The Birthday of a Legend

Hey everyone! Soon it will be December 5^th, my Dad’s birthday! Since we will still be traveling to East Timor during his birthday, we wanted to put this blog up early. So here it is, in all it's glory - my Dad is turning 52!!!

Here is my handsome Dad with my lovely Mom, and some of their
very good friends at a Fazoli’s in Colorado.

And here is my Dad in his favorite place in the world (with Bekah making a guest appearance) – Rocky Mountain National Park, outside the town of Estes Park, Colorado. He’s as happy as all of us teenagers climbing all the big rocks, hiking trails, and seeing the spectacular landscapes. He’s like an official tour guide for newbies in Colorado because he knows it all like the back of his hand.

I tell people that my family has been to Colorado for vacation almost every year since I was born (and that’s not an exaggeration)! Dad and Mom have passed on a love of the outdoors to us kids, and especially of the Colorado mountains. Many of our best memories have been on family vacations there.

So now that you know a little bit more about my Dad, here are some of my favorite things about him:

1. His generosity – he has definitely taught me hospitality for guests and for most everyone. It’s an example that I hope Brendan and I will be able to imitate.

2. His fearlessness in conversation – I love fearlessness! And my Dad is fearless in conversation. He is a great story teller with the Irish gift of the gab, and he uses this gift to make people feel at home. But at the same time he isn’t afraid to talk religion or politics with anyone…I think he enjoys it : ) Where I would sometimes shy away from a topic (mostly politics) and hope to lead by example, Dad can jump right in and talk about the bottom line. I think that our relativistic world definitely needs more people like that. If you can respect others, but still treasure the truth, you’re in good shape.

3. His love of the outdoors – Dad and Mom did a great job getting us kids outside when we were young. On weekends we’d go to reservoirs or lakes to hike or go on bike rides. And for vacation we were hiking in Colorado. It’s something that really rubbed off on me and that I love!
   

4. His protection – My Dad is the kind of father who would sit out on the porch while his daughters go on dates and clean the shot gun. As I grow up a little and look back, I know that my Dad has protected me from many things. I know innocence is something to be prized and that much of my innocence is a result of my Dad's protection at key times in my life.

5. His challenges to us – We have always been taught to be very hard working, to give nothing less than our absolute best. School was always a big part of that, but there was much more too. It was a comprehensive challenge to us kids to be our very best selves. This included constantly growing in virtue. Challenges push us to excel if we let them, and Dad’s challenge by example and words have given us that opportunity.

So here’s my Dad, dressed up in a tux for the father-daughter dance at Brendan and my wedding. He is one of the best men I know – a good man who works hard and loves God, my Mom, and us kids. Can’t get much better than that : ) Happy birthday Dad! I love you and miss you a lot!!!

Love always,

Rachel and Brendan

P.S. A shout out also goes to my cousin Emily whose birthday (I believe) is also December 5^th!

New Inspiration

Only 5 days left before we fly toward East Timor!!! It’s crazy how quickly the time goes. During this time, Brendan and I have changed and grown. Some of this growth has come from unexpected sources of new inspiration that I am so grateful for.

Probably one of the biggest sources of new inspiration has come from living so close to the Canossian Sisters in the missionary convent next to our volunteer house. They are such examples of complete love of God and others more than themselves. And their stories of how God called them, sometimes dramatically, to be completely consecrated to Him and to live a lifestyle of radical simplicity and poverty are so beautiful. So to see them and know them is to see that God is constantly working in the world, and that strong, beautiful people are willing to give everything up to respond to His call. It’s difficult to explain, but I hope that you get to know some Sisters in your area.

As an example, a few days ago Sister Mel shared her story with us. She’s the Sister from Brisbane, Australia, who played soccer with us. Her story is incredible! In short, she was an aspiring Olympic athlete, who had won 2^nd at the Australian national championships for javelin throwing when she was 19. This qualified her for the Olympic trials for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Being in the Olympics had been her goal since she was five years old.

But in other areas of her life God had been working. Even though she had everything at the end of high school – popularity and success in athletics and academics – she felt empty and even hated herself. She ended up in the back of church one day by God’s grace and a priest came and talked with her, helping her to find the value of herself in Christ. Through the help of him and one of her friends she went from hating going to church when she was young and only going when her mom forced her (even chasing her around the house with an iron) to making her faith her own.

