Week 1: Cats, New friends, and Fast Food

I've officially been in Missouri for almost a week, and despite the many setbacks to me actually arriving here, everything since that arrival has been wonderful. I met my team - three guys (Codey, Caleb, and Sully) and two other girls (Annaliese and Becca), as well as our fearless leaders (the CIY Engage staff) - the night I arrived and the next day, and almost right away I was super hopeful for the rest of the summer. The people were one of the biggest things I was looking forward to this summer, and I wasn't disappointed, because everyone so far is really great.

The past week was mainly spent in meetings and learning about our role as a group as well as our individual jobs. Our day begins at 8 am in the CIY offices, where we have morning devotions with the rest of the interns from CIY Move and Mix and also professional development training. One staff member talked about what it means to have a servant's heart, a term that's fairly common in Christianese. What stuck with me was the assertion that everybody wants to be thought of as a servant, but nobody wants to be treated like one. Obviously, right? But this is something I often fall into, and serving and loving others without expecting anything from them is a mindset I hope to get into as we move into working this summer. The staff here has a lot of wisdom to share, and there have been similar tidbits that I've gotten from every morning session we've been a part of.

Our team is super serious, if you couldn't tell

The Falls

After that, we've had meetings and training, lunch in the middle of the day, and then we end our working day by 5 pm. After that, us interns will take the van and hang out at the dorms for awhile (we're staying in dorms at Ozark Christian College) then meet up for dinner. We've had some adventures, and we've also experienced most if not all of the fast food restaurants in Joplin, so, good stuff. One afternoon, we decided to try to have a picnic, and went to a place nearby where there's a waterfall and a cliff overlooking a river. Unfortunately, I didn't realize there was going to be hiking along a rocky trail to get to the cliff, and I wore flip flops, which resulted in a stubbed toe and a whole bunch of blood. I promise I'm not as accident prone as this blog so far makes it seem! That aside, it was a beautiful day, and it was nice to get out and experience nature together.

We also went to pick up my suitcase from the Joplin airport together (sweatshirts don't make great pillows, clean clothes and toothbrushes are good things to have in your carry-on - some of the lessons I learned that day) and on the way, saw a magnificent double rainbow that stretched all the way across the sky in a perfect arc, which was pretty awesome.

More/bigger Falls

Something I came across this week throughout devotions and my own thinking through things was my sort of 'theme' for this summer and year. Last summer was characterized for me by "Be Still." God taught me a lot about listening to him and being patient and attentive to understanding more of his character and just how great he is. This summer, I think, is going to be about Passion. In one devotion, the speaker talked about the cravings that God gives us (for success, acceptance, etc.) and how we have those so that we can look to him to be satisfied. Unfortunately, it's really easy to try to satisfy those with other things - for me, (being a little bit vulnerable in a public space, yikes!), that thing is love. I have a tendency to place a lot of value on relationships with other people and to work hard and search for and find a lot of value in gaining the trust and love of these people. That in itself isn't something negative, but I also have had this hurt me deeply as well - and the reason is that I'm putting more value into these relationships than into my relationship with God.

Creek with three crosses overlooking it on Ozark's campus

Looking back, looking at my heart now, and looking into the future, what I really hope to gain from this summer is a whole new realization of how big God's love for me is and how all encompassing it is, and a rediscovery and reinvention of my passion for the Lord and for working towards his plans for me. A passage I've kept coming back to the past few months is Jeremiah 2:2, where the Lord speaks and says, "I remember how faithful you were when you were young, how you loved me when we were first married; you followed me through the desert, through a land that had not been planted." The idea of marriage is really appealing to me in general, and this idea of the church as the bride of Christ really drives the passion that I've been finding. While in Jeremiah, this is said as a rebuke to Israel for straying away from the Lord and a reminder of what they once had - it is my hope that this sort of love and devotion is something that I'll be able to really rediscover, deepen and live out now and in the future.

Honorary team cat, Bridget

All in all, I'm loving it here so far. Almost everything that I love is here! There are great people. There's nature that I've gotten to explore. I'm getting so much Jesus time. There's tons of worship music all over the place. I've even gotten the opportunity to play with not only some pretty great kids (hanging out at our boss's house), but also a whole variety of small fluffy animals. This weekend, I even went running with Annaliese and Codey - and by running, I mean we jogged a mile to a playground, played, and then walked back. Because we are adults. So even my favorite kind of running! So basically, everything is awesome.

I would be remiss if I didn't say that I do also miss my family and friends, and I very much hope that you're all doing well! Love you all lots, and I'll see you and talk to you very soon.