A JV Christmas in Greshlahem

We had a very delightful Christmas in Portland. On Christmas Eve day, Gretchen and I enjoyed a wonderful run on a sunny day, came home and had a last minute run to the grocery store. Then we were off to a double service night with the Portland JV’s. First on the schedule was downtown chapel, a parish in the middle of downtown where my friend Garrett works in their drop in center. It is a very simple chapel with brightly colored walls and a cement floor. We sang traditional carols and listened to a homily about Christ coming to bring out the best in the least in society; to give those people that were rejected by everyone else a glimmer of hope and integrity, to make them feel loved and wanted. He acknowledged the congregations propensity for service and encouraged them to continue to serve others so that we could help to bring them the humanity they deserve like Christ did.

After the service, we walked the few blocks to Pioneer Square to admire the Christmas tree with a nice cup of coffee before our next stop. After warming up slightly we headed over to Night Watch – an evening drop in center for homeless. When we walked in, the smell of smoke and BO was overwhelming. I felt incredibly out of place in my purple pea coat, big golden earrings and shiny flats. I didn’t feel like pushing my way past the crowded rows of men who didn’t look like they wanted to get real cozy with their neighbors, so I stood in the back with most of the other JV’s. I was impressed with the few volunteers that did find a seat amongst the homeless men and women who called each other family. We sang carols between readings of the Christmas story from the Gospels and then the man in charge gave a great talk about the circumstances of Mary and Joseph and Jesus around the time of Jesus’ birth. They were homeless, a pregnant unwed mother, born in a dirty stable outside the city limits. Christ was meant for the people sitting in that room. He was one of those people sitting in that room. Many other points were made that may have resonated more with the people sitting in that room, but as a person of privilege to be there with the people Christ was intended for was a very powerful experience.

When the service was over hot drinks were served and sweet treats were passed. I finally made my way up to the front of the room and into a conversation about economics with one homeless man. It was very interesting – talking about how there is such a huge disparity between the rich and poor, a conversation I’ve never had with someone on the other end of the spectrum, and he was very wise. We talked about how trickle-down economics may sound good in theory when compared to feeding a horse: if you give him enough food, there will be feed left over for the birds. But money is not so finite. Greed is a thing that cannot be satiated, money will keep going into a void that cannot be filled, and none will be left to fall to those less fortunate. Something to think about…

Then he trailed off to talking about Hari Krishna and throwing around a bunch of names and concepts I couldn’t follow…. But it was good while it lasted J

The JV’s retired to Greshlahem for the evening - I quickly whipped up some breakfast casseroles to sit overnight, then relazedd in our family room admiring our fat Christmas tree complete with colored lights, popcorn strings, and tin-foil star. There was a little guitar playing and carol singing, but the night dissolved into laughter as we filled the family room with 5 mattresses for all 11 of us to sleep, and steamrolled each other before falling asleep to Home Alone.

Christmas Morning I awoke earlier than everyone else. I cleaned the kitchen and put the casseroles in the oven. Gretchen helped get the table ready and people slowly started to wake up and wander into the kitchen. We sat around the table all together, like a good JV family and enjoyed pumpkin pancakes, fruit salad, and a choice of vegetarian or sausage casserole. Eventually people went back to their homes, Gretchen and I put our first turkey in the oven, and we spent the afternoon opening the few presents under the tree and calling family members. Gresham shared a Delicious Christmas dinner (hauling our amazing turkey in the car) with Portland Mac, and rounded out the night with drinks and pool at a new bar that opened up a few blocks away.

Overall, a very merry Christmas!

Simplicity in a Season of Consumerism

Each month the JVC staff sends out monthly challenges based one one of the four values of JVC. This month it was Simplicity during the season of excess and mass consumerism.

This holiday season, we JV's in Gresham decided that it was time to clean out our pantry. We've noticed that we tend to eat only the foods we really like to eat, going to the store to replenish our stock of favorites and allowing food on our pantry to pile up, and left overs in the fridge to go uneaten. After a few months of occasionally having to throw out vegetables rotting in the bottom of our fridge, and oranges drying up on out counters, it was time to get better about our food consumption. We started a few weeks before the actual week of December challenges: buying only a few necessities on the weekend such as lettuce, apples, eggs and cheese, then slowly using the foods that have been taking up room in our pantry and hiding in the back of the refrigerator. We continued this for about the third week when we joined the JVC staff in their challenges.

Though breakfasts and lunches were sometimes a challenge, it was really cleansing and invigorating to get creative around meal time. We aren't throwing food out anymore and discovered that we had so much food to work with! Another part of our challenge that helped is that we added two more community meals to our weekly schedule. Not only did we use our food more efficiently - making one meal for 6 people rather than 6 individual meals - were were spending more quality time together around the dinner table, being more present to each other, and laughing a lot more. One tasty example is our community dinner from last night: Potato and onion curry, fried rice with pineapple, eggs and broccoli, and Afghan flat bread - all made with ingredients that had been in our pantry for almost a month-DELICIOUS!