She became involved in a local youth group and from there youth retreats led by the Canossian Sisters. After she was going to retreats regularly, the Sisters asked her if she wanted to come with them to Rome to help with a VOICA missionary conference and volunteer at World Youth Day 2000. She also got in touch with Sister Pat through them and worked out getting to go on a one month mission to Africa. The cool part is how God went from not even being on her radar, to being a significant part of her life. And this was only the beginning.

She told us her motivation for wanting to go to Rome and Africa was still completely self-related. She would get to travel and satiate her curiosity about what Africa was really like. So even though the time of the Olympic Trials she had qualified for coincided with World Youth Day, she decided to go to WYD 2000 because mentally she was training for the 2004 Athens Olympics anyway and this would be her only chance for Africa.

So inspite of the protests of her coaches, parents, and sponsors, she took half a year off and went. In Rome she had a beautiful and moving experience at World Youth Day, probably much like Brendan and I had in Sydney. Then she went to Tanzania for one month to work with the Sisters and she said that in just one month Jesus and Africa stole her heart and she has never been the same.

She went home and told her parents, coaches, and sponsors that she was done training when her contract was up. Her eyes had opened to a whole new reality and she couldn’t be satisfied with her whole life being “throwing sticks” : ) She went to university and graduated with a degree in education. She also entered the order of the Canossian Sisters during this time, being so overwhelmed with love for God and neighbor.

Since then she has taught English, Physical Education, and Religion in the poorest school in their diocese (she had great stories to prepare us for teaching : ) And don’t worry – she still uses her javelin skills when chances come up. Once a year at the school’s phys ed carnival she earns the respect of the middle school and high school boys who dare to face her in javelin throwing : ) Now she is preparing to go back to Africa – to Malawi. So things come full circle. And even though she gave up her Olympic dream and has had other difficulties, her joy is apparent! She is one of my favorites here!

Always,

Rachel and Brendan

Rome Recap - My Favorite Things!

As our time here in Rome is coming to a close, we wanted to review for you some of the fantastic things we’ve seen. One of the best things about coming to Rome is the fountains!

I LOVE FOUNTAINS! Fountains are some of my favorite things – something that always makes me smile. I remember my parents letting us play in fountains sometimes when we were little. Us kids were always in water of some type – at a wading pool in the park, in the backyard with a hose or sprinkler, or in a fountain… It was a great way to grow up! Now somehow that love of watching and playing in water has translated into delightful fountain-watching : )

We have had two months of fountain viewing that have brought me much happiness. Here are some of the pictures. Enjoy!

Me by one of the twin fountains in the St. Peter’s Square!

A big holy water font! It’s kind of like a little fountain : )

Here we are at the fountain next to the Pantheon/Basilica of Mary Queen of the Martyrs. I’m the one in the green shirt with the arms up.

The Fontana de Trevi! This is the gorgeous, HUGE fountain where people come and toss a coin over their shoulder because the legend is that if you do that you will return to Rome. The Italian government helps maintain the fountain and gives the money thrown in the fountain to a charity. This year all the money that people toss into the fountain is being donated to Caritas – the organization that we volunteer with at the soup kitchen every Friday night. This fountain is one of my favorites in all Rome…but the girl next to me was obviously not quite as impressed : )

Here’s a better view of the Fontana de Trevi from the front. Brendan knew that I wanted to come back to this fountain because it is gorgeous and we’d only had two minutes when we passed by during the day. So as part of our five monthsary date (we’d been married for five months on October 24^th) we came back here before checking out some churches and eating at a little café.

He was very nice to come back here with me, but I figure it's not so hard on him. Some girls like expensive clothes and jewelry, I like fountains…he gets off easy : )

Fontana de Paulo – another beautiful fountain. It’s tough to see the details in this picture, but you can see in general how grandiose everything is. I’m in the bottom left corner.

Here is a close up of a fountain in the giant park right across the street from our house and the convent. In the distance you can see the creek that leads to a lake filled with little turtles. The park is beautiful and Brendan and I have spent many days exploring the trails.

Here I am by a fountain in a courtyard that is part of the Basilica of San Clemente. We came to this courtyard to relax and think after we had gone down in the catacombs below the church. It was a great experience, even if it was a little creepy.

