David Crowder Band has this amazing song called "All that I can Say" I love this song, It really encompasses a lot that has been happening the past month. I feel like in this job and in this environment, everything you do is never enough. There is always more to prepare for, more to finish, more people to meet, more kids to hug, more high school students to have conversation with, more conflicts to difuse....it is neverending. I love this song because it starts out with exhaustion and desperation and moves into a realization that God is with us through every hard point.
It really does feel like "Lord I'm tired and alone" and sometimes it really feels like "that was you holding me the whole time" But the main part of the song that I love so much is that despite what is happening....I am offering everything I have. Even if it feels like it is never enough. Everyday I could say,
"And this is all that I can say right now, i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
This is all that I can say right now [right now], i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything."
So I give my everything. My heart, my passion, my time, my energy, my enthusiasm...and everything else. I know it isn't much. But it is enough for God to use and do beautiful things with.
So here are the lyrics:
Lord I'm tired
So tired from walking
And Lord I'm so alone
And Lord the dark
Is creeping in
Creeping up
To swallow me
I think I'll stop
Rest here a while
Chorus:
And this is all that I can say right now
And this is all that I can give
And this is all that I can say right now
And this is all that I can give, thats my everything
And didn't You see me cry'n?
And didn't You hear me call Your name?
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember
Where you sat it down
Chorus:
And this is all that I can say right now, i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
This is all that I can say right now [right now], i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
Bridge:
I didn't notice You were standing here
I didn't know that
That was You holding me
I didn't notice You were cry'n too
I didn't know that
That was You washing my feet
And this is all that I can say right now, oh i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
This is all that I can say right now [right now], i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
And this is all that I can say right now, oh i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give, yeah thats my everything.
yeah thats my everything [2x]
everything........
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Setting the Learning Curve
Last week was our first week of participants. It was a crazy week, not necessarily the best week ever, but I learned a lot.
Today we recieve all new groups on site. I'm excited to take the things we learned last week and make this week better by changing our organization and preparing well.
Some things we learned and will do differently:
1. enforce the "all work done by midnight" rule
2. be more organized in the kitchen
3. memorize the schedule
I will be focusing on these ones:
1. having consistent attitude and reactions despite the rollercoaster of circumstances
2. spend more time building relationships with high school students
3. supporting my staff...but giving them more distance in their positions so I can get my paperwork done during the week
I'm so excited to make changes and have a more calm and collected week. Last week just felt too chaotic. Please pray that our week would be smooth and calm, but exciting and life changing at the same time.
Today we recieve all new groups on site. I'm excited to take the things we learned last week and make this week better by changing our organization and preparing well.
Some things we learned and will do differently:
1. enforce the "all work done by midnight" rule
2. be more organized in the kitchen
3. memorize the schedule
I will be focusing on these ones:
1. having consistent attitude and reactions despite the rollercoaster of circumstances
2. spend more time building relationships with high school students
3. supporting my staff...but giving them more distance in their positions so I can get my paperwork done during the week
I'm so excited to make changes and have a more calm and collected week. Last week just felt too chaotic. Please pray that our week would be smooth and calm, but exciting and life changing at the same time.
Seeing Stars
Last night was a great end to a great day off. Our staff gathered in the apartment that the boys sleep in and tried to watch a movie. It failed so we just talked about all things not related to YouthWorks. Then we laid outside under the stars. They were beautiful!! There isn't really much of a description to give. Imagine a place where it gets pretty much pitch black dark, and there is no pollution, and a clear sky. Glorious Stars!!
A few staff members stuck it out and slept outside. I didn't quite make it the whole night....but gladly returned to sleeping in the warm house. Don't get me wrong, I can rock a hard ground and a sleeping bag...I've done it before, but last night the airmattress and the house were very much appreciated.
On a different note:
I am not musical. At all. And I've always known I would never ever be a worship leader. Until I came to YouthWorks, where all of our staff has to stand on our stage and lead worship. We have to sing loud enough for the students to follow along. This is unfortunate because I cannot sing loudly, and I can rarely sing on pitch of in tune or whatever it is called. I really dislike having to lead music. I'm just not confident in it, and I've become more and more confident in my singing, just to survive on stage, but it is false confidence because I don't sound any better than I did when I was singing in the audience.
