Tuesday night (May 13) the Pagans (an older couple that has kind of become the "grandparents of Project 12") brought me out for dinner for my birthday. They are so sweet! We ate at Garcia's (a Mexican restaurant) and I got to talk about the missions trip to them. I realized afterwards with surprise and embarrassment that most of what I said was the bad stuff about the trip and I apologized for it, but they told me that it was good for me to let it out, especially to people that were safe and understanding. It's so nice to have such great people around me!
So yeah, I had a really nice time with them...and I had good leftovers to bring home! =)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Buddy
On Monday, May 12, I had my first buddy. Here at JPUSA whenever we have a visitor or a new person, they give the newcomer a buddy, who is pretty much a member of the community that has been here for a bit, who the coordinators think will get a long with the person, and who will show the visitor/new member around and will hang out with them and help them out as best they can with whatever they need.
I didn't have a buddy when I got here because when I got here, I got into Project 12 right away and, I guess, people thought that was enough for me. Fortunately, Amanda Sue would pop up whenever I was lost or didn't know where something was, etc. so she kind of was my unofficial buddy.
So yeah, I had never been a buddy to anyone before, and Cindy had me be one for a girl called Laura who's actually leaving this Thursday. I don't think I was the best buddy ever, but she said I did a good job at welcoming her and doing my best at showing her around so I'm happy =)
I didn't have a buddy when I got here because when I got here, I got into Project 12 right away and, I guess, people thought that was enough for me. Fortunately, Amanda Sue would pop up whenever I was lost or didn't know where something was, etc. so she kind of was my unofficial buddy.
So yeah, I had never been a buddy to anyone before, and Cindy had me be one for a girl called Laura who's actually leaving this Thursday. I don't think I was the best buddy ever, but she said I did a good job at welcoming her and doing my best at showing her around so I'm happy =)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
When A Little Girl Speaks
Ok, well, I have tuns of stuff I want to write about and I can't wait any longer, so I'm just gonna write about all these other things and when I finally get the pictures, I will write about our missions trip!
So, on Tuesday or Wednesday (which is the day we traveled back home), Ami got a call saying that they (I'm not exactly sure who) wanted Project 12 to lead church that Sunday.
Here's what happened that Sunday (May 11). I woke up at about 8:30 to Bethany's cell phone ringing. My roommate climbed out of her bed and answered it to a very stressed out Ami who was now missing a Project 12 student to share because the person that was supposed to decided to back out at the last minute and no one else wanted to. Plus, she needed a lot of help doing other stuff. In my dazed and confused state, I heard what was going on so I told Betty in a very half-asleep voice that I'd do it, I'd share. Ami didn't want me to just do it because I felt that I had to cause I had told her a few days before that I didn't really want to cause I don't feel very comfortable speaking in front of crowds, but I told her not to worry about it. So, I made myself sit up in bed, grabbed my laptop, and started typing . For those who don't know, I'm NOT a morning person, so this was a big thing. A half an hour later, I finished writing what I would say, got up, got dressed and ran downstairs. I picked up a doughnut, looked for Brach, got him to open his office for me, printed out what I had typed, found a seat in the Garden Room (which is where we have church on Sunday mornings ) and church began at 10am as usual. I have never had to rush so much to get to church before!
The Project 12 worship team lead everyone into worship. Then, Brian (Ami's husband), spoke about what we did during the missions trip and kind of did an introduction to the morning. Then they played two more songs and then Dora got up to speak! It surprised me how well she did! She was great, she didn't get emotional, and she didn't even have anything prepared to say!! I was so proud of her and got really chocked up. I was expecting the worship team to get back up there to do another song, but instead I saw Ami gesturing me to get up on stage! "WHAT? NOW? ARE YOU SERIOUS? No! No! I'm not ready NOW! I'm all chocked up and...well...I don't want to do it!!" was my mental and probably facial response, but Ami just smiles and kept gesturing, so I had to get up.
As I read from the piece of paper my hands shook and tears came up to my eyes at the end of it, but fortunately, it ended pretty quickly and most people didn't notice my nervousness and shakiness. This is what I said:
Well, I don't do well in front of big crowds so I'm going to read what I wrote, and I decided to do this this morning when I was still not fully awake, so I might not make a lot of sense so bare with me.
I really enjoyed the trip. It was nice to travel again, to get out of the city and see nature and places I've never been to before. But the thing I liked more than anything was spending time with all my fellow Project 12-ers. Usually we just see each other in class and maybe during the other activities we do, but we end up really hanging out with only a few people of our group. So it was really nice to get to know everyone better.
I feel that during this time, we finally experienced true community. Sure, here at the house, you're living with more than 400 people and can hang out with them and eat with them, but really, if you don't want to be social, you can just isolate yourself in your room. If you don't like someone, you don't have to see them and talk to them, the building is big enough to be able to avoid them. It is also so easy to keep a mask on, a wall, letting people see what you want them to see and not letting them in any closer and being nice to everyone so that everyone likes you.