On one of our dates, Brendan and I went to get gelato at Old Bridge, the best gelato place in Rome! On the way back we walked through Saint Peter’s Square. The place is even more beautiful at night, if that were possible… Here I am by the other of the twin fountains by Bernini in the square.

Speaking of gelato, it makes me have the same look of excitement on my face as fountains. Here Diggy, Sister Pat, and I enjoy our gelato while waiting for the others so we can all walk home.

Even if a fountain is turned off I find it fascinating…

This fountain was in the piazza in front of the Basilica of Saint Clare. The order of Sisters that Saint Clare founded worked closely with the order started by Saint Francis and God used them to transform the area they lived in! This picture was taken on the way to the volunteer conference when we able to visit Assisi, Italy.

Another fountain in Assisi!

One last fountain in Assisi, by a big church where they hold youth rallies. It was one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen and was bustling with prayerful activity. But this fountain was also too beautiful to be missed.

After Assisi we were able to visit Verona, where the foundress of the Canossian Sisters (who we are going to mission with) started her first convent. She has an amazing story, but we will have to tell you more about it when we get back. After we visited some key spots related to Saint Magdalene of Canossa, we were able to wander around the city of Verona and see some really cool fountains.

On one Saturday Brendan and I walked all the way around Rome for six hours. You can imagine how many fountains we saw during that time. It was one of the best days of my life ; )

A fountain outside another beautiful Basilica known for it’s mosaics.

Here I’m trying to help two tritons hold up a giant seashell.

Here’s a fountain in the park across the street from the Coliseum.

Another Roman fountain.

Fountain of a Roman sea-god guy.

One of the four lion fountains in Piazza del Popolo.

Up on a hill we found a little church with a few fountains and a great view of the city!

Not all the beautiful fountains are in Rome – here’s one we found in Cork, Ireland, when we were trying to hunt down some lunch.

Inside a market in Cork. Notice all the funky birds carved in the fountain.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pictures because we have enjoyed taking them. Fountain pictures have been my specialty during our time in Rome, but Brendan has also been taking special pictures all during the trip and I know you’re going to love them. We’ll try to get them put up before we leave : )

K, we hope all is well at home. Love you all!

Always,

Rachel and Brendan

In The Potter's Hands

Each of us volunteers have been asked before we leave for mission to write a little article for the VOICA newsletter. I spent some time last night reflecting on our experience in Rome and this is the rough draft of my article that will go in the newsletter that will be spread around Italy and the world. I'll check if Brendan will let me put his up too : )

In The Potter's Hands

In Jeremiah 18:1-6, God tells the prophet Jeremiah to go down to the Potter’s house where God will reveal His next message. So Jeremiah visits the potter and sees him delicately forming a pot. At one point, the clay is not working well and not transforming into the right shape. So the potter reworks the clay into a more suitable shape for the pot.

To me, our time in formation has been a lot like a trip to the Potter’s house. We have come to Rome to get ready for mission. We hope to learn things that will enable us to serve better. And to get this wisdom we know that we don’t have to go to the “big people” of this world or to the most esteemed universities. Instead we go with Jeremiah to the humble, dirty workspace of a simple working man. We go with Jesus to the homes and neighborhoods of the poor, the sick, and the outcasts of society.

During formation this has taken the form of serving weekly at CARITAS – an amazing Catholic organization whose mission is to serve Jesus Christ in the poor. Also, we are preparing to serve the poorest of the poor in our missions abroad in a real and intimate way. But we also find God’s wisdom in our daily living – in the cooking, cleaning, and learning how to live in community. It has been a beautiful experience and we have learned a lot from the process!

Another issue that comes up in pottery is the shape that the potter gives the clay so that it is able to function well, to do something special. To make this perfect shape sometimes the clay is just left circling, while during other crucial times the Potter’s fingers dig deep into the clay to make beautiful curves and designs.

During formation there have been many times when I have felt the fingers of the Potter working hard on me. It happened especially when I was adapting to cultural differences and missing my beloved family. I could feel my rough edges poking out and then being sanded down by the skilled fingers of the Potter.

The shape that we pots ultimately hope to take on should be that of Christ. We’re getting there with a lot of help and grace, but it’s a slow process. In the meantime I have decided I would like to be a water pitcher with a little spout.

