weekday update

Okay, so my dad was getting on me about my utterly embarrasing lack of blogging here. I am hardly ever at my computer (which is worlds apart from college when I was able to update this thing almost every day), but I forget sometimes that for the few that read this, I don't get to update you often. So, for my sake of reading this in a few years to look back on what the Lord has done in that time, and for the few of you that read...here's a little update.

I am currently still living in Charlotte with my two roomates and I love it. Charlotte is beautiful. Even when it rains it is not discouraging because you know that there is sun not far behind. It is just wired like that. It is nothing like Cincinnati where one day of rain meant weeks of fog to follow. While I love it, I miss a lot of things. I miss my family the most. I am (scarily) finding myself feeling more detached the older I get. I know this doesn't have as much to do with age as my stage in life, but I am trying to be very conscious about keeping up. The reality is, I am here with my own life, and they their with theirs (funky sentence, huh?). This makes it hard to cross paths at times.

I miss college. Gosh the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side, huh? I am already feeling the grad school itch, though not yet sure what forth. I go back and forth between counseling, elementary ed., and something in non-profit. Since I am clearly worlds away from a decision this won't be happening for a while. With college I miss my friends. Three of my great girls from leading YL in Cinci are spread out all over...Amy as far away as Texas. I miss them. Again, our different stages of life and different schedules makes it hard to cross internet paths often enough. I miss my old roomie. Molly and I are experiencing things apart from each other for the first time in 4 years. It is weird not to be there to share hilarious stories with each other at the end of the day.

All of this being said. I am not sitting on the fence here in Charlotte. I have both feet in and for that I can thank the Lord. He has given me so much purpose and reassurance about being here. Ministry is seemingly coming along slow, but I have to remember that I am starting out at a new school, with a full time job, in a completely different region of the United States, with high school kids who have very little idea of what Young Life is. Club is becoming less of a stress and I praise God that he is giving me something to believe in. I still think we have more room to be excellent, but it will get there. In the meantime...it is not easy asking high school kids to come along on this journey with you, so I am really learning a lot of things again. Again I say, the season of refinement!

My devotional yesterday said it all. In Malachi 3 it says the Lord DOES NOT change. Never...not his traits, his mind, his patience, the way he feels about us. None of it. So amidst the changefulness of out world, God remains the same.

I get to do something SO FUN this weekend. Rebecca and I are flying to New York to stay with Uncle David. Tyler is coming down from West Point and we are going to all spend the weekend together. We will do the city, go see WP, and see Uncle David's new show! I can honestly say that all three of us cannot wait. It will be an awesome quick trip. Then 2 weeks later I get to go to Canton...ah, home :). Thanksgiving with my cousins and family. That spells awesome.

Work calls.

embarrassing...

My blog neglect is embarrassing. I have been spending very little time on my computer except to answer emails and flit around on facebook, so I have not had the opportunity to post on here.

My life is quite a whirlwind. So, for my own sake to look back here in 3 months and really see the changes, I am going to divulge the meet of my schedule:
Monday: morning off, 6 hours at the Y, setup for YoungLife club at the Y and get home by 10
Tuesday: Bible study with women from church, lunch at home, 6 hours at the Y, high school sporting event, 830 Bible study with peers
Wednesday: Y from 715-9, lunch home, 5 more hours at the Y, dinner with high school girls, YL Campaingners Bible study, home by 930
Thursday: Y from 715-9, lunch home, back to the Y, FREE night OR JV football game at the high shcool
Friday: Y from 715-9, walking with Judy, lunch at home, back to work at the Y, high school football!

I am moving into some preschool teaching at the Y as a sub for Wed-Fri to get some extra hours. I also throw in workouts while I am down there in the afternoons. When I was in college I never thought I would be busier, I now know that it will only get moreso. I am the epitome of someone who is constantly looking to the future for "easier" times, but am finding so much satisfaction and growth during this stage of the Lord doing SO MUCH pruning. My life is CRAZY TIMES, but I love it.

