Our First Two Weeks

Dear Friends,

We are two weeks into our mission in Caruthersville, MO.  Our first week was very much about orientation to prayer life, living in community, and familiarizing ourselves with the area.  This was not difficult for Don, but for me, it was a first in many ways.  It’s one thing to “feel sympathy” for the poor.  It is quite another thing to actually enter into the home of the poor. 

I’ve met generous and hospitable people who welcome you in and share what they have.  I’ve driven past hard times that you just won’t find in Turlock or Hughson, no matter how hard you look.   Everywhere we drove, there were tiny community, perhaps just a few miles apart.  Each had a church, the community gathered around.  A Baptist church here and a Methodist church there, was not uncommon.  Join this with Presbyterian and Church of God and you pretty much have the big picture.  These are hardworking people united by the land, faith, and hospitality.

In Pemiscot County, Caruthersville is the county seat.  There is exactly ONE Catholic Church in the county and it is, of course, in C’ville.  Twenty-five miles down the road, in Blytheville, Arkansas, is Immaculate Conception Church.  North of us about 35 miles, and in another county, is St. Eutachius Church in Portageville, MO.  We also have the option of a noon Mass once a week at Holy Angels Church in Dyersburg, TN. 

These parishes are all no more than 30-40 minutes away from us, so we have the blessing of being about to attend Mass multiple times during the week.  On Friday evening, we drive to Arkansas for Mass and Adoration.  Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings may find us in Portageville.  Weekends and Wednesday evenings are here in town.

We share a priest with Immaculate Conception Church (yes, another IC) in New Madrid, MO.  Different county but same diocese.  The Immaculate Conception in Arkansas is a different diocese.   Father Jaroslaw Skrzypek (affectionately known as Fr. Yorick) is from Poland.  He offers Saturday evening and Sunday morning Mass as well as returning here for Wednesday evening Mass.  He is a hardworking priest who, in addition to managing two parishes, also has a school to oversee in New Madrid.  He is a much loved priest here and the community is very grateful for his presence.

The temperatures here have ranged from the (feel like) -3° - to a warm and balmy 43°.  We’ve had snow flurries but no snow (much to Don’s disappointment) and it rained today (which was actually more like driving through a really dense cloud).  So, of course, this week was also the week that we spent three days working and serving at Mother’s House.  Brrrr.  All of your generous donations have been sorted and hung or set aside for warmer weather.  Don is working on house repairs at Mother’s House, patching up entry ways to the various rooms and putting in weather stripping around the doors.  It’s a cute little house but not at all snug.  Hopefully, by the time we leave, it will be safer and less drafty.

And so ends our first two weeks on mission.  Please pray for us and pray for the many people here we are serving. 

God Bless you all,

Anne and Don Jeffries

Mission Post #28 - Reflection

Not surprisingly, both Don and I have been doing a lot more reading and a lot more talking and a lot less of working on our own separate projects or watching TV.  This quality use of our time has led us in a variety of individual and well as shared directions.

Lately, I've been thinking about friendship and the mistakes we make.  I've also been thinking about right, wrong, and differences. This second one is what I will be writing about here, today.

Reading the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, made me think about compassion and sympathy.  His story made me think about our differences and how we are judged and/or are challenged because of those differences.  We are easily fearful of the things that make us different and unnecessarily so.  As a consequence, it takes courage to walk through the other side of an unknown door and face what is there.

Because Zacchaeus was a tax collector, he was perceived as wrong and separate from the town's people.  He was judged for what he did as his work but not on the things that he did in his life.  He was neither right nor wrong.  He was simply different.  I hold my beliefs but rather than perceive others as wrong, if they don't share them, I simply accept that they are different.  This acceptance will also influence how I choose to interact with them in my life.

I see this most pointedly in my own life from a political stand point.  I'm a conservative, Christian Catholic woman and have also been a Tea Party Activist.  I see more division than unity between people and I am reminded that following a political philosophy singlemindedly separates us as much from people as it does from Gad and what He wants for us.

This awareness reminds me of why I haven't joined in the prevailing right/wrong philosophy of some of the TP members I've met.  I feel they may be using God rather than being used by God and I'm left feeling uncomfortable and wary.  I've also seen this play out on the other side of the political spectrum too. Here it plays out as a detachment from God.  The guiding force has more to do with man directed humanism than it does with Christ's message of mercy, love, and serving the individual in a way that benefits all most fully.

