Skip to main content

seasoned with salt

I've returned to the land of "open hall," Gillie's Cafe, & Coy Pond - Gordon College. Returning to campus after my six year absence feels like homecoming. To the left is a shot of Frost Hall, an administrative building, taken by a Gordon student. Frost Hall is the incomplete original structure of what was once the Prince estate. Legend has it that construction ceased once the wife, for whom Frederick Prince was building the structure, passed away. The place is fascinating. I remember discovering an abandoned shaft one night while studying w/ Cat. We crept as far as we dared before the shaft headed precipitously downhill.
All the memories are coming flooding back. "Open hall" signs are posted around the dorm in which I am staying. This refers to visitation hours when men and women can visit rooms of the opposite sex. When I was on duty as an RA, this provided a challenge. During "visits," the door needed to remain open with at least one foot of each person in the room on the floor at all times. Additionally, at least one light needed to remain on within the room. Picture little 18 year-old Sarah policing the rooms of her 24 year-old students. Gillie's Cafe served as the scene for numerous open mics and also hosts the Wittenburg Window, a place where students could post potentially scandalous essays on issues ranging from reformed theology to defining our neighbors. Coy Pond and Gull Pond are two of my fav places here - I'll pay homage tomorrow morning on my run.
I have traveled to the North Shore for an alumni weekend conference focused on vocation. Returning to the student lifestyle of communal eating, essays, and discussing philosophy late into the evening suits me well. One of the questions I hope to wrestle with as a group tomorrow is, "How do we maintain youthful excitement and hope regarding our vocational calling? This includes concern for living an ordinary life AND recognizing that what may externally appear ordinary is always renewed extraordinarily internally by God." Similar questions were raised by my peers and conversation was most definitely seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rare Disease Day 2024

Today's Rare Disease Day. There's sometimes a particular weightiness to life with a rare disease. All the appointments, emergencies, traumas, doctors, therapists, medicines, opinions, schedules and upset schedules. My touchpoint is being mom to my precious girl with Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome  (WSS). You'd have to spend a day or week shadowing me to know what it's really like. Doesn't that sound alienating? As though you couldn't possibly imagine if you're not living it? Well, maybe. But think about a time of immense grief you've lived through, or a time when your world seemed to be falling apart around you and it felt like everyone else was completely unaffected. I suppose it's a bit like that. You might have thought that those around you couldn't possibly know how that experience felt to you. A couple weeks ago, I started keeping a list of all the extraordinary things that happened in my life due to my daughter's rare disease. I learned a c...

Startup Day 875: piloting in New Haven

Iteration is emblematic of startups. For example: From last year's pilot , we learned that parents and adults with disabilities were looking for recommended resources.  We built the Empowered Together app and tried crowd-sourcing those recommendations.  In our New Haven pilot, we're bringing database building in-house by listing accessible food, arts, and recreational businesses in greater New Haven.  Thankfully, we have thought partners in this endeavor at the City of New Haven and at community disability orgs. We are working with a Quinnipiac student and awaiting word on additional grant funding. We're taking the right next step in changing the social system to be accessible and inclusive of People with Disabilities.

How I Got a Blister from a Cowbell

The bullhorn sounded and he was off, swimming his heart out, across a 50m stretch of lake as deep as his arm is long. My youngest, William, competed in his third year of the  Race4Chase  triathlon in August. When we first applied, I reflected on how I hoped this triathlon camp would allow Will to do something that was entirely his. It would be an opportunity to spread his wings apart from his sister's influence. For siblings of kids living with disabilities, this kind of autonomy is life giving. Back at the lakeside, I was watching Will from a distance and ringing a cowbell like no ones business. Will ran up from the waterfront and we cheered him on. He transitioned to the bike portion and we cheered him on. When he came into view at the end of the bike and transitioned to the run, the final segment of the race, we cheered him on. All the while, that cowbell was clanging. When Will sprinted across the finish line, there was no stopping him (or the cowbell). Thinking about...