New Every Morning!

In thinking about my life these last 10 months or so, a song came to mind called New Every Morning, based on Lamentations 3. The song has a bit of history for me, as it was part of the repertoire for my dad's music group in the late 90's/early 2000s. I sang the song for my first time ever in a recording studio!

God's great mercies are new every morning, so great is His faithfulness. How blessed we are that our slate of mistakes throughout the day can be wiped clean just like that! This idea of God's presence being constantly renewed, constantly new in my life, has taken on an even deeper meaning for me as of late. I feel like almost everything about my life has become "new" - I have a new name, a new family, a new home, a new roommate, new friends, new things, live in a new city I'd never been to - and all by the grace of God! While I never could have predicted where VLM 2008 would have taken me, I certainly wouldn't have pegged being Christine Jones, married to a devoutly Catholic computer programmer, living in San Francisco.

Ah, but that leads me to the end of "the beginning" - what happened after GVV?

Evan and I were happily wed the summer after the Gateway Vincentian Volunteer program ended. I finally had some time to breathe, to think about GVV, VLM, my experiences at St. John's, and pray about where the next step might take me. My experiences as a parent liaison showed me I had many skills to offer in working with adults - helping people achieve their goals as parents, as creators of organizations, as educators, as innovators, as Catholics. As I was contemplating how this might be manifested, I received an email from the director of VLM about the upcoming plans for 2011. Every year, this email is sent to all former members, and every year, I always smile and think about it as something "that was." There were always other plans in the summer, and I felt that my once-in-a-lifetime experiences in Ethiopia, my first gateway into true service, could never be surpassed or recreated. I thought of myself as an alumnus, and an avid supporter and promoter of the program.

This email was a little different. With three new sites in Kenya, VLM needed new coordinators to work with the volunteers at the various sites. I remembered my experiences of working with the site coordinator well - Jess, now the director of VLM, was the coordinator of my site in Bahir Dar. She was a great source of wisdom and strength for me during the journey, and has stayed a close friend in these years since. The coordinator works closely with the program, the Daughters at the location, and the volunteers, to keep things organized and running smoothly. They also prepare the volunteers for the experience, through help in the process of getting ready, leading reflections, and orientation. They travel with the volunteers to their location, and work with them every step of the way, answering questions, helping, and working as a liaison with the Daughters - the hands and feet of the director of VLM.

For the first time, this email didn't wash over me in a wave of nostalgia, fond memories, and a recommittment to the Vincentian charism. I felt as if I was being spoken to. Returning to Africa? Leading volunteers? These ideas sounded far-fetched, and yet, I once again felt that spark - a gentle prodding to pursue this idea.

With much prayer and discernment, on my own and with Evan, I finally decided to leave the decision in hands far wiser than my own - I felt God had opened this door, and the only way I could know if I was supposed to take this journey was to leave the choice to Him. I submitted an application for VLM 2011.

As with before, once that decision was made, the rest of life became a blur - Evan found a new job, and we moved to San Francisco. When I was told I had been accepted as a coordinator in early February, I was still unpacking!

While this story seems long-winded at best, it really is the prologue. God has called me to once again follow Him without reservation, and I am on a journey of discovery...