Serving takes courage.  The courage comes in because we are called to make decisions or take actions based on what God wants of us, not what we will for ourselves.  That is always a tricky line to stay on the right side of.

Just Sayin'

Someone is sneaking up on me.

Mission Post #27 - Getting the Lay of the Land

Today, while Sr. Darlene was taking care of other matters, we were directed to orient ourselves to Pemiscott County and just drive around.  She especially told me that I was to leave my camera at home.  She has figured out very quickly that my camera is like a third arm and she felt it was important for me to learn to live and see "in the moment".  This was a painful assignment but I was up for the task. Then she told me that I was to not turn on my cell phone either.  No electronics.  She knows my weakness. She is a very discerning woman and a quick study of human behavior.

So off we went and the first leg of our trip was really strange, mainly due to the crazy county map we were following.  It was practically a hand drawn relic.  Yes, we are in a different world.

The first hour of our drive, we followed county roads to a place called Kinfolk Ridge where we saw an old Baptist church, a place called Martha's Stitching Post, and 3 golden dogs who looked to all be from the same litter and all a bit under weight.  From there we aimed south to Cottonwood Point and an old cemetery which we never actually spotted.  We ended  up in a community called Brasher.  There is an old but well-preserved Sinclair Gas sign there that I would like to go back and photograph it.

We continued to slowly and carefully drive the gravel covered road that hug the levy, ever aware of the Mighty Mississippi flowing just over on the other side.  I have to admit that the levy area we drove through was a bit unsettling.  It had very much the feeling of a Tobacco Road environment and I was very much pushing the boundaries of what I am familiar with.

For many miles, we followed the gravel levy road passing poor homes, sagging barns, old farm equipment and fallow fields.  We saw absolutely no one.  The drive felt eerily empty.  When we finally found ourselves back on paved road, we were both very relieved but for very different reasons: Don was glad to be off the gravel and I was feeling like I had arrived back in a familiar world.

We found ourselves back in Caruthersville so we stopped for lunch at the Round House. This building is exactly as it sounds and has been a C'ville institution for over 75 years.  We poured over the map to try to make some sense out of it.  We picked a new destination and headed out one of the main county roads.  This time I did much better on my navigating.  North, south, east, and west were starting to make sense.

We found ourselves in the tiny hamlets of Braggadocia and Deering.  These communities grew up on the farmland of the area and each has their own zip code and tiny post office.  One other thing that I noticed was that there was one church for each town.  The first was one of the various Baptists church of which there are many in the area and the other was Methodist.  This lead me to wonder if the small communities of farmers that grew up around the churches were Methodists or Baptists to begin with OR were they Christian people without a church to anchor their communities and whoever arrived there first was the one to pitch their tent (so to speak).  No matter; it's good to see that there is a church serving the communities.  People need a gathering place.

After our excursion, we returned to meet up with Sister and drove to a little town south of us to deliver clothes to Open Hand Ministries.  We spent about an hour and a half sorting and hanging everything from baby clothes to men's jeans.   The local pound was right behind us and the dogs frequently set up a great chorus of howls.

After our work there, we drove by the park where Sister holds her summer Bible Camp.  She has been doing this for several years and has come to know many of the kids very well.  As she drove us through the neighborhood, my heart broke.  Even if a child's particular house isn't degraded, the neighborhood, as a whole, is.

Condemned and crumbling buildings
Existing home that were never quite right even when they were new
Debris
Trash
Dead foliage
Befouled streams

This is what they see everyday.  It is little wonder that children grow up without a sense of hope or aspirations for something better.  This is why Sister's summer work here is so important.  They remember her.  They come looking for her.  In a hopeless world, she is planting seeds of hope.  Some of them will catch a seed and blossom.

Walking In The Dark

Last night we walked to the corner house where sister said we would find a weekly Rosary being held.  Since sister would not be back from her out of town meeting until late, we decided to go.

It was so cold (18 degrees).  By the time we got there (in less than 5 minutes) my lungs were gasping and my face was going into shock.  I was forcefully reminded of stepping out into 120 degree weather at 8 a.m. in Needles, CA on August long ago and I couldn't decided which was worse, sered
lungs or the brain freeze I was experiencing without the benefit and pleasure of ice cream.

