Dear all,
I realise that it has been a while since you have all heard from me. I apologise for my silence :)
Anyway, I wanted to write a little bit about the benefit concert we just had here in St. Louis. It was truly a community event as each one of us had our roles, and it brought me so much joy to see each person's creativity and gifts shine. Theresa designed stunning fliers and programs, Jackie and Cheryl spent many creative hours putting together a beautiful video of our life here as postulants, Laura helped so much with everything from finding the right music for the video to delivering fliers, calming me down, moving the piano, making us laugh (she brings so much joy and laughter to our community), and helping with the set-up of the hall for the concert and reception. Also, all the postulants helped me so much in the weeks leading up to the concert by taking over some of my bookcenter and cleaning duties so that I could practice. Community life is so beautiful and I am always taught and inspired so much by the generosity and care of all the sisters and postulants here. I realise in all that I wrote above that I didn't mention Sr. Rebecca or the other sisters, when actually each sister had their own role in helping to prepare for this concert so it was truly a joint effort. I can say that it was a blessed evening. We had a wonderful, warm audience. It was such a gift to see so many of our friends there as well as some new people. They created such a joyful atmosphere and it helped to calm my nerves. It is always very nerve-wracking to play for people you know and care about because you want to give them the best that you can. It is kind of like choosing a birthday gift for a very close friend. You want so much to give them the perfect gift. So I was very nervous that evening, but it didn't take long for the audience to calm me down :) For me, I always pray before a concert that I may be solely an instrument for the Lord; that my heart and whole being may be open to give; to be His hands and His heart. I pray also for the audience that they may be open to receive His presence, His love, and whatever it is that the Lord wishes to give them. Music to me is a prayer. It can often reach deeper than words can, and it communicates often more than we know how to in words. It is a gift, and my mother and I were grateful to be able to share this gift with all who came.
Thanks for reading :) and know that we keep you all in our prayers,
Erin
Guess what??? We are leaving for vacation tomorrow! That means we will be "off-line" for sometime but hope to connect with you sometime early June... You are in our prayers - pray for us too!
Last summer, Laura and I spent some time on some apostolic projects at our Publishing house in Boston. One of the projects we worked on was the review of the now published book: Teens Share the Word. Sr. Emily (one of our novices) and Sr. Grace compiled the Scripture reflections of many teens based on many themes. The book has been launched on Facebook: www.facebook.com/teensshare and is an excellent resource for many young people to help them meet God in Scripture and see how present He is in our every day life moments. Praise God for the beautiful ways He is using us to bring His Word to others!
Yesterday Theresa, Cheryl and I went on a hike to Cliff Cave County Park which is about 20 minutes from home. It was a beautiful hike of about 5 miles near the Mississippi river. Little did we know that our hiking expedition would be more than we anticipated... Note: most parks in the area have been flooded due to the rains and overflow from the Mississippi. Cliff Cave was no exception but it wasn't THAT bad. We enjoyed seeing some unique birds, flowers, houses, caked earth and trees along the way. The greenery was refreshing and the environment serene. Further down our path, we got a taste of the effects of the flood. Some sections were pretty muddy and swampy (that was our intro into the hike!). We also came across some big dead fish that may have been washed to land from the floods. This area was filled with all sorts of smells too as you can imagine - from swampy waters to wild flowers! The last leg of our hike was the greatest surprise for us. Parts of the path were under water (hence the frown in our pictures)! At this point, we literally had to decide: should we go back (almost 3+ miles) or head to the finish line...mmmm. Well, we decided to forge ahead, besides we were almost coming to the end of our hiking path. All in all, we talked about many things on our leisurely hike and the different experiences on our hiking path certainly added to the flavor of our reflection. For instance, life is full of "unforseen" twists and turns. The question is how we go about them. Should we turn back or keep forging on? We certainly came home grateful for a refreshing hiking experience...and a few life lessons on the side :-)