Mood Swings and the Polar Bear Swimnastic Club
Greetings from San Diego!
Just thought I'd write a little blog to update y'all on how things are going in SoCal. I've been a little all-over-the-map lately, but currently I'm in a high point, so let's get to blogging.
Struggle: Budget cuts have led to less students actually attending SDSU in the summer, so that has made ministry a bit of a challenge. As with any pioneering situation, we're learning the ropes and trying to get creative. In light of that, the Lord has still been really faithful.
Highlight: In that, I've still gotten to have some really sweet gospel conversations. One day I met w/Alessia from Milan, Italy, and got to ask her questions about what God is like, what life is about, etc. She is actually back in Italy as I speak, but days before she left I was able to share the Gospel with her and at one point she had few answers and simply responded, "I've never thought about these questions." It's a great privilege to be the first person to provoke some of those questions.
Right after that convo my girl Megan and I approached a table of 4 Latinas and a Caucasian girl. They were on campus doing a tour/field trip and are sophomores in high school. We asked them if we could do a survey with them and the conversation led to us getting to explain how they could have relationships with Christ. Two girls already knew Jesus, one didn't seem to care, but two girls, one w/her father from Iraq and her mom from Mexico, asked great questions like "what does it really mean to give your life to Jesus", etc. Becca and Elizabeth M. were totally tracking and asking great questions, having never heard the gospel message before. I asked them if they wanted to make a decision and they were in high school and were looking at each other seeing who'd make the first move. I backed off a little and left them w/the booklets, contact info, and some websites to explore more of their questions. I think they're close to giving their lives to Christ...I'd love for you to pray w/me that they accept Him!
God is providing conversations and opportunities to share the Gospel, which is great!
Struggle: Getting a project up and running is pretty taxing..especially when you have 20 people and 1 Yaris. That said, the staff had to go about 12 days w/out much time off and around day 11 I hit a wall. Hard. Woke up hating life and wanting to sleep for a month kind of hard. I'm still struggling w/what it looks like to rest well, when to give and when to stop, how to initiate w/others when I feel emotionally depleted, how to walk in grace when I feel like I'm failing, etc. There were a couple breakdowns. I find I really want to isolate myself when I'm feeling "off" and have learned that only perpetuates the problem. I'm sure this will continue to be a struggle in my life, but I'd somehow believed that changing locations would automatically fix things. Wrong.
Highlight: After a great chat w/my girl Kate where I just sobbed on skype (which I'm sure is attractive when my ugly crying face freezes on a screen), a good heart-to-heart w/my co-director Dave and his wife (including 1 hour of ridiculous stories about living overseas), 6 hours in my apartment today studying the word and planning project stuff for the week, I feel rested up already! I'm cautious, not wanting it to go away, but tonight I hit the opposite of the wall...the singing-firework-in-my-opera-voice, speed racquetballing, convincing the project to jump in the cold pool to do swimnastics at 9:30pm on a Monday, embarrassing videos taken of me that I'll say I regret but secretly love, dance party to 90's hits w/my roommate Annie, living the project dream kind of place. It was a great night. Best moment: Maura, a freshmen, whilst dancing in the pool and being ridiculous turns to me and says, "Now THIS is summer project." I may have also heard a "You're the best project director ever" from a student and it brought some joy to my soul. Not that my worth is found in what they think of me, but it is always nice to hear.
Other highlights:
-God's word-Ephesians 2:1-10 is our focus this week!
-Seeing students step out and share their faith for the first time.
-Having a place to have meetings for free...thanks Faith Presbyterian!
-Discipleship-getting to help connect dots for the first times.
-Girls coming to my apartment to ask theological questions.
-Getting to go to a baseball game:Padres lost but it was a great all-American afternoon. And it's only 15 minutes from our apartment! And we got free tacos (w/purchase) from Jack-in-the-Box.
-Walking around the Gaslamp District and Seaport Village with my staff team. Free Ghiradelli samples, harbor views, cute shops, and lots of walking.
-Watching my disciple from Ball State leading the charge in evangelism and take the younger girls with her.
-Building relationships w/a couple girls on campus-one Latina whom I hope to continue to get to know...pray Josy will come to our weekly meeting this Thursday.
-Seeing the project loving each other, Jesus, and the campus and not giving up.
-Seeing God blow our expectations out of the water.
Looking forward to:
-$2 Tuesdays at Porters's Market: all the frozen yogurt and toppings you can fit in your cup for $2...the best post-Bible-study-treat EVER!
-Date night w/Jesus at Sunset Cliffs
-Thursday night dinner and Destino meeting: talking about forgiveness, eating good food, trusting Latin@ students will come!
-Heading to Mission Bay Friday to hopefully find Latin@ students, have a bonfire and bond.
It really is great to be in a place where we have to completely trust God to show up, to step out in faith, and to see Him work. He has been faithful and I'm excited about all He is going to do this summer! Eph. 2:10 says we're his masterpiece, created to do good works which He has prepared beforehand for us to do. I'm looking forward to seeing what He has in mind.
And as a treat for making it to the end, a little clip that we quote A LOT around here:
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