Impacting youth

I ended up going into the office today to attend the power lunch mentor training. It was good to hear more about what the power lunch program is about and who the mentors and facilitators work with however, while I was sitting in and listening to the presentation, a few things kept running through my mind, which were, 1. There are a lot of things that I have never had to go through that some of the students that are worked with may have or are going through, 2. The power lunch program is doing great things in the schools that they work in, 3. God wants to work through those that are working with the students and are mentors and role models to them, 4. There are things to be learned from everyone that we come into contact with, and 5. God has a plan and will allow things to work out according to His plan and may turn our expectations and plans away.

1. While listening to the presentation, I quickly realized that I am not in tune with the “younger generations” music, culture, etc. There are a lot of things that I am not aware of and quiet frankly, I am just blinded to things going on since it’s different than who I am or what I am used to and may never have had to deal with thins where I grew up.  I grew up in a small town, was involved with extra-curriculum activities, and had parents that were there for me. The students that we are working with in the power lunch program may not have the same experiences and opportunities that I have had. And that leaves me wondering how much of an influence will I be able to have on the students if I work with them since we are from different backgrounds and experiences?

2. The power lunch program is touching many students and having an impact in many students’ lives. Through the program, they are able to have someone that they can look up to. The program is meant to help reduce truancy rates, disciplinary issues, etc.

3. God is building up people that have a passion and want to impact the student’s lives. There are 3 organizations working in the schools and they are in need of mentors that can be looked up to so that the ratio can be more like 1 mentor to every 4 or 5 students rather than it being 1 facilitator to 20-30 students. This is hard to do since there are so many students and only one facilitator but if there are more mentors then we will be able to impact more lives of students and truly listen to them one-on-one rather than becoming overwhelmed and swamped with 20-30 students. It becomes more meaningful if the ratios are smaller since then you can build true and meaningful relationships with the students and build trust with them as well.

4. Sometimes I feel like adults can think that younger people don’t know much and that we can’t learn anything form them however, that is not the case. People are experts of their own lives and know what it is that they are dealing with and going through. We can’t know what someone is going through or dealing with unless we are taking the time to listen to them, build authentic relationships with them, and walk along side them. We need to truly listen and be attentive and take the opportunities to learn from the students and from everyone we are around. It can sometimes be surprising what is learned when we just listen and go into things acting like we don’t know everything, since we don’t know everything.

5. Things may not turn out as expected but God has a plan. So, we had planned on 20 people attending the training today and we ended up with 7 people (5 that are already working with DLF or the 3 organizations that work on power lunches and 2 people that have not done the power lunch program before but interested in becoming mentors.) So, God changed our plan but brought 2 people that seem to be dedicated and very interested in the program and mentoring / impacting the lives of the students that are worked with in the schools through the power lunch program.

So, that was today and a little about the power lunch program and what’s going on with the youth leadership movement. If you want more information then go to the DLF website (one of the links on the right  sidebar) or message me if you want to know more about what I am or will be doing.

Upgrade ready...

I have been wondering and thinking about what I should blog about since I didn’t write yesterday. Things at work have been different and right now I don’t feel like there has been much to talk about in regards to what I am doing but I promise that will come eventually as I get more involved with things and things start to pick up. But in the mean time, what has God been showing and revealing to me? That’s what I want to focus on for this blog post.

I titled this as upgrade ready for a few reasons. I have recently had to have my work laptop upgraded and worked on. I needed to be able to get to some documents that I was not previously able to get to on the computer so most of today, my computer was being upgraded. I also had a notice on my phone saying that it had some software updates and needed to be upgraded as well. So, you may be asking, why are you talking about a computer and a phone? And that’s a reasonable response to this post right now.