Tyler came home this past weekend, which was such a needed gift from the Lord. I had been missing him like CRAZY and it was so great to spend time together and attend his cousin's wedding. He continues to teach and encourage me in ways that are so new to me and I am so thankful for that blessing. God is TRULY refining me right now...shaving/burning/cutting off the bad stuff...and it HURTS a lot of the time, but is rewarding all of the time.

So young, but so old.

Okay. I know that I have been doing terrible business as far as updating my blog. I have found myself doing a lot of journaling rather than posting on the internet since there are a lot of internal things going on with me.

I am quickly learning that life after college is never something that you can be adequately prepared for. There is nothing like working full time. No way to describe it or experience it until you do. And one you are working full time, the responsibility and expectations come as quite a surprise. They are responsibilities and expectations that are previously unprecedented in most people's young adulthood. I had unrealistic expectations that working for a non-profit meant that I wouldn't have the same quantitative expectations placed upon me that people normally experience in the private sector. Silly and wrong. I am in charge of a program that is not filling up quite as quickly as I or my director suspected. After all of the marketing and strategizing, it comes back to where it should always begin - I am praying that the Lord will reveal his hand in this, whether or not it comes out positive in my opinion.

Young Life here in Charlotte is proving to be no walk in the park. Why did I even ever think it might be even for just a second? Ministry will never be "easy" because Satan continues to reign here in the world. I am making an attempt to constantly remind myself that I am privy to the greatest news that anyone could ever hear, and I have been called to carry that News to high school students. The Gospel is such a worthy message. Worthy of my discomfort, worthy if ridicule, worthy of being ignored, and worthy of boldness.

I love the women I live with. There are no greater people to speak truth into my life right now. They are both familiar with Young Life and have experienced or are experiencing similar anxieties, struggles, worries, triumphs and passions. I do not know how long I will be where I am, but I know that God will need to make it GLARINGLY obvious that I need to leave these two. Well, God or Robin who owns the place.

Tyler comes home in two weeks as of tomorrow. I cannot wait to see him. We start young life club the Monday before, and I start my program at the Y the same Monday before, so the weekend after will be welcome hang out tiem with him and friends.

I turn 23 in exactly one month. I am so young. :)

Celebrating the Day of Labor Weekend

Way too long since I last posted. I drove home to WV on Friday after work and arrived around 615. I went over to pick up Shawna (my beautiful friend from high school who is getting married June 4th) and then we jumped in the car with my mom and Becca to head to Morgantown. Many people would be surprised to know that until this weekend, I had never been to a home game at Milan Psukar, home of the WV Mountaineers.

We were lucky enough to get Suite tickets (not to be confused with sweet tickets) via someone my dad knows. This meant free food, which I never pass up. Hanging out in the box was great because we had a little more room to move around, but a CLOUDLESS day. I spent the night at Shawna's the night before the game and when I was getting ready the next morning, Shawna's roomate asked if I wanted a WV tattoo for my face. I am a female, and face tattoo's at sporting events are cute for that one reason, so I obliged.

Two hours of eating, chatting, tailgating, and two quarters of football later, I was headed to the bathroom to scrub off my tattoo, and still came out of the day with a WV shaped sunburn on my face. Glorious.
I love being back home around my family, and it is also so great to see Shawna. I also got to see John, her fiance, who I had not seen in forever. Seeing the two of them together, now engaged, was so special. There is something so different and amazing about that. It is clear that they are on board for the Lord being able to do immensely more in the coming year before they are married. I am so excited for the chance to be a part of the exciting-ness!

Isn't it Ironic?

Interesting story.

Today I was serving a table of eight and after I brought out the first round of drinks, I spilled a water on a gentlemen. It did not drench him or cause him to have to even leave his seat to clean up, but I did get it on his shirt. I was totally flustered and embarrassed and felt so bad. My manager was there right after it happened and he cleaned up the mess by telling the man that the restaurant would take care of his meal.

I pretty much avoided that man completely the rest of the meal. Definitly did not make eye contact. When it came time to do checks, my boss told me to just not give him a recepit at all. He took care of it.

The irnoy of the situation: The man wasn't outraged or anything, so he left me a ten dollar tip that would have covered his whole meal had he been required to pay. So I made ten dollars off of spilling water on a guest. I am not stupid enough to think that this will always be the case, but man...what luck. :)

New Job.