But during our missions trip, we were constantly with each other 24/7, so we couldn't just go somewhere to hide all day or keep a wall up and we couldn't be just happy and nice all the time. And this is community. Living together, being human together, learning and growing, getting to know others better, and getting to know yourself better. Cause when you're in such a vulnerable situation, the true you comes out, showing the good and the bad. But then this shows you what's good in you and what you still need to work on, and God did that for me during this trip.
So, I really want to share with everyone a few things, that I've learned are important in community. I encourage you to step out more, to become more vulnerable, to face the fact that, yes, you live with that person, so you can't just avoid them all your life, and you can't be happy and nice all the time, you're only human, so be patient with others who are being human, too. And if you have a problem with someone, you better tell them now, cause things will only get worse and worse and the problem you had will become a huge thing. So just go up and talk to them. Finally, respect your leaders, cause they're doing A LOT for you, and they're only human, too, so of course they're going to make mistakes or do things in a way you didn't really want them too.
With that said, I'd really like to thank all of the staff that came with us on our trip, especially Ami and Brian, who did so much for this trip and made it happened.
After that, we had more worship and then Rich shared his testimony (since that's one of the things we did during our trip) and that was it.
I was so surprised at how SO many people came up to me to tell me that what I said "was great", "it was just what the community had to hear", "it was so strong and straight-forward", "I couldn't believe that such a powerful message came from such a little girl", etc.
Afterwards, I reread what I said and I kind of can't believe I said that to everyone! I mean, that's very direct and strong and umm I don't know what the word is...but yeah. Pretty crazy.
So, on Tuesday or Wednesday (which is the day we traveled back home), Ami got a call saying that they (I'm not exactly sure who) wanted Project 12 to lead church that Sunday.
Here's what happened that Sunday (May 11). I woke up at about 8:30 to Bethany's cell phone ringing. My roommate climbed out of her bed and answered it to a very stressed out Ami who was now missing a Project 12 student to share because the person that was supposed to decided to back out at the last minute and no one else wanted to. Plus, she needed a lot of help doing other stuff. In my dazed and confused state, I heard what was going on so I told Betty in a very half-asleep voice that I'd do it, I'd share. Ami didn't want me to just do it because I felt that I had to cause I had told her a few days before that I didn't really want to cause I don't feel very comfortable speaking in front of crowds, but I told her not to worry about it. So, I made myself sit up in bed, grabbed my laptop, and started typing . For those who don't know, I'm NOT a morning person, so this was a big thing. A half an hour later, I finished writing what I would say, got up, got dressed and ran downstairs. I picked up a doughnut, looked for Brach, got him to open his office for me, printed out what I had typed, found a seat in the Garden Room (which is where we have church on Sunday mornings ) and church began at 10am as usual. I have never had to rush so much to get to church before!
The Project 12 worship team lead everyone into worship. Then, Brian (Ami's husband), spoke about what we did during the missions trip and kind of did an introduction to the morning. Then they played two more songs and then Dora got up to speak! It surprised me how well she did! She was great, she didn't get emotional, and she didn't even have anything prepared to say!! I was so proud of her and got really chocked up. I was expecting the worship team to get back up there to do another song, but instead I saw Ami gesturing me to get up on stage! "WHAT? NOW? ARE YOU SERIOUS? No! No! I'm not ready NOW! I'm all chocked up and...well...I don't want to do it!!" was my mental and probably facial response, but Ami just smiles and kept gesturing, so I had to get up.
As I read from the piece of paper my hands shook and tears came up to my eyes at the end of it, but fortunately, it ended pretty quickly and most people didn't notice my nervousness and shakiness. This is what I said:
Well, I don't do well in front of big crowds so I'm going to read what I wrote, and I decided to do this this morning when I was still not fully awake, so I might not make a lot of sense so bare with me.
I really enjoyed the trip. It was nice to travel again, to get out of the city and see nature and places I've never been to before. But the thing I liked more than anything was spending time with all my fellow Project 12-ers. Usually we just see each other in class and maybe during the other activities we do, but we end up really hanging out with only a few people of our group. So it was really nice to get to know everyone better.
I feel that during this time, we finally experienced true community. Sure, here at the house, you're living with more than 400 people and can hang out with them and eat with them, but really, if you don't want to be social, you can just isolate yourself in your room. If you don't like someone, you don't have to see them and talk to them, the building is big enough to be able to avoid them. It is also so easy to keep a mask on, a wall, letting people see what you want them to see and not letting them in any closer and being nice to everyone so that everyone likes you.
But during our missions trip, we were constantly with each other 24/7, so we couldn't just go somewhere to hide all day or keep a wall up and we couldn't be just happy and nice all the time. And this is community. Living together, being human together, learning and growing, getting to know others better, and getting to know yourself better. Cause when you're in such a vulnerable situation, the true you comes out, showing the good and the bad. But then this shows you what's good in you and what you still need to work on, and God did that for me during this trip.
