Still Catholic, but not Crescent City

This summer has been quite crazy, and once again I have been neglecting the blog. I'm saddened by this because I love writing on the blog, even though I'm never sure if anyone's reading it! Hah. However, in my little hiatus the blog reached 1000+ views! So thanks to all of you who have visited, even if you simply are sitting there and hitting refresh to uptick the counter and my self-esteem.

It is with great sorrow that I announce to the blogosphere that I am leaving the Crescent City. As I have mentioned in previous posts, in May I was surplussed by the school district I worked for last year. I have been looking for work across New Orleans, primarily in the Catholic schools, and nothing has popped up. I tried to make use of all of my contacts in the area, even writing a letter to Archbishop Aymond, whom I know from my time in Aggieland. Even though he's passed on my resume to the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools, there still hasn't been any progress to my job search in the area! But it's good to know the Archbishop has my back!

And so I am moving home to Shreveport to live with family until I can find a full-time job. The move is scheduled to occur this Sunday, and I have been packing little-by-little throughout the week to get everything together. I have decided that even though I am leaving the Crescent City, I am keeping the name of the blog... because Shreveport Catholic just doesn't sound as cool! Hah.

I am hopeful that once I move home I will be able to find a suitable job, and I actually have an interview this Monday with an educational program that is sponsored by the Department of Defense! The program sounds really interesting and is right up my alley, teaching kids science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through fun, hands-on lessons. Please say some prayers that my interview goes well!

Lastly I just want to publish a poem I had written some time ago that I came across while cleaning and packing today. If I remember correctly, it is one I wrote on the drive home from Aggieland during the spring of either junior or senior year, perhaps for Easter vacation. And given the way it was scribbled on a random sheet of paper, it means I must have been inspired by the greenery on my drive. It also means it is a miracle that I found it today. So without further ado, here it is!

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A Stor, A Ghra, Eirinn!
(O Treasure, O Love, Ireland!)
Never twas such beauty seen
As when the Lord envisioned green,
And placed it here upon the isle
Ensuring Irishmen would smile
As spring comes and winter goes
For every Irishman does know
The wonders He has blessed us with:
The greatest men for kin and kith.
Most of all He's blessed our land
With beauty never dreamt by man.
His goodness though is truly seen
Throughout this land He dressed with green!

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Hope you liked it! Please pray for me as I transition to home and look for employment! Also, for all of you Potter fans out there, be looking out for future posts in which I dive into the depths of my sociological imagination and analyze the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Summer already? Thank the Lord!

So you know what I do when I get really busy? I stop doing some of the things that I love to do... including writing. Poor choice. I feel like I've neglected the blog so much! But I am back and hoping to write more frequently in the coming months. Perhaps my summer posts will make up for lack of spring posts. Unfortunately this one is going to be a little bit of everything since I am catching up on the last few months of my life.

First, a few prayer requests:

• Please continue to pray for my sister, who is recovering from her heart attack. She was only in the hospital about three days, and has even gotten to go back to work now... but prayers never hurt!
• I have a friend who will be going on a mission trip to Africa in about a week. Please pray for her safety and that God would use her on this trip to bring others to Him.
• My roommate and I are looking for a third guy to live with us because our other roommate is leaving to study to become a pastor next year. Pray for him and that we find a new roommate who will uphold and strengthen us in our lives as devoted Christian men.
• Please pray that God will lead me to the job he wants me to have for the next year (or two). On the last day for students I found out that I was being affected by the Recovery School District's teacher surplus and would not be working at my school again this coming year. This complicates things quite a bit, but allows me the freedom to consider where God could best use me (and speak to me) in the coming year. I know He has a plan for me, I just need to trust that He will reveal it to me!

Despite the fact that I wasn't offered a contract for next year, the start of summer itself has been quite a beautiful time for me. Not only was the weather in New Orleans great last week, but two really good friends of mine got to drop by for a visit that first weekend of summer! We were able to venture out to Mid-City and enjoy the beautiful weather at Bayou Boogaloo music and art festival, which turned out to be really awesome and totally free! I have certainly discovered that I need to make better use of New Orleans' amazing festivals next year. Perhaps I should schedule the rest of my life around them...

By the way, congratulations Sean and Rebecca on your recent engagement! I can't wait for the wedding!

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Getting to work on my own schedule the past week was such a nice change of pace. I was able to clean my room, give away a bunch of old stuff, and work on my certification portfolio. Also, Sean started teaching me guitar, so I got to begin each morning practicing my skills (or lack thereof) on the porch. I think I've gotten pretty good at those four chords, but perhaps I need to add to my gig bag. I have been working on learning the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and one of my roommates taught me a portion of "Shelter" by Jars of Clay. Of course, I didn't have much time to work on this because I had to complete my certification portfolio! It was a behemoth to produce, but when I finally finished at 4am Tuesday, I was glad to truly have the first year of teaching behind me. Thank God for that!

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Crazy story. My little brother graduated from high school last Saturday. It's so hard to believe that the last of the Williamson clan is going to college! One of the honor graduates had a beautiful reflection on a poem by Linda Ellis called "The Dash", which talked about how important it is that we live our lives to the fullest and make sure that we spend our lives doing what really matters -- loving those around us, committing ourselves to work worth doing, and recognizing the beauty around us.

Anyway, I'm so proud of my brother! His graduation also afforded me the opportunity to see a lot of family that I wouldn't have otherwise seen... so thanks for that kiddo! It was great to be home, but the time was all too short because on Wednesday I had to report to my summer job in Natchitoches. It is great to be back at camp and have so many old friends to reacquaint with, but I was hoping to have a little bit more time to spend with my family before having to report to work.

Regardless, here I am at ADVANCE! We as a staff have been preparing for the arrival of the students the last few days and the dorm is really starting to come together. I am excited to meet my new students and residents and anxious to reunite with my old kiddos. They all come on Sunday, so tomorrow will have to be a day of rest!

For about the next month I will be here... so I will temporarily be the "Itinerant Catholic!" No worries, the Crescent City still lies in my future though! I'll be back in late July! And I'm certain God has great things in store for me in the coming year!

Christening the blog

I write this post on my new blog after having considered beginning a new blog for several weeks. Though it is past midnight and no longer truly Ash Wednesday in my time zone, the beginning of Lent is what finally convinced me that I should begin this project.

I have tried on many different hats when blogging before. There were the days of Xanga, where I rambled on incessantly about every menial thing my days included; there were the days of the "Sapient Sap" which hopefully have been somehow erased from the annals of the interwebs; and then there are the two (yes, two) posts I made when I first began teaching last year. In each case, these blogs never took off because my heart simply wasn't in them, and with time I lost interest and prioritized other things before my writing.

But they always say to "Write what you know," and though I'm relatively new to New Orleans, there is one thing that I know quite a bit about, and that is being Catholic. I have always been Catholic, and because of the wonderful family and opportunities I have had throughout my life, have been able to grow quite a bit in my understanding of the faith. Essential to this growth was my formation throughout college at St. Mary's Catholic Center at Texas A&M, and it was there that I began to see my Catholic faith as not only a belief system, but a way of living life. I look back on the words I wrote in my last semester as I prepared to start a new phase of my life:

I’m leaving with the knowledge that our faith is more than merely a history, creed, or religion: it’s lens through which I view the world, a lens which enables me to praise God for the glory He has created and to see how He is calling me to serve. And this is something I can take with me wherever He leads!

It is a beautiful reminder not only of where I have been, but what along my journey has led me to this point. And I hope that in writing this blog, I will be reminded time and again to have faith in the Lord to bring me where I am meant to be.