After this summer I will gladly return the priviledge and pressure of song leadership to all you who are musical and have lovely voices.
A few staff members stuck it out and slept outside. I didn't quite make it the whole night....but gladly returned to sleeping in the warm house. Don't get me wrong, I can rock a hard ground and a sleeping bag...I've done it before, but last night the airmattress and the house were very much appreciated.
On a different note:
I am not musical. At all. And I've always known I would never ever be a worship leader. Until I came to YouthWorks, where all of our staff has to stand on our stage and lead worship. We have to sing loud enough for the students to follow along. This is unfortunate because I cannot sing loudly, and I can rarely sing on pitch of in tune or whatever it is called. I really dislike having to lead music. I'm just not confident in it, and I've become more and more confident in my singing, just to survive on stage, but it is false confidence because I don't sound any better than I did when I was singing in the audience.
After this summer I will gladly return the priviledge and pressure of song leadership to all you who are musical and have lovely voices.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
What a Glorious Day Today...Glorious Day
Today was my first day off in a month.
This is what we did:
Slept till 11
Ate Breakfast at 12
Went hiking at Glacier National Park
Went to lunch
Going to watch a movie.
The hiking and fresh air kind of wore me out a little...and I don't feel completely rested as far as sleep goes, but I do feel rested and rejuvinated in attitude and I'm excited to have new groups in this week.
This is what we did:
Slept till 11
Ate Breakfast at 12
Went hiking at Glacier National Park
Went to lunch
Going to watch a movie.
The hiking and fresh air kind of wore me out a little...and I don't feel completely rested as far as sleep goes, but I do feel rested and rejuvinated in attitude and I'm excited to have new groups in this week.
Friday, June 26, 2009
praise the lord
the groups are gone
I'm going to take a nap
and then tomorrow I have most of the day off
Glory be to God
I'm going to take a nap
and then tomorrow I have most of the day off
Glory be to God
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Perspective
So yesterday was a difficult day. And I'm still really tired today. But I love waking up in the morning and being able to see things newly. Yesterday was hard, really hard. We had some crazy situations and felt really discouraged a lot. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I truly love this job. I work harder here than I have worked in a very long time. I am stretched in communication, compassion, organization, responsibility, patience, problem solving, and blessed so much by the wonderful community members.
I have the opportunity to show open up a whole new world perspective and attitude toward Native people for these groups who come in. I think it is easy to let the little details of the job distract me from the true purpose and goals of being here.
I refocused and got my perspective back this morning. And while the burnt coffee is keeping me going....I am overjoyed to be here even in the hard times.
If I wasn't being challenged, failing a million times a day, having to perservere through the rough patches, support and love staff when I feel completely drained...I wouldn't be growing.
I'd rather run a hundred miles an hour and fall onto my airmattress completely exhausted, and drift to sleep with the sounds of our mouse friend in the background....I'd rather do this everyday knowing that what I do matters and the people I meet and introduce to this community will be forever altered...than do anything else.
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be...even in the hard days....Praise Jesus for his grace and strength that keeps me going!
I have the opportunity to show open up a whole new world perspective and attitude toward Native people for these groups who come in. I think it is easy to let the little details of the job distract me from the true purpose and goals of being here.
I refocused and got my perspective back this morning. And while the burnt coffee is keeping me going....I am overjoyed to be here even in the hard times.
If I wasn't being challenged, failing a million times a day, having to perservere through the rough patches, support and love staff when I feel completely drained...I wouldn't be growing.
I'd rather run a hundred miles an hour and fall onto my airmattress completely exhausted, and drift to sleep with the sounds of our mouse friend in the background....I'd rather do this everyday knowing that what I do matters and the people I meet and introduce to this community will be forever altered...than do anything else.
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be...even in the hard days....Praise Jesus for his grace and strength that keeps me going!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Argh
Today was an incredibly frustrating day.
1. we have had lots of problems getting the kitchen clean enough to meet the school's standards and keep us out of trouble with the cooks. So we rarely finish cleaning the kitchen in time and thus were up until after midnight finishing the kitchen and other details.
