last day

today is my last day here at the Health Clinic.


funny how I haven't seen my supervisor since I gave my two weeks. and I got an email this morning in response to one I sent her, it said she wouldn't be able to make it over here to pick up the key from me so I'm just supposed to leave it with the receptionist. that's a little crazy don't ya think?


good thing I'm leaving early to go make cookies with Anna, then movie night at Shawns, then wakin up super early to get Matt from Union Station. it should be a good weekend.


and I talked with the lady who I'll be working for next and she's so excited and it looks like for starters I'll be working with preschoolers. how perfect is that? she said that I'm coming in at the perfect time. God works in mysterious ways.


miss mean ... bring me cake and balloons. I think you're great.


alright this is it. I'm gonna go say goodbye ... then I'm outta here.


and last night i had a dream that i was this secret agent of sorts. my family knew about it. then i jumped off this ridiculously high snow drift and johnny was sitting at the bottom in a t-shirt playing guitar. where in the world do these things come from? i'm gonna go take a nap and try my luck at better dreams. have a wonderful weekend everyone!

change ... everybodies doin it

tomorrow's my last day here ... somehow I neglected to tell my coworkers ... I'm gonna do that as soon as I'm done typing this ... weird how I haven't heard from my supervisor in two weeks ...


a lot of people that I know are going through, or are about to go through, some kind of life altering change. seasons like this get me really pumped and excited to see what God can do.


last night some of my roommates got to laughing so hard we couldn't stop. it was the stomach hurting kind of laugh. then we played the "ha-ha" game. five of us played ... the other two were annoyed with us.


i'll be back in ohio in a week.

just gimme one

Last night I dreamt that I was fighting in a war. It wasn't overseas, it was here in America. And this guy was being a real jerk.

displaced

Proverbs 28:27
"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing,
but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses."


Today I started reading Being White by Doug Schaupp and Paula Harris. So far so good. There's a huge emphasis on displacement. Choosing to place yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to befriend those of other ethnicities. It does a good job of looking at how we're to live with different races through a scriptural worldview. I'm a fan of this book so far.


Last night all of us leaders at J.A.M. got roped together and the kids threw water balloons at us. What a way to end the year.

dreamful sleep

last night i had some disturbing dreams. in the future i will be avoiding people with bow and arrows, non-smokers, mansions, car's whose seats are covered in 6 in. of ice and family vacations.

do you have action?

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27


"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22


"What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14-17


This is good, and challenging. And it's pretty self-explanatory, so read it and let it sink in. Way to go James.

life makes me so excited.

this weekend

lemme say that i've just enjoyed a fabulous weekend. the seniors from crosstrainers came out thursday night and just left a couple hours ago. we laughed and played so much ... and we got to experience God in really great ways.


duh duh duh duh. take a look at my girlfriend.


last night almost all of us slept on the churchs roof and we laughed till 3 in the mornin' then laura and i woke up at 530am. this girl is tired.


it was funny to see all these kids as seniors. ryder and i used to go have lunch with them at school once a week, and now they're graduating. it's crazy how time flies ya know? drew and eric flirted shamelessly with laura and i. we loved every minute of it.


let's have a list of names shall we? laura, ryder, nate and jed were the "leaders". jessica, alyssa, anna, wess, eric, drew, suzi and allie ... those were our precious little ones. it was the perfect group. i wouldn't have traded anyone on this team.


God is so faithful and i've been so encouraged by this weekend.


it's funny how when you try to convince people that they should move somewhere you realize how much you love it ... anyone considering a move ... you know who you are ... just do it. why not?


alright i'm gonna go hit up my starbucks and write about everything i learned this weekend.


thank you wonderfuls for coming and letting God use you in ways you'll never understand.


more to come ...

my funny, gutsy city director

try this out for funny.


shawn came over last night and he did some hilarious things.


first off i was asking if a friend could come to a training with me. he asked if this friend was a "friend". and i said no, we're just friends and when that made him hesitate i was like, "well we dated for like two weeks if that helps." he then responded with, "wow! that sounds like a long time for you laura!" everyone laughed.


then we were sitting watching this little mouse run back and forth from our bookshelf to the couch. cute right. well then shawn stands up, walks over to where the house is hiding, pulls up the pillow that it's hiding under and steps on him! he stepped him to death.


now we know that not only is shawn wise and passionate, he's also got guts and a sense of humor. good to know ... good to know ...


tonight i've got a bunch of friends coming. pretty excited about what the weekend may bring. we're going to be doing some cleaning and painting for one of the older ladies in our church. then some hangout time. a couple of my roommates want to hangout with us. we'll see how this all works out ... but I'm excited to see God work this weekend.

oh this horrible world

this week i've been reminded of how evil this world is. sometimes i forget that while God will overcome all of the sin and brokenness here, for the time being satan is the prince of this world.


isn't it ridiculous how insulated we become? we act as if we're living this easy "Christian" life when all over the world evil is dominating. there's no way to escape it, but at least we have hope.


