Menamen, Fried Plantain, Saga Saga, and Arepas...

It has been too long since I shared an update here! Sorry, friends. Life rolls on and before you know it, 4 months have passed. I always begin to come alive again in the spring though, so credit this belated blog post to the buds on the red maple by our gate and the daffodils in the garden.

The greatest joy of the past few months has been having tea (...or menamen...or saga saga...or fried plantain...or arepas...) with Guests again. The joy of sharing a simple meal together is irreplacable. There's something about a shared table that has the power to bring us together and lessen the power of the many things that divide us, at least for a time. We all have to eat. Maybe that's why one of the central practices of our faith is a meal?

Our side yard. It’s been so fun seeing it come alive, since this is our first spring in this house.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I have been zeroed in on enacting the goals of last year's anti-racism process. I can be a bit of a bulldog when I get hold of a goal, for better or for worse! This time for the better, I think.

So I'm so excited to share that we have an Advisory Team! Three women of colour--an Egyptian-Canadian theological curriculum developer, an African-American pastor/fundraiser/anti-racism trainer, and a Salvadoran-Canadian healthcare worker--are meeting regularly to review our policies, communications, progress on our anti-racism goals, etc. We need to be accountable to people of colour, since the vast majority of Guests are people of colour but the majority of our partner churches, volunteers, and donors are white. Unless we find intentional ways to submit to the leadership of people of colour and hear critiques of our work, we will very likely miss important opportunities and quite possibly do harm.

I am so jazzed that these women said yes. They are powerhouses, with diverse immigration pathways to Canada, a wealth of experience working with refugees and immigrants, and things. to. say. We are not worthy! You'll hear more about them in the coming months, I'm sure.

Our hosting room. Sharp-eyed members of my family will see several contributions from my Grandma here.

On the home front, Dan and I become Hosts a couple weeks ago! It's already helped me to understand the experiences of Hosts. So many Hosts come to me in their first weeks of hosting wanting reassurance that they are doing well and that their Guest is comfortable. I get that now! It is a bit of a vulnerable experience, inviting someone you don't know into your home and hoping that you send them enough signals of welcome that they feel comfortable. So I'm telling myself what I've told many other Hosts and trying to be open-handed about it all, offering connection but not demanding it. Hosts and Guests always settle into a new normal as they figure each other out, and we are getting there too.

Our Guest is lovely. She has cooked delicious Turkish meals for us several times, and seems to be able to create something beautiful with limited ingredients and 2 vegetarians to contend with. Our diet choices are confusing for many newcomer friends, but we adapt together!

Learning a new dish called barbunya from our Guest. Mine is definitely not as good as hers—apparently the trick is a healthy dose of olive oil.

Here's another lil somethin-somethin' I've been working on. Enjoy! Would love to hear your feedback if have any—and feel free to share it!

In less exciting news, I have been going on quite the learning curve for grant applications, thanks to some generous support from Indwell staff, Andrea at IAFR Canada, and a 5-star volunteer named Fady Mekhael. Unfortunately that learning curve involves a lot of unsuccessful grant applications. As in so many things in life and especially in this work, relationships are key, and relationships grow step by step. But this week we received a grant from the Charis Foundation for professional development for our team! It's a matching grant, so we'll be working to raise $5000 in the coming months.

And here's the best news of all: we are over the moon about a possible new hire in the coming weeks, the culmination of much of our work in the last year, including our anti-racism process...more news to come soon, I hope!

I love when you drop me a line after you read this, so I get to hear a bit about your lives too. Please do share!