Hey, everyone! Update time!


A lot has been going on. Almost too much to mention, but I'm going to try.


My intern Nafisah is doing really well. She's only been interning for two weeks now ( once a week-- Thursdays) but she great. The first day was more like orientation so I introduced her to the kids she'd be working with and showed her the homeless ministry she'd be working in. I don't know if I mentioned earlier that I'm also having her memorize a scripture verse a week. We're really doing this together, and I told her that. I don't know the Word as well as I should, so this is a perfect opportunity to keep me accountable. It's really cool to see her work. I love that she is feeling important and that what she does matters. She is needed. I believe there is power in feeling needed for a greater purpose-- to be a part of something bigger than yourself and your own needs. I'm honored to be in the position to provide her with these opportunities. I'm praying for wisdom for her. She has so much potential; I can see it clearly. If you guys would pray for her too, that would be awesome...and effective.


The best quote of late is from Daniel. He's a 13 year old in the after school program. We were in a circle talking about a Bible verse on sexual immorality. The question posed was, " What does that verse mean to you?" Daniel replied, "...keep your hormones to yourself?" He definitely won't live that one down. I say it to some of the kids who are getting too close. Good times.


Some of you guys know that this week was a crunch week for deadlines at UCF. I've been accepted to the university, but still haven't been accepted into the nursing college. There are almost 50,000 students in the university and I believe only 40 or so are accepted into the school of nursing each year. This is definitely in the Lord's hands. I have a 4.0, but so do a lot of other candidates. I'm being realistic in my expectations while also trusting the Lord for whatever it is that He has planned. I filled out about 10 general scholarship applications, wrote all the essays, got all the paperwork together, and over nighted them Thursday. We shall see. I have about 10 more to fill out if accepted into the College of Nursing. We shall see. The acceptance letters get out the first week of April. I'll keep you guys posted.


Speaking of UCF and such, housing has been a bit of trip. I realized on March 26th that the on-campus house that I am looking at living in has an application deadline...March 2nd. We've had two different mission teams here, and I got so caught up with all of the business that I completely forgot about the housing deadline. My stomach felt sick when I looked at the screen and saw that applications were no longer being accepted. I immediately called housing and they confirmed that the BPW house is closed for Fall 2009, but that I could always apply for 2010. What a help! I felt the inclination to go ahead and apply even though the process was closed and the positions were full. I got a call the next day from the housing department saying they received my application and liked enough to accept me as a candidate even 22 days after the application deadline. They set me up for an interview this Thursday, April 2nd. The Lord is good. I do not in any way, shape, or form deserve this opportunity. I missed the deadline and there are plenty of others who applied on time. On the other hand, you won't catch me looking a gift horse in the mouth. I have no idea how the Lord does what He does, but I am thankful for the opportunity to interview for a space.


I have been seeing a change in one the boys in the after school program since Pinebrook. ( The camp in Pennsylvania I wrote about in the last post.) When I met him in January, he was a self- proclaimed atheist and wanted nothing to do with the Word or the Jesus guy we seem to be crazy about. The night he asked the Lord into his heart in PA he wanted to read a scripture out loud to the group. (I was thinking "Who are you, and what have you done with my child?"). He read Philippians 1:6. This was so obviously the work of the Lord, it was crazy. The verse says, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Only the Lord can turn hearts, and I am definitely seeing evidence of that fact here. That is such an encouraging verse. I needed to hear it myself. I am bad about starting a lot of things, but never really seeing them through to the end. I am SO thankful the Lord is not like that. I am encouraged by the fact that whatever work the Lord is starting in me, He will bring it to completion .... even when the finish line isn't in sight or I don't understand the means by which I'm getting there.


I've been showing the after school kids some guitar lately. We're learning basic chords for now, but I'm hoping they are interested enough to work on it on their own. They are some talented kids.


