in their new home about once a week while I still lived in Indianapolis. I was very amused when I realized we talked more about my sinus issues and dental woes than either of their health. They also are the biggest fans of my piano playing that I will ever have so I have been capitalizing on playing their piano whenever I get the chance.

I am grateful for acclimating to the Midwest.
I went through an embarrassing and socially isolating amount of culture shock moving from Alaska to the Midwest. I spent many childhood summers here, but it turns out winter can be different than summer time. I do not like football, and most non-family social events revolve around football in Indianapolis. A turning point was learning that I can enjoy “watching” football games by positioning myself next to the television, facing away from the screen, with some knitting in hand. I enjoy the self-deception that everyone seems to be looking at me! When their faces get really animated I can turn to see what’s happening on the screen, too. Other Midwest lesson: Snow days are awesome when they turn into a spectacular sleep over and de-icing-the-car adventure at the home of two hospitable friends.

I am grateful for movement from loneliness to solitude.
If I was asked to recommend one book from this year, it would be Present, Perfect: Finding God in the Nowby Greg Boyd. The best tidbit was learning to hit the snooze on my alarm and then sit up in bed and just be with God’s loving presence the first 5 minutes of everyday. As I write this, I realize that I should get back into that practice again, it was truly life giving when I practiced it.

I am grateful for good old friendships.
I was able to spend almost two weeks in Sitka during April. It was such a pleasure to reconnect and deepen friendships with my community there. I was overwhelmed that I wasn’t off the plane for an hour before friends congregated at the Larkspur café for a yummy dinner and enjoying each other’s company. A special highlight was a carpe diem kayak camping trip out to Pirates Cove: A beautiful sunset over Mt. Edgecumbe, an eagle soaring low over our beach, a full moon shining on the cove… and of course, some amazing campside cooking, all left me in awe of the raw and wholesome goodness of creation. Did I mention that my layovers in Seattle boasted time with Killeen Clare Hanson and my brother? Awesome.

I am grateful for family.
My parents and sister completed the Great Sisk Migration to Indy by moving our Houston home front permanently to our grandparents’ house in Indianapolis. This is where I moved in with my grandparents in August 2010; in October they moved a mile up the road into a house with simpler upkeep. It has been awesome to share life with my parents and goof off with my sister Anne, who is now 15 and a freshman in High School.

I am grateful for a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Beuchner put it well when he said that the place God calls you is where the world’s deep hunger and your deep gladness meet. During my visit to Sitka, I expressed to one of the Sitka Young Life board members how much joy I experience working with children with special needs. Next thing I knew I was signed up to accompany three awesome Sitka gals (Nicole 16, Maddy 16, and Cayla 18) who wanted to be buddies to Young Lifers with special needs at a Young Life Summer camp in Arizona. During the week I was often moved to tears by how everyone was caring and empowering each other, visible examples of the Kingdom of God here on earth. It really became a little embarrassing to find myself with tears streaming down my face so often, but many others experienced the week in a similar way. What a gift.

I am grateful for adventures.
This year I decided it was time to face my childhood fear of language immersion, and this July I traveled to Xela (Quetzaltenango,) Guatemala to live with a family there and study Spanish and the local culture. I had many experiences of feeling totally frustrated trying to learn Spanish. I did eventually improve a little; my expectations were just a little… unrealistic. After a year of working with children with linguistically limited children, I experienced the beginnings of what it would be like to be stripped of the ability to express my needs and emotions. I hope that this has deepened my empathy for the children I work with as a speech-pathologist.

I am grateful for learning.
This fall I moved to Bloomington, Indiana to start graduate school at Indiana University. I live at the northwest corner of campus in a retro house converted into little studio apartments. My 15-minute walk to my department includes paths through forests and over streams, so it suits me pretty well. My favorite aspect of the Speech-Language Pathology program is having a group of friends taking all the same classes. About 10 grad students are on the same track as me and we travel and sit in a pack in our prerequisite undergrad classes. All told, I love being a student. I will take classes until the summer of 2013, when externships in first a hospital, then a school working with people struggling with swallowing or communication (broadly put). I look forward to starting the practicum component in the clinic this next semester.

I am grateful for a new home.
Bloomington truly has begun to feel like a new home for me. With my cousin Marie’s encouragement, I have become a part of the extended Catholic Worker community here in Bloomington. From the first potluck I attended, I felt like I had found a Christian community I could call home, contribute to and be challenged by. I’ve since learned more about the personalism and radical hospitality of the Catholic Worker movement, values that expand upon the values of spirituality, simplicity, social justice, and community that became near and dear to my heart as a Jesuit Volunteer in Sitka. The eagle has became a meaningful metaphor for my spirit while I was living in Sitka, and so you can imagine how much it meant to me to be traipsing along on a hike in a nearby bird preserve and come upon an eagle’s nest in the distance. Knowing that eagles are nesting here somehow encourages me as I make this my home for the next few years while my sister is in high school.

I am grateful for challenge.
I’ve been learning to focus my adventurous spirit and lean into the challenges of solitude, specializing in a professional discipline, committing to family relationships, and growing in my gratitude for what life puts in front of me here in Indiana. The following quote by Wendell Berry has spoken to me strongly in this stage of my life:

It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

I continue to struggle with making decisions and staying committed with the ones I’ve made, but I am coming to see that a stream is strongest and deepest when it passes through boulders in its way.

This stage began during my time in Sitka, and I feel finally ready to close my Sitka, Simply blog and focus on being present to what life has for me in Bloomington. Thanks for reading with me along the way. I hope to hear more of how you are and what you are learning the next time we connect. Thanks for letting me share.

Peace be with you,
Eileen