So I went to JBU...

I had been dreading the trip to John Brown University since I first heard about it. Every time it was mentioned I had to force myself to hold back a physical grimmace. It was very clear that I did not want to go to JBU for the Link Year conference at all. The other Link Year students from Kanakuk were all going to be there. A solid group of 31 kids who all knew and loved each other. We (Cody and I) were going to be the two weird kids, knowing nobody but each other. The thought of it was dreadful. I had nightmares the entire night before, and woke up with horrible anxiety. The thought of going was eating me up. I couldn't stand it. I had a horrible attitude, but somehow, God worked around it, like He always does. I was compliant, and He was persistant.

Much to my dismay, I quickly made friends from the Kanakuk group. Cody and I weren't the outcasts after all. Conner Baxter, one of my friends that I have known since the elementary school age was there with the group from Kanakuk giving me an easy in. I was introduced to people, and soon found myself laughing and doing life with people that an hour ago were complete strangers. We had real talks, worked out (which I usually hate), and read the Bible together as if we had known each other for years. It was simple, really. I was inspired by these people who so openly put their hearts on the line. They poured into me, and I consequently had the chance to do the same. I am looking forward to seeing where these friendships will progress as all of us go on to life outside of the Link Year world.
John Brown is beautiful, by the way. I love the campus and the classroom atmosphere. If I were going to choose a college to go to, that would be it. It fits me like a glove. I have never been more proud to say that I am taking classes from such an incredible college. The professors were amazing, the student life was incredible, and I was inspired.

Ministraaayyy! (Yes, this is for a purpose)

So this past week I've finally gotten into the groove of the life of an intern and student. It's been really exciting to see how God is going to use me each day. From bouncing babies to digging through the youth ministries closet, my ministry is full of silly wonders. I've been struggling this week with having to figure out where I stand in the expected maturity for my age category. I've been questioning whether I should react to things like a boring ol' adult, or a spontaneous seventeen year old. The answer I've found somewhere in between.
I am seventeen. A perfect age, I might add. I have responsibilities, but am also expected to hula hoop in the great room and spill ramen noodles all over myself. I'm still a kid, just waiting to make yet another mistake. My youthfulness is a benefit to those around me. When working with the kids in the bilingual pre-school, I am the one they look to when a kid is about to stuff something up his nose or eat playdough. I have the grace and tenacity to dive and gently take it out of the said childs hands before disaster strikes. When tables need rolling, I'm your girl.  I successfully wobble and wince at every rolling over of my feet. I love hanging signs in the hallways. I really do. This is not sarcasm. Cleaning out the student minstry closet? No task is too big for me, the young wiggly one.
The title "intern" sounds so official. Ministry sounds so grown up. So for now, I'd like to think of myself as the Interrrnnnn!! :)))) and the work I do Ministraaayyy.

Here's to more serious matters. My internship site is pretty great. I love all the people I work with, and we work in a pretty amazing part of Tulsa. I am proud to say that I am an intern at Garnett.
Here are some of my favorite things, people, places, and things we do at Garnett:
1. Beth West-- She keeps me in line, while encouraging me to be a kids, when appropriate.
2. The Green Country Event Center- one of our largest assets, the GCEC is a large building that is used by 5 different churches, two adult ed. schools, two pre-school centers, and much more. It's kinda the bomb.
3. Cafe Mosaic- this wonderful cafe holds one thing that brings the whole Event Center together, the coffee. I love meeting all the people coming in and out. We have a blast.
4. Charlies Chicken (down the street)- This has become one of my favorite stops, the fried okra and mashed potatoes are to die for.
5. Hispanic community- we are a big fan of the hispanic community that surrounds Garnett. They make up a large part of our ministry and what we love to do.
6. ZIPLINE- Yes, friends, we have a zipline behind our church. It's kinda a big deal.
7. The Bilingual Preschool- Serving children and families in two languages. What could be better? (Atienden a los niños y las familias en dos linguas. ¿Qué podría ser mejor?)
8. Taco stands- We've made these stands/trucks a weekly venture as we hope to attend all the taco stands in East Tulsa by the end of the school year. :) The lengua tacos are the best. Trust me.
That's all that I can think of off the top of my head.
:)

 

Speaking in Confidence

In the past few weeks I have met many people whose lives have come in contact with my own. Last week I started volunteering at the Garnett Bilingual Preschool where I've met some amazing women. I work in Ms. Carina's classroom with 1 and 2 year olds. The kids are precious and building relationships of trust with them has been a blast, but building a relationship of trust and responsibility with their teacher is what I would like to touch on.
Carina has had faith in me since the second I stepped into her classroom. She automatically handed me a book and said, "Just read it, your English is better than mine." To which I decided to take hold of the opportunity and read. She translated the things I said, and I tried my best to learn just as much as the kids were. I want to know her language. As the day progressed our stories began to slowly come out piece by piece. I told her about my passion for Guatemala and she told me about Argentina, her home country. We spent a lot of time comparing the cultures of the countries we both knew and loved. She told me about her kids, she has three boys, that are seven, four, and two. She told me how much they had blessed her and how her life changed as they continued to grow.
Our conversations were very intriguing, both of us speaking a sort of broken Spanglish. I would throw in the Spanish words I knew and fill in the gaps with the English, while she did the opposite, throwing in English when she knew I wouldn't understand. Getting to know Carina and her story has been such a blessing. God works through her everyday in the lives of the kids she works with and her own family, as well as the few conversations we have had. She told me not to be embarrased of my Spanish, but to speak it with confidence, and just hope the words come out right.

