Wells, ME and Boston, MA

I left Dover on September 13th and arrived in Wells, Maine, to stay with Deacon Darryl and his wife, Marla. The next day was spent planning and seeing if any of the local organizations needed any volunteers for the day. After several phone calls failed to produce any actual volunteer opportunities, I decided that since Tuesday was all planned out with volunteer opportunities, I could use Monday to keep planning and take time to update my blog. Later that evening, I decided to accompany Deacon at centering prayer, a type of prayer that is new to me. In this type of prayer, you do not say prayers out loud or in your head. You quiet your mind and sit still, being open to God’s presence. If thoughts come into your head, you pick a “sacred word” to say that will quiet your mind. We did this type of prayer for 20 minutes. Now, those of you who know me know that I don’t sit still very long and staying quiet isn’t a strength of mine, so the combination of sitting still and being quiet for 20 minutes was difficult. Although it was difficult, it was definitely worth it! After the group of about 17 finished praying in the church, some stuck around to hear my story.

The next day, Deacon invited me to participate in a Eucharistic service at one of the local nursing homes that specializes in taking care of residents who have suffered brain trauma. After the service ended, I headed to the local Red Cross blood drive that was being run by the Knights of Columbus. Towards the end of the day, my friend, Nicky, asked if I wanted to meet up. Nicky is a friend of mine from Saint Mary’s who is on a cross country adventure of her own, so obviously I jumped at the opportunity to see a familiar place in an unfamiliar part of the country. I told her that we could meet for dinner after I was done at the blood drive. Hearing that I was working at a blood drive and planning to donate blood during her stay in Maine anyways, Nicky drove two hours from New Hampshire to donate blood in Kennebunk, Maine!

After we finished up at the blood drive, we left the building and headed towards the two cars in the parking lot that had Minnesota license plates. As we were walking, I heard someone calling my name. It was one of the women from centering prayer! I asked her what she was up to and she said that she was specifically looking for me… I’m listening… She said that she had called Deacon to figure out where I was because she wanted to give me something… Go on… She pulled out a special medal with The Virgin Mary on it and said that she felt called by the Blessed Mother to come give this medal to me specifically. Wow! The fact that someone would stop what they were doing, make a call to find me, and drive to where I was to give me a medal was amazing. To add to that, it later occurred to me that my “sacred word” from centering prayer the night before… was “Mary”. Absolutely incredible!

After she gave me a medal, she gave Nicky one too. We then thanked her and headed out to dine on some of the freshest seafood that New England had to offer… and ended up at Subway, where they don’t serve seafood. After a couple of hours of catching up with Nicky, we said goodbye and continued on our journeys.

On Wednesday, I thanked Deacon Darryl and Marla for their hospitality and headed to Boston. I hadn’t done much city driving before I left for my trip, so Boston was my first real downtown driving experience. Even around noon (honk) on a weekday (honk), there was still a lot of traffic (honk) and people were in a hurry (honk) to get to where they needed to go. After I arrived and the honking horns stopped echoing in my ears, I spent the rest of the day getting settled and meeting the men who live at the Assumptionist Center.

Thursday was spent making calls and sending emails trying to find a place to volunteer in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston. I also spent some time walking around the neighborhood to see if anything or anyone caught my eye. I noticed a lot of trash on the streets near the Center, so I decided to take some time to clean the area up a bit. Later that night, some of the graduate students living there got together and had a men’s group discussion about faith. Again, sitting down and having meaningful discussion with other people proved to be very insightful.

On Friday, one of the men who lives at the Center invited me to be a guest speaker at Saint Columbkille Partnership School for the 7th and 8th grade religion classes. The 8th grade class had a few questions, then were asked to write one thing they learned from my presentation and one wish for me as I continue my travels. The 7th grade class had so many questions that we ran out of time! After wrapping up my presentations at the school, I went back to the Center and wrote a short response to all of the 8th graders.

On Saturday, I met my friend, Christiana, for lunch where I had my first taste of New England clam chowder. Again, it was nice to see a familiar face! After sitting and talking for a while, we said goodbye and headed our separate ways. After lunch, I headed to a local bakery with some of my newest friends to get some more planning done. While we were there, my friend, John, saw a young Saudi Arabian man carrying a dessert. He told the man that it looked delicious and the man in turn generously gave John his dessert and went to get another one for himself. He explained that in his culture, if someone says that they like something that you have, if you can afford to, you give it to them! Encouraged by his act of kindness, I later left the bakery and headed back towards the Center. On the way, I encountered a homeless man asking for change. Inspired by the man at the bakery, I decided to give this man some change to help him out. After handing him the money, I asked if I could sit and talk with him. Hesitant at first, he agreed to talk for a bit. In the short amount of time that I spent with this man (Kevin), I learned that he has schizophrenia, a 9th grade education level, just beat cancer, and recently lost his job, all of which I would never had known if I didn’t take the time to sit and talk with him. Please keep Kevin in your prayers!

On Sunday, I went to Mass, had brunch, and then started to head out. As I was about to leave, one of the men asked if he could pray with me. Needing all the prayers that I can get, I welcomed that offer. As we sat in the chapel, I told him my intentions and then he began to pray… in tongues! He alternated between praying in tongues and speaking in English, but everything that he said was absolutely spot on! What he said during prayer was exactly what I needed to hear. Everything that he said pertained to the things that I was thinking about by myself the night before. Amazing! Again and again, God keeps putting great people in my life at the right times!

After thanking him and the rest of my hosts, I left the Center and headed towards Narragansett, Rhode Island… after spending a half hour driving in circles through the narrow streets of Boston desperately trying to find a way out.

Thank you to Deacon Darryl and Marla for hosting me in Maine. Thank you to the Knights of Columbus for letting me join you at the blood drive. Thank you to the lady who went out of her way to find me and give me that special Mary medal. Thank you to Nicky for meeting up with me. Thank you to everyone at the Assumptionist Center for hosting me. Thank you to everyone at the Saint Columbkille Partnership School for the work that you do and allowing me to come share my story. Thank you to Christiana for meeting up with me. Thank you to the man who prayed in tongues with me. And thank you to all of you who continue to support me and pray for me! You are just as much a part of this mission as I am!