Monday’s are YAV meeting days. It’s the one morning a week we all have set aside to come together and meet as a group with Doug. It’s the way we check in with each other and with him. A large part of this year is about living in community. But our community is different then I imagined it being for many reasons. The biggest is we are split around the city. 4 of the YAVs, Ellison, Erin, Liz, and Patrick all live on the other side of town, 2, others Karl and Kendra, live in a flat down the road, and Zoe and I together. So we often have to go out of our way to really put ourselves into the community outside of our houses. Living in community has been a completely different experience then any other I’ve had in life. Its not merely living with others, it’s living INTENTIONALLY with others. This involves more effort and patience then typical living arrangements. We are the support system for each other in this new, far away land. Sometimes its difficult to be as patient as needed with each other, but its all a learning process. I will definitely miss the intentional community aspect when I go home. Its indescribably pleasant to have people surrounding you who are going on a journey mirroring your own and who truly understand you, what you are experiencing, where you are coming from, and where you are going. It’s nice to be learning and changing together. Monday morning meetings are a time for us to share our experiences and tie those into the bigger picture. Monday mornings remind us of the bigger picture we are working in and for. Monday evenings are also a night where 3 of us always ensure we eat together. Kendra, Zoe, and I cook and eat dinner together on Monday nights. One way we are intentional and get time together.
Monday evenings after dinner, I am in charge of an adult Bible Study at Fortwilliam. At first this was highly challenge. I’ve never actually led an adult bible study. It did not take me long to learn an adult Bible Study is drastically different then a preteen to teen Bible Study. Go figure? At the start my crowd was very scattered and inconsistent. It was quite difficult making plans not knowing if there would be 3 people or 8 people. Currently we are attending a course called the Alpha Course offered by the Catholic Church who is in a partnership with Fortwilliam. It’s only the second week in the course and I haven’t completely formed my opinion on it yet. But I must say it’s very nice to have a consistently large crowd, its something I could get used to.
Earlier in the year but not since the New Year, Monday afternoons were reserved for a training meeting with 3 members of the Fortwilliam youth team (a name I kinda just made up) to discuss, understand, foster, and grow the restorative discipline in our Saturday night youth club. We have stopped doing them because we all have so many other meetings and such to go to, but I must confess I miss them. If the others are reading this, they will probably think I’m crazy. But they allowed time to flesh out aspects of club that otherwise would not have been addressed so quickly or thoroughly. I miss the deep analysis of what we were doing in club, or rather discussing it with others. I still continue the deep analysis on my own, but that only takes you so far. We discuss it in other meetings, but not with the same focus. Although, I must admit, I do enjoy the easygoing Monday afternoon I have now. No longer rushing for the bus to make it to the meeting but arriving late anyway. I can now spend a little extra time in City Centre, finishing some errands or spending some extra time with my fellow YAVs.
So that’s in a nutshell a Monday in my shoes. Super glamorous right? Tune in tomorrow for Tina Tuesday!
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