This friday I attended my first ring ceremony. To my knowledge, we don't have these in Panama City. It's a graduation ceremony to celebrate the transition from 8th grade into high school. I think this is a wonderful idea, making it to high school is a big milestone that should be celebrated. It was held in a Catholic church in Brooklyn, and it took me two hours to get there-- it was quite an endeavor. After I got there, it was worth it. I saw Cheyenne receive her ring, and then Chris, Cheyenne's family, and I went back to their place to celebrate. This was probably the most enjoyable time I've had outside of Graffiti since I've been in New York. I love sittingto simply sit at someone's house and enjoy other's company. I got to know people who go to Graffiti better, and also I met some new people. I met Graffiti's former children's director, Theresa. She is wonderful. She had a thick Southern accent and it was amazing to hear. It reminded me of home. For those of you who know Mrs. Paxton, that's who she reminded me of. Very sweet and inviting. Needless to say, we got along really well. We all just talked about life and laughed and told stories on each other. I love this type of fellowship. I feel like that's lacking in a lot of churches.We should definitely get together as the body more often and just get to know each other outside of Sunday morning.


After all of Friday's festivities, I was not feeling well. Well, ok. I didn't feel well Friday morning, but medicated myself so I wouldn't miss the ceremony. By time I got home, I was definitely feeling it. I had a fever and couldn't deny it. I spent all of Friday and Saturday at home not feeling well. Sore throat, fever, body ache, etc. Today has been better, but I didn't go to church. This weekend alone I have watched.....about 5 romantic comedies. ( DON'T JUDGE ME)Granted, I did productive things while watching... sometimes. Romantic comedies are great and obviously one of my favorite movie generes, but they are not healthy for a physically ailing 19 year old girl. I was feeling entirely too sappy only after movie number two. I believe if any decentely attractive, well-meaning Christian boy would have come to the door step I would have called it destiny and married within the week. I think it's apparent that I need to cut down on my fairy tale ending, overly romantisized love storeies. I'm sure you agree too. I'm glad to be going back to work tomorrow. I want to spend as much time with the kids as humanly possible before I leave. One month and 18 days : (


That's all I have for now. I love you all very much.


Here's some pictures for you!





Me, Cheyenne, and Chris at the ring ceremony.



Ezra sneaking some cake at Cheyenne's house in Brooklyn.




Chris and Theresa


Brooooklyn.




Cheyenne looking pretty.


Sometimes we take the kids to the park instead of having free time at Graffiti. I love park days!


Kassandra playing some guitar!


Chris trying to skateboard.


Talitha, Amanda, and Me : )


Amanda, Me, and Talitha

Chillen in the streets. Natalie's face is priceless.

Loveeeee themmmm.

Chris and Daniel walking through Tompkin's

Cheyenne rocking the trumpet. Vincent looking uneasy in the background.

Miss Sassy Pants.

Volunteer team from Arizona. Amanda and Talitha. They are wonderful girls and helped me out a lot when Chris was gone <3

I had been staying up late working on UCF applications and things of the like. Lack of sleep+ busy days= falling asleep in a public area. This is in the youth room before the after school program started. Chris woke me up about 5 minutes before the kids got there. Cruellllllll.

Me and Katherine( from Virginia).....with a bat.

Phillipians 1:6

Hellooooo, all! Update time. I wont go into too too many details, but I want to let everyone know what's been going on the last couple of weeks. From now on there'll be more posts : D Mostly because I love you guys at home and you deserve to know WHAT in the world is up.

Story of the week. I am house sitting for Chris in Brooklyn. I can see Prospect Park from my window and it is awesommmme. The first night I came here I unloaded all my stuff and settled in. I bought apple juice juice boxes and realized I needed to put them in the refrigerator. I go towards the kitchen and notice the light was on. I was relieved. This place is creepy at night. I've lived here a week and still don't know how to turn the kitchen light on. ANYWAYS, I walked in the room and there was an older gentlemen ( late sixties, early seventies) sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal. It didn't take long for me to realize that....well... He wasn't wearing any pants. All he had on were some terribly old, worn whitey tighties. He looked up and me and all I could come up with was..."hello". He said "Oh. You must be the girl who's house sitting."...."Yep, that's me. What's your name?"..."Ernest" ..."Oh, I'm Cody... It's nice to meet you, Ernest"..."You too...I guess I should put some pants on..." So he just gets up, puts his dish away and walks right past me down the hallway. It was so weird. Then the next morning I saw him in the kitchen again. He simply said. "At least I got pants on today." Crazy times.