As we knocked at the door, I was thinking I would be so grateful when the door opened to the warmth within.  A sweet face greeted us and a tall presence hovered in the background.  And that is how we met Betty and Lee - an answer to our simple knock at their door.

We were quickly welcomed into the warmth  and that is when we found out that Rosary had been cancelled due to the extreme cold.  Somehow, I wasn't at all surprised and even had wondered earlier in the day if it might be cancelled.

The hospitable Betty and Lee assured us we must stay so Don, Betty, and I settled into prayer.  Lee, a life long Methodist, went back to his TV show with Mackenzie, their mini-Schnauzer.  Yes, another one, just like Sister's dog, Izzy and just as friendly.

We learned later that their son owns a BBQ restaurant in town and they invited us to join them.  But first Lee called to check if they were still open and sure enough, they were closed, again thanks to the weather.  Lee insisted he drive us the short distance back to the house and though we declined, he just shook his head (probably thinking "Californians"), put on his jacket, and headed for the backyard and the car.  I was very grateful.

Haiku My Heart - Baby It's Cold Outside

Biting, freezing cold

Cheeks ache, lungs shrivel and gasp

Ten degree sunset.

Mission Post #26 - Experiencing Quiet

Words.
Symbols.
Images.
Proliferation of communication with no filters.

We are buried in information overload about our social climate, our political climate and our economic climate.  I have become exhausted by all of it.  I know too much and too much of it isn't worth knowing.

"Knowledge" has lead me to intense feelings of hopelessness at times.  We all suffer from it whether we know it or not and our unspoken plea (found in our struggles) is Don't tell me HOW to embrace a more meaningful life; SHOW me.

Lately, a new peace has descended upon me.  The first phase was leaving home.  The travel from home to here in Missouri started to strip away the noise and static of life that so filled my heart and mind.

News of the day has been obliterated; social media has been substantially reduced; prayer, reflection, and action are becoming more a part of my daily rhythm.  Feeling and being in the moment is starting to take center stage.

I'm cooking with pleasure.  What a surprise this is.  Living in community has re-ordered how I perceive my daily tasks and responsibilities.  There is a much more general feeling of simplicity and a desire to get outside of my head.  It is a huge relief to strip away the things that were weighing me down.  And I don't necessarily mean material things so much as re-ordering priorities that are now leading to a life centered on God.

This re-ordering is making me happier, more peaceful, more accepting (but not fatalistically so) and, unexpectedly, more loving and conscious of my husband.  These changes aren't subtle either.  I thought I was all the things I mentioned and, to a degree, I was.  However, stripping away the noise of life shows you just how diminished or, worse yet, absent those things can be in a life.  Traveling this road is showing me that our loved ones can become habits.  Of course, I love my family.  It's a habit.  It needs no explanation.  But, for me now, this is something that I know should not be a habit that is taken for granted.  It needs to be a living and breathing daily reality.

If this all has happened so quickly, then I can't begin to imagine what lies ahead, what God has in store for me.  But, I sure am looking forward to the discovering despite the information overloaded world we live in.

God bless you all and please pray for us.

Mission Report #25 - Update and Reflection

Today, Don and I continue our orientation to the community we will be serving.  We have already met Fr. Yoric and a couple of town friends from Don’s youth. 

We have mainly been settling into our temporary home at Sister’s formation house and, for me especially, getting used to the cold.  I have discovered that 26 degrees in California is not the same as 26 degrees in Missouri which is damp, biting, and generally comes with a wind that is more than a light breeze.  I can’t go barefoot as I like but I dislike socks, so, today I pick up a pair of slippers.

We have also been learning the Liturgy of the Hours and are saying morning and evening prayers and a daily Rosary.  Our Mass routine is at least four days a week.  These formal prayers of our Faith are powerful tools for opening ourselves up to what God is asking of us and the beauty of the Psalms have been revealing themselves to us.

My private reading, this morning, from the Upper Room booklet was from James 2: 1-9.  The prayer focus was on people who are homeless.

God of the poor, help us to see your face in everyone who is in need. Amen.

