A big theme for our project this year has been to build community between everyone on project. To kick off our 4th week (I can't believe it has been 4 weeks already!), we had a kickball game with the staff versus students and we almost won. Apparently, staff hasn't lost a game in a while and we definitely gave them a run for their money. This kickball game was to start our week's theme which is "Magnificent Community." I feel as if our group of people on project have already built a sense of community. We definitely have build a little family and we have only known each other for approximately 4 weeks. How crazy is that?!?! God has really been teaching me what a community looks like between believers and how we should develop it. I think the main part of building community is to be open and supportive of each other. I can attest that we all were so supportive of each other during the kickball game. Everyone on our team got along so well and cheered for each other. It was so awesome to see 70 college students working together as a team to accomplish a goal of 1. having some fun and 2. trying to beat staff. However, I do have to say that staff did get scared a little bit about possibly losing, we almost had 'em. I have also learned that within a community of believers, there is no hitting around the bush, we need to dive straight in and get to business. A community of believers will tell one another their struggles and are willing to point out their sins. They are willing to encourage and spend hours listening to one another and talking about the Gospel. The Webster's Dictionary defines a community as: a unified body of individuals. This definition could not be more true of our CSP '12 group. We are all a body of Christ with each member having their own identity and working towards the common goal of glorifying God and His kingdom in all that we do. It so awesome to see how God has been able to bring all of us together with different backgrounds and personalities to be one body of Christ while here in Chicago. Throughout this project so far, I have just been amazed at what our God can do and let me tell you if you don't know already, He can do ANYTHING!!
I would love for those of you who are reading this blog to know how ya'll can pray for me and the people on this project:
1. For an even stronger community.
2. That all conversations with each other are intentional (i'm done with surface convos)
3. That I will use my job as a ministry opportunity
4. That I continue to find time with the Lord daily.
P.S. I've been learning that I also talk really different from almost everyone on project, even the ECU folks...
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
God's Timing is Best!
Ever since I've been on project, I have struggled with allowing God's timing to be more prominent in my life. My personality has always been the one that plans things out and has to know what is going to be happening within next few days. I do not enjoy last minute planning, but would rather have things planned out ahead of time. So God has really been telling me since I've been on project to trust Him and His plan. I have finally been able to give over my plan for the summer while on project and I have been able to witness God's providing character. He has finally provided a job for me and my fabulous roomie, Amy. We both have been offered a job at Ann Taylor, which if you know me, is one of my favorite stores ever! I was absolutely not expecting to receive the job there, but God has proven to me that He will provide the things that I need in my life in order to glorify Him and His name. My day has been turned around because I can finally say that I have a job and I will be working the city of Chicago. I'll be working in Chicago. That is so crazy that think about. I'm going to finally be making some real money and have a set schedule, which is what I've been longing for since I've gotten to Chi-town. I'm really excited to see how I'll be able to minister to my new co-workers and build lasting relationships with them. God is so good and His timing is perfect. I'm so excited to begin my journey with working with Ann Taylor to see how God will use this job to bring praise and glory to His name!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
"The Gift of Singleness"
Tonight, during my date night with Jesus, I was talking to my sweet friends Amy and Susan about being single after Amy read something about relationships in 1 Corinthians. Susan had mentioned that her church back at home did a series on the "Gift of Singleness." I have struggled with the idea of being single as a gift from God, but in all reality, it is. A gift that we can grow in our walk with the Lord and to create a more intimate relationship with Him without having to worry about a relationship with a significant other (#truth) Check out the sermon, it is really powerful and has so many great moments about God's gift of singleness for us single folks.
http://rivchurch.com/grow/weekend-services/messages/
It's week 10 :) Enjoy!
http://rivchurch.com/grow/weekend-services/messages/
It's week 10 :) Enjoy!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Vulnerability
Tonight, we had our first Women's Time. Some of the staff ladies baked cookies and they were delicious. Nancy (one of our directors) spoke about how a lot changes from when we fill out our applications for project and when we actually arrive on project. Nancy shared about how her vision for us ladies on this project is that we would be comfortable enough to share our troubles and pain with one another. Nancy opened the floor to allow each of us the chance to share our struggles. Of course, at first no one wanted to share and by the end almost every girl on project shared their struggles. It was so beautiful to really see these girls break down and share what they were/are struggling with.The topics ranged from just their views and emotions to God to facing temptations to just wanting to fit in. I absolutely love these moments of vulnerability. Speaking of vulnerability...i crave for those moments with people, but I have realized in the last semester that I don't enjoy being vulnerable with people. Really letting them into my life and my struggles. I have always been able to put up a persona that is very confident. I shared with the ladies about my struggle with body image. I told myself that I wouldn't break down and low and behold, I broke down so much. God allowed me to really show these ladies my struggles with my body and dance. For the first time, I was real and I wasn't holding anything back. Being able to be that comfortable with a group of girls is what I strive for in my everyday friendships. My prayer for this summer is that God would allow me to build intentional and REAL friendships, no surface ones.
