After the Adult retreat (2) Rev Monica and I spent time together relaxing and working. She was staying at the retreat center between retreats prepping for her marriage to Rev David. It was great to spend time with her and hear about the beauty of way their love unfolded and the amazing purity with which they were approaching their marriage. Being with Rev Monica in her marriage process made me think about the sadness of most marriages in the world. I worked as a banquet server for about a year and saw dozens of weddings and it almost always felt sad, like the couple was holding a romantic dream that they could not attain or that they had already resigned themselves to unfulfilling marriage. As unorthodox as our courting a marriage practices are, they actually carry the intensity of love and hope that is idealized but rarely attained in the world. I felt so lucky to be a part of this Order and to get to witness the unfolding of love and commitment between Rev Monica and Rev David.

As, Thursday approached I prepared to take care of Rev Isabelle and Rev William’s baby, Annaleah and the baby of Elizabeth and Clinton (students in Seattle’s) baby Nera. They are 4 month and six months old, so it was a handful. Lucky, I had the ever-helpful Gabrielle and Stephanie (my teen youth group helpers) to give me a lot of support. The babies were wonderful and it was heart warming to be with them. Then, on Friday night I looked at my dinner and had no interest in it. I started to feel very nauseous and was shortly after throwing up outside the cottages. This began 48 hours of a very cruel stomach bug. Rev. Monica stayed next to me and gave me comfort through eight straight hours of diarrhea and vomiting. I was feeling terrible and dehydrated and worn out. Rev David  (who is also a MD), Rev Rachel (the nurse) and Rev Louise (the other nurse) descended upon me with an IV and saline solution that we had in our medical bag. Rev David used an Ipod cord as a turnicate and Rev Louise put in my IV. The IV bag was hung from a dining room chair while I lay on the living room floor wrapped in blankets and love. Rev Rachel pulled up a bed next to mine (which was placed strategically close to the bathroom) and stayed with me all night. I felt so loved and cared for my sisters and brothers that it broke my heart. The next day the virus had spread through the retreat and people will falling like flies. Rev Rachel and Rev David lovingly visited every room and tended to the sick. Lectures were half full and people came in and out according to the whims of their stomachs. The retreat appeared to be a disaster but God brought so much love and care through Rev Rachel and Rev David that many participants were blessed beyond their imaginations. Everyone received what they needed and once again, God had other plans- and God’s plan was bumpier than ours but also more perfect than we could ever have planned.