Today’s reading is especially pointed to me as we take our first steps on mission.  We live in a society of extremes, not the least of which is those who have much and those who have little.  My spot in the world is as one who has just enough and, because of that, have the opportunity to give as I can and as I choose.   But, this place, I think, has the added burden of having to judge and weigh every opportunity that comes our way to serve.

I consider the word ‘judge’, which has such negative connotations, to be, in reality, a good word.  I am thinking, weighing, and discerning.  I am seeking a truth that allows a decision to be made.  So, I make a judgment, not for what is deemed worthy but to discern and make a decision to act or not act.  These steps can happen at the drop of a hat. Other times, days might be taken to decide.

What is most important is that we don’t just automatically say ‘no’ to a perceived need.  Christ is always knocking at our door.  It’s up to us to recognize the knock and answer.  Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it takes some thought but always we are called to listen for His knock and decide if this is a call to be answered.

Mission Post - #24 - Arrival

We arrive yesterday in early afternoon after making good time from our last stop at Little Rock AFB where we spent the night at the lodge.  This is the third lodge we've enjoyed staying at and I have to admit, this is one of the nicer perks of being retired military.  Quarters are as good if not better than hotels and the cost is half of any Best Western level hotel.  Breakfasts are to be had at the base golf courses and the food is always good.  One thing they don't stint on in the military is food (at least in my experience).  So, after a good night's sleep, breakfast, and Mass at the base chapel we took off for the final 3 1/2 hours of our journey to Missouri.

I haven't been here in 20 years.  Kris as 9 the last time I was here.  Even with big tornado damage is 06, things still look pretty much the same.  Now that we are here without children, with no relatives living here, and all past memories (mine) put to rest, I am looking at Caruthersville with very different eyes.

Being here on a mission puts us in a whole different category of visitor.  For one thing, one doesn't just visit C'ville.  Except for the casino, there is nothing to attract a visitor to stay for a while.  We have no family here anymore so a stay now is a purposeful event.

Meeting Sr. Darlene has been a treat and since last night, we have been in a marathon of conversation, prayer, cooking, prayer, developing our idea of community and prayer and, and, and . . . .  Her mini-Schnauzer, Izzy, is wildly entertaining and maintains full command of the yard and especially command over the squirrel population.

Sr.  Darlene  lives alone in her mission assignment.   Since hers is also a formation house, there are women who come here to discern their vocation to the religious life.  The house is set up for as many as four more women.  Don and I share a room with two twin beds.  Welcome to the land of Donna Reed and I Love Lucy.  LOL  This warm and welcoming home is designed for hospitality, a service that the GlenMary sisters are always prepared to provide.

The idea of living in community was not an idea I considered as I prepared myself for this experience.  We soon discovered that work and responsibilities would be easy to divide up and we would be as much independent of each other and we would be in union with each other.

Our greatest moments of union in the course of the day is praying the Liturgy of the Hours, a series of formal morning and evening prayers that incorporate old and new testament readings, Psalms, Canticles, and other optional readings that are designed to deepen our understanding and love of our Faith and draw us closer to God and what He wants for us.  After morning prayers today, we sat around the kitchen table for about an hour and a half as Sister explained the basics of the Liturgy of the Hours.  I took detailed notes and decided to also look online for instruction.

Thoughts for reflection that have already been aroused within me are -

Finding peace within myself, I must acknowledge that we are not of this world.  We are here to be with Christ.  What burdens me, give to God.  Ask how He wants to use me in His service in the battle field of the world.  Discover how I can let God work through me.

As I type this, I am preparing for Mass this evening.  This will set the evening rhythm for our week with Mass on Sunday, Monday evening and Wednesday evening.  Thursdays the community gathers for a  rosary.  There will be work at Mother's House as we had anticipated; there are repairs to be done around the house; the garage is a challenge as sister is deeply afraid of snakes.  She found one in there two years ago and hasn't gone in since.  Yes, it's cold and the snakes may be dormant.  Doesn't matter.  So Don and I may be exploring the garage for her.  No, I'm not fearful of snakes.  Some of the elderly of the parish need help so our two sets of hands will be added to hers.

But it is early days and the possibilities are wide open and I'm sure there will be opportunities that will arise as the need arises.  It is definitely going to be an adventure.  Please pray for us.

