Rachel Mathiowetz, Program Assistant, reflects on being present during the winter season:
As January ends, I definitely feel transitions in more way than one. Here at the office, JV applications for the upcoming 2013-14 service year are steadily arriving as the current JVs are in the midst of their service year, and we all feel a sort of lull before the hustle and bustle of spring. While I’m eager for spring and everything it will bring, I’m trying to stay present and take what I can from the last couple months of winter. Even though it’s difficult with the cold and rainy days, I remind myself:
To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance …
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8