After all of the ladies shared that wanted to share, one of my fellow dancers came up to me..actually she ran over to me and wanted to speak with me. I could believe that another dancer who struggled with body issues and who could relate to me with trying to remain modest and remaining faithful to God in our dress and attitude. I honestly doubted that there was another believer who struggled with the same issues as me. God has clearly brought me to Chicago Summer Project to connect with these ladies and to help them heal from their pain.
It was also encouraging to hear that some of the ladies told me that the first thing that they say of me was my kind spirit and the joy that I have. I have to give all of that credit to the Lord because I definitely can't obtain that on my own. Hearing ladies tell me how my attitude made them want to know me makes me see how God really shines through me to the people around me.
My prayer for this summer is that I would build intentional and deep relationships with my fellow project ladies and allow all of my conversations to be intentional with everyone on project.
After all of the ladies shared that wanted to share, one of my fellow dancers came up to me..actually she ran over to me and wanted to speak with me. I could believe that another dancer who struggled with body issues and who could relate to me with trying to remain modest and remaining faithful to God in our dress and attitude. I honestly doubted that there was another believer who struggled with the same issues as me. God has clearly brought me to Chicago Summer Project to connect with these ladies and to help them heal from their pain.
It was also encouraging to hear that some of the ladies told me that the first thing that they say of me was my kind spirit and the joy that I have. I have to give all of that credit to the Lord because I definitely can't obtain that on my own. Hearing ladies tell me how my attitude made them want to know me makes me see how God really shines through me to the people around me.
My prayer for this summer is that I would build intentional and deep relationships with my fellow project ladies and allow all of my conversations to be intentional with everyone on project.
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." -Psalms 139:14
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Job, oh Job, where art thou Job?
As part of Chicago Summer Project, we are expected to have jobs, even though some of us will not get one. We started the job search on Monday, and let me just tell you....God has been teaching me so much through the process. I have never had to go out and search for jobs before (and I'm very thankful for that), but it is a WHOLE lot harder than what I thought. Monday, I went out with Danielle and Carlyn, and we didn't have much luck at all. I honestly didn't even have a plan for my job search at this point. I ended up with blisters from my shoes, we got lost, and I didn't have a job. After the first day, I knew I had to solely rely on God to lead me and to provide me the job that He wants me to have. There is no way that I can get a job without His help and guidance. For the past two days, I've been going out with Amy (from ECU) and we have definitely made some progress. We applied to a million places (ok maybe not that many, but too many for me to count), and we were having no luck. We didn't get discouraged, but we were continually praying that God would allow us to find the job that He wants us to have for the summer if it is in His plans for us. One of our friends gave us a lead to a women's clothing store called White House Black Market. We went there as soon as we could and gave the manager our resume. She had us do a little trial run, which I thought went really well for both Amy and I. We were supposed to hear back from the manager that same day, but she never did called. Day 2 no job so on to Day 3. Wednesday, we went back to White House Black Market, and the lady told us that she would be getting in contact with us by Thursday. So I'm praying that I'll be getting a phone call soon about that job. I also applied to Ann Taylor yesterday as well. I'm absolutely in LOVE with that store. Amy and I filled out an application and did their little survey online and hopefully we will be contacted about a job there. I'm started to realize more and more that God has given me an optimistic attitude about getting a job. These past few days, I have been saying "Today, we will find a job" and really God has given me the peace and contentment that if I don't find a job then that is totally ok. But job searching is draining, emotionally and physically.
One of our staff leaders read to us a verse out of the Bible as an encouragement as we were going to find jobs one day this week. The verse that he read was "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." This verse was so encouraging to me because God already has a job prepared for me whether it is in Chicago, or that it has something to do with our specific project. I have been continually praying that God would reveal this place to me and that I can trust in His plans for me and not my own. I would ask that ya'll would pray for those of us who do not have jobs yet and that are still seeking where God wants us to be this summer.