However, with the upgrades being done it makes me think about how God sees us and what He’s doing in our lives… In my life.  I have been in Texas for a little over a month now and it makes me wonder, what is God doing and what does He have planned for me. There are times at work where I am left wondering why it is that God brought me here, with this organization, and with the people I work with. (Let me stop right there, I absolutely enjoy the people I work with and the organization that I am partnering with even in the times that I am frustrated and not understanding why things are happening so I just wanted to make that clear. I honestly don’t think that I would trade where I am at, who I am working with, and the organization I am partnering with…)

So, back to the “upgrades”, you see, just like a phone and a computer needs to be upgraded and changed, so to does our lives. We have to continue maturing in Christ and changing who we are. God leads us into different seasons of our lives and there will be times that we need to change our mindsets and just let God take over. Just like we are in charge of upgrading our electronics, so to is God in charge of upgrading His people. God will give us the things we need in order to do what He calls us to do however, it may take time, just like upgrading our electronics take time.

After an electronic is upgraded, it needs to be turned off and restarted. Sometimes I think that we need to be turned off and restarted as well. We need to have our thinking, our mind set, our expectations, our plans, and so forth turned off and restated to line up with what God has for us. We need to take a break and step back and truly see what God is trying to teach us in the midst of things rather than be non-stop and busy all the time. Just as we might sometimes think that our electronics are good to go since they have been upgraded, there will always be a new upgrade to com. Same is true with our Christian walk, we may think that we are good to go to later find out that God is calling us to something else or is wanting to lead us somewhere else. We may end up finding out that our thinking is wrong, our motives are wrong, our plans and expectations are wrong after getting on track with God’s plan. However, things can change in a second and we may find ourselves having to upgrade and realign with God.

I feel like that’s how things have been for me since I have been in Texas. I came in with specific expectations and perceptions and since I have been here, I have had to rely on God every day and try to see what it is that He is doing and why He brought me here. I am having to upgrade my expectations and perceptions to align with what God’s intentions are. I am being reminded that I am needing to be turned off, my expectations, my perceptions, etc are needing to be turned off and be restarted since they were not originally right. Now, I am needing to try to figure out what God has for me, why I am here, etc and upgrade to His level of things rather than be a step behind and in the old phase of this journey.

Sometimes, it’s irritating and takes time to make the needed upgrades and it’s not always an easy task. The same is true with our lives. It may not be an easy adjustment to follow God’s plan and guidance and it may be irritating since things don’t go the way we expect or as fast as we hoped for. But with each new upgrade, the closer we get to Christ and the more we get in line with who He has made us. It may not be fun, easy, fast, or simple but it is important to have the upgrades done and to be in dialogue and contact with God’s plan and why the upgrades are needed.

So, what is God needing to upgrade in your life? Is there apart of you that needs to be turned off and restated as new? How do you see your life like our technology and all the upgrades and old software? 

Change in seasons

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:35-38)

The above scripture is how we started the youth leadership movement meeting today. Every week we start by having a devotion as well as praying. This week has probably been one of the hardest weeks that I have had since being in Texas. I have found myself homesick and longing for something more. However, don’t get me wrong, I love the organization I am working with and those that I work with but I sense something missing.

Being homesick doesn’t necessarily mean that you are missing your home but it’s a feeling of “missing what's normal, what is routine, the larger sense of social space, because those are the things that help us survive.” With the way that I have been feeling lately I was reminded of things today through this scripture. I was reminded that I am longing for a deeper relationship with Christ. I don’t have a Church family in Texas right now even though there is one church that I attend weekly. I am still in search of the church that I will be able to connect with and grow in Christ with. I was also reminded that I need to be spending more time with Christ. This is one of my learning goals to get back into having a quiet time or devotional each day but it’s easy to get caught up in what’s going on and not take time to have a devotion.

I have also found myself wondering why it is that I am here. When things are slow and when I don’t quiet understand, I wonder why God brought me here of all places. Why did my plans not work out? Why did I have to leave everything behind and get away? This scripture says that Jesus left where everyone knew him. The people were looking for Him but he didn’t want to deal with them. He wanted to go to another place to preach to word of Christ. I feel like I am in that point of my life right now. I could have remained in Indiana and did ministry, I could have looked more into InterVarsity, but God has other plans for me. He called me to leave behind what I knew for something that I didn’t know. He called me to leave my family to come to Texas where I would get to know a new “family”. He called me to leave my churches back in Indiana to come speak with other churches. Yeah, this wasn’t my plan but it is God’s plan.