So, I start my new job today...well, continue some on site training, but that's a start.

I will be working for the YMCA. Some of you may know that I worked for the Y for two years in college in Cincinnati, so I am excited to continue. The YMCA down here is a whole different story from those up north/midwest. They are very grounded in and focused on Christian principles, and as an employee you are taken such good care of.

I am hoping to move into a full time coordinator position within the next two months because it is expected to open up. I need to do a little work that proves that I am qualified.

We had our first meeting about YL Club planning on Monday. It was our group of Campaigner (Bible study) students who were interested in being an integral part of the club planning process. There were about 18 kids there who expressed interest. I am already starting to feel my first bouts of anxiety about leading at a brand new school. I am worried about girls liking me and worried about giving "enough" time to meeting people, especially in these beginning stages. I need to be reminded all the time that God is bigger than all of my worldly measurements of "enough."

Let's see, other than that life is same ol'. Still waiting tables joyfully and hanging out with my stellar roomates. We tye-dyed with our friend Jenna last night. It was awesome. White v-necks.

A Funny Story From the Restaurant Biz

Okay. So I have been waitressing at a wood grilled steak restaurant for about 2.5 months now. It is called Firebirds and it is 100000 miles short of my dream job. That is all irrelevant to the following story, but I didn't want you people to think that because I am laughing at a story about work, that I like work. haha...

Anyway, about 4 weeks ago I no longer had to be the new girl at work because three new trainees started. One guy was named Clint, my childhood rottweiler's name, and he was...hmmh...overzealous about serving. While training he was often stepping right in front of his trainer to take over tables that were not his. He claimed to me during his 3rd day of training that he was a better server than about 75% of people who had been working there since the restaurant had opened a year ago. Really? Funny he says that because Justin, another guy I worked with, really hit the nail on the head when he described Clint like this: "You know, whenever something goes wrong and a manager is on the rampage, you can pretty much bet your entire earnings for the night on the fact that Clint is responsible." Amen, Justin.

So, Clint is just notorious for being brash, rude to females, and he ruins a good joke by repeating it every time he passes you back in the server alley. Even if it was someone else's joke. I hate it when people do that. When he first started working, a few different people asked him to pick up shifts for them and he very sarcastically, and with a laugh, would tell those people, "Yea, right."

Last week when the schedule came out Clint realized that he had forgotten to ask off for this coming Saturday night. He proceeds to approach me, and ask me if I work on Saturday. After I tell him yes, I think so, I work a double, he proceeds to ask me three more times. "Are you sure? You do? You do?" YES I KNOW MY OWN SCHEDULE. Now, in my defense, I really makea conscious effort to be above reproach at the restaurant. It is such a negative working environment for most that I try to be in a good mood and nice to people. I pray walking in there to exude Christ, but Clint pushes me to the edge.

After I tell him that I cannot work for him because I ALREADY WORK THAT NIGHT, he proceeds to tell me what he portrays as a sob story about having to miss the birthday celebration of his friend who is leaving for Iraq soon. Sorry, Charlie. Can't help you out. It's not like your mom is getting surgery. So, fast forward to today, a day before the Saturday that he is trying to get off. Clint approaches me AGAIN today to ask me if I work Saturday, and can I work for him. I politely (as I can) let him know that yes I am STILL scheduled to work on Saturday night and NO I cannot work for him. He double checks, and I about body check him to the face, politely. He proceeds to tell me that he needs someone to work for him because HIS MOM IS COMING INTO TOWN TO VISIT. Thats weird? I thought...seems Clint forgot that he already asked me to work for him.

I approach my friend Trish from WV who I work with and tell her this private joke, and she mentions that she picked up on it as well. She then waltzes over to Clint and asks him is he is mad that his mom is coming in town causing him to miss the big birthday bash for his friend who is going away to Iraq soon. His spilt second, quick thinking response: Oh, what are you talking about? Birthday...uh well that friend actually broke his leg so no more birthday party. Way to think on your feet chief. Next time you ask me to work for you, be more prepared with your excuse story.