As December came and passed, I was very upset to have had a Green Christmas, but I never imagined my wish for snow would leave us with record setting negative temperatures in January, 39 inches of snow in February, and a winter storm in April. While I was happy that my fairy tale winter-wonderland was here, I did not anticipate what else winter would bring. My emotions are easily affected by many things – I cry during movies and if I see a cute baby or puppy – but I had never felt the effect of winter bringing me down. With so many days ofRead More →

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Spring has well and truly sprung in DC!  With it has come warmer weather, blooming trees, cherry blossoms by the Jefferson Memorial, and festivals. Unfortunately, with this warm weather, has also come stress about the future, late night résumé edits, and the last leg of this volunteer year. Housemates and coworkers are scrambling to make plans and find jobs, and we find ourselves – yet again – trying to find new ways to define ourselves. For four years I was a college student working toward a degree and some magical future that I hadn’t quite figured out yet. In my search for a plan, LVC seemedRead More →

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I have found a lot of joy in exploring sustainable living. Bike commutes, neighborhood walks, and cooking vegan meals have become regular practices in Wilmington LVC. Living sustainably has also proven itself to be a challenge. As one of LVC’s pillars, sustainable living confronts notions of convenience, consumerism, justice, and community, among others, often guiding me to go against the norms of societal convenience. It’s a challenge that involves an understanding of my mindset: what I most commonly accept as ‘normal’ and why. Living in community with intentional values and goals has allowed me to better understand how I can justly engage in our worldRead More →

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When I began my journey with LVC one of the things I was most worried about was the Midwest Winter. The Wintery Weather came up at one of our monthly spirituality meetings in the fall through one of our discussion questions “In the book about your life, which chapter are you headed to next?” At the time, I had answered “Surviving the Midwest Winter: literally and metaphorically.” As we creep our way through March, I feel that that is the chapter I’m currently in- and hopefully ending soon. No amount of warnings, even from my Minnesota-bred dad, prepared me for how cold Nebraska really isRead More →

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Faith is like riding a bike. When I was younger, I was with my parents on a tricycle. I went to whichever church they wanted to attend and absorbed everything they said and everything the church said. When I went to college, I took the training wheels off, but I stayed on the sidewalks in the same neighborhood. For the first time, I was in charge of where I went to church. But I still attended a similar type of church. My beliefs altered some, but not in a dramatic way. Now I’ve left the neighborhood. I’ve found different paths previously undiscovered. I’ve ventured pastRead More →

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