2. so i woke up super tired today, had a hard time getting going, and a horrible "I'm tired headache"
3. Just when I fell asleep for a brief nap the intercome paged me to come to the office for a phone call
4. there were minor dramas at all ministry sites today
5. dramas resulted in angry adult leaders
6. angry adult leaders yell
7. Our cultural speaker was a little annoyed because we weren't ready when they arrived...mostly because of the thing with the kitchen
8. The adult leaders didn't gather enough money to reimburse the cultural speaker...so I had to find creative places to take it out of my budget
9. the high school musical dance bombed at club
10. and...now it is 12:30 and I'm just now going to bed.
I love youthworks. I love my job. Today it kind of sucked. It was frustrating.
1. we have had lots of problems getting the kitchen clean enough to meet the school's standards and keep us out of trouble with the cooks. So we rarely finish cleaning the kitchen in time and thus were up until after midnight finishing the kitchen and other details.
2. so i woke up super tired today, had a hard time getting going, and a horrible "I'm tired headache"
3. Just when I fell asleep for a brief nap the intercome paged me to come to the office for a phone call
4. there were minor dramas at all ministry sites today
5. dramas resulted in angry adult leaders
6. angry adult leaders yell
7. Our cultural speaker was a little annoyed because we weren't ready when they arrived...mostly because of the thing with the kitchen
8. The adult leaders didn't gather enough money to reimburse the cultural speaker...so I had to find creative places to take it out of my budget
9. the high school musical dance bombed at club
10. and...now it is 12:30 and I'm just now going to bed.
I love youthworks. I love my job. Today it kind of sucked. It was frustrating.
Recipe for mass chaos
Ingredients:
One large bearded man with a booming voice and a whistle (aka Ranger, our program staff)
4 overzealous adult leaders with tube socks full of flour
4 medics sent to make students do the chicken dance, bark like a dog, and sing "I'm a little teapot"
6 stations of ridiculous tasks
team flags
team cheers
a football field
Instructions:
Basically our students divided into four teams...made a flag and a cheer. Then they ran from station to station doing crazy relay races. But as they were running from station to station a "bonker" or "an overzealous adult leader with a tube sock full of flour" would hit them with the sock and then that team member could not continue.
Team with the most points wins.
This is one of the most entertaining things I have seen in a very long time.
One large bearded man with a booming voice and a whistle (aka Ranger, our program staff)
4 overzealous adult leaders with tube socks full of flour
4 medics sent to make students do the chicken dance, bark like a dog, and sing "I'm a little teapot"
6 stations of ridiculous tasks
team flags
team cheers
a football field
Instructions:
Basically our students divided into four teams...made a flag and a cheer. Then they ran from station to station doing crazy relay races. But as they were running from station to station a "bonker" or "an overzealous adult leader with a tube sock full of flour" would hit them with the sock and then that team member could not continue.
Team with the most points wins.
This is one of the most entertaining things I have seen in a very long time.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Go Time
YAY! We got our first group of students yesterday afternoon...although it feels like 3 weeks ago they came not just 30 hours.
The groups are pretty good...and all our programming and projects are running well for our first week...they will of course get better as the summer continues.
3 updates:
1. There have been no pictures lately because I lost my connector cord...but my mom is mailing me a new one...so pictures will return soon
2. I have lots to tell you so be looking for these future blog posts:
* Recipe for organized and fantabulous chaos
* Battling through
3. I'm way to tired to write those right now...so check back soon and I will have something legitimately intersteing to say!!
The groups are pretty good...and all our programming and projects are running well for our first week...they will of course get better as the summer continues.
3 updates:
1. There have been no pictures lately because I lost my connector cord...but my mom is mailing me a new one...so pictures will return soon
2. I have lots to tell you so be looking for these future blog posts:
* Recipe for organized and fantabulous chaos
* Battling through
3. I'm way to tired to write those right now...so check back soon and I will have something legitimately intersteing to say!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Late Night Fun
It is 2am.
After multiple cups of day old coffee....hundreds of worship song practices...run through of 5 clubs....poster making....and lots of other fun wrap up details: I am still a few hours away from going to bed.
This is a longer "all-nighter" than anything I ever did in college. I guess your actions truly do tell where your heart lies.
back to it...
After multiple cups of day old coffee....hundreds of worship song practices...run through of 5 clubs....poster making....and lots of other fun wrap up details: I am still a few hours away from going to bed.