-more later :)
One of our staff leaders read to us a verse out of the Bible as an encouragement as we were going to find jobs one day this week. The verse that he read was "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." This verse was so encouraging to me because God already has a job prepared for me whether it is in Chicago, or that it has something to do with our specific project. I have been continually praying that God would reveal this place to me and that I can trust in His plans for me and not my own. I would ask that ya'll would pray for those of us who do not have jobs yet and that are still seeking where God wants us to be this summer.
-more later :)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Adjusting to the City
I have officially been in Chi-town for 3 days now and my life has not slowed done one bit. I flew in on Friday with Cody and Logan. We had a blast flying in and watching Cody be amazed by seeing the clouds and city from the air. Our flight from Raleigh to Chicago was delayed about 30 minutes and we somehow managed to make it to Chicago on our original landing time. I think that pilot was booking it in the sky. My bible study leader for the summer, Erin, picked Logan and I up from the airport and had a fabulous adventure trying to navigate Chicago to get back to our new homes for the summer. We got to really see the bad and good parts of Chicago on that ride. We arrived to our new home, the Automatic Lofts, and were greeted by many of the staff, which are all awesome and super nice. We had to go through a check-in process, which I'm so thankful for my new roommate, Anne, who helped me with the process. Speaking of roommates, I love and adore mine. Finally meeting them has been so good and I have really enjoyed getting to know them these past few days. I'm also very excited about seeing how God will deepen those relationships this summer.
Friday night, we had dinner together as a project. So this was the first time that I actually got to meet a lot of the people that I will be spending my summer with. (now whether I remembered their names or not is another question). Before we ate, we had to play a game to get to know the people on project and of course it was the silly bingo game where you have to get signatures. I really do not like doing those kinds of activities, but it definitely made me have to initiate some conversations. There were a group of us who got all the signatures for every box, and so in order to determine the winner, we did a rock, paper, scissor tournament. After I got out on the second round, it was time for me to eat my first piece of Chicago-style pizza. I must say it was rather delicious. The rest of the night consisted of us all just hanging out and getting to know each other. Some people played ping pong, others played UNO, and I played Spoons, which was so much fun. I was able to really get to know some new people by playing and we had a complete blast.
Saturday, a busy busy busy day. We were served a yummy breakfast first thing in the morning and then we went straight into a meeting to discuss some of the rules and policies that we need to follow while in Chicago. Bacho (our head director for our project) did a little bible study lesson. He had a passage from Acts, and the passage really talked about community, of being of one heart and one soul. I pray that this summer will teach me what community really is. What it means to be part of one and to interact with people within the community of believers. I think God has really already provided the foundation for a community within this project already. Everyone is getting along great and we are all having a blast hanging out with one another. That afternoon, we were divided into teams and had to compete in the Chicago Scavenger hunt. We did this in order to learn how to work the "L" (the metro train). At first, the "L" scared me, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it. My team didn't win the challenge, but we had fun walking around the city. Saturday night, we were on our own for dinner, so my roommates and I went to Greektown, which is only like 5 minutes from the loft. We ate at this super cute restaurant called Athena and I tried Gyros for the first time. I must say they were pretty tasty too. My roommates and I decided that this would be a great opportunity to get to know one another, so we each took a chance asking questions. These questions could either be super silly or super serious. I think we had a great balance of the two. At night, we have been having Project Fun time, which is just some time that we spend together as a project doing something fun. So Saturday night's project fun was an ice cream party where we could play on the Wii or watch Ferris Buellers Day Off. A group of us decided to play this game called Mafia, which I had never played before, but it got really funny, because we couldn't keep the game going.
Sunday: We went to church at Willow Chicago, which is right in the middle of the city (maybe not, but it's close). It is held in the auditorium of Roosevelt University. This place was amazing. You would think this place was made for the opera, not for a church to be held at. Church was really good, I'm still trying to process whether I like how the pastor preaches or not. Hopefully next Sunday will be a little bit better. That afternoon was our first chance to go out into the city and share our faith. I partnered up with Michelle, one of the staff women, and we all went out to Millennium Park (where the Bean is). There were so many people out there and to be honest, I was nervous about initiating conversation with someone. Michelle went first so I could see how she started the conversation. I went ahead and took a step of faith to initiate a conversation with a girl laying on the ground. I asked the girl the questions on the survey and the last question was about her desire to know God, and she responded with a 1 (which is not at all). This broke my heart and I would say that God really opened my eyes to how many people in this world need Jesus. I now have a desire to go on to these campuses and share my faith and God's holiness with these students. I'm ready to initiate these conversations and to develop these relationships with people that I don't know. I'm excited now to see how God will allow me to develop these skills to take back to ECU's campus and share with those that are around me daily. Sunday ended with a Project Fun of bowling on IUC campus. We had an absolute blast taking pictures and bowling with each other. I was able to get to know some of the other guys and gals that were bowling in the lanes next to me.
