Comingtoaclose

So, I definitely feel awful for not writing, and it's probably because I didn't have time, and honestly, I didn't know what to say.

Some things in Arizona went terribly wrong, and Chris Clum (exec director of EM...and our friend) decided to pull us out of AZ and send us back to New Mexico. They have been working on the relationship with the church and community for a long time, and through some difficulty communicating, Chris decided it was no longer healthy for us to be there. I cried for an hour when I first found out. It was incredibly hard to think of leaving, and even harder to know that we weren't able to say goodbye. We met with James on Saturday morning right after the team left and told him we had been relocated and then left. Thankfully, I was able to say goodbye to Felix and Rachel who had come to the church, but everyone else would find out from James after we were gone.

To say the family was upset would be an understatement, and unfortunately, for many reasons I don't know or understand, the family is blaming me for a lot of things. I was the most vocal with them, and while Chris and Molly got tired of all the drama and hurt, I loved them too much to stop trying. I threw myself into the family, learning all I could and spending every spare minute with them. This ended in my own demise since I was the easiest to blame for things since I am also technically the "leader" of the three of us. I've been trying hard not to internalize these things I am hearing second-hand and not to be hurt by all of it, but it sure is hard, knowing that I love them so dearly. I know that God is doing a work through all of this and I'm trusting that my name and my heart will be preserved by Him alone.

So here we are, back in New Mexico. Last week was wonderful and the team was just incredible. I mean, we've enjoyed every team, but each week, meeting new people who are giving up their time and money and heart to serve the Lord and His people is always refreshing and encouraging. And this past weekend, Staniel came to see me and we had a blast. I was able to sneak a quick goodbye before we left Arizona, but it was incredible to get to spend time with him again. He's coming up again for our last weekend, which happens to be in 4 days. He's taking me to Gallup and then we'll meet the others back at the church and I'll go home Sunday morning. Only 5 more days here. It's crazy to think about. Bittersweet- I'm ready to be home and see my family and eat something other than the 5-day plan we repeat every week! haha But it's also heartbreaking to leave this place and these people I have fallen in love with. I will certainly be taking it with me. I'm thinking I might have a daughter one day with the middle name Nizhoni, which means beautiful in navajo. I'm bringing home LOTS of Navajo tea- which is proven to heal a sore throat in one cup. :) I'm bringing back some Blue Bird flour- which is the ONLY flour used for fry bread. It will be really hard to say goodbye to Staniel too, but I'm sure I'll see him again someday. These places have become my home and I will definitely be back.

More later, there's work yet to be done.
Laura Marie

Back Home...well my 2nd home at least...

We’re back in Arizona! Finally!!!!! I missed this place so stinkin much. Last week was our first and only week in Twin Pines. So last Saturday, on July 4th of all days, we packed up in Toko’i, and headed to the other side of Farmington to get to our new site. When we got there a bunch of people were at the church shooting fireworks. That made me VERY happy. I LOVE fireworks. ☺ I had been so depressed all weekend because the whole family in AZ was heading to the Apache Rez to visit their family there and go camping. And of course, we had a team and couldn’t leave. The pastors at the new church, Harry and Blanche Domingo, couldn’t be more opposite from Herman and Marie in Toko’i. They were so welcoming and hospitable and loving. I couldn’t have asked for more from them. They tried so hard to help us and even opened their homes for us and the team to shower so we wouldn’t have to build showers. The team, on the other hand, was our most….challengeing… yet. We quickly found out that most of their parents made them come, and the team was leaving a day early so they could drive over to Anaheim and go to Disneyland. So there were a lot of tainted motives to be there. From the first night the students, 15-year-olds mind you, were swearing and talking about drinking and sex. Even the leaders wouldn’t follow the dress code- the first night, one of the girl leaders who was 22, came out to brush her teeth in shorts that looked more like underwear and a spaghetti strap tank top and none of the boys were wearing shirts. And that was just the first day. I really had to lean on the Lord and remember that they deserved just as much of my heart as last week’s team did. They complained less as the days passed and we just prayed that maybe this week could be a seed planted. So they left this past Friday and we drove back here to AZ and dropped off our van and headed to the GRAND CANYON. We camped overnight (illegally because all the campsites were “full”) and got up to watch the sunrise. It was so great. Molly’s boyfriend Joel and his brother Cody had come to visit and went with us. They all hiked down the canyon and I hiked around the rim, going to the ruins, museum, watchtower, and trading post. It was a great relaxing day. So we got back here Saturday and started getting ready for the week. Seeing everyone in church yesterday morning was like the highlight of my life. Everyone back together again!! I sat with Felix and Rachel (my friend that gave me her necklace and barrette)- they are probably the ones I am closest to in the family. Then we drove to Page to get groceries for the week and hurried back for one of the girl’s birthday party. It was incredible to be with the family again. Now I gotta get ready for the team to be here- lot's to do!