I've been hanging out with the highs school girls a lot. We had a girls night three weeks ago. We went to see "Madea Goes to Jail" AWESOME, by the way. We laughed and cried a little. Then we went to Chipotle. It was delicious. We sat and talked for hours just about life and things we're going through. The Lord was definitely in the conversation. He has softened the heart of these girls towards me and I am so thankful. I love them like sisters and it is such a privilege to even know them. Real talk.

Nafisah (she's a senior in high school) had a basketball game the other week. I got completely lost and thought she said it was on 5th avenue. Turns out she said 10th avenue. Either way I walked around aimlessly for a really long time until I called Chris and had him do a google search of the closest public school. I was at least 15 or more blocks away when he called and told me the address. I got there just as it ended, but I got to see her. She was crying because it was her last game of her high school career. I definitely understand where she was coming from. It wasn't that long since I felt the same way. I got to take her out to dinner and we talked about life and living better and the difficulty of carrying Christ with us out the door when we leave church. The culture here is so different than Florida. It is a breeze to be a Christian in Panama City. Here homosexuality (for girls at least), drugs, drinking, the expectation of sex as early as 12 years old, and filthy language are all a part of teen culture. That being said, no one is excused from the standards the Lord puts on our lives. I am praying for these kids, that the Lord would help them see they can live better.

I went to Pennsylvania with Chris, Lucy (awesome chaperon/driver), and the kids. -- all the pictures that I posted last were from camp-- It was awesome. It's interesting being on the other side of camp. Just this year I attended camp, all of a sudden I'm a counselor and camp looks a lot different. For me, it was an awesome time. They had a leadership conference during the same time the kids had "breakout sessions" where they talked about the subjects that were planned out for them. I learned so much. The speakers were so wonderful. I'm not necessarily going into full time ministry, but the things I learned can be applied in all manors of life, not just youth ministry. On the other hand, I gained a lot of wisdom and insight into how to do what I'm doing now but better. I'm full of fresh ideas and excited to see how they bless all the kids I come into contact with. Also during camp 4 of our kids accepted the Lord and 4 rededicated thier lives to Him. I am so thankful. It is true that camp is a highly emotional time, so it is very hard for them to come back to reality and put into practice what they learned. It has been bitter sweet. The kids are having a harder time now more than ever struggling between old life and new and knowing the difference between the two. Please be praying for them. These are hard times.

Chris has been gone for the last week and a half and I am going crazy without him. This is definitely not a one person type of job. But even in the midst of exhaustion, the Lord remains good. I get to use his cubicle while he's gone, so that's awesome. There are candles and flowers and stuff in it now... Also I hid his Arnold Schwarzenegger action figure lol . Hopefully he doesn't mind too much. I took advantage while I could.

We've had two groups come and help with the program for the last two weeks. That's been cool. I've been getting to know people from Virginia and Arizona. They have been super helpful especially since I am working solo at the moment.

It looks like plans for the summer are changing quickly. Right now it looks like I will be coming back to Graffiti in July, going to camp with the group in Puerto Rico, then coming back to Panama City. This is not definite, but I'm starting to feel more and more like I just started. I learned so much at the conference in PA, that it seems a shame not to put into practice what I've learned. We'll see. Only the Lord knows.

Nafisah is now interning for me on Thursdays. Yes, an intern for an intern. Before we start on more in depth stuff, I'm getting her to do some essentials. Today I had her print out at least 5 job applications and fill them out, open a gmail account that she can use as her "business" address, learned how to check her college app. online, work on getting a state issued ID, and went with her to Chase bank to get her hooked up with a checking account so she doesn't need to cash every check she gets. It was awesome. Next Thursay she'll start doing more stuff like helping with the church's clothing closet, working with elementary schoolers, etc. I'll also have her check up on her job applications and make sure she talks to the people on the phone nicely lol. Sometimes we have tone issues. hah. She is doing really well.