This is a longer "all-nighter" than anything I ever did in college. I guess your actions truly do tell where your heart lies.
back to it...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Bonded Out
I love my team.
They are Wonderful.
Heather is becoming such a close friend, she is a fantastic listener, vocalizes many of the thoughts I wish I could say outloud, giggles with me at night, oversleeps alarms with me, and speaks such truth and wisdom. She is so wonderful with children, I think it is because she has such a pure and lovely heart.
Dillon is hilarious. He is such a gentleman and always so respectful of the people he is around. He has a fun loving personality and rarely gets stressed out. I always know I can count on Dillon and that he will keep his word. His spiritual curiousity is contagious.
Ranger is the newbie. He is also great. He can fix anything and everything, and has such a servant's heart. He also has a million life stories that always apply to whatever random thing is happening...and we have bonded over our love of the gifts of the spirit and all things Holy Spirit related.
So, when I say I love my team...I really mean it. But when I say that we spend a lot of time together I also mean that too. We are together all the time. I cannot think of more than 2 hours I have spent completely by myself in the last two weeks. Yesterday I spent 14 solid hours with Ranger. We ate all three meals together and shopped till we literally dropped. Today I have been with at least one other person since 7:00am. That is almost 12 hours of solid togetherness.
Now, I love team bonding. We are bonded. I have never bonded with people so fast. We have to bond, we are working together, living together, we are each other's only friends, we are each other's family, we are our own church...because there isn't really a church here. We already make each other's meals, do each other's laundry, and can tell pretty immediately when someone is stressed.
I think I've reached a point of over-bondedness. Maybe that isn't the correct sentiment. But I really need some alone time. And I can't see a chunk of alone time coming my way until at the earliest Saturday. That is a whole week from today.
On saturday....this is what I want to do:
1. Sleep in
2. Drink Tea and read a book
3. Drive to Glacier in our pick up truck with the windows down and the music blaring
4. Go horseback riding with my neighbor who offered to take me.
Maybe it will happen....probably not all of it. But we'll see. This is not a 9-5 job...that is for certain.
They are Wonderful.
Heather is becoming such a close friend, she is a fantastic listener, vocalizes many of the thoughts I wish I could say outloud, giggles with me at night, oversleeps alarms with me, and speaks such truth and wisdom. She is so wonderful with children, I think it is because she has such a pure and lovely heart.
Dillon is hilarious. He is such a gentleman and always so respectful of the people he is around. He has a fun loving personality and rarely gets stressed out. I always know I can count on Dillon and that he will keep his word. His spiritual curiousity is contagious.
Ranger is the newbie. He is also great. He can fix anything and everything, and has such a servant's heart. He also has a million life stories that always apply to whatever random thing is happening...and we have bonded over our love of the gifts of the spirit and all things Holy Spirit related.
So, when I say I love my team...I really mean it. But when I say that we spend a lot of time together I also mean that too. We are together all the time. I cannot think of more than 2 hours I have spent completely by myself in the last two weeks. Yesterday I spent 14 solid hours with Ranger. We ate all three meals together and shopped till we literally dropped. Today I have been with at least one other person since 7:00am. That is almost 12 hours of solid togetherness.
Now, I love team bonding. We are bonded. I have never bonded with people so fast. We have to bond, we are working together, living together, we are each other's only friends, we are each other's family, we are our own church...because there isn't really a church here. We already make each other's meals, do each other's laundry, and can tell pretty immediately when someone is stressed.
I think I've reached a point of over-bondedness. Maybe that isn't the correct sentiment. But I really need some alone time. And I can't see a chunk of alone time coming my way until at the earliest Saturday. That is a whole week from today.
On saturday....this is what I want to do:
1. Sleep in
2. Drink Tea and read a book
3. Drive to Glacier in our pick up truck with the windows down and the music blaring
4. Go horseback riding with my neighbor who offered to take me.
Maybe it will happen....probably not all of it. But we'll see. This is not a 9-5 job...that is for certain.
ridiculousness
today was ridiculous.
we are less than 48 hours away from recieving our first groups of students on-site and all the last minute details are catching up to us.
Ranger, our new staff memebr :) and I went shopping for all our supplies in Great Falls today.
