Busy couple of weeks

Things are not quite in the full swing here yet, but I already feel incredibly overwhelmed! Let's see... there is:

Chaplaincy
Maryvale Work
Maryvale Course
Personal time

Right now, the average work day for me is something like this... wake up at 7:20, go to morning prayer. Come back for a shower and breakfast. Get ready to run out the door and catch a bus. Mornings like today where 2 busses don't show up means that it takes over 2 hours to get to Maryvale to be able to start work! Work a full day at Maryvale, minimizing the amount of times I go get coffee, so as not to get pulled in to too many conversations, as I need to put in a good 6-7 hours a day, and if I stop to talk for too long, then I don't get to leave until 7pm, which means I don't get home until 9pm! :-/

Monday nights are good, as it's community night, and we have a good meal, plus we do a gospel reflection and get a good hour of exposition in...

I forever feel like I am not pulling my share around the house, in just trying to maintain myself. Even my "days off" from Maryvale, I don't feel I have the energy to do much.... the Holy Spirit is definitely sustaining me through the being active and present in the Chaplaincy...

My BA Divinity starts this weekend! I have no idea where I am going to find the time to do it all.... I barely take any personal time as it is, much less time for coursework.

I did build my bike up, finally, on Sunday afternoon... I can't wait to go for a good ride-- it's been ages!

I am sure that things will settle down a bit, once I have gotten in to the swing of it all. There's a bit too much newness at once, possibly, especially given everything else that has happened recently.

One really nice thing about being on the bus for 3 hours a day is that it gives me plenty of prayer time... If you feel like you don't get enough time to pray, start taking the bus-- it's worth the £3 just to pray! As I overslept morning prayer in community (AGAIN!), I did morning prayer, got through a few chapters of Leviticus (tough!), and read some more of Frank Sheed's Theology for Beginners. This afternoon, I hope to do Evening prayer, a rosary, and read some more of St. Augustine's Confessions, which I just started. How's that for productiveness?!

Right, well, I have procrastinated enough, but since there are people reading this now, I figured I would post another entry... Peace in Him!

new to the blog scene...!

Alright, it's my first post, and I am already peeved that my name was stolen by someone less worthy of the title "Roamin' Catholic"!!!

As it is, it took me a bit to decide on a different name, and I opted for the where I am from root, as opposed to adding UK or USA or something like that to my name.

Yes, this is me, I am from Raleigh, North Carolina, and I am the roamin' Catholic....

There is an irony in the fact that up until a year ago, I had never lived more than 15 miles from the centre of Raleigh, and now I feel as if there is a real truth to the statement "home is where your hat is" (or where your head rests!)

Last year, I lived in the West Highlands of Scotland, in a lay community that worked as an outreach mission team to go do retreats in secondary schools and parishes all over Scotland.... I was pretty hesitant about leaving everything I knew and was comfortable with, good bad, or ugly; and even made plans of only staying for 9 months, then returning back to the USofA! Well, God had other plans and now I am living in Birmingham, England, working at the Maryvale Institute, living in a community at the Newman House at the University of Birmingham, and also finally about to start my undergrad after taking 6 gap years!

Yes, so... that's I guess about all there is to know about for an introduction to me-- I hope you'll stay posted in on my life, and all of the adventures I have as I travel all over the UK and beyond!

God Bless you,
Chris