We also planned our first energy fast for last Tuesday. We decided as community that we would not use any hot water, not turn on any lights, not plug in anything that didn't need to be plugged in (we left the refrigerator on, but didn't use the oven, stove, microwave or toaster), and were also challenged to not use our cell phones for the day. I messed up right away: I got out of bed, went into the bathroom and turned on the light then immediately turned it off saying "SHOOT!"... or something like that. The day went pretty smoothly. I went to work, then to the gym and worked out reading a book rather than listening to my ipod. I cam home to a dark house and my roommates huddled in out breakfast nook - the kitchen lit up with candles. I made myself a sandwich and grazed in the pantry for a while. We spent our evening playing cards by candle light, commenting on how nice it was to wake up to the natural light in the morning and sharing about our days. Though we may have wanted to just check-out and throw on a movie, we were able to spend a pleasant evening and quality time together in good conversation. Though I did appreciate being able to turn on the lights the next morning.

'Tis the Season

It felt a little bit more like Christmas last week, what with the temperature in the 20's and the crazy Gresham wind-chill making it feel below zero. I sported my purple pea coat constantly and was regretting leaving all my gloves at home. But the weather has warmed, the rain has returned, and Christmas is on its way.

I was home for Thanksgiving, and it was great to get a breath of fresh air, spend some time with family, hang out with Ian and Annie, Mike and Tig, and Kim. We got have some great conversations about philosophy, theology, and spirituality with insight from my JV experience. But it was a little strange. Being in Bellevue which is so ostentatious and ridiculously excessive, in addition to feeling like my parent's house is not my home - not where I grew up, and sleeping on the couch because the couples had the beds was just a little lonely. Gresham definitely felt more like home when I got back.

For those of you who don't know already, I am not going home for Christmas this year. If you know me well, you know I'm very attached to my traditions: Christmas eve at my parent's house, 11:00 candle light service at church, wake up (usually to Ian hitting me with a pillow or something equally obnoxious), waiting for mom to shower while we get the eggnog and tasty breakfast breads ready, opening stockings, then everyone taking turns opening gifts until there's nothing left. Gifts are followed by brunch - usually french toast and sausage or bacon, going for a family walk with the dog, watching a movie, and calling family until it's time for Christmas dinner at Grandma's house that always includes pickled herring, Swedish potato sausage, more gifts and game playing.

But not this year. I still feel a little funny about it... first Christmas not at home. It's been hard to explain to people. I feel like I have no excuse: I'm only three hours away (closer than I was at school) and who doesn't go home for Christmas? They don't get it. Well it was going to be a strange holiday anyway. Ian and Annie, now married and splitting their time between two families, are going to Colorado. And as a JV, we are encourage to really think about spending the holidays at our placements and doing something in the spirit of JVC. We are challenged to combat the consumerism and excess of the season and to try to return to the true spirit of Christmas. I am committed to this experience, and it so limited. I have one year with the support of this organization to really try and explore and understand the core values of community, spirituality, simplicity and social justice. I have one year to learn and grow with my roommates. I have one year to do something different. I will miss my family, and my Christmas routine. I'm worried about my mom and dad being sad without the kids around, and the smaller and stranger dinner at Grandma's, but I'm kind of excited to make this experience my own. It will be strange trying to accommodate different holiday traditions with all the Portland JV's that are sticking around, and I will probably get frustrated with not having things go the way I want them to, but I hope that we can serve the community around us and share some insights, and have a very special celebration.

Where did November go?

I know, I know... I've been a neglectful blogger, but November was just so jam-packed with stuff I couldn't find the time to sit down and write about it all. Here are the important highlights.

Retreat: we spent a long weekend on a small bay on Whidbey Island, full of beautiful nature trails, breathtaking views of the sound, and endless conversation about personality types and communication within our community. It was fun to spend some more time with some JV's I hadn't seen since Orientation (some that I didn't remember at all... oops) and to go deeper with the JV's I already knew. The weekend culminated with a coffee shop/talent show where Sean and I showed off our Styrofoam Snowflake skills with our acoustic rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Lets Get it On" and City High's "What Would You Do." The crowds cheered. It was great.

Team Gresham Represent!

Styrofoam Snowfakes perform "Let Get it On"

Nutrition Classes: Work seemed to fly by this month because I was constantly occupied with all the minute details of making my nutrition classes run smoothly. I had to make a shopping list each week, check it with the instructor, who checked with the curriculum provider, then I made revisions and rechecked everything. I also had to make sure we had enough childcare providers for the 15 rowdy hispanic kids the participants traipsed to each class. I couldn't make it to two of the Saturday classes, so I had to make sure all correct food was purchased and designated as "in class" use or "give away" food, and make sure the Staff person taking over for me knew when to be where and what to do. It was pretty stressful, especially when our Executive Director decided I should be the one to buy all the food. This meant I got to spend $350 each Friday at 4 different grocery stores to try and get enough food for 15 participants to eat in class and take the ingredients home. A little hectic. But so worth it. The classes were a huge hit and participants were so grateful for the opportunity to learn and to hang out with each other :) Now it's onto data processing and report writing... awesome.

Weekend at the Coast: We got to spend one weekend in Lincoln City on the coast hosted by Renata's Godmother at a house she was house sitting for the month of November. It was so nice and relaxing to be in a warm home and hang out on the beach. We went on a long hike that wound it's way out to a rocky bluff that looked out on the ocean and a beach full of sea lions. That night we all fell asleep watching a movie and woke up to fresh baked banana bread and a whole Turkey in the oven being cooked so we could have meet for Sandwiches for our drive home. We drove down to Newport beach and spent a few hours playing and taking pictures on the rainy beach, got some sea food and saltwater taffy in town, and headed home.

On the Cold and Blustery Bluff on our Hike

Newport Beach

Jumping Picture - check out my sweet Karate Kick :)