I am needing to take more time to connect with Christ in order to truly see where He is leading me and what it is that He is wanting me to do. He will be able to answer my questions but it takes a relationship first and listening (as well as patience, which I am not good at) to get those answers. As we talked about in the devotion today, God may be calling us away from the thing that we are doing in this point in our lives and asking or trying to get us to do something else. We need to transition and follow God’s prompting. That’s what I have had to do with coming to Texas, partnering with the General Board of Global Ministries, and working at the Dallas Leadership Foundation. God called me out of the season of my life that I had in Indiana and called me into a new season. That’s scary but I am thankful that I have some amazing people to walk through this season of life with and learn from and work with.

The last part of that scripture says “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”  But here is the thing to think about. Take that part of scripture and say this to yourself… “Let us go somewhere else-to ___________-so I can ____________ there also. That is why I have come” Complete the above phrase and put something in those blanks… What is it for you that need to be in those blanks? For me, I would have to say, “Let us go somewhere else-to Texas-so I can serve Christ and others there also” However, there are other things that I could put in the blank as well, that is just the more apparent response. God is trying to get each of us to do something, to enter into a new season of our lives, etc we just need to take the time to listen to Him and follow His guidance. Entering into new seasons of our lives is not easy but with God, things will work out even if we don’t have all the answers and don’t know where things will take us. Start that relationship with God now and start talking to Him about what it is that He has for your life and what belongs in the above blanks.

The seasons have changed, it is now fall so won't you let the season of your life change as well and listen to what God has for you? 

God's in control even when we can't see it

The words from this week’s Church services keep echoing in my mind. Things are not always easy yet God has it all under control. When life turns into a battle and you don’t know where to turn, turn to God since He’s got it all under control. I feel like I am constantly in a battle of mind and spirit and not seeing how God’s going to provide. Too often I allow the enemy to tell me lies yet over and over again, I am reminded of God’s provision for my life and His control over it all. God’s full of surprises and He’s in control. Time is not in our control and quiet frankly, our lives are out of our control. But, God’s in control and knows the outcome.

I often ask how it is that I got to be where I am right now, being a missionary when this was not my original plan. I had planned on being a teacher yet God’s plan for my life was different. I look back and see the trials that I have had to face and see God’s hand in it all even if the complete picture is not clear to me. God has been in control all along and He loves giving surprises. Think back on your life, is what you are doing what you thought you would be doing? Are you living where you figured you would be living? Did things go according to your plan or have they changed over time? Yeah, for me, I have to say that nothing has gone as planned, or at least not my plan.

I ended up graduating with a major in Spanish and I wanted to be able to use that Spanish in some way, so God placed me in Texas yet since I have been here, I have been hesitant and unconfident in using Spanish. Today I went to help translate for a Hispanic family yet they had a son that was able to do the translation. I am not sure what God’s plan is for me yet I have to keep reminding myself that He’s in control. I also have to remind myself of last weeks all staff meeting scripture that God wants to give us rest since right now my mind is all over the place. And most of it is things that I can only do so much and then trust God with the outcome. Yet, I am human and it’s hard to let things go when I know I am meant to meet specific expectations. So, my Spanish is not going as I had planned and hoped yet, God’s in control.

Another factor is that support raising is not going as planned. It seems that anybody I ask comes back with the response that they can’t financially support me and organizations that I ask come back and say that they can’t support me either. This has left me wondering if I will ever be able to continue with full time ministry after this 2-year experience. If I can’t even raise a minimal amount right now then how would I ever be able to raise full support? Yet, as I have stated I am reminded of the message I got from 2 services and that is that God’s full of surprises and He’s in control.

