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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Art. Music. Poetry. Theatre. Nearly every city has its own unique outlets and opportunities within the vast world of creativity and expression, but I personally believe Chicago does it better than most. Poetry anchored the Casa Romero community multiple times throughout this month of love. Many of us went to support Levi as they hosted an open-mic night at an eclectic, inviting venue. Levi concluded the event with half an hour of reading their own work in a captivating and personal way that left us all beaming during our commute home. For our spirituality night, the house attended a reading and conversation with featured authorRead More →

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With winter in full swing and the LVC year approaching its halfway point, it’s easy to get sucked down into a portal of stress and cold. I like to think that what’s kept us afloat through it all has been our ability to smile through it all. This includes smiling through car troubles, below-freezing wind chills, or even just the stress of everyday life. We always seem to lift each other back up. Not long after the holidays had ended, I had a sliding collision with a telephone pole on my way to my LVC Placement. As it all happened all I could think ofRead More →

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In the past week, I’ve ended up cooking with my housemates, a few friends, and visiting family on most nights. With music on, lively conversation, and everyone taking part in preparing the meal, what might otherwise feel like something to get through becomes a beautiful and joyous occasion. Many times in the course of a week, I find myself uninspired to eat, or more inclined to just reheat the most convenient thing out of the refrigerator. This permits me to eat in 15 minutes and go on with my next task. When I take time to share food with friends, though, there’s a tremendous warmthRead More →

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