Top 10 of 2009

for the last couple of weeks, i've been a frequent visitor to time magazine's "top 10 of everything in 2009." some of them are really interesting (most underreported stories) and some of them not so interesting (new species)-at least to me. in honor of this time of year and some time i've spent reflecting on 2009, i'd like to offer my own top 10 list for 2009. these are in no particular order...

1) Disney World

2) MSW Graduation

3) Getting a REAL job!
4) Internship @ Wilshire

5) Baylor Homecoming

6) IJM Conference in Washington, DC

7) Moving to Tiger Country

8) Christmas with the family

9) New friends at NBC

10) Learning to Fly

6 things on my 6 month anniversary...

in honor of my 6 month anniversary at northside, i thought i would write about 6 great things that happened today...

1) ALL of my benevolence appointments showed up AND they were all early (this has not happened in the 6 months I have been here!)

2) i was able to help a family get their electricity turned back on today in a matter of just a few hours! they will not be cold tonight...

3) i was able to help this same family with some groceries so they do not have to worry about food until their expedited food stamps get approved.

4) i officially earned vacation time!

5) i "elfed" the besties...

6) i spent the evening celebrating Christmas with my awesome coworkers! SO much laughter, SO much fun...:)

thankful...

i know it's a week until thanksgiving, but it's important to be thankful all of the time, right?

this week, i'm particularly thankful for generous people that give to the Care Center...here are a couple of examples of generosity from this week...

on monday morning, i got a phone call from a local dollar store saying that there was an employee that wanted to buy and donate some discounted cereal and breakfast items. this employee didn't want the cereal to be thrown away because it was not selling, instead she wanted it to go to good use so she called us. all i had to do was go and pick it up! i don't know who this employee heard about our food pantry, but oh how i appreciate her willingness to give! we had been out of cereal/breakfast items for almost two weeks because the food bank in dallas has not had these items for us to order.

over the course of the month of november, we have had a campaign at northside called "one bag, one meal." i am encouraging church members to pick up a brown paper sack, follow the instructions on the flier that is stapled to it, and return it. the flier lists various food items for a Christmas dinner (pie crust, stuffing mix, green beans, jello, canned yams, cranberry sauce, etc). we'll add a turkey to the mix along with some other items and give it to families during the week before Christmas. we will be giving out 200 of these Christmas "sacks" that week. the people at northside have been incredibly giving during this campaign. this week i've heard several older adult ladies make comments about how much they have enjoyed participating in this food drive of sorts. most of the people that have made these comments are on very limited incomes, yet give so generously of their resources. i am so thankful to be a church that gives generously so that families can have a Christmas dinner.

among the many other things i am thankful for during this season of giving thanks, i am very thankful for generous people this week...:)

Picture Post...

just a few pictures over the last few months...:)

AA1 and I @ Homecoming!

Happy last first day of school Lo!

Celebrating Lo's Birthday (before she got sick...)

Sic 'Em Besties!!

the Mom & I at the wedding...

the bride and I after the Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner

Time Flies...

when you're having fun! (or at least that is what people tell me!)

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind as you can tell from my lack of blogging. Between a weekend of bronchitis/work-shopping at Baylor, Baylor Homecoming, and Melissa's wedding activities for the past 2 weekends, I feel as though I only sleep and occasionally eat at my house. So here is a little update on these fun events...:)

Bronchitis/Workshop at Baylor

I finally succumbed to the sickness that had been passed around the youth group/everyone I knew! I really only felt bad one day, which is why I decided to go to the workshop @ Baylor afterall. I am thankful that I already had a doctor (sort-of), but was reminded once again how much moving to a new community stinks because you have to get used to a new doctor all over again...:) The workshop @ Baylor was fantastic! It was so fun and refreshing to be around social workers and people in churches that are interested in starting/improving community ministries int heir churches. It was great to share about my own experiences at Wilshire and Northside as well. :)

Baylor Homecoming

A-w-e-s-o-m-e! While it was definitely an emotional weekend, I loved getting to hang out with my besties and see friends that I haven't seen in FOREVER! :) I was super proud of KXA-they won their float division! YAY! Homecoming was a great reminder of how much I love Baylor and how awesome my college experience there was. God was so faithful to provide so many different things while I was there---awesome friends, incredible professors, unforgettable lessons about Him and myself, and memories that will last a lifetime! :) SIC 'EM!

