Heart of Strength: finding new strength each day.

This last week was the end of the school year for the high school and elementary school kids. We had to say good bye to them just incase we do not see them again during the summer programs. 

Through this whole month, programs for the kids and youth have been coming to an end. Even though it is nice to have a bit more free time, we still had meetings and events to attend. It's hard to keep things in order about what is done and what is left to do. A to-do list helps, but what I have learned is that I need to do a better job of checking the list on a more regular basis and updating it when new things pop up. Most of the time I forget what needs to get done by when, but God has been helping me keep what is important in mind and has been helping me remember what it is that I can do each day. 

I know that it will not be long before the day comes that I will leave Montana. I know that I am trying to prepare for life after I leave, but the most important strength that can be the hardest to learn when you are pulled in many different defections is to be present in the day and rejoice for the day given. I have learned this lesson for the ladies and gentleman at the Villa. They always advise not to wish for a day to come that has not come yet because you would waste a good day, and time is precious.

So my goal is to make the most of my time here to enjoy each day.

Becca and I each got a rose for one of our preschoolers on our last day helping out the preschool class.

Alex, Becca and I got wonderful thank you letters from the elementary school on their last day during assembly. 

I'm received this sweet card from the kind hearted people who I have work with in the elementary school's cafeteria. I don't think I will likely forget Montana and its many wonderful people I have gone the honor to meet.

I have received more memorable moments than I can show you with pictures. The lessons learned here are treasures. The friendships made are joys. Creatively and support springs from places you may not expect. Each day is a journey and a gift from God. With each day a chance to grow and learn new strengths comes from him.

Spring time pictures of Montana.

      My attempt at making dog sweaters with my new knitting skills. 

     The preschool class got to go on their own little safari scavenger hunt to find hidden toy animals.

      I am really glad that the Jump kids got to do this service project. It's called socks of love. They fill the socks with little soaps, shampoo bottles, ect; and the socks go to the food pantry. Because I do help out at the food pantry, I can safely say that this is a welcomed treat. And to answer a question about where is the other sock for the par, it's inside the first sock.

      This is something I don't believe I have ever seen; snow in late April. Yes, we had snow in late April out here. The funny part was that the week before the temperature was in the 70s. Yet, this is normal weather at times in Montana. To have snow in spring.

      This week the bees are out and so are the flowers. With the temperature in the 80s for part of the week. Starting to look like spring again.

In the season of moving forward: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Since I have been in Chinook, I have been invited to see and live life differently. I have had time to think about where I have been and come from. I see each day as it is moment by moment with highs and lows. Let me assure you that the highs out way the lows. I have been wandering how to move forward since the day I came here, but even in this season I am still wondering.

 

I know that I will be moving forward after this time.  I’m enrolling at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary to get a dual degree in social work and ministry. When some friends found out that I wanted to go to Seminary, I got mixed reactions.  I kind of expected that. The second thing I learned, which helps to explain the first, was I didn't get time say "…to get a dual degree in social work." Their obvious thought was I was going to seminary to become a pastor. The truth is, I don't know if I am being called to become a pastor.  I do know when one tends to close the door that they could be call to ministry, God has a funny sense of humor and gets us to walk that road regardless.  But my initial goal is to learn how to help people.

 

Looking back I see when I’ve had this “close-the-door attitude” in my life. After college, I struggling to move forward and I did not know God was moving my feet forward anyway.  He was calling me to do what he wanted.  Even though I did not see or understand what was being done for me by those around me.  I had opportunities to help people by what work he provided me. Yet only when I came out here did I find this passion to help people. Here I was able to see what I missed.  Before when I worked, I was more concerned with myself.   I did not see the full joy I could have by being there for others and making them happy.

 

Now that I know where I am going, I still need to find work. I have concerns about this. But now, I know I will be able to help other in what I do.  I know that I will have fun at work and I know that God will take care of the rest of it.

 

So why am I bringing all of this up. A few months ago I was helping out the 3 year old class; the teacher asked the kids what they want to be when they grow up. I know when I was a kid and I had no answer.  I did not what to pick a job because I would be stuck with it.  I wanted to be and do many things. What I’ve learned here in Montana is that many adults have more the one job or more than one  responsibility or project to work on. I know that it can make life tough but I also think that it could make life rewarding, too.

Picture post of the year so far. Part 2

Hope that you guys liked the pictures from last time. I know that they where only a few last time. But don't worry I have plenty more. Hope you enjoy. 

This is the first craft that we did with the kids at Leap. We are helping teach the Ten Commandments. 

This is one of the Jump's kids designs to help advertise Jump's pie sale during the Sugar Beet Festival. I know it's upside down. Sorry about that.

The sky is just as lovely in the evening as they are in the mornings.

I know that selfies are getting old. But I thought that this one was worth taking. At the Food Pantry, during the Halloween season, we are required to wear either the glow in the dark neckales that I am wearing in this picture or one with twinkling lights. They are something fun to wear to celebrate and share cheer.

This is the sight that I have been getting used to. Wide open spaces.

The other side of the Mountans look familler. As we had head to Presbytery meeting.

Very familler in deed.

We got a chance to go out and see the Bear Paw Battelfield.

And it was a nice day to go out to see Bear Paw Battelfield. Very windy, but overall nice.

At a knitting group here in town. We were told about one of the ladies in the group goal to make scarfs for some kids at her daughter's school that she works for. This is one of three scarfs that I made for that project if she can use them.