It sucked.
well....maybe that is a little exaggerated. It was fun to hang out with him and get to know him better, and we were feeling pretty good after hitting Barnes and Noble, Home Depot, Dollar Tree, and Sam's club. The 15 passenger van was loaded with food and we had been there for a while...but were feeling very positive.
And then we went to wal-mart. I hate wal-mart. It is awful. I cannot explain in words how horrible wal-mart was. Except to say that I was pushing one cart...pulling one cart....getting wierd stares from people about the insane amounts of cereal, manwich sauce, and cookies in my cart. And it just took forever. My head hurt, my eyes hurt, And the shopping list seemed to never end. Or things were in random places that didn't make sense. I think I did about 10 circles through the grocery section with my cart.
I left Wal-Mart feeling like someone had just beat me up. And we weren't done yet. We had to make copies...which I payed $10 extra for because I put the paper in the wrong way...who does that? A few more stops....a two hour drive home...and we hit a 14 hour shopping trip.
I did not know you could shop for 14 hours. Now I know. And now I hate Fridays....because next week we have to do it all over again. Hopefully more efficiently.
Once we got back to our site, I began to take stock of all the little details that needed to be wrapped up and finished before students could come. This was very overwhelming, it is a lot to do! And then my boss showed up...as I'm at a spiritual, mental, and physical low. Not to mention going off of 5 hours sleep the night before and fresh from 14 hours of shopping. My boss is amazing and she jumped right in helping us with everything...but I feel like I wasn't on my best game.
oh well. I claim grace over today....and praise Jesus that it is over.
we are less than 48 hours away from recieving our first groups of students on-site and all the last minute details are catching up to us.
Ranger, our new staff memebr :) and I went shopping for all our supplies in Great Falls today.
It sucked.
well....maybe that is a little exaggerated. It was fun to hang out with him and get to know him better, and we were feeling pretty good after hitting Barnes and Noble, Home Depot, Dollar Tree, and Sam's club. The 15 passenger van was loaded with food and we had been there for a while...but were feeling very positive.
And then we went to wal-mart. I hate wal-mart. It is awful. I cannot explain in words how horrible wal-mart was. Except to say that I was pushing one cart...pulling one cart....getting wierd stares from people about the insane amounts of cereal, manwich sauce, and cookies in my cart. And it just took forever. My head hurt, my eyes hurt, And the shopping list seemed to never end. Or things were in random places that didn't make sense. I think I did about 10 circles through the grocery section with my cart.
I left Wal-Mart feeling like someone had just beat me up. And we weren't done yet. We had to make copies...which I payed $10 extra for because I put the paper in the wrong way...who does that? A few more stops....a two hour drive home...and we hit a 14 hour shopping trip.
I did not know you could shop for 14 hours. Now I know. And now I hate Fridays....because next week we have to do it all over again. Hopefully more efficiently.
Once we got back to our site, I began to take stock of all the little details that needed to be wrapped up and finished before students could come. This was very overwhelming, it is a lot to do! And then my boss showed up...as I'm at a spiritual, mental, and physical low. Not to mention going off of 5 hours sleep the night before and fresh from 14 hours of shopping. My boss is amazing and she jumped right in helping us with everything...but I feel like I wasn't on my best game.
oh well. I claim grace over today....and praise Jesus that it is over.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Communication on the rez...what a joy
FYI
I'm going to Northern Cheyenne Reservation tomorrow for a week. Don't know if I will have internet or not. So I will not be writing much blog info!!
But here is something fun!
Address to send me mai:
Molly Gibson
C/O Youthworks
PO Box 275
Heart Butte, MT 59448
Care Packages to:
Molly Gibson
C/O Youthworks
#1 School Rd.
Heart Butte, MT 59448
I'm going to Northern Cheyenne Reservation tomorrow for a week. Don't know if I will have internet or not. So I will not be writing much blog info!!
But here is something fun!
Address to send me mai:
Molly Gibson
C/O Youthworks
PO Box 275
Heart Butte, MT 59448
Care Packages to:
Molly Gibson
C/O Youthworks
#1 School Rd.
