Communion in the Solitude

My stay at Little Portion Monastery was an experience that changed my relationship with the Lord forever. The experience consisted of deep silence, frequent prayer, work and sweet fellowship.

The first week I was tired, adjusting, learning the life style and had tons of questions unanswered. My assigned seat in the small adoration chapel was the very front seat on the left side (about ten inches from the altar). Praise the Lord that the one man I could see in my peripheral vision was a man eagerly after the heart of God. I watched him pray, I stood when he stood, and kneed and out-stretched my arms when he did...he taught me how to worship in our three daily prayer times, unbeknowst to him.

Working on a farm was also new to me but something that I enjoyed so much! Sister Mary Cathrine allowed me to shadow her much of the time as she took care of some sick chickens, collected eggs from the laying hens, and tended to the vegetables in the green house. She also gave lots of love to the pregnant goats who seemed to love her touch just the same. The last week being at Little Portion she was out of town and gave me the privilege of collecting, cleaning, and packing the eggs! I learned so much from washing egg after egg, tending to the laying hens gently, and doing odd jobs all around the monastery (one of my favorites was sweeping the chapel). Working in the quiet allowed me times to practice awareness of my thoughts and focus on Jesus. He began to show me glimpses of what I long to practice, praying unceasingly.

The Lord wants me to be one who does things purposefully, even the most minute of actions. All tasks, weather huge or small, are meant to be done with care, precision, love, and grace. God sees everything we do and cares about everything we do...From the way we clean dishes, to how we speak or listen to friends, to our attitude towards him in prayer. It doesn't matter if the action is great or small, that is not of importance to Him. What is important is our attitudes, our love, who we are in him when these things happen. Oh, this truth continues to be so profound for me, no matter how many times I come back to it. At Little Portion, since so few things were going on (physically, in my mind, etc), I was able to focus on doing the little things with great grace. Even being gone for five days now I can see how I have lost much awareness in my actions.

I must head off to class now. I hope to update soon and with pictures. Please keep me in your prayers.