Melissa's Wedding Festivities

This past weekend, my friend Melissa got married! It's so hard to believe that 20+ years of dreaming about what that day would be like is over, well at least for one of us! It was absolutely beautiful and I am so thankful to have been a part of it. She was an incredibly beautiful bride and I know she and Jonathan are so happy! Not only did I have fun being a bridesmaid, but I also learned a lot about what I want my wedding to be like, if I ever get married. Perhaps I will share those in a future post...:)

In the Waiting

Pain
The gift nobody longs for, still it comes
And somehow leaves us stronger
When it's gone away

Pray
I try and pray for Your will to be done
But I confess it's never fast enough for me

It seems the hardest part is waiting on You
When what I really want
Is just to see Your hand move

I want a peace beyond my understanding
I want to feel it fall like rain
In the middle of my hurting
I want to feel Your arms as they surround me
And let me know that it's okay
To be here in this place
Resting in the peace that only comes In the waiting
Time Time to let it go and just believe
Trusting in what no one else but You can see

Free
Freedom from the fears that close me in
When I can't get beyond where I have been, but then

Again
The silence doesn't mean that I'm alone
As long as I can hear
That I am still Your own

---In the Waiting (Greg Long)

God has always used this song to speak to me...whether it was in high school or in California or now here in Corsicana...May I have peace in this waiting time...

What do I really need?

Felt vs. Actual Need is something that we talk alot about in social work and how that a social worker often has to work with a client to deal with the felt need in order to get to the actual needs. Rick's sermon was about this to some degree this morning. He preached out of Acts 17 and talked about how Paul preached to the Athenians about their actual need, not their felt need. He said that we all have the ultimate need of being genuinely transformed in our lives into the likeness of the person of Jesus Christ. It got me thinking about what I think my "needs" are. This is just the short list of what I came up with: boyfriend/husband, financial security, friends my age in Corsicana, a permanent place to live, etc. Each of these things cause me a great deal of worry and stress, some more than others. Anyway, as Rick preached this morning, I realized that the only real need I have is to be transformed to be more like the person of Jesus Christ. If I concentrate on that, all of these other needs will take care of themselves. It's difficult for me because I want to worry about and fix all of my needs or problems. I think that I can do it so much better than God, yet God has been showing me this weekend that He has been faithful in the past and He will continue to be faithful to meet all of my needs, no matter how small or large. I need to concentrate on being transformed to be more like Him. Anyway, that's what is on my heart this afternoon. It's going to take some time to work through all of this, but I know that God is faithful and transformation is only possible through Him. I will end today with a passage of Scripture that I have been meditating on this weekend...

"Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you,O Lord my God,with all of my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave." Pslam 86:11-13

Official Pet Sitter?

I think "Official Pet Sitter" needs to be added to my job description whenever I actually have a job description...

In the last two months I have taken care of...

the youth minister's dog for 2 weeks
the music minister's 2 dogs, cat, and hedgehog for 2 weeks
the education minister's 4 dogs for a day (they have three boxers and a mut)
the education minister's 14,000 cats for over a week

Needless to say, there is no need for me to get my own dog because I just take care of everyone else's right now...:) Don't get me wrong, it's been fun. I enjoy Lucy (the youth minister's dog) coming over to my house. The education minister's dogs are awesome and I love hanging out with them. And I especially love the perks that come along with making sure the music minister's animals stay alive---the pool! :)

Anyway, I know this particular post is lacking depth and serious issues, but it's all I have for now...:)

Questions...

i apologize for the lack of posting...there have been so many things to write about but lack of ability to really put them into words...i am going to attempt to put them into words in this post...

over the last few weeks many questions have been floating around in my head and my heart that have caused me to think and pray a lot. some have been prompted by sermons, some by conversations with others...here are a few of them...