Heart Butte, MT 59448
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Laugh or Cry
Did we laugh or did we cry?:
1. When Heather lost the only key to the place where all our food is.....LAUGH.
2. When we had to go to the home of the custodian who really doesn't like us to get the key to where the food is....LAUGH
3. When the battery in the car died 5 minutes before we had to leave for a meeting....LAUGH
4. When we got different directions from 4 different people to the same place and none of them were right....LAUGH
5. When the fridge we had priced three days ago and planned to buy at Sam's club ended up being gone because it was the last one and they were now discontinued....LAUGH
6. When we drove around to 4 different places trying to find a new fridge to buy....LAUGH
7. When we unloaded the fridge in a downpour of rain....LAUGH
8. when we had a slight accident with the fridge while trying to unpack it....Kinda LAUGH....almost cry
9. When we found a mouse in our sleeping room about 5 minutes ago....CRY.
Crappy stuff happens...you choose how you react...but sometimes the mouse is just the final straw in a really long day.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
perserverence
I feel like I can barely process all that has been happening this past week. I have been here on the Blackfeet Reservation for one week. It feels like years. Years of spiritual growth, years of leadership challenges, years of maturity. I can only imagine what another two months will bring.
The last few days have been really challenging. I'm exhausted. From working 14-15 hour days, creating relationships out of thin air in a completely different culture, and trying desperately to care for my team when sometimes I just don't know how.
We lost a team member today. One of our staff made a courageous decision to return home to take care of some things that needed tending there. It was so sad to drop him off at the train station this morning and walk away as a group of three instead of a group of four. We went through our day as usual...but it was wierd. I know he made the right decision for himself, and I'm so happy that he did what is right for him...but it is still hard as the site leader to watch one of my staff leave. Did I do enough for him? Did I let him down? I guess I just have to trust that the Lord's plans are good and faithful, and that He walked with me through the whole process...which I felt Him do. Still...it's hard.
This is definetly going to be one of those experience that drastically changes me. This job is so hard. So hard that I cannot do it. And that is what makes it so good. To walk lean on the Lord minute by minute and feel the honor of partnering with Him in something so much bigger than anything I could do on my own.
"We know that suffering produces perserverence; perserverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." ~Paul
The last few days have been really challenging. I'm exhausted. From working 14-15 hour days, creating relationships out of thin air in a completely different culture, and trying desperately to care for my team when sometimes I just don't know how.
We lost a team member today. One of our staff made a courageous decision to return home to take care of some things that needed tending there. It was so sad to drop him off at the train station this morning and walk away as a group of three instead of a group of four. We went through our day as usual...but it was wierd. I know he made the right decision for himself, and I'm so happy that he did what is right for him...but it is still hard as the site leader to watch one of my staff leave. Did I do enough for him? Did I let him down? I guess I just have to trust that the Lord's plans are good and faithful, and that He walked with me through the whole process...which I felt Him do. Still...it's hard.
This is definetly going to be one of those experience that drastically changes me. This job is so hard. So hard that I cannot do it. And that is what makes it so good. To walk lean on the Lord minute by minute and feel the honor of partnering with Him in something so much bigger than anything I could do on my own.
"We know that suffering produces perserverence; perserverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." ~Paul
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
DANGER
Our friend Marvin came to warn us that there has been a grizzly bear hanging out on his land the past few days.
Marvin lives directly behind where we live.
Translation: There is a grizzly bear in my backyard.
What this means for us: Heather and I have been "seeing" grizzly bears everywhere. We thought a car was a grizzly bear, a pile of trash was a grizzly bear, and also a cow.
YIKES!....thanks for the bear spray mom!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
many new posts in a row
Hey guys…I didn’t have internet for a while so I just posted a bunch of entries in a row updating what has been happening for the last week or so. Leave me some comments! I love hearing from you!
Prayer requests:
1. Help to solidify some details that are a little confused right now with our housing contact
2. Humility for me
3. Strong relationships on our team
4. The Kids of Heart Butte Montana….that they would come to kids club and let Jesus love on them through our high school volunteers.
5. Warm weather
2. Humility for me
3. Strong relationships on our team
4. The Kids of Heart Butte Montana….that they would come to kids club and let Jesus love on them through our high school volunteers.
5. Warm weather
We have arrived.
