Sometimes I debate writing. Not because I do not love it but because life has become so normal and routine here that I wonder if things are worth writing. But today I was feeling a need to jot a few thoughts down. I had been feeling a little down since the end of spring break. Feeling overwhelmed with future plans, feeling a sense of loss and loneliness and missing my friends back home and feeling overwhelmed with the inevitable end …
My team and I recently watched the movie, “Waiting for Superman.” We had heard some pretty good things about it, and seeing as we spend a majority of our time here in a school we thought it’d be good to educate ourselves on the system that controls the work we do. I do not think I intended to get as into this movie as I did. While any documentary has it bias, I was blown away at the problems within …
Often times I do not think we live out of a place of grace and thankfulness. We are to overcome by our circumstances, our environments, our struggles to see the blessings all around us. This has been my place for some time now. But today I logged onto my fund raising page and almost fell out of my seat. The generosity you all have shown is beyond belief. Truly I tell you it is from God. I want to sincerely …
(Nick Update: We received word on Friday, that Nick’s mom has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. She will begin chemotherapy on Feb. 22nd. Please continue to pray for her healing as they do not yet know what stage she is in.) Living in community is always interesting. Especially when it is one you do not chose. I remember at the beginning of the year, my city director telling me, that my community would be the most difficult part of the year. …
A few days ago I wrote a blog of slight sorrow and darkness. I was feeling overwhelmed with frustration, angst, fear and sadness. We had just lost a team member, I was struggling with having much faith and all out questioning God and his ways. I’d be lying if I didn’t say this is the way I have been feeling for quite some time now. (Update on Nick’s mom: We have still not received word on her condition or prognosis. …
I studied abroad about two years ago now. I was on a ship for 4 months and it changed my life. Beyond the trip itself though, I learned much about ships and boats, port of calls and so on. Sometimes at night I would stand at the back balcony of the ship and stare off into a vast array of darkness. The only light was that of the ship and the moon, dependent upon it’s cycle. Stars, the moon and …
I’ve been going back and forth since I returned about writing. Feeling really inspired at moments and feelings like, well who wants to read the same old thing again. But for those few loyal followers who perhaps are longing for a quick read, here it is. I returned to Sac about two weeks ago now. I’d be lying if it wasn’t an easy return. It was difficult to reason why I’d get on a plane to leave my family, friends, …
Merry Christmas! As the chestnuts roast by an open fire (or our potentially not totally legal backyard camp fire we have) and jack frost nips and your nose (except there is no frost or snow here) I just wanted to say a quick word about the season. I love Christmas. I love the music, the lights, the food and so on. It’s a joyous times in most cases. But I must recognize how difficult this time is for many of …
So I was sitting with my friend Jasmine last night at a church friend’s house and she was telling me a wonderful story. She was telling me a story of a princess, her father the king, a jungle and wild animals. Jasmine is 5 years old and a complete diva. She and her family are from Nepal and they live just down the street from us. As she was going on about this lion and princess in the jungle and …
A song that I love says, “happiness breaks your faith to pieces on the floor.” The first few times I listened to this I often wondered what they were trying to say. Is happiness wrong? What is happiness and why do we feel the need to strive after it? And if it is real, and we can seem to somehow comprehend it, then why would it break our faith? Well I listened to that song this morning and I really …
To all my dear blog followers, Thank you for your patience. My life continues to be demanding and time constraining. I am stealing moments away to write to you all. A small recap on the past few weeks… The after school program has gone through some recent changes and nothing like a few bumps in the road to challenge your ideas of meaning and reason for being where you are at. From the get go we have seen some difficulties …
My apologies for not writing in so long. With writing newsletters, school work, curriculum reading etc. I simply have not found the time to sit down and translate life here into words. The past few weeks have been good to say the least. It’s hard to think back on what has even happened. I feel like the weeks fly by and rarely do I have time to think during them. But here is a small recap of some important events …
What a week it has been. I must say that I crave moments of reflection. So many times I get taken away in thoughts through out the week, that it is only in the silence at the end of the week, that you get to look back and see what actually happened. I”m beginning to really understand the meaning behind a sabbath day. Anyway, this week was a good week. I spent a few moments sitting in loneliness and wondering …
One week down. What seems like a month, in actuality has been the first week here in Sacramento. We’ve begun our service sites and have embarked on the life we hope to lead this year. I spent the week splitting my time between an organization called the Healthy Marriage Project and an after school program called Jump Start at a middle school 5 minutes up the street from our house. Both have been so different but very exciting thus far. …
Hello all! Well I now finally write from my home in Sacramento. After a long but informative and inspiring week in Chicago my team and I have moved in to our city. What a whirlwind it has been. After meeting the team in Oakland and spending two few short days there, we boarded a plane for Chicago for national training. Well let’s begin with introductions. My team is made up of three other wonderful people. My roommate Rachel is from …
“I will trust even when I cannot see… For this broken road you have prepared for me” A far more talented and wiser song writer composed a song consisting of those lyrics… At times in my life I feel that I can understand what he was singing. Other times I feel bad for him because the broken road for whatever reason looks extremely well lit and strangely perfectly straight. Well I have come to terms that this year will be …
I am a dreamer. Not the dreamer that has a list of 800 things to do before I die (although I do REALLY want to be in a protest at some point in the future) but the type of dreamer that honestly believes in dreams coming true. Not the white horse, Cinderella fairy tail dreams, but the life giving, pursuit of something beautiful dreams. I often tell people that my “dream” job would be to actualize other people’s dreams, like …
Well here I sit, less than two weeks away from what will be my life for the next year. I cannot help but stress, worry, rejoice, praise, laugh and cry. As I packed up my life from the past three years and moved away from dear friends and a place very close to my heart, I had to fight back the inevitable tears that were welling inside of me. I can’t help but wonder, what will life be like without …
