Our Spiritual Center - View of a Volunteer

View of a Volunteer

by Kimball Service

Welcome to Our Spiritual Center’s “View of a Volunteer” article. Here we acknowledge and applaud those who contribute their time, energy, and creativity to the experience of our gathering. Our first volunteer to “be volunteered” for the article is Michele Darveaux, and we are grateful for her participation, and how she put the interviewer at ease.

Michele was born in Nebraska, moved through Iowa, and settled in Minnesota. She qualifies as a Midwesterner, and her progression brought her to us at OSC. This is good.

In Minnesota, she joined an architectural firm as a draftsman, moved up to estimator, and then became a partner in the firm. Her experience in that firm then launched a business of her own, as a free lance drafter and consultant. Then she married and joined her husband’s business dealing with tax increment finance, which she headed from 2001 through 2007. She is one gal on the go!

That begs the question – what to do when she slows? The answer? Gardening. Pure and simple – gardening. She said “A garden is home for the soul.” Indeed. She has several areas she tends at home, including a small meditation area, with a little path. She has both annuals and perennials, and lets the worries of the day dissolve with her singular focus on pruning and weeding. She shares her homestead with Ms. Cokey, a standard poodle who measures two feet at the shoulder! Standard? Try XXL!

Michele noted “three threads” in her oh-so-new metaphysical journey. First, she was led to Sylvia Brown’s work on Death & Dying. Second, at Unity South, she met Mary Walsh and attended her Goddess Workshop. Third, tying it altogether, her friend –and ours – Connie Fry “kept leaving breadcrumbs” for Michele to discover, including a subscription to Science of Mind magazine. The SOM text was purchased soon after.

We mentioned a “gal on the go” above, so when Michele’s three-threads intertwined, in less than a year, you can see why she is so accomplished. If her garden is home for the soul, then OSC is her feast for the soul.

Michele was raised in a large Catholic family. Some siblings becoming nuns and priests. She is closest to her sister, and they attended The Goddess workshop together, but no meaningful discussion ensued, so Michele soldiers on her path with her new found friends at OSC – and beyond. As her journey moves forth, she especially appreciated Joanne Biewald’s talk on Radical Forgiveness and Reverend Nancy’s “scrawny cow” talk!

Michele is a self-sufficient woman, allowing and accepting, and deeply moved by the words of “Amazing Grace.” – Aren’t we all?

She agrees to volunteer as OSC's First Impression's Coordinator, because “my ideas just bubble up” and organizing and improving life around her is what she enjoys doing. One has only to notice the inviting displays on the tables and spaces leading to OSC.

“My heart is open,” she says! Yes, Michele, we can see that clearly. Thank you for all you do.

Kimball and Michele