When I am an empty water pitcher I will be able to be filled with the Water of Life. And when I am filled, the Water will overflow out of me so other people can have access to its life-giving qualities. That is my goal at the moment.

Looking back over the past two months I can see the formation that has been happening. Maybe not big, radical changes, but lots of little ones that together are significant. The time of formation has been a wonderful gift spiritually and I feel much better prepared to go to mission with Jesus closely by my side.

In just two weeks, my husband, Brendan, and I leave to begin our service with the Canossian Sisters in Dili, East Timor. The challenge will be keeping that closeness to Jesus when things get more difficult and less comfortable. We will have to try to keep our clay malleable, and not let time and stress harden it, so Jesus will be able to continually help us change and grow to be more like Him.

Please pray for Brendan and I, and all the volunteers, who are leaving soon for longterm mission. Pray that we would be soft clay in the Potter’s hands and that He would shape us into something useful and beautiful for Himself.

So hopefully that made some sense. We covered this scripture passage during the first week of formation and it really struck me with all the parallels to the spiritual life (which is what God intended I'm sure : ) Let me know if you can think of any other parallels. K, hope all is well at home!

God bless,

Rachel and Brendan

Celebrate!

Ok, nothing major has happened, but we're all about celebrating the little things here. A couple of days ago we passed 2,000 hits on our blog! That's amazing since we've only been posting for around two and half months!

How do we know? There's a counter at the bottom of the blog that we check when we get on. Brendan put the counter on and at first I thought it was silly to have, but it has really been a source of joy for us. We know how busy that all of you are, and that you don't have time to write us long e-mails about what's going on at home. So that counter takes the place of news. Even if we don't have much contact with you, we know that you do care about us and you are checking in with us regularly.

Leaving home has been harder than I thought it would be. In Iowa and Minnesota in the U.S. and around Brisbane, Australia, we have the pleasure of having a close network of awesome family and friends... most people will only dream of having so many good people around them.

But even if sometimes it seems foolish to leave so many good people, even if only for one year, there have been many things that happened when we were discerning to show us that this was God's plan for us. So He has and will give us many graces to do His work. We have experienced that truth in our lives, so it helps us be able to trust.

When I get a little bit homesick Brendan helps me a ton and lets me talk through it. But my other resort is to look at this picture. I keep it on my desk in our room and look at it whenever I need to. It always makes me smile and remember all of the people at home : )


This is a picture from Christmas last year. You can't see it too well, but it's in our living room at home with the Christmas tree behind us. Mom and Dad had gotten us big, goofy glasses that we all wore for the picture and tried hard to look nerdy. To most of us it obviously came naturally, but Mary, Sarah, and Jian will have to mature a little more - they look a little too normal for their own good.

Side note: My parents have an awesome sense of humor. Not only did they get us these funny glasses, they got all seven of us kazoos for vacation (very brave on their part), and best of all they got us each a set of gross false teeth.

It was within the past few years and I think it was Mom who bought us each a little set of false teeth - you know the ones where the 'pearly whites' look black, mangled, and in an extremely advanced state of decay. Anyway, Mom got us to all take a picture smiling with these teeth in and sent it to our family's dentist. We hoped he would proudly put the picture on the wall of his office, but no luck ; )

Anyway, you can probably tell how happy I am just talking about the picture and people at home! So please know that we do miss all of you a lot even if we are having lots of cool experiences over here. Timor will be amazing, but going home will be great too. So as this holiday season starts, know that we treasure your friendship and your prayers are really appreciated. Talk to you soon!


Always,

Rachel and Brendan

The Wonderful Land of the Irish

As some of you know and some of you don’t, we just had our 5 day break and we were graciously invited by Tom and Tina Cummins, Rachel’s Irish relatives, to come and visit the great land of the Irish.

We flew through London and then into Shannon Airport on the west side of the Republic of Ireland.

Here is our host family - Tom, Tina, and their daughter Orla (they also have a son Robert, who was at home). This picture was taken at Bunratty Castle, which is an old Irish castle that the state took over and rebuilt to its former glory for tourists to see.

