This article is pretty funny and hit the nail on the head. We’re all caught… Unpaid Internships Tweet
Author Archives: jordanleahy
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Today I got a note from one of the women at work. It said “Thank You!!!” on the outside. When you open it up it says “For being my friend.” It probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is. People make changing the world out to be this huge thing where you do all this stuff that people see. It’s not a huge thing. It’s a way of life, a day-to-day thing. I’ll have made a difference if …
So Mission Year ends in like 2.5 weeks. There are all sorts of feelings related to that. The one that stands out the most at this point is guilt. The people I’m leaving don’t get a chance to pick up and leave for somewhere else. They’re stuck. They ask questions like “why are you leaving?” I’m like, “well, Chicago’s not home. God’s calling me to other things.” And both of those things are true. But that doesn’t always make sense …
So a terribly common theme this year is people forgetting my name. It certainly doesn’t help that one of my teammates looks remotely like me and has a name that sounds remotely like mine. When trying to get my attention, people almost more often than not say “Hey Joe!” I understand all that when people are from different cultures it’s easier to mix up names, but it’s getting to be a bit much. At first it was funny. Then it …
Oh dear. It’s been far too long since I updated. Apologies all around. Last week I had the opportunity to attend Cornerstone Fest in Bushnell Illinois to do recruiting for Mission Year. I’d wanted to go to Cornerstone since I was like 15 so I was more than excited to go. There was much recruiting. There were great bands (Revolution Radio, mewithoutYou, the psalters, The Last Hope, O.C.D., Flatfoot 56, Sleeping Giant) and good times in general. I got to …
On Wednesday nights I get to lead devotions with the guys right before dinner. The first time I went to do it I felt like I got stuck with it and wasn’t really interested. I mean, it’s just like any other new experience. We don’t know what it’s going to be like so our first reaction is to fear it rather than embrace it. Well. That’s what I tend to do. I don’t mean to generalize. I don’t think it’s …
There was a guy who stayed at Breakthrough until just about a month ago named Tandy Tryon (“as in ‘Try-On some clothes’” he’d say). He had been in the program since I started working here in October. He was one of “our” guys. Coming into work was great because you knew Tandy was going to be there and you could look forward to hanging out with him. Breakthrough did a focus on him a few months back. Read it here. …
So tonight during pre-dinner devotions at Breakthrough we read Matthew 8:5-13… 5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under …
I’ve definitely been playing, singing, humming, listening to this song all day. The lyrics are certainly some of the most beautiful lines ever. Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, …
On Wednesday I read through I Samuel 15. It’s the story of King Saul’s last stand… God instructs Saul to go and wipe out the Amalekites. He tells them to spare no one, not even children, even down to the livestock (vs 3). Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. Saul and his crew go and tear them apart. But they spare the king and leave the good stuff to sacrifice it to God. Samuel catches wind of this (from God, no …
I usually fail to see Jesus until after I’ve spit in his face. Today a recruiter for the US Army came in to the shelter. I was in the dining hall mopping it up and he happened to walk by going about his business. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see him right in front of me. He handed me a recruiting card and told me to give him a call. Now, to avoid a long drawn …
Mayor Daley’s lost his mind. Last Sunday the Tribune reported that the mayor of Chicago is supporting the plan given by the new police superintendent to equip ALL CHICAGO COPS WITH SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES. The only thing about this that can be seen positively is that it’s in a “very preliminary” stage. Here’s the article. This is a link to the Wikipedia page on the suggested rifles. Picture an officer on patrol in your town luggin’ one of those bad boys. …
Pardon me if this seems too basic, but racism SUCKS. I hope that’s an obvious thing that does not need much elaboration, but here’s what got me going… To lay the ground work: I’m of the belief that racism in the United States (and most likely everywhere else…) is institutionalized. I recently had to write a paper for the Theology of Poverty class on where I saw racism in my neighborhood. Let’s just say that I had a difficult time …
Lindsey and I had a cool chat the other night about how God fills in the gaps in our lives. We were talking about how we can’t be enough on our own. I think it’s especially hard to work something like this out in the United States where we’re constantly bombarded with billboards, commercials, and all other sorts of advertisements that ultimately only serve to point out that the world won’t value us. (Pardon what may seem to be a …
When we pursue God above all else he blesses us. The ways in which he does so are often different than what we consider blessings. But they’re better. The love of God is the best thing anyone can experience. And he shares that with us when we seek him. I think it’s impossible to effectively word what it feels like to experience his love first hand. When you’re feeling it you know that nothing else matters. The only thing I …
There’s a downside to the new Breakthrough building. It’s always cold. The big open spaces are constantly crazy chilly. Smaller spaces like the kitchen, laundry room, and the clothing closet are nice and cozy. They all have doors that are continuously closed. I guess the cold’s just an unfortunate byproduct of a huge, hollow, concrete building. Transition to something potentially worth noting… I recall an episode of “Friends” where Phoebe and Joey had a debate over whether any act can …
This past weekend was pretty refreshing. Last week was brutal so by the time Friday rolled around I was down and out. On Friday night Lindsey and I went out to eat and witnessed some fine moments in human history which included… – A guy at the restaurant walking face-first into the glass door on his way out. He was walking really fast and I assumed he was walking at such a pace because the door was open. It wasn’t. …
I want to tell you about my friend Greg. Greg stays in our overnight shelter at Breakthrough. He’s got to be one of my favorite people. He’s always smiling, always willing and ready to joke and laugh, and he gets stuff done. He does his daily assigned chores without complaining (a rare and much appreciated trait). If he’s got a problem, he asks about it rather than getting in my face and complaining. It seems like nothing gets Greg down. …
To not be content with who God has made you to be is a smack in the face to God. It rejects him, his, love, and Jesus’ death on the cross. Not cool. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood. It’s not about me/you/anyone who isn’t Jesus. It’s about Jesus. He knows what he’s doing. Just chill and let him work. Don’t panic. For the …
It’s difficult to share the love of Christ with others when you might not be feeling it yourself. The weird thing is that we are able to feel His love most deeply when we are the least “happy.” He takes what we hold as important to redirect us to Him. What totally sucks is how many times I trip over myself. No matter how much I learn, the same things come back to get at me. Dang man, I just …