Sunday Sixteen Freewrite

“None of us lives for themselves.” Be True. Be Kind. Go. So honored and blessed to wear the ring of this worldwide order

What a wonderful weekend. I had some goals like catching up on my walking so that I could make my goal of 123.1 miles for the month of "Walktober." So I walked 8.5 miles on Friday, and it was a lovely warm day (for November). Because I was walking, I was able to catch up on my other goal of getting through The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon B Johnson, and I did by Saturday! I walked and listened and turned it back in early yesterday so that the three people waiting could get started! This was my second check out of the book, and I didn't want to have to wait a third time and wait 6-8 weeks before I could get it again! So YAY, I finished.

But the biggest goal was completing my "Year of Preparation" for the Order of the Mustard Seed with 24-7 Prayer. I took my vows yesterday at 1 pm on Zoom while the people in the UK ushered us in (over 100). What is SO COOL is the ring that I had ordered in August had not come yet. Everyone in the UK had gotten theirs, and even someone in Minnesota. So, 1 hour and 7 minutes before the swearing-in ceremony, I got my ring! YAY! 

I feel that joining this Order was such a good decision, and I remember this day last year when I prayed that God would tell me who could be my sponsor because I knew no one in the Order, and they wouldn't tell me who was in it because of laws that prohibit it in the UK. So I prayed, and Scotty Burns' card fell out of the book How to Pray (by a founding member of the OMS) because I had been using his business card as a bookmark! He had given it to me when we were in the same small group for the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life Portland (SEEL Portland). I wrote him and asked him if he knew anyone in the OMS, and he said, "Me! I took the vows yesterday." LOL! So he became my sponsor and my cohort leader, and it was such a lovely experience. I love the Prayer Watches and the meetings. SURE, it was all review for me, but how fun to do all the contemplative things I have been doing on my own in community! 

After the Vow Ceremony, we went to Finley Wildlife Refuge to walk along Cabell Marsh because this is the last weekend it will be open. Then we went out to eat at Long Timber Brewing in Monroe. I love my family. 

I love my OMS family. Along with the ceremony was the Online Gathering that was excellent. I even won the new book Be Still that they will be mailing to me from the UK! 

Since I was up at 2 am watching the Online Gathering and went all day (Oh, I also met with my English language conversant from Malaysia and prayed for India for my other 24-7 commitment), I fell fast asleep at 7 pm! I fell asleep so content and so blessed to be part of the family of God and the Weaver family with my precious George, Michael, and Paul!