So, I really want to share with everyone a few things, that I've learned are important in community. I encourage you to step out more, to become more vulnerable, to face the fact that, yes, you live with that person, so you can't just avoid them all your life, and you can't be happy and nice all the time, you're only human, so be patient with others who are being human, too. And if you have a problem with someone, you better tell them now, cause things will only get worse and worse and the problem you had will become a huge thing. So just go up and talk to them. Finally, respect your leaders, cause they're doing A LOT for you, and they're only human, too, so of course they're going to make mistakes or do things in a way you didn't really want them too.
With that said, I'd really like to thank all of the staff that came with us on our trip, especially Ami and Brian, who did so much for this trip and made it happened.
After that, we had more worship and then Rich shared his testimony (since that's one of the things we did during our trip) and that was it.
I was so surprised at how SO many people came up to me to tell me that what I said "was great", "it was just what the community had to hear", "it was so strong and straight-forward", "I couldn't believe that such a powerful message came from such a little girl", etc.
Afterwards, I reread what I said and I kind of can't believe I said that to everyone! I mean, that's very direct and strong and umm I don't know what the word is...but yeah. Pretty crazy.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Old Ladies and Excuses
I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything in almost a month! The reason is that I want to write about the missions trip WITH pictures and I was supposed to get them last week, but we're all so busy, so it hasn't happened yet. I should help them out since I want the pics so bad...
I do have something for you to enjoy, though! Here are some videos of that Sunday when we had our Old Lady Pic-nic (I wrote about it in a previous post). I'm not really in these videos, but soon I'll get more videos from that day and there's probably one with me in it.
Ugh! I can't stand this weather! Ever since we got back (which was May 7th) it's been frickin 50 degrees outside (that's 10 degrees C)!!!! What the heck?!?!?! IT'S MAY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
I'm late for work. I don't want to go outside. It's cold. I'm going to blame my tardiness on my hair being wet and Betty taking too long to get ready =P haha
I love my roommate. Couldn't have asked for a better one!!! We're so similar and so we really understand each other and whenever one of us needs to vent or needs advice and prayer the other one is always available to do so =)
I do have something for you to enjoy, though! Here are some videos of that Sunday when we had our Old Lady Pic-nic (I wrote about it in a previous post). I'm not really in these videos, but soon I'll get more videos from that day and there's probably one with me in it.
Ugh! I can't stand this weather! Ever since we got back (which was May 7th) it's been frickin 50 degrees outside (that's 10 degrees C)!!!! What the heck?!?!?! IT'S MAY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
I'm late for work. I don't want to go outside. It's cold. I'm going to blame my tardiness on my hair being wet and Betty taking too long to get ready =P haha
I love my roommate. Couldn't have asked for a better one!!! We're so similar and so we really understand each other and whenever one of us needs to vent or needs advice and prayer the other one is always available to do so =)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Things We Care About, The Things We Worry About
(Jesus said...)
25I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? 26Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?
25I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? 26Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?
27Can worry make you live longer? 28Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. 29But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of them. 30God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? 31Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?" 32Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. 33But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
34Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
This weekend was a continuous girl party. We had a lot of fun! Between talking, laughing, being crazy, shopping (not for clothes), cooking, baking, watching Johnny Depp movies, being lazy, etc. !!
Sunday, we all dressed up like old ladies and slowly walked to the lake, acting like crazy grannies and cat calling men and guys (it was so much fun!). Andrew ran into us on the way, went home, put some baby powder in his hair, got a cane and came to join us! When we finally got to the lake we set up a pic-nic and ate a bunch of really good food! YUM! Nothing like fresh home cooked healthy food! =)
Today, after our Mission Business class (before which our teacher, Tim Bock, told me that he met Rick Cua last week and wants to have him play here. He said Rick told him he knew me and Tim told him I'm one of his students...or was, since this was our last class with him), me and a bunch of girls went to buy material and at some point this week, before we leave for our missions trip, we're going to try to make bathing suits! I'm really happy cuz I've always wanted to learn how to make something and I REALLY need a bathing suit, but can never find anything.
We're all really excited about our missions trip! It's gonna be fun!!!
Sunday, we all dressed up like old ladies and slowly walked to the lake, acting like crazy grannies and cat calling men and guys (it was so much fun!). Andrew ran into us on the way, went home, put some baby powder in his hair, got a cane and came to join us! When we finally got to the lake we set up a pic-nic and ate a bunch of really good food! YUM! Nothing like fresh home cooked healthy food! =)
Today, after our Mission Business class (before which our teacher, Tim Bock, told me that he met Rick Cua last week and wants to have him play here. He said Rick told him he knew me and Tim told him I'm one of his students...or was, since this was our last class with him), me and a bunch of girls went to buy material and at some point this week, before we leave for our missions trip, we're going to try to make bathing suits! I'm really happy cuz I've always wanted to learn how to make something and I REALLY need a bathing suit, but can never find anything.
We're all really excited about our missions trip! It's gonna be fun!!!
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