what this place and these people are teaching me.

It's been about eleven weeks since I've left Michigan to move to DC.

Some lessons learned thus far:

1. Finding a church home is a vexatious process. The pivotal moment is when you walk into a movie theater where people both raise their hands and indulge in free donuts, courtesy of Krispy Kreme. That's when you know you're home.

2. Attempting to retrieve a metro ticket while intoxicated: much harder than one might think.

3. I was taught as a piano instructor to always ask rather than tell. A logical cautionary measure to be sure. Make sure the student is learning to teach him/herself. However, since moving here, I have had to adapt to a more authoritarian style of teaching, as I have a five year old girl who finds it amusing to answer ice cream! to every question I pose.

4. When I was in Music History 101 as a junior in college, I was offended when I learned about John Cage's 4'33--a musical composition with no noise, no notation, no music by all traditional standards. In it, a pianist simply sits in silence for 4 minutes, 33 seconds--the silence, according to Cage, is the music. But I've also been intrigued by the piece and so I was delighted to discover a book in the local library called No Such Thing as Silence. Its contents are entirely devoted to understanding and appreciating 4'33.

5. If you're anticipating grief, you've already begun the grieving process and you might be closer to a certain acceptance than you might think. In some ways, I was dreading my move here, as I thought I would initially be grieving loss. But I think my body and mind had already prepared itself months in advance. I have had some moments of feeling homesick, but all in all, I am happy here in Virginia.

6. Weddings can feel like funerals. Voices over the phone like ice. White dreams can carry a lot of black weight. But I know it's a choice to either continue to mourn this or to celebrate the beauty of commitment and faithfulness. I have been blessed with an amazing fiance; I continue to learn new things about her every day that comfort me and challenge me.

7. Reading the Bible again without legalistic voices is opening me again to Jesus. "Analysis is paralysis" (Barry Green); and while I love the passion of certain theologians, I know I need to listen more and decode less.