It’s not by chance or ironic that yesterday when I was leaving church the song that came on the radio was “God is in control” a song by Twila Paris which is an older song and one that I have not heard for awhile. So, between yesterday and today I have been having to reminded that God is in control even if I can’t see the outcome. It’s hard to keep moving forward sometimes but I have to trust that God will provide the financial support that I am meant to raise, that my Spanish will improve where I feel confident in speaking it, that I will gain an understanding of things that I don’t understand, etc. God’s in control but it’s not always easy to see and go each day not knowing the outcome of things or know how things will be provided. God’s in control and I need to rest in Christ in this time of life when I don’t have answers and don’t know how I will be funded or when my Spanish will come back and be comfortable speaking it again.

So, that’s my life right now and any prayer and support would be appreciated.

I've got you!

The title of this blog post came about from the all staff meeting that we had this morning. We started with reading Psalm 127:1-2 and I think we were all tired but the end of this scripture says “he granted sleep to those He loves.” For me, this scripture struck me this morning since I will be honest and say that I am tired and have been finding myself not sleeping at night. However, God doesn’t want us to be that way, He wants to fill us up and replenish us. He wants to give us rest and allow us to sleep. God doesn’t want us to be worrying about everything that we have to do or didn’t do, but He wants us to be in the here and now since we can only live in the present. “We can’t live in the past, we can’t live in the future, we can only live in the present.” And that is very true.

I found myself being a little home sick today and missing everyone back home in Indiana and all of my sorority sisters and InterVarsity (some of the most influential things during my college career) and now I find myself waking up every morning as a “missionary” with the Dallas Leadership Foundation. Now, I still have not wrapped my mind around that completely but I know God has had a plan in every step that I have made and brought me here for a reason. I also want to say that I am very blessed to be working with some amazing people who I am sure will become like family to me over the next 2 years. I went from being intimidated by the president the first time I talked to him on the phone, to being able to have a conversation with him without being intimidated. I went from not knowing anyone at the Dallas Leadership Foundation, to knowing the majority of the staff and having conversations with them as well. My placement site is already becoming like home to me but that still doesn’t take away the fact that I am 20 hours away from my biological family and home.

So, going back to the title of this blog. “I’ve got you” I can imagine that God has been saying this a lot to me lately as I have been transitioning from being in Indiana and around things that I knew to living in Texas and knowing just about nothing. I am starting to feel like I have a purpose here after being here for a month and even when I may question why I am here or if I made the right choice, I know that God’s telling me, “I’ve got you” and that He means it. He is my guide and this path is one that He knows better than I do. He has been with me from the day I was born and He will continue to guide me and have my back. He wants me to find rest physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He doesn’t want me to be worrying about the things that I can’t control and He is asking to take care of the things that may be bothering me so that I may find rest.

So, do you trust that God’s telling you today that He has you and that He wants to give you rest? What does God want to take from you so that you may find that rest in Him as well as physically?

Today I was asked to be a volunteer coordinator for an upcoming event called the Big Splash Gala and I have never done this type of stuff before. It would be easy for me to worry about all of the logistics but after today's devotion from the staff meeting, I will remind myself that God has me and He has my back. He's already worked out all of the logistics and He knows the outcome. God's got me and He has my back, what more could I ask for at this moment? Nothing, so I won't worry or stress over what I was asked to do but instead, I will rely on God and trust that He has me and He has my back!

For me, this is what God has been speaking to me today thanks to the all staff meeting and it was a reminder that I needed since I needed to be reminded to look to God and that he has my back. He knows the outcome and He has it all figured out already so I need to stop worrying (as hard as that is for me) and allow Him to do His work. Rest is important and I do believe in what this passage says! So, take rest in God and allow Him to deal with yesterday, tomorrow, and today!

I am not used to this...

This week has gone by fast so far, considering that it’s Thursday, but it has also been a long week at the same time. I have found myself on the go all week and at times I feel like I have been non-stop however, there are times that I also have nothing to do and am bored in between the non-stop and on the go. I have worked anywhere from 6-14 hours / day this week and tonight was another one of those long night. Tonight was a mix and mingle for us to try to get people in to hear about the power lunch program that the Dallas Leadership Foundation has (and I will be helping with once the program starts up in the schools and have already been attending the staff meetings for). But we wanted people to come and hear about this program since we are in need of mentors to help out since there is not enough man / woman power to do it all on our own. It went okay however; today was just a day that I was not used to.

