Well....I made it through the first month of Internship and survived! I AM LOVING THIS! I am SOOOOOO happy that I have stuck all this out and am following my calling. It has not always been easy....nothing this major ever is, but I am so glad and honored to now be doing what I do...even if its just as a Intern for now.
So as many of you probably know, I have been assigned to Michigan to do my Internship. (Although the City of Dubuque doesn't know that since I just got a letter this week for Jury Duty!).
So here's a run down of my month:
Week 1 - I was on vacation. My Supervisor, Betsy was on vacation, so that meant that I was too. I spent the entire week driving all over the place- just exploring and getting to know the area. I went to Rockford, Stanton, Trufant, Sidney, and just getting lost in some smaller townships around town. My favorite destination, so far, was to a state park in Grand Haven where I got to swim in Lake Michigan. I was just in awe of the white sandy beaches that went on for miles and the clarity of all the lakes around here - STILL baffles me and is amazing! You can see down several feet and just watch the fish swimming by! The weather has been beautiful, but did just switch to being a bit warmer over the last week or so.
Week 2 - was my first week at the church. I, of course, actually spent most my time with my supervisor getting our calendars in sync, going over expectations and walking through the Internship Handbook. That first Sunday was a "bit" of a fiasco that I can laugh about now, but at the time wasn't very funny. Betsy had to run from her church to my church to lead worship for the "Service of Beginning" for me. We got to the Gospel reading and her sermon and she wasn't there. Granted the usual announcements at my church ran short, while hers ran long; yet we somehow ended up singing 3-4 hymns while waiting on her to arrive. All in all she DID finally arrive and I became an official Intern. I did go canoeing down the Flat River with one of my parishioners. A 3 hr float and little paddling. It was so amazing to watch the trout swim by and under our canoe! LOVED it!
Week 3 - was filled with meetings and going to Confirmation camp twice in one week. Betsy and I drove up together the first time and I went by myself later in the week. While the camp was pretty small (in comparison to some TX camps I've seen) it was quite beautiful. Although they DID pick the hottest week so far (since I've been here) to go- NOT like they really chose that, but needless to say, my stay the 2nd time was shorter than I would have liked.
Week 4 - was more meetings and working on my Learning Contract which are some goals I hope to achieve within the year. We also had a combines VBS for 3 days, but several days of prep time (for me- since I did a lot of painting) and designing at the church of the area and helped with set up things. It was a lot of work. All in all it was more practice for when I have to delegate and get stuff done someday. But I DO LOVE all the excitement around VBS and enjoyed being part of one again after several years of not being able to do one. I spent this past weekend in downtown Grand Rapids and went to the Gerald R Ford Presidential Museum. It was pretty awesome to sign the book for Betty Ford which will eventually end up in the Library of Congress- so I can NOW say that my signature IS (or will be) in the Library of Congress. It was an awesome museum and quite moving to see all the US history that Ford influenced. I went to spend this afternoon playing on the sandy beaches of Baldwin Lake here in town. I also led my first communion service, solo, today.
All in all, a great start to my Internship. It's amazing to believe that just 2 years ago this month I was just starting this journey! I definitely DON'T miss Summer Greek! I'll be doing my best to do a at least a monthly update. I'm looking forward to my friend and mentor Jill coming to visit next month. Peace and blessings to all reading.
Vicar Rosy
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