So far, I have just been amazed at how God can bring this many people to one city to share His love with. He has shown that He will be faithful to us and love us during the times that we want to give up. He has brought each and everyone one of us to this project for a special reason and I'm excited to unwrap that mystery and see God's plan unfold. Please continue to pray for each of us that are on this project that we will stay focus, build relationships, and to be intentional in all that we do.
** sorry this post was so long, orientation weekend for us is crazy busy... :)
Friday night, we had dinner together as a project. So this was the first time that I actually got to meet a lot of the people that I will be spending my summer with. (now whether I remembered their names or not is another question). Before we ate, we had to play a game to get to know the people on project and of course it was the silly bingo game where you have to get signatures. I really do not like doing those kinds of activities, but it definitely made me have to initiate some conversations. There were a group of us who got all the signatures for every box, and so in order to determine the winner, we did a rock, paper, scissor tournament. After I got out on the second round, it was time for me to eat my first piece of Chicago-style pizza. I must say it was rather delicious. The rest of the night consisted of us all just hanging out and getting to know each other. Some people played ping pong, others played UNO, and I played Spoons, which was so much fun. I was able to really get to know some new people by playing and we had a complete blast.
Saturday, a busy busy busy day. We were served a yummy breakfast first thing in the morning and then we went straight into a meeting to discuss some of the rules and policies that we need to follow while in Chicago. Bacho (our head director for our project) did a little bible study lesson. He had a passage from Acts, and the passage really talked about community, of being of one heart and one soul. I pray that this summer will teach me what community really is. What it means to be part of one and to interact with people within the community of believers. I think God has really already provided the foundation for a community within this project already. Everyone is getting along great and we are all having a blast hanging out with one another. That afternoon, we were divided into teams and had to compete in the Chicago Scavenger hunt. We did this in order to learn how to work the "L" (the metro train). At first, the "L" scared me, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it. My team didn't win the challenge, but we had fun walking around the city. Saturday night, we were on our own for dinner, so my roommates and I went to Greektown, which is only like 5 minutes from the loft. We ate at this super cute restaurant called Athena and I tried Gyros for the first time. I must say they were pretty tasty too. My roommates and I decided that this would be a great opportunity to get to know one another, so we each took a chance asking questions. These questions could either be super silly or super serious. I think we had a great balance of the two. At night, we have been having Project Fun time, which is just some time that we spend together as a project doing something fun. So Saturday night's project fun was an ice cream party where we could play on the Wii or watch Ferris Buellers Day Off. A group of us decided to play this game called Mafia, which I had never played before, but it got really funny, because we couldn't keep the game going.
Sunday: We went to church at Willow Chicago, which is right in the middle of the city (maybe not, but it's close). It is held in the auditorium of Roosevelt University. This place was amazing. You would think this place was made for the opera, not for a church to be held at. Church was really good, I'm still trying to process whether I like how the pastor preaches or not. Hopefully next Sunday will be a little bit better. That afternoon was our first chance to go out into the city and share our faith. I partnered up with Michelle, one of the staff women, and we all went out to Millennium Park (where the Bean is). There were so many people out there and to be honest, I was nervous about initiating conversation with someone. Michelle went first so I could see how she started the conversation. I went ahead and took a step of faith to initiate a conversation with a girl laying on the ground. I asked the girl the questions on the survey and the last question was about her desire to know God, and she responded with a 1 (which is not at all). This broke my heart and I would say that God really opened my eyes to how many people in this world need Jesus. I now have a desire to go on to these campuses and share my faith and God's holiness with these students. I'm ready to initiate these conversations and to develop these relationships with people that I don't know. I'm excited now to see how God will allow me to develop these skills to take back to ECU's campus and share with those that are around me daily. Sunday ended with a Project Fun of bowling on IUC campus. We had an absolute blast taking pictures and bowling with each other. I was able to get to know some of the other guys and gals that were bowling in the lanes next to me.
So far, I have just been amazed at how God can bring this many people to one city to share His love with. He has shown that He will be faithful to us and love us during the times that we want to give up. He has brought each and everyone one of us to this project for a special reason and I'm excited to unwrap that mystery and see God's plan unfold. Please continue to pray for each of us that are on this project that we will stay focus, build relationships, and to be intentional in all that we do.
** sorry this post was so long, orientation weekend for us is crazy busy... :)
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