I am not a kid person. Kids generally lose interest in me very quickly, since I prefer to sit and talk (or not talk) rather than run around or invent new worlds to play in, especially when most of the activities in the new world involve running and/or yelling. Our caddy-corner neighbors include two little girls, Taliah (5) and Taniah (9). Vibrant and very smart and dignified for their ages, they come to our house on Saturdays to play board …
Albert, our next door neighbor, enjoys watching out for us. Like a doting uncle, he gives us advice, checks on us when he thinks we’ve been away from the house too long, and discretely leaves gifts whenever he senses a need. Also, he refuses to eat our cooking because “no one under 40 can cook.” (Though he admits he might give in to our offers of food before July.) We invite neighbors to our house on Saturdays for supper. Albert …
These two months since I last blogged—Christmas, New Year’s, the first month of second tri—moved quickly. I enjoyed being home and came back refreshed by the presence of family and old friends. Thankfully, I feel much more comfortable in Atlanta and in Polar Rock now, much more familiar and doable. For the sake of brevity and catching up, here’s a list of happenings, in chronological order, that have occurred since I’ve been back to Mission Year. Feel free to skim. …
I can’t imagine how something like the crusades could happen or how newcomers to a continent could exterminate entire native populations or how a gunman could assassinate a civil rights leader or a president. The animosity and fear that these actions reveal seem impossible in their intensity. And then I glimpse myself for a moment. There’s something fierce inside me that refuses to look past the differences between myself and other people. This thing refuses to take no for an …
“[Community] is for people and for their growth. In fact, its beauty and unity come from the radiance of each person in their truth, love and union with others.” Jean Vanier in Community and Growth “You enter the world trying to be like everyone else, and you fail and fail and fail. And eventually, you have no choice but to be who you are.” Jonathan Goldstein in Wiretap ——————————————- I sit in our Pryor Road living room on our one-armed …
“Halloween equals Michael Jackson,” I think as the first chords of “Billy Jean,” my favorite tune of his, blast from the speakers and across the parking lot, bathing trick-or-treaters and their tired parents in guitar and nostalgia. Here at the South Atlanta Treat Street (a parking lot full of games, crafts, and candy put on by a local church), my game is ghost bowling: using a whiffle ball to knock down little plastic bowling pins painted white and markered with …
I’m lifting the framed motivational poster against the wall onto what I hope are secure studs. My arms are completely outstretched, trying to navigate the space between the chair under my feet and the desk that keeps my body proper at least a foot away from the wall, lifting, stretching, stre—tch—ing. I relax my fingers away from the frame, imagining that it’s now secured by the studs, when… CRASH. …the picture suddenly disappears from my line of sight and smashes …
10. Listening to awesome radio stations / often found in big cities. The other day, after listening to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” I turned to a station a few notches away and enjoyed French pop music. Later, contemporary Jewish music about Rosh Hashanah followed by an Indian/Scottish fusion piece. In the same geographical area exist stations that play rap, rock, hip hop, indie, world, top 40, gospel, country, and so much more. Plus, radio is free and allowed …
Here they are. Growing in importance and seriousness as the numbers decrease (like David Letterman’s Top Ten, but not as funny). Look out for the next blog post featuring “10 Joys of my Mission Year Thus Far.” 10. Dealing with the extremely slow wi-fi / at the local neighborhood center takes sixteen minutes to download the This American Life podcast, if at all. Come on, wi-fi, I need my Ira Glass. And I only have one day to listen to …
“Will you go to the library with me?” My housemate tilts her head to the side for a moment, mentally double-checking, then agrees. It’s the second week of Mission Year, and we’re not allowed to go anywhere alone. I usually see myself as a burden when asking for favors from people. As a result, the three block distance to our neighborhood’s library/community-center/police-precinct seems incredibly difficult to travel. A significant portion of my adulthood so far has been focused on becoming …
It’s 11p.m. on a Tuesday. I rush from my bedroom into the kitchen: My stomach insists on being fed, though I’m in the middle of watching a movie and the commercial break lasts only two minutes, barely enough time to find and assemble a snack. In 1:55 seconds, I plop back onto my bedroom floor, balancing a bowl of cottage cheese and pickles as I descend. A commercial for a tabloid show appears, announcing that Mr. Celebrity has bought another …
If my money had a physical presence instead of just existing in numbers on my computer screen, I would spend a pile of it every month. Recently, I realized that more money leaves my checking account than goes into it. Somewhere I developed the attitude that, if I have money in my savings (an account that has become newly stable in my life), then I can afford pretty much whatever I want because I can take bits out of savings …
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:1-3 It’s the beginning …
The time is 12:57am. I think insomnia is an act of betrayal against me from my body. Lying here, I think, “Body, go to sleep. Seriously, you and I both know that sleep is necessary and good and that I have to get up at 8am regardless of how late you want to stay awake.” However, this line of reasoning rarely convinces my body; instead, it rebels. After tossing and turning for forty-five minutes, I decide to get up and …
Welcome! My name is Chelsea Stanton. I’m a senior at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. I plan to graduate on May 14, 2011 with a Bachelor’s in Music Ministry. After that there will be summer (yet to be determined), then in September I begin Mission Year. I’ll be living in an inner-city, doing volunteer work, reading lots of books, and getting to know my neighbors. Sometime during high school, I began to want to work at a homeless shelter. …
