TJ and Ashley Humphrey

It has only been 3 days into orientation week and Nashotah House has already surpassed my expectations.  Life here is just so marvelously different from anything I have ever known.  It is by no means perfect.  However, the Holy Spirit is animating this place in ways that I have never quite encountered before and the people here seem to be responding to the Spirit's work in ways that I have never seen before either.  There is a real unity here and things have only just begun. Our exposure to the faculty so far has been fairly limited (compared to sitting in on class with them).  However, since we are all bound together by a common rule of life, the Rule of St. Benedict, there is much time and space that is shared with them.  We eat together and pray together twice daily.  Furthermore, many of the faculty have led some of our orientation sessions. Even though I am just getting to know all of the faculty, I can already tell that they are of the highes...

Hello from Nashotah, WI!  A LOT has happened in the last two weeks, so this post will mostly be an update, with a few personal thoughts thrown in... Our last week in St. Louis was crazy -- we were packing, taking care of an 8-month old, working out logistics for the big move, arranging for utilities to be turned on in WI, arranging for utilities to be turned off in MO, hanging out with friends, visiting our favorite St. Louis places one last time, and dealing with a wide range of emotions.  The house was packed up fairly quickly, due to large amounts of purging that happened this summer.  Spending time with our friends was fun -- we truly do have some wonderful friends!  Saying goodbye was rough, especially to our youth group.  Trinity threw us a very sweet going away party on the Saturday night before we left, and after dinner, the microphone was passed around the room so everyone could share memories.  Funny memories were shared (like the time everyon...