A picture before the Parade of Lights.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

 

Picture post for my year so far. Part 1

So this is the Town of Chinook's Mascot. They are the Sugar Beeters after their largest industry back in the day, sugar beets. We learned that before the Chinook became the sugar beeters, they where tigers, so that is way the sugar beet is orange.

Beautiful sun rise in Montana.

This is an optical corse that Becca and I set up for the Preschool class. 

 

So this is an actual Sugar Beet. Pretty cool. We got to use them for the decorating contest at the Sugar beet festival.

The designs that the three of us came up with for the contest.

I will post more pictures soon. Hope you all have a wanderfull day.

Heart of Strength: Gift of Community

 

It always amazes me how much of a tight net community Chinook is out here in Montana. A few Fridays ago, I saw for myself just how close everyone is when Becca (a fellow YAV) was sick and had to have surgery.

 

I was expecting to explain to people that day that Becca would not be able to make it to work. In the morning working at the preschool I actually did have to explain what was happening. However when I went to TGIF (an after school program that is run by the local churches for the elementary children), I did not have to say anything. I was expecting to have to explain to them that Becca was not feeling well but everyone already knew that Becca was in the hospital and had to have surgery.

This week it seems everyone all over town have asked how Becca is doing. Just to let you know she is good and getting better each day.  What amazed me, as normal as questions are given the situation, it was the real concern that everyone had about her health.  I saw people coming together, not just to express the concerns and offer their support to help, but to pray for Becca.

 

Chinook has many times in this year to come together and celebrate as a community. I’ve seen this with the High School's Home Coming, and the Sugar Beet Festival.  I’ve heard that Christmas can be big here, too. But this is a first time I’ve seen them come together to support another in need.  And I was surprised by it. 

 

Should it surprise me as much as it has? I mean the programs we help with during our YAV year are about helping communities coming together to support each other. Maybe my surprise is just that I have not really looked at it this way. Community building is not always big or fancy programs or celebration but when communities like this come together to really support each other. This is probably part of the reason that I enjoy working with people. I am thinking about what I will do after this year.  I know that I would like to continue doing work like this. I want to be involved with a community when it celebrated or comes together in good times.  And I want to be there when a community comes together in the hard times when things are challenging. I know that I am right where I am supposed to be and learning more about it each day. 

 

I will add pictures to this blog now that I am able. I have finally got my computer working, so now I should have no problems putting pictures on my post. Hope that you all are enjoying this blog so far.

 

Heart of Strength: Patience

 

   On my way out to Sweet Home (the local retirement center) for the church service on Sep. 20. I was listening to a radio station in the car. The speaker on the radio was talking about the fruit of the Spirit. They said love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as listed in Galatians 5 are the fruit of the Spirit. A part of me questions that. For me, when I think of fruit, I think of the finished product. For me, fruit is someting that can be enjoy and feast on. But when I think about these things, I don't see them as fruit. I see them as areas where I need to work on and produce. And I don't see them coming so easy. It takes strength and work for some to grow this fruit in their lives. They can be tools of the spirit to do good works, create fruitful lives, and make life thrive. Forgiveness as I mentioned before is a challenge for me. I cannot always forgive myself very easily. So can the fruit of the Spirit, be challenging too.

   Since I started working here in Chinook, my patience has been tested. I feel like many people think I enjoy politics because I'm from Washington DC. I have been asked questions about politics. It is as if, because I lived in DC that I naturally enjoy politics. After a few minutes talking with me, they quickly realized that I am not what they thought I would be. For the most part they seemed pleasantly surprised that I'm not really into politics.

   My patience has also been tested with communication. In the first week of my time here, I discovered that my cellphone wasn't working very well. It was very frustrating going that first week without my phone. Eventually, I got it fixed and now it is working fine again. Even though that was a challenge not to talk to my family right away, it was not my toughest challenge in the area of communication.

  My pronunciation of words, my dialect, has also surprised me as a point of frustration and caused me to be patient with myself. A three year old at the preschool that I am working at corrected me when I asked another child if they would like a crayon. I know now that I have a tendency of saying it differently than they do here in Montana. The kids might think that I talk a little weird, but Becca has pointed out to me that it is a good thing for the kids to learn different dialects. That the kids need to learn that people often pronounce words differently than them.

   However for me, the biggest challenge in communication has been to understand our schedules. Jack has mentioned that they are changing some parts of the site this year so all of the YAVs now will be working to some degree in each of the four areas of placement. The schools where we are working have some new employees who are just getting used to their jobs and have never worked with the YAVs before.  And some sites are seasonal so some will start later than others. Trying to find out if a site is ready for work and where we would go has taken some time. I know that there are a lot of moving parts to finding out where people should go.  But the goal is to do the most good where ever we are sent, and it will take time to work it all out.  It is still a challenge.  I simply would like a set routine, so I can find time to take care of myself.  So for those of you thinking about Chinook as a site, I would like to say that when you do come, they will have a better idea of how setting thing up so your transition will go easer for you. We are the test YAVs to see if they can offer more diverse work opportunities out here for an even richer experience. I think it is worth the process to grow these fruit of the Sprit.  After all, we are the instruments of God's good work. It can be a difficult task to committee our selves to do. When we stumble or find ourselves tested, God is in the process and the work, teaching us along the way. We just need to find peace in patients.