God bless you all.

Haiku My Heart -Bird and Bell in Sue and Raf's Backyard

Bell song and bird song
Trembling, rustling, and trilling
Cool breezes kissing

On the Road #2 - The Road to Albuquerque

What a busy two days.  Didn't post/blog anything yesterday.  Barely got the pictures edited from yesterday.  Two night at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City now.  Driving to Ada, OK tomorrow for Indian grandmother genealogy search (Don).  More catching up tomorrow night too before heading to Texas to spend a few days with blogging friend  Sue Ficke Seibert and her husband, Rafe.  Then on to Missouri.  I didn't realize keeping up with this stuff on the road would be so time consuming.  Thank goodness (and Don) for a paper journal.  Tomorrow I start writing and prepping before night time entries.

From the crazy to the sublime, the little collage above gives you a taste of what we saw from the road on Sunday.  And mind you, this is just a taste.  The statue is the side altar at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Needles.  The image is St. Ann embracing her daughter, Mary, the Mother of God.  

We discovered that Arizona and and New Mexico are big on roadside kitch.  Dinosaurs are everywhere.  Also, lots of broken billboards - note the one above.  I don't have a clue but it struck me as wildly funny.

Finally, from a distance of many miles, we could see these two smoke stacks.  Arizona is rich in coal and I guessed that this would be an electricity producing plant using coal as it's energy source.  I was right.

More later, Pictures galore and if I don't keep up, I'll never keep this stuff straight.

On the Road #1 - The Road to Needles

As drives go, Turlock to Needles is pretty easy.  It's all long, flat freeway and highway.  Even with a break for lunch on the east side of Bakersfield, we were able to do the drive in 8 hours.  At dinner, we called Quanah (our son) in Indiana because Don wanted to claim bragging rights for the great mileage.  We traveled 461 miles on 3/4 of a tank of gas.  Not too shabby.

Dinner was at the Juicy's River Cafe next to the motel.  Nice little place.  Friendly waitresses and super good spaghetti and meatballs.  Dessert was an also super good deep dish cherry pie with ice cream that we shared.  Yum.

The road to Needles is not pretty, especially in the winter.  Everything is brown and dry.  But, it does have a particular beauty in its rough hardness.  Trains run along the hillsides and go in and out of a series of tunnels; the wide open areas don't necessarily run in a straight line.  For a world that looks like there is nothing there, it is remarkably full of obstructions that need to be avoided.  Hence, long, sweeping arcs in the landscape provide pathways for freight travel.  

Curiously, for a short time we find ourselves traveling through a green area.  When all is dark, dry, rocky and covered in dust and decaying buildings, we discover an oasis of green and the town that lives there, appropriately enough, is called  Newberry Springs.  The name gives the clue for the green that doesn't live anywhere else on the road in this dry winter.

It is a very masculine world dotted with boron and borax plants, acres of wind fields, and more acres covered in solar panels.  It is a prime world for creating alternate energy sources.

Tomorrow we start with a bang.  Up at six.  Breakfast and seven.  Mass at eight at St. Ann's Church.  An old church, built in 1921 to replace the original one from 1889 (destroyed in a 1920 fire),  I'm excited because I know there will be some great photo-ops there.  And if there isn't, I'll be so disappointed.  After that, we will be on the road to Albuquerque, NM.

Mission Post #23 - My Moment Has Passed

Thank you, God, the slump did not last too long.  I packed this morning; discovered I had entirely overlook gloves, hat, and scarves.  Rumor has it that it's cold in the winter back east so having these will be essential outer wear.  

I got my shoes (Clark's) and they will more than do for rain, snow, and ice without me have to deal with the constriction of boots.  I so DID. NOT. LIKE. wearing boots after wearing them around the house.  Returned them undamaged so they were good for resale.

Such a mundane post but not all days need to be filled with insight and discovery.  Sometimes we just have ordinary days.  In fact, most of our days are, no doubt, more ordinary than not.  

I hope that with prayer and a life of no distractions and focus on service that the negative committee that hangs out on the edges of my mind, like relentless squatters, will finally move on.  There comes a time in all of our lives when we want, more than anything, to abide in peace and stillness and still be wide open to people and have an expectations of a positive experience.