Here we must thank our host family: Tom and Tina we have to thank you again, in case you read this! We can’t tell you how wonderful it was to spend a few days with you in Ireland. Because of you we got to see real Ireland (more than just the tourist spots) and get to know some amazing people. You and your family were the perfect hosts and we were warm, well fed, and satisfied with great conversation the whole time. It’s amazing that after meeting just once before you can feel like close family. Thank you for the time you spent with us, even though you have very hectic schedules at this time of year. It was a special time that we will remember forever!

This is an old Irish house right next to Bunratty Castle. If you take a look at the roof, you’ll notice that it’s made out of thatch. This was the common housing material of the time, and can still be seen on some of the houses in the Irish countryside.

At the top of the castle the flag of Ireland was flying high and mighty.

Here Tom was showing us the graveyard near the church where his parents and son, Owen, are buried. While we were there we prayed for them.

Tom Cummins our host and guide for a lot of the time. He is a generous, honest man of God who takes his faith very seriously; it was such a great experience to be around him as he always has the Lord in his thoughts and speech. During the trip, whenever we entered a new building like a church or castle he would invite us to pray with him for the Holy Souls in purgatory, souls who had spent time in these places. Spending time with Tom really opened my eyes up to the things that are important in life, things like prayer and faith in the Lord.

For the first day it was raining and we were fogged in, but the second day came and this is what it brought us! Great weather and picture perfect views for miles.

Here’s an Irish tribute to my Dad, Pat Egan. The night we arrived Tina and Tom took us out to experience our first Irish pub.

Rachel and I tried to catch a leprechaun, but in the end we didn’t have any luck. So here she is trying to impersonate one.

This is a picture of the Rock of Cashel (and me). It used to be a huge fortress, then a Cathedral and monastery, but the elements have worn it down over the centuries.

The Rock of Cashel had some outstanding views of the countryside, above is one of them. The whole place was on the top of a hill thus making it extremely windy, in fact, it was the windiest place that I have ever been to in my life.

This is the Downey household; this house has been passed on from generation to generation of Downey’s for over 300 years (if I remember correctly). Tina Downey (now Tina Cummins), our hostess, grew up in this house.

We were blessed enough to attend vespers at a Benedictine abbey on our second night. After the prayers were finished, Tom recognized one of the Priests and introduced us to him. The Priest, Fr. James, then asked us if we had time for a private tour of the Icon Chapel. Of course we said yes! He brought us to the chapel, which was located under the main altar. When we got there we saw that the chapel was decorated with Icons of Jesus, Mary, and the saints collected over hundreds of years. Above is an Icon of St. Nicolas, yes, that St. Nick.

Here is a picture taken by my crafty camerawoman. Tom and I were taking a nap on the couch while waiting for a call from Rachel’s Uncle Mike in America. Tom, Tina, and Mike pray a Rosary every night over the phone. We were invited to join them in this amazing prayer for a few evenings.

On our third and final full day in Ireland we caught a ride with Tina into Cork and explored. This is Rachel, dressed for the weather, waiting for the bus to the city center to come along.

A picture of the river running through Cork. The city was bustling with people and things to do. In the morning we found ourselves walking around, sightseeing, relaxing and doing a bit of souvenir shopping. At noon we ran across a church in the middle of the city, the Cathedral of St. Francis, and went to a beautiful Mass. After that we found some food, Italian pizza no less, and then continued our exploring. It was a perfect day for sightseeing and we made the most of it.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Ireland. Far too soon in my opinion, but the time spent with the Cummins was a blessing in every possible way. After saying goodbyes we boarded the plane and headed out.

The plane ride back was quite adventurous. On the first flight we ended up sitting next to a woman, Julia, whose mom had just died. We said we would pray the rosary for her mom and her, not knowing if that would be ok with her, but she perked right up and said it with us. The rest of the flight we had a lively conversation. I think that God put us there at the right time to distract her from her sadness for awhile.

On the second flight a man was caught smoking in the bathroom and he was confronted by the flight staff who told him that there would be police waiting for him when we landing in Rome. True to their word, the police were there in force. Above is a picture of Paris at night.

- The Egans

P.S. The time in Ireland was great because it was very much like home. Things were a little different, but to be in a place where everyone spoke some version of English and that Mass was said in English alleviated some need for home. And we were with family that really took us under their wing. It was as close to being at home, without being at home, as we could get. It was a gift that we thank God for and will not forget. Because it was so beautiful (even in November), we hope that we will get to go back someday for a visit!