This advice relates to more than just speaking in Spanish, though. Throughout my entire life I've struggled to not be wrong. I don't care if I'm right, that doesn't matter, but if I feel like I have the chance to be wrong, most of the time, I just wont do it. Carinas simple advice to speak with confidence, and just hope the words came out right has been rolling around in my mind. She told me, "It's okay to not know, I'll understand you just like you understand me." It's okay to be wrong. The gentle love and encouragement by Carina and her collegues has been incredible to me. Without knowing it she is constantly challenging me and pushing me to put aside my pride and speak in confidence. The Lord is my strength, it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks about me or if I'm right or wrong. He loves me all the same.

Redskins for Life

In the last week, I've come to the end of a 13 year long journey which is Union Public Schools. I've worked my way up the ladder of knowledge to what many say is allowed to be the end. Today I celebrate the end of my career at Union Pubic Schools. I am picking up my diploma, hugging my teachers, and thanking God for the opportunities He has given, and the success I had in school and beyond. School was never hard for me. I was perfectly satisfied with straight B's. If I had an A, that was icing on the cake. I let myself get stressed out over things that don't and wont matter in the long run, and made friends that have constantly encouraged me in my dreams and hopefully touched a few lives in the process.
Sometimes I feel as if I've cheated the educational system by graduating early. I like to think of it as sticking it to the very large 6A man. School was never my passion. Though I had many friends, and loved my teachers, I never woke up in the morning thinking, "Today I'm going to do something great." Instead it was always, "Today will be exactly like yesterday, and the day before that." Monotony at it's finest. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Union. I love the atmosphere of the hallways, the people I saw and talked to on a daily basis that I would have never known if I had not been put in a class with them, the pride of our dedication to sports and acedemics both, suprising, I know, and basically all of it. I love having to yell over the crowds, and smile at the people that gave me strange looks for wearing bright red overalls. Union was great. It made me the person I am today, no doubt.
Coming to the end of the road, I've had a lot of time to look back. When talking to my friends, they discuss math problems, and puns about statistics, and while that is awesome, and I'm so proud of them, I am so glad that I am not in their shoes. I have always known that I have a greater purpose than getting an education, and running the halls of Union High School, and currently, I feel like I've found it. I'm doing what I know is God's purpose for me, and while it's lonely most of the time, I know that I am in the very center of God's will. I miss my friends, but the joy that I have from spending each day doing what I love makes any of those feelings fade away.
High School was an incredible chapter in my life. The teachers at Union, and the incredible administration has blessed me completely. Without Union, I would not be the girl I am today. I've learned so much, but now it's time to move on to a greater chapter. I will always be a Union Redskin. Redskins for life.

Sharing is Caring

This Sunday I experienced something that many will never experience in the modern American church. I saw unity and strength in the hearts of a bunch of crazy kids who had maybe never met each other before. Two weeks ago Garnett and Connection Church created something beautiful and kinda crazy in the aspect of children's ministry. These two churches that are completely different came together as one through their children. A couple months ago when Connection church began discussing worshipping at the Green Country Event Center, they expressed the desire to use the children's wing for their children's ministry. Seeing that Garnett used that wing for their own kids at the exact same time, a bunch of red flags went up. Garnett's children's ministry has been struggling for the past few years, while Connection had a thriving ministry. So, it would be awkward to have two churches using the same space at the same time, wouldn't it? After a lot of discussion about the children's ministry, Garnett and Connection realized that they both were using some of the same curriculum for the children's ministry. Odd coincidence, eh? After more discussion, the two churches decided to put all their differences aside, and to combine their children's ministry. It was this combination that brought on a beautiful sight.
As i stepped through the corridor to "Kids City" I automatically lost sight of who's people were who. I'm new to the church, so I had no clue which volunteers came from which church, but at the same time, it seemed like nobody else knew either. The kids apparently didn't notice that anything was new either. They were all playing as one. I spent some time in the elementary aged kids, and they were still rowdy, and hilarious as ever.
It was really fun to see how God works through the hearts of children and the lessons we are teaching them at a young age. Through this odd combining of churches I think we are teaching our kids to share more than their toys, we are teaching them what it is like to be unified as the body of Christ. God asks us to be unified, despite denomination and petty beliefs. We are a body of believers, and I think God was smiling as he saw the kids playing with each other, and the volunteers small talking in the back of the room.