I have been thinking about how to sum up the last week here at labri and find I am at a bit of a loss. How long have I been here now?? days, years?? The routined life simply sucks you in whether you are willing or not… the slow and careful pace of life lends itself to a loss of any hurried emotion. Needless to say this has been a strange and hard transition for me. I still struggle with the unstructured times and want something productive to do during these little pockets of time. I usually get sucked into a game of speed scrabble or mafia or reading or watching ping pong (this can go on for HOURS). Let me tell you about a typical day. Wake up at 745. breakfast of granola and coffee or something close to that at 8. Then there is an hour of free time. After which I walk down to Ferel House to study/read/go for a walk time until 1pm lunch. Half of the time these lunches are “formal” in which we talk about something someone is thinking about/studying. These lunches are often a bit awkward, but insightful nonetheless. So far we have covered things such as demon possession, views on hell, contraception, biblical inerrancy, the role of the church in community…yup. Then there is another hour break until the afternoon service/work time. This usually means cleaning or cooking or packing lunches. (today I am going to be making black bean burgers on homemade wheat rolls for dinner. We take the entire afternoon to cook… it is really wonderful!!) Then we eat and the rest of the evening is free. The group usually goes up the mountain for drinks about once a week, so most nights we stick around and talk and play games and drink tea. Someone is usually knitting. Someone is usually smoking. Someone is usually trying to get someone else to play ping pong. Yesterday we went into Vevey on our day off. Most of the group ended up there, which was really nice. We sat by lake Geneva and drank wine all afternoon… not much to complain about! I am half way through my time here at labri and am starting to really wish it was longer. It is the shelter it promises to be. Best wishes to you at home. I hope you are finding the rest and shelter that you need.