Being in a different area, atmosphere, etc than I am used to can have some challenges. The Texas heat is one of those areas that I have to get used to and I found myself not feeling the best right before the mix and mingle. One of my supervisors and the other’s that help with the youth leadership movement found out about it and were worried about me. I feel like I was constantly being asked if I was going okay, how I was feeling, if I had eaten, etc and my response kept being “I am fine” since I am stubborn and that’s always my response. However, that didn’t stop them. We ended the mix and mingle time and I was waiting around to help clean up but when my supervisor saw me he didn’t think I was doing well and was worried. To make the story short, I was told to leave and not help clean up (however, if you know me then you would know that I am the type that is there till the end, gets the job done, and will stay till everything is finished) so, I waited around a little bit longer until they finally told me again to leave and I gave in and left.

I was also told that I was getting some things done too fast since I was running out of things to do. I was helping input some data into our computer system (much like I did in college with InterVarsity in regards to keeping track of attendance, following up with people, etc) so this is nothing new (however the program that we use is) but once you know what you are doing then it’s fairly easy, just takes a little bit of time. So, I got done with inputting all the data that was needed to be put in and then was told that I was going too fast (not in a bad way, just surprised that it was done…

So, here are a few take away from today that I am not used to

1. I am not used to leaving before the job is done
2. I am not used to being constantly worried about by my supervisors/boss
3. I am not used to being told that I am working too fast
4. I am still adjusting to the Texas heat
5. I am still as stubborn as I have always been
6. I am still determined to get the job done

What's the possitive?

Yesterday I was asked to help my placement site in communicating with a Hispanic family so, today, I took on that challenge and called the family to see if we could video and interview them on how they liked the work that was done on their house. However, at the end of the conversation, they ended up saying that they did not want to be video taped. Being who I am and owning the task that I was given, I was instantly hard on myself since I felt like I had failed however, I know that the enemy would love for me to say this to myself. I graduated with a major in Spanish, took Spanish for 8 years, and studied abroad in Costa Rica for 5 weeks. Now, I am not sure why the family had denied the request to be video taped since it could be due to them not knowing who I am, my Spanish may not have been the most fluent and smooth, they may not have understood the reason for the video, or many other reasons that may have led them to say that they didn’t want to be video taped.

However, after phone conversation and having the offer turned down, I am glad to say that I am partnering with an amazing organization and have brothers and sisters in Christ at my placement site. I had to attend a 4 hour-long meeting and we always start with a devotion and prayer. The devotion today was about not fearing and was prayer is always a needed and good thing! So, this all happened and even after things didn’t start out as I had hoped this morning, it was good to be able to use my Spanish some and I look forward to the days that I am able to use it even more, but hopefully next time I will be speaking to people in person rather than on the phone.

Today, I was also reminded about how things are back home in Indiana. The weather there and here are very different since Indiana’s temperature is in the 70’s and here in Texas, it’s in the 90’s. This is the time of year where you would be going to the apple orchard, starting to get pumpkins from pumpkin patches, going on hayrides, and doing things that are associated with fall weather. However, Texas is still in the 90’s and not Indiana. Fall is probably one of my favorite seasons and yet it’s not apparent here in Texas right now. I was also reminded of the fact that I probably won’t be traveling this holiday season and won’t be with the family and it’s going to be hard. I don’t think I have ever missed a holiday with my family so this will be a hard transition as the holiday seasons start to approach. Yeah, it would be awesome to be able to be home for at least Christmas, but I am not sure how that would work out.

However, in the midst of being a little home sick, missing friends and family, and dealing with the transitions, I am glad that I am working in a Christian atmosphere and I look forward to getting to learn more about the Dallas Leadership Foundation and getting more involved with the work that they do here. So, I was reminded that I need to look for the good in every situation rather than dwell on the things that weren’t meant to happen or in the difficult times. God is with me and will always be with me. God is enough and I know that He has me here in Dallas for a reason, not by a mistake.