Mission Post #22 - I'm having a moment

Is it possible to go into a pre-travel slump?  I'm at 57 hours until departure and counting.  Suddenly I am sad and yearning and looking back and I haven't even gone forward (let along GONE) yet.

I'm feeling a bit achy inside and I feel a hole widening where my heart usually is.  It sort of feels like a sinkhole  

I'm starting to miss my little dog even though I'm still here.  

I'm realizing that Don and I will be on top of each other continuously for five months.  No surprise about that but the reality of it is hitting me.  I need to sort that one out.

I so enjoy having Kris and Adrian around that I don't want to be away from that so soon after their return.  

I feel like I'm running out of time.

I'm at the point where I am now packing.  The suitcases feel so small.  Taking what you need for five months feels like so much.  

I returned the boots I bought.  I put on socks and suddenly they were too small.  I have lots of socks.  I have two pairs of  shoes I'm bringing with me.  One pair is good for wet, the other - not so much.  I may have to solve this problem on the road.


I have a stack of books and five inches worth of binders filled with reading material.  There will be three cameras, one laptop, a mouse, and cords galore.  

I haven't even considered that I might need a more multi-use purse to carry with me that can handle everything from lipstick to a laptop.  I think two suitcases has turned into three since I have a tote good for carrying a laptop, etc.

So - I'm having a moment and am starting to feel anxious.  I'm feeling a little nauseous.  We have a date to meet with the kids tonight and fill them in on everything they need to know about the house and where to find our important papers . . . in the event . . .

Oh, and what is that little basket next to the binders, you might be asking?  It's my Christmas gift from Don - a selection of Victorian themed stationary.  Paper.  Envelopes.  Cards.  Postcards.  Two journals.  

Along with updating on Facebook and blogging, we will be keeping in touch the old fashion way and journaling nightly while we are on the road.  Friends, there is a book in the making.

Mission Post #21 - Preparing for a different world

Sr. Darlene wrote to use this week and shared some thoughts with us as we make our final preparations for the trip to Missouri.

"Now that the wedding preparations are behind you, you can truly begin to prepare yourselves for the journey and life God has called you to here in Pemiscot County.  I urge you t open yourself in prayer, asking that you will find the many gifts God has placed here for you.  I join you in this prayer.  We must always remember that our lives must also be transformed by the God who calls us and by those he calls us to be with.

 . . . Even though you are not coming to a foreign country, you are entering a different culture and way of life.  We will discuss this when you get here.  In mission, we are called to be both Martha and Mary.  We must learn to achieve a balance between the two ways of being.  We must not always seek the business.  We must learn to treasure the quiet and the time to be totally present to Christ in prayer or in sitting with another. . . ."

I must admit, I've thought of the different world I am committed to stepping into.  I've been to this small town on the Mississippi only twice; both times were short visits but I felt the huge cultural divide even then.  There is a slowness of pace that I'm very unfamiliar with.   The manner of speaking is so slow that I actually found myself slowing down my listening in order to not get ahead of the direction of conversation and then discover I've made a wrong turn.  The relationships between people seem to be more formal and conform to patterns of interaction that are not at all casual. 

Don is very familiar with this world.  I am not.  I told him yesterday, as we discussed it, that my first couple of weeks there, I intended to keep my mouth carefully shut and my ears wide open.  I have a lot to learn and not to much time to learn it in.

Mission Post #20

Two things have competed for my attention this year; Krista's wedding and the departure for our mission trip to Missouri.  Krista's wedding is passed us now - Dec. 29th.  And now I can concentrate on packing up my life for the next five months.

Don, who is much more organized and focused than I am, has been working on aspects of our travel for several months now.  He has made three separate trip binders; one for Catholic shrines we will be visiting, a second for Civil War sites, and a third for our maps showing us the itinerary, military lodging, and people we will be visiting along the way.

I know I leave a lot of the burden of this trip to him.  I would wing it, if I could.  But, that is not in his nature and people who CAN wing it, are the very people who find it easier to step back and let the organizers take over.  I'm really grateful for what he does and acknowledge that a little (or a lot) of planning isn't a bad thing at all.

So, now it is January 1st.  We leave in nine days.  I think that is enough time for me to figure my packing out.  I hope.