Blessings,
Laura Marie

new believer!!!!

It seems with each passing week, God does crazier, more God-sized things. This week we had a group of only 9 people and the awesome thing is that since it’s a small group, it’s been really intimate.

Tuesday night, we had just had our first day of work for the week, and we had a great evening service and as everyone was heading to bed, the women folk upstairs were still chatting away. We had been talking about angels and demons and spiritual warfare and everyone was sharing their weird encounters with spiritual forces. One of the girls, Gabby, shared that there was a room in her house that always made her scared and she felt like something was there. Kelly, one of the leaders, asked her if she ever prayed when that happened to claim Jesus’ power. She said no and later as we were talking about the Lord, Kelly who was surely sensing the Spirit moving, gently asked Gabby if she had ever accepted Jesus into her life. Now, I was fully expecting her to say yes for many reasons- she was brought up in church, was in 9th grade, had Godly parents, and her mother was sitting right next to her! In the south, you always say yes to that question simply because it is expected of you. Anyway, she said no. The conversation continued and I realized that Kelly was not going to say anything else and my heart started pounding and I realized that it had to happen that night. I asked the Lord to provide the right opportunity for me to speak up, and a minute later, the conversation quieted. I told Gabby I didn’t want to pressure her at all, but that if she wanted we could pray for her to accept Jesus in her heart. She said she wanted to! All the women gathered around and laid hands on her as I prayed for her and then she prayed for God to rule her life. It was so incredible. I was in awe of God’s perfect timing and His divine appointments.

I have been praying for Gabby all week, that God would strengthen her walk and allow her to develop a relationship with the Lord when she goes home and not to just forget about it. I made her a little book full of Scriptures and had everyone to write a note in it, encouraging her in her new walk. I've decided I'm going to write her this summer and keep in touch to see how she is. What a great girl.

I'll write more tomorrow. I get internet two days in a row! Unheard of!

the unknown culture

The last few days I've been musing about the Navajo people. I've met some of the smartest, sweetest, and most genuine people. They are all well educated and yet, still live at or near the poverty line, living in shanties with no water or electricity. So why?

Here's what I've learned.

Most of the people from generation X and younger are college educated. Higher education is completely paid for by the government, either at the Navajo university, Dine' College, or at another state school, usually U of Arizona or U of New Mexico. They all go off to school and then come right back.
Through a bill passed by Bill Clinton, they get pre-paid cell phones, or commodity phones as they call them, with minutes loaded each month so that everyone would have a phone, even where land lines wouldn't be possible.
No one owns land out here. Technically, the Chapters own it (the individual city-like divisions of the nation) and passed down through families are the Grazing Permits. These are large chunks of land that one family "owns". Each additional family that wants land has to go through the Chapter and get a land lease, where they will get a one-acre plot. BUT first they have to contact the person who holds the Grazing Permit and get their permission to squat on the land. Very interesting. AND- yesterday as I was talking to Geneva, the wonderful woman we are staying with, she was telling us all about these permits and stuff and I said "Oh, so even Herman and the church building had to find the guy with the Grazing Permit and as for land?" She said, "Well, he had to ask me" Geneva has the permit for the land from Shiprock all the way out to the road! It's like 10 square miles! She's just so humble and it's crazy!

So back to my original question- why do smart, educated people stay out here in the desert with nice trailers and big televisions and still have to carry water from the spigot outside? The truth is, I don’t really know. I think it probably has a lot to do with comfort. If they moved off the Rez, they would become the minority. White people aren’t allowed to live out here. So when I go to the grocery store or the city flea market every Saturday, they think I’m just passing through or a tourist. They do react differently when I greet them in Navajo or they find out I’m living here all summer.
Additionally, many people are educated and cannot work because there are no jobs because there are no cities, or end up working labor in the coal or uranium mines. There’s a lot of land and not as many people so everything is spread out. Every 50 or 100 miles is a “city” which is more like a town, usually with a local grocery store and one gas station. There’s one hospital every three hours. If you live outside of the city and your house is on fire, it will probably take the fire truck 45 minutes to get to your house. Police or ambulance? Same thing.