Other random things. I went to my first mass. Two of the kids I work with in elementary school were speaking in front of the congregation and I went so they'd know I supported them. Jimmy was really sad because he thought he did badly, I assured him otherwise.

I went to Vincent's guitar recital. It was so cool. He played very well. Two of the girls from afterschool met me at Graffiti and we walked together. We sat with Vincent's family and really enjoyed it. His dad is super nice. He doesn't speak too much English, but he has a way about him that's kind.

I went to a Speech Bee ( a first). One of the after schol girls, Kassandra, and Shayahsa a 5th grader from Graffiti were in it. Neither won, but it was good to be there. There was an intermission while the judges were deliberating, and I got to go say hey to everyone.

There are a lot of heavy things going on in the lives these kids. We have some struggling with bisexuality and being terribly confused as to who in the world they are, they are having sex with their significant others and it's causing all types of concerns, pregnancy, they are in abusive relationships and can't find a way out, parents are going through custody battles, divorce, disease, neglect..the list goes on. There have been a few times that I've been faced with a problem and I simply had to admit that I cannot handle the situation. There are certain things that I have to accept. One fact is that I cannot help everyone with everything at every time. I've had to call Lorie, my mentor and simply say... I have absolutely no clue what to do.

I'll be writing again soon. Thanks for being patient guys. Don't forget me up here. There are millinos of people, but it is definitely more lonely at times that Panama City. It's hard to stay hopeful when you walk on a subway car and everyone looks like they'd rather be anywhere else but by you. Everyone looks hopeless. It is much harder to see God as apparently here as at home. But, like I was telling my highschoolers, instead of asking " Where is God?" start asking a better question..."Where isn't He?"

Me and Katherine ( One of the volunteers from William and Mary-- awesomeeee girl)

Best picture of Katherine ever. Really.

MY baby neice! SO SO SO SO SO SO awesome. Look at her little hands! Her arms! I'm in love. *Heart melts a little* She's due May 23rd.

Me, the after school gang, and the William and Mary group.

W&M + Me

Yes, I'm a creeper and took a picture of these guys on the subway. Via phone, so don't worry. I didn't look obvious. It's just really rare you see kids with their dads. In fact, this is one of the first times. I had to get a picture. They're so cute! Haha, maybe you don't think so...

I have to add that I am really proud of Christine Adams and Beth Stinson for doing some awesome mission work this Spring break. Teen went to Haiti and worked in an orphanage for a week and did some awesome work of the Lord. Beth went to Guatemala and did some vbs construction team awesomeness. Those are my girlssss!

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Cody <3>

Taking Mrs. Crute's advice.

George fell asleep and ended up using Leslie as a pillow.

A victim of falling asleep in a public place. Natalie wrote on his face with eyeliner on the way home from camp.

Todo el grupo!

<3

I got to pray with this youngin to rededicate her life to the Lord. AWESOME stuff.

Uhh... This is my boss, Chris. He is always doing questionable things.

Little Lucy with some Eclair issues.

Cafeteria. Please enlarge this photo and notice Chris' face.

Me and Daniel. I decided to put shaving cream on his face for kicks. He returned he favor.

Falling asleep in a public place+ Cody as a camp counselor = Bad news for George. : D

Poor George.

In Action.

Jefe y mi guitarra

Cheerleader?

Raymond playing some sweet tunes.

I believe he was hiding...in a pizza box.

Vincent looking like a velociraptor.

Piscina! Pool!

  

No idea what Amos is doing here, but please not the awesome tube socks.

LOS CHICOS.

Waiting for food!

Heaven <3

George

Hannah looking cute as usual.

LOL

Cheyenne

Pull ups? Not sure.

Peaaaaace.

Daniel and Little Lucy

Me and Leslieeeee!

My "Boyfriend" lol

Me and Hudson. CUTE baby. Oh my goodness.

Us in the After school room. I seriously couldn't love a group of kids more. Not possible.

<3