Commissioned

This time last week I was in the middle of the Word Made Flesh board meeting...and freaking out just a bit. On Thursday I could hardly eat because I was so nervous. Ditto for Friday. And Saturday. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was ravenous. However, everything went well. I signed a contract and was commissioned to Galati, Romania for the next 3 years.

These are a few photos of the weekend, which, however much I was freaking out, was also fun. I love being with my Word Made Flesh friends, or 'Fleshies' as they call themselves. Some of those friends I hadn't seen since I was in Kolkata or Sri Lanka, so it was sweet to be reunited. My sister Jamie was able to come to the commissioning service. Her presence there was really meaningful, for many reasons. First, she's my sister, and represented my family. She also brought her baby Norah, who was representing for my other 8 nieces and nephews. And, she's the only one in my immediate circle of friends and family who has had a first hand view of Word Made Flesh, and that was important to me. I wish all my family and friends could have been there...it was sort of my mistake not knowing what a big deal it would be to me to have them there.

So, here are the photos...all taken at the Word Made Flesh office. Some are of Jesse and me, who was commissioned for Nepal (his dad Paul is in the background). Another of Courtney and Angela, who live in St. Louis but I met in Kolkata and are good friends to me. When a Fleshie is commissioned, they receive the San Damiano cross, which hung in the church where St. Francis of Assisi began to hear the call of God to serve the church. So, you'll find a before picture of my sister and I eating dinner, and then one of us where I am wearing the cross. And another when Daphne is giving me the cross. Oh, and Norah had fun with her reflection in the hotel mirror.

Stay tuned for my first ever prayer letter. I'll be posting it soon!