It's cold and rainy outside but I'm warm and cozy sitting in front of our fireplace in our home in St. Paul. Our cat has cleverly tricked our dog off the pillow in front of the hearth and is herself now stretched out in front of the warm flames. Bailey, the pup, is asleep at my feet. Of the two with whom I live, Karen is teaching for Hedgerow tonight and Judy is watching the news in our TV room in the back of the house. It's very quiet. I love that.
I am a CSJ and have been for 30 years. I live in St. Paul, MN with two other CSJs. The three of us have lived together for 20 years. Though my degrees are all in education or educational leadership, I have worked in the field of development for the past 15 years. Development, I soon discovered, is also education. I have the luxury of spending my work days teaching others about who the CSJs are and what we do.
My goal is to interest others into participating in our work in whatever way they can: time, talent, and/or treasure. The job as Executive Director of the CSJ Minsitries Foundation is unbelievably time consuming. Usually, so much happens in one day that even debriefing at the end of the day is too much to think about. So, what I like to do with any time outside of work is to be outside, gardening, reading, walking the pup or visiting with my family and friends. Now as fall settles in and temperatures drop, I still enjoy being outside with our outdoor fireplace burning the branches and twigs that have fallen and roasting marshmallows with friends.
Who are we becoming?
My hope for this group is to have a sense of each others' reality so much so that we literally become tuned to ways we can help each other problem solve, or teach each other differences in our realities, or feel each other's presence in our prayer. Personally, I would be interested in whether or not we are able to move some resources to need as well. It would be fun to see that work!
Irene