We’re Here! We stopped and spent the night at the Crow Reservation site on our way to Montana and being in that community gave me a little glimpse into where we were heading and made me super pumped to get here. It is gorgeous. We are surrounded by mountains and green fields that stretch on and on.
So far we have met a bunch of community members…we survived our first confrontation by a few who don’t really want us here…. we were prayed for by the most wonderful pastor and his wife…and we were welcomed with open arms by many.
We played basketball with a bunch of community kids…one very naughty one that threw rocks at us. During this basketball game….we got a little rowdy and Chuck plowed me over while I was making a move for the ball, resulting in a skinned up elbow. Yay for my first Youthworks battle wound.
Today a bunch of teens raced by our window on horseback, parked their horses at the school for the eighth grade graduation and then left the same way. This is how transportation should truly be. And if you know me well…you know that I am 100% serious.
It is cold. We unloaded our shed (which was the epitome of disorganization) in hats and gloves. I am already dreaming of glorious plans to organize, label, and store our supplies at the end of the year so that next summer the Blackfeet staff will open the shed doors and to the glorious wonders of an organized supply system! I realize my excitement about this makes me a dork…but it is the truth.
Finally: I love it here. Praise Jesus for the amazing Blackfeet Nation….their perseverance through all the atrocities they have faced throughout history…their beautiful culture and warmth….their excitement and hospitality.
So far we have met a bunch of community members…we survived our first confrontation by a few who don’t really want us here…. we were prayed for by the most wonderful pastor and his wife…and we were welcomed with open arms by many.
We played basketball with a bunch of community kids…one very naughty one that threw rocks at us. During this basketball game….we got a little rowdy and Chuck plowed me over while I was making a move for the ball, resulting in a skinned up elbow. Yay for my first Youthworks battle wound.
Today a bunch of teens raced by our window on horseback, parked their horses at the school for the eighth grade graduation and then left the same way. This is how transportation should truly be. And if you know me well…you know that I am 100% serious.
It is cold. We unloaded our shed (which was the epitome of disorganization) in hats and gloves. I am already dreaming of glorious plans to organize, label, and store our supplies at the end of the year so that next summer the Blackfeet staff will open the shed doors and to the glorious wonders of an organized supply system! I realize my excitement about this makes me a dork…but it is the truth.
Finally: I love it here. Praise Jesus for the amazing Blackfeet Nation….their perseverance through all the atrocities they have faced throughout history…their beautiful culture and warmth….their excitement and hospitality.
What I learned while driving through Colorado…and Wyoming….and Montana.
1. Leadership and humility are pretty much the same thing…..and I need to work on mine.
2. If you live in Montana you must embrace country music…there are no other options.
3. I can drive a 15 passenger van with ease and grace.
4. Chuck (my program staff) can read maps better than I can.
5. 4 people can drink a lot of apple juice.
6. Montana is beautiful….yea God.
7. Some trucks require a key to open the gas tank, you should find out if yours does before you leave.
8. Sometimes when you think you are going 70 you are actually going 85.
9. I say “OK.” A lot. Heather (Kids Club Staff) pointed this out to me.
10. It is fun to play charades by driving up next to your friends and make actions that symbolize hunger or the need to stop for gas.
RAMP it up.
So, I am officially gone for the summer…I left on May 25th and spent last week in Denver training to be a Youthworks! Site Director. My range of emotions and thought process throughout this week went back and forth between “This is going to be the most amazing experience I’ve ever had!” and “What on earth have I gotten myself into?” It was a very long week of seminars and training that went very very fast…if that is possible!?!
My team: I love my team! They are wonderful. They have so much energy and we have bonded so well together. I think there will be a little head-butting along the way…but I think these will be people that I stay in contact with for a very long time.
Highlight of training week: Met some amazing people…can’t wait to continue those friendships and support each other from afar this summer.
Lowlight of training week: Waking up in the middle of the night every night by my body hitting the hard gym floor because my air mattress had a hole in it.
My team: I love my team! They are wonderful. They have so much energy and we have bonded so well together. I think there will be a little head-butting along the way…but I think these will be people that I stay in contact with for a very long time.
Highlight of training week: Met some amazing people…can’t wait to continue those friendships and support each other from afar this summer.
Lowlight of training week: Waking up in the middle of the night every night by my body hitting the hard gym floor because my air mattress had a hole in it.
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