One of the saddest parts of 2014 so far has been the fact
that I’ve let myself fall so far behind in writing. For me, writing these blogs
is a time of reflection that while updating those of you who read it about all
that is going on in my life, they also help me process all that God has done
and is doing. Thus these blogs
serve a dual purpose: informing you, and by way of reflection and reminder,
informing myself. I write not because I think my life is something special in
and of itself, nor do I write because I think my thoughts are things that
absolutely must be heard, but I write because I am a child of God walking
through this life guided by the Holy Spirit and by sharing these thoughts,
struggles, highs, lows, and really my entire heart, I hope to encourage and
build up others and point you to the one whom even the wind and the waves obey. I hope by being open, it encourages you to open up more. I hope by showing you
the way I responded to a certain situation, be it a right or wrong response, it
would force you to ask how you yourself would respond and how does the bible
call us to respond. And I hope that by giving you a window into my soul, it
causes you to realize that though our experiences are not the same, there are
others out there who feel, think, and live in a manner similar to you, and it
can be a fruitful endeavor to share that experience. Because at the end of the
day, it comes down to the fact that the Christian life is not meant to be lived
alone, and thus, it is through these writings that I am simultaneously asking
for you to come alongside me and offering to come alongside you as we seek to
grow in grace and become the men and women of God we are meant to be.
With all of that said, here is a four word summary of all
that has gone on in the past 4 months: My heart is happy.
Summer came and went by faster than it ever has before, and
I think it’s because this is the first time in my life where summer was no
longer the time of year where I got a 3 month vacation from the academic side
of life. Being a year out of college and gainfully employed, the only thing
significantly different about all I had to be doing was the weather. Summer did
bring some changes to my work at Jill’s House though. The first is there were
two new sets of employees, the summer interns and the new fellows (one year
interns). The second change was that I finally went out to the offsite camp we
do at Jill’s House, which has quickly grown into my favorite program we are
able to offer these families, the reasons being the activities we do at camp
are things the parents of children with special needs never dreamed of seeing
them do (such as archery, a rope swing, a low ropes course, hiking, etc), the
fact that at camp the default is to be hanging out with the kids instead of
putting on a movie in their room, and also watching the impact these kids have
on those serving them in just one weekend, be it the summer interns or O3
missionary teams. These changes have lead to some awesome new friendships and
because of the energy and excitement the new employees brought with them it
gave me a new and refreshed mindset about my job at Jill’s House.
The end of June also brought a huge change to the lives of
two of my favorite people ever as they got married! Jason my roommate of two years
and best friend at Masters finally got around to marrying Laura (they had been
in a relationship for 3 years or so at the time). Not only was I able to get out to California for the first
time since graduation in order to witness the wedding, but I was also the best
man in the wedding and it meant so much to me to have that honor as both Jason
and Laura played such a huge and influential role in forming my college
experience.
Sadly, doing camp 3 times in a row and going to California made
the month of a June a rough one spiritually. Being gone from church 4 straight
weekends, meaning I was unable to sit under the teaching of my pastor, unable
to take communion, and unable to take part in that community for an entire
month, took a toll on the soul. I mean of course I was still getting in the
word as often as I can, still had some fellowship through my employees at
Jill’s House or time with the families of my church, and could find sermons to
listen to online, but it is certainly not the same. Thankfully during the
school year the most I can do Camp is two times a month, and even then, only if
I am scheduled to do so. That being said, it saddens me that two of the things
I love very much in this life God has given me, are often at odds with each
other. I would love to do camp every weekend possible as like I said earlier it
has become my favorite program of Jill’s House, but then when I miss church, it
saddens me to not only miss the worship, but within the community aspect I hate
missing out on hearing about all the things going on in the lives of those God
has called me to love in this particular body.
July and August were more typical of the months I have been
having since becoming employed. I spent most of my time working (as August 22nd
was my first day off that entire month), reading, eating, sleeping, and building
relationships (both at church and work). September was much of the same, though
it wasn’t until midway through the month where the four word summary of my
heart being happy really took shape. For one thing I have found another way to
serve my church body and that way is by joining the church choir! Both by
singing in the choir itself for the sake of the church and through the weekly
practices at a families house, it has been wonderful to further dive into the life
of the body. The other thing that has been happening is the fact that because
of my birthday (where I turned 24) I have recently been able to start combining
some of my friend groups! First off it made me feel extremely loved to be
encouraged and celebrated by just about 20 of my favorite people at one of my
favorite restaurants, but the best part of it was that two of my worlds
collided. My best friends from high school were able to meet some of my
favorite people from Jill’s House, and then two weeks later we were able to get
together again and have a game night. I seriously can’t explain how much joy
there is for me to be able to connect such incredible people, and the really cool
part of it all is if you look at my post from April, God answered my prayer/desire
of making my worlds a little bit smaller.
In my 24th year of life, God granted me amazing
employment where I literally am getting paid to love and serve people, some
incredible groups (now becoming a group!) of friends, and has continued to
bless me through my home church of Holy Trinity. So far in my 25th,
He has been continuing to build and refine those friendships, He has refreshed
my love for my job, and continues to sustain me through His body. I am very
grateful to be able to say that I am extremely content about where God has
placed me right now, and I am very excited about the year to come. Ideally I
would love to officially gain full time employment, and maybe move out of the
house, but if God continues to work in and through me the way He has my entire
life, it doesn’t matter what actually happens, all I know is that it’s going to be
an incredible ride and I’m going to look a little more like Jesus.
Thank you all once again for taking the time to read and I
hope this time has proved to be profitable for you! I promise it won't be 5 and a half months until you see my next update or general post.