"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33


something else that's been rolling around in my brain is when people say that they love someone not for who they are but for who they could be. they say that they love the potential they see in someone. and believe me, i've said the same thing. but isn't that wrong? it presents this problem, if you're appreciating someone for who they could be then you'll be expecting them to behave in ways their incapable of behaving. and isn't it a sort of cop out. we're called to love our neighbors, to love our enemies even. and the truth of the matter is that we're all sinful people. choosing not to see that or to look past that complicates things in the long run. we're to love people in spite of all their short comings. we're to love people for who they are, not for who they may or may not become in the future. and who ever gave us the right to decide who it is that our neighbors should or could be? we're a messed up people.


last night my roommates and i were talking about the tragedy that's taken place on virginia tech's campus. how can we look at things like this and not be convinced that the world is an evil place? there's no where to hide my friends. think of the devastation that this event is bringing. bigger than the students or the college, think of the parents of those who died. how about the younger siblings who are about to go away to college, don't you think those parents are going to have some serious reservations about their kids leaving them? what about the kids who were already struggling with thoughts of doing the same kinds of things? what about the students that survived and now have to live with that fear? how can satan do things like this? and how, as God's people can we help to bring love to those that are hurting?


i, for one, don't want satan to get away with things like this.

righteousness vs. justice

so much happened over the past week that i wouldn't even know where to start if i were to write it all out.

but i will share with you what my City Director shared with all of Mission Year.

Shawn was talking about righteousness and justice. he brought up how you rarely see those two words separated in the Old Testament, but that you hardly see the word justice at all in the New Testament. he filled us in on how the root of those two words is the same. they should be together.

he talked about how we've separted those two words and their meanings. but that we shouldn't have one without the other. righteousness has come to represent moral conscience while justice is more concerned with social issues. when we think of the righteous we tend to envision those whose personal relationship with God is top notch. while the word justice brings to mind someone fighting social inequality.

it's challenging. righteousness needs to exist hand-in-hand with justice. they should not be separte terms but different aspects of the same idea.

if i were to faithfully read my bible every day and never miss a church service but don't love those in need, what's the point of it?


faith without works is dead people.

b.j.novak

last night i had a dream that i was dating b.j. novak. we lived in the same state but i was going to transfer to another state. he asked me if i would stay with him, and i said yes. hilarious.

then i told my roommate dani about the dream, she's the only one who has seen the office, and she laughed and said, "that sounds like the total opposite of what you would do."


sometimes i wish there was some kind of machine you could plug yourself into so that you could experience dream world whenever you please ... other times i realize how stupid that sounds.

today's the big day

it's been a long day already ... nothing too much has happened ... it just feels like i've been sitting at my desk for 12 hours already. oh well.


tomorrow my roommates and some other mission year kids are taking part in a sleep out. we're raising awareness for youth homelessness here in Chicago. just pray that the cold doesn't get to us too bad.


then hopefully we'll be getting things set up at the new place on Saturday night. it'll just be really nice to finally get settled in somewhere.


bah hum bug. this weather is making me grumpy ... but i shouldn't complain because soon enough it's gonna be hot and gross and i'll be whiny about that. good thing God's really patient with me. good thing.

ch-ch-ch-changin

looks like i'll be doin that one thing tomorrow ... hopefully i have a back up plan before it's done and over with ...


fidelity ... what a pretty song ... thanks MLE ... from now on whenever i hear it i will think of you and i driving through powell on our way to josh's ... you're so great ...


brad left me a voicemail earlier today that said, "stop checking your voicemail and get back to work!" well, he got me ... but now i'm gettin LCHC by leaving early ... take that ...


i've been reading about generosity today ... giving freely to those in need trusting that if ever you're in need you too will be taken care of ... isn't that the way the church is supposed to be? ... well paul thought so ... and so do i ...

welcome back winter

today i sloshed my way down to the bus stop only to stand in the bitter cold for about forty-five minutes. but thanks to katie and kim at least i have really dry feet.

back in action

last night i was greeted by lauren and jenny. then anna, dani and tara all got home. my gosh who thought i would miss them so much? it's good to be back here. there were a lot of good times had back in ohio, but it's good to be back here. last night we just layed around in the living room talking and playing with hair. they're so great.


pray for me that i will be able to find a new service site this week. it's time to move on from here.


oh but i do miss my family and my special friends. good thing matt told me about this bus. this just means that you better come visit. the next four weekends are booked or are possibley booked. so check your calendar, then let's play.


my mom told me on the way to the airport that she doesn't really see me coming straight back to ohio after august ... who even knows what i'm supposed to do with my life ... just live with MLE is all ...


time to go do this work thing ... bah ...


Isaiah 58:6-14 (New International Version)

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

hey there delilah

this week is almost over ... but i'm extracting every good moment possible from it ... currently running on 3 hours of sleep and haven't felt better in a long time ...


about to have dinner with the family


emily scott ... you've been a scream this week. i think you're really great and i'm glad i have you.


slowly but surely ... it's happening just like i was afraid it would ...

the past couple days have been really nice.


today i've got paige, maybe laura brown, and maybe the brother ... who knows in what order ... but first some coffee shoping is in order ...


this week is gonna fly by ... so that's good ...


oh, had hound dogs yesterday. that pizza is good hot, and cold. fantastic. i may have to get it again before i leave ... we'll see ...