Then and Now

Then and Now

George Kane

I've had the privilege of being part of the Indy Campus Team since August 2009, back when there were four college students in the Triangle instead of the present 11.  My life as an underway member of the People of Praise has been incredibly enriched over the last year and a half by the steady influx of brothers and sisters who have answered the Lord's call to come build a city here in the Triangle, and I am looking forward to meeting all the future team members the Lord is preparing.

photo by Trish Brewer 

I look at my time here in the Triangle as a God-given opportunity for training and growth, both academically and in my People of Praise life.  Some highlights include:

-  Listening to Tuesday night teachings on being the light of the world, living in the Spirit, Christ-centered friendship, how to have good conversations, consolations and desolations, and right relationships.

-  Learning how to do meditations.  Meditations have become an integral part of our spiritual growth, and the fruit from these exercises frequently serve as the starting blocks for stellar dinner conversations.

- Leading physical training runs along the White River in the dark of the morning and experiencing how -9 degree wind chills can really freeze bond brothers together.

- Learning to analyze and interpret H NMR (or proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) results in organic chemistry lab and then trying to convince my household that H NMR analysis is fun (still working on that...)

God is really up to something here in Indy, come check it out this spring.

Lord's Day Song

This past Saturday we gathered for our first Lord's Day of the new semester.  After the Christmas holidays it was a great pleasure to be together again especially because it was also Laura Kane's birthday.

Trust me, there were women singing, thank the Lord.

Each Lord's Day someone is assigned to create a group activity for after dinner.  This week Trish Brewer taught us a song.  It was challenging enough for the untrained ( me ) but easy enough for us all to learn with just a bit of practice.

Trish taught us the parts with Annie's help on the piano.  The great thing about learning a song together is that we get to make beautiful music but we also exercise our ability to work together as a team.  It was especially great that George's guest, Brad, joined right in and sang along.  I think we'll do more music, it was a great evening.  Thanks Trish, great fun.

Here's a link to the song (it's short, really):  Siyahamba

All for the glory of God,

Walt

Triangle Transition 

Pam Seale

December marked our first anniversary living in the Triangle in Indianapolis.   When we first arrived, I was invited to write a sharing about the story of my discernment to move here. I have a list written of thoughts to include in such a sharing, but life around the Triangle is busy and I haven’t gotten to it.

Robin Gonzalez and Pam Seale

 What strikes me most at the end of a year is our use of the term “sent out”. For twelve years I lived as a member of POP with all my heart, mind, and soul. I was “sent out” everyday to work as a nurse and did my best to bring Christ and the vision of community to that setting. We had different household settings at home, but as Charlie Fraga said in his explanation of city-building, no one could carry a pot of soup to our house. There was real sense of isolation and, in fact, a sense of being sent out. In many ways it was a harder life than I have now. In a way, I was called home.

Last December we arrived in Indianapolis to work at city-building as Walt took the lead for our campus team here. The transition hasn’t always been easy. I found I was more attached to some things than I realized. Looking at those things and deciding that I’d prefer to live without them in order to be here has been a life giving exercise. Life among brethren is better than having a garage, a fireplace, and a title at work. In exchange, I got the thing I asked for most of my life. I have more of the Lord. I have an hour more daily to spend in personal prayer. I have more time to read spiritual books. I am built up by morning prayers with my household without organizing it among community members. I have the blessing of engaging in deep conversations at every dinner about the Lord and anything in his creation that is on a brother’s mind without inviting anyone over. I have the opportunity to grow in loving kindness as I see loving kindness in others. I get to grow in patience as I experience the differences in personalities that we all have in the household.  In a very real sense, I have more of the Lord.

So while others in my state in life may choose more golf, more leisure, more warm weather, or more vacations, I am happier than all of them. I have more of the Lord. I thank God for Paul DeCelles’ and his openness to the Spirit that ultimately started what we now call city-building. I thank God for the generosity of Dave Porter and the Indy Branch who support our life so selflessly. I thank God for Nick Holovaty and all the city-builders who came before us and made our home a better place to live. Most of all I thank God for the invitation to be “sent out”. It still feels like more of a coming home, but whatever you want to call it, it’s a wonderful life and I only hope I can serve our Lord well here as long as he so desires.

Here We Go...

People are slowly filtering back to Indy for the Spring semester.  Spring - sounds good doesn't it?  South Bend is getting clobbered with snow today but here in Indy there's blue sky but it's very cold.  Spring?  Not so fast.

Pam and I just returned from a few days visiting the New Orleans branch.  The weather was mild.  The food was good.  The hospitality could not have been better.  Visited the New Orleans branch?  I recommend it.  Thanks to the Mahaffeys for their warm welcome.

The Cathedral on Jackson Square.

So what's new for 2011?  I've moved the blog to a new site to make it easier and more flexible to post.  I hope you like the change.  Let me know how it works for you.  Here in the Triangle we're delighted that Rachel Osterhouse is joining the team.  Rachel brings a wealth of household living experience and is an accomplished violinist.  In case you haven't heard, we've moved into the house that was re-located last summer.  The basement is finished and it has created great new living space for the women.

Paul Hommes finishing up the island in the kitchen.

The sunny side room. 

Things are a whole lot more settled this semester than they were back in August when we arrived to begin school year.  So what now?

I'm thinking about our campus surface area.  Now that we have doubled the number of people involved in the campus team here in Indy we have a great many more opportunities to be present to those we meet in our various environments.  Where can we make a greater difference for the Lord this coming semester?  Who, among all the people we meet and the people we already know, has the Lord prepared to receive his life?  What do we and the Lord want to do about it?  There are many possibilities...imagine the possibilities.

The Lord has blessed the Indy campus team at every turn.  We have seen the goodness of the Lord and we share his heart for the world -- may this coming semester provide many opportunities for us to be his light to our world.