am i satisfied with who i am? God created me like this on purpose---am i okay with that?

am I so bogged down in the life of the church that i forget to live in the awe of the majesty of God?

is God merely useful to me?

do i talk more about God than to God?

why does it seem to be so innate in me to judge people based on their values?

do i really understand what the cross was and what it means?

do i pursue joy?

am i encouraging others in their pursuit of Christ?

these questions have caused me much thought and prayer over the last couple of weeks. i am not sure i have the answers to some of these. i know that some of the answers i have to them are not what i would like for them to be so i'm working on it, growing closer to Christ everyday...:)

one week down?

it's so hard to believe that my first week at work is already over! c-r-a-z-y! it has been a crazy week...here's a quick recap...


-Christmastime is here...ok, so not really, but it's kind of felt like it this week. an office, a computer, a work phone, an official email address, free food, new friends...while some of these things may seem like nothing to get excited over (like an office), they have each been very exciting for me. seeing as how i have spent 2 summers in a costume closet, 2 semesters @ CPS as a transient intern moving every few weeks to a new office, and a semester at a dining room table as a desk, i see having a real office with a real desk as a significant improvement.


-i need a better memory...or maybe i just need to remember how to use the one God gave me. i have met SO many people this week at the care center and at church and i think i might remember like 10 of them's names...remembering names is so difficult for me in the beginning. so, i've taken to marking people in the pictoral directory everytime i meet someone. i have tags going EVERYWHERE on that thing. this weekend my goal is to make flashcards with the care center volunteers so that i can quiz myself. btw i am so glad that we're making a new directory---it's hard to remember people's names/faces when their picture isn't in the directory!


-overwhelming...the good kind of overwhleming and the not so good kind of overwhelming. there have been multiple times this week when i have thought, "what the heck am i doing here??" it's at these times that God speaks directly to my heart and says "but I have you here for a reason. you CAN do this. you were CREATED for this." and the feelings of being overwhelmed go away a little bit. then there is the good kind of overwhelming---being welcomed to a new town and family with open arms. there have been so many times when i have been on the verge of tears because of the awesomeness of my new "family" here. during vbs this week, the kids have gone to a service/missions class each day and part of what they have been doing is appreciating the volunteers/teachers by making them little treats or writing notes or something and putting them in folders in the hallway. i got to have a folder because i spoke in the missions class one day and today as i was going through my goodies, there was the sweetest note from one of the teenagers. she talked about how she was glad that i was here and that she knew God had great things in store for me here and she was looking forward to getting to know me. it's times like those that i know that God has me here for a reason, a reason for me to learn to fly here.

so, that's just a quick recap of the week...it's been wonderful...a little overwhelming, but wonderful. learning to fly is hard work, but i know that the view from the sky is going to be spectacular.

title explanation

so i've returned to the blogging world. some of my friends have begun similar blogs about "life after graduation" so i thought i too would jump on the bandwagon. i have attempted blogging several other times in life but never been quite successful, so maybe the fourth time will be the charm...:)

anyway, on to the reason for this post...a little bit of explanation about the title of my blog...

last night at church, Rick was talking about how we are all created by God to do something before we even have breath---that we are set apart to do something special by God and that He is most honored and glorified when those purposes are lived out in our lives. he used the illustration of a mama bird and baby birdies in a nest when it is time for the babies to learn to fly and how the mama bird pushes the birds out of the nest and makes the babies learn to fly this way. i love this illustration because i kind of feel like this is what life is like---that i'm being forced out of the nest and having to rapidly flap my wings to see if i can fly, if i can make it on my own. i know that just like the baby birds were created to fly, i was set apart for this---for community ministry and missions---that this is what God created me to do. yet, it is terrifying. just like those little birdies must be terrified as they head out of the nest, this new life is terrifying to me. will i fly? will i drop to the ground? will i live up to what God has called me to do? will i disappoint my Creator? so all of that to say, this blog will be about my journey as i am pushed out of the nest and learn to fly. it's not always going to be easy, but i believe it will be worth it as i become the person God created me to be.