It’s an interesting place. And don’t dare get me wrong- I LOVE it out here. The people, the landscape, it’s amazing. But it’s very different from what I know, because even in the cities everything looks like home, but go down one of the dirt roads and there are hogons with dirt floors. I've learned so much. It really is a forgotten culture, not in America's backyard, but in her living room!

Aside from all that, the team just left this morning and things are still crazy for us. The next team misunderstood the 6 emails they surely got and is coming a day early. They get here tomorrow night. That means we have one day to buy all the food, get the supplies, send out budget reports and media from this past week, find work sites for this week and get Kids Club ready. One day. But it will be good. The coming group is small- only 9 people! And I'm sure we will have a great time. Keep praying that we have strength and get enough rest- sleeping in the same room with the team is definitely a change. It's a 24-hour job, and unfortunately, we are tired. God has been so faithful though, and the last couple of days with the last team were really neat. We're leaning on the Lord and resting in His peace. All is well because He's just that good.

Hagoone!
Laura Marie

...phewf! What a day...

Yesterday was…interesting. We left the Mission in Farmington this morning to head into Toko’i to meet up with Herman to talk through the work projects. Once we were about 10 minutes from the church, near Shiprock, Chris pulled the Van into a parking lot and Molly and I pulled in behind him in my car. The engine was smoking.

Let me pause for a moment to tell you about THE VAN. (which is exactly how we say it) It is a 1990 Dodge 15-passenger piece of metal. Now, when I found out it was a ’90 I was floored because by the looks of it, it’s been through 30 years of HELL. And it pretty much has. You should see it on these dirt roads. Anyway, it has zero interior anything, all the back seats are gone so we can haul materials and stuff and it’s just the most incredible hunk of junk you could ever hope to ride in. I actually really love it. : )

Back to my story: It had overheated two days ago and we figured out it was bone dry on engine coolant so we got some of that but by this morning it was half-full and gurgling out. We called Herman and he sent one of his friends to check out the van and he said he thought it was the radiator. He put some kind of Stop Leak in it or something to hold it until we got back to Farmington and we hunted down Johnny’s Radiator Service. After many phone calls to headquarters in Washington (how cool does that sound?!?!) and a talk with “Johnny” we are getting the radiator replaced for $500. So Johnny’s fixing it Monday and until then it’s parked at the Mission and we’re back in Toko’i with just my little car.

So we met up with Herman and worked out one work site of the three or four we will need for the week, and the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. We made ourselves some dinner and unloaded our things into the church and sat down to watch a movie. Chris had gone outside to talk on the phone and at the door two feet from Molly and me, comes a loud knock on the church door. She got up to answer it and in steps a large Navajo man about my father’s age who is very, inescapably drunk. Now, Molly and I are alone in this building and although internally freaking out, we offer him water and Molly made him a sandwich. He sat down on the alter and started to pour out his story to us. He had been fighting with his son, also inebriated, and came to the church to talk to Herman because he knows he’s not supposed to be doing this. We listened to him for a long time and prayed for him before Chris drove him home.
What a day!

Today we met up with Geneva- the woman who is offering us her home for the next three weeks for the groups to stay at! She is so wonderful. Her life has not been easy; her husband began to build this nice house (that would be a smaller or midsize home in our culture) and then before he could finish it, he ran off with another woman. Geneva was brokenhearted but she has continued to serve the Lord and is constantly giving to those in her community. She showed us around to some of the potential work sites and there is some work we can certainly get done this week! It was an answer to prayer.

Molly and I are currently in Farmington about to get groceries for the week and Chris is at Home Depot getting supplies for the construction projects. All is well. Keep praying for the week. We have new and interesting obstacles to overcome here in New Mexico and I'm sure it will work out, but we need the Lord's anointing and divine appointments for sure.

Love and Blessings,
Laura Marie

On the road again...

Today we left our home and friends in Arizona and made the four hour drive back to New Mexico. We're staying at the Mission tonight instead of at the church because here we have beds and running water and bathrooms and internet. :) A good choice.

The last couple of days have been really great. The team left Tuesday morning and we spent the day cleaning and getting everything back to normal. I had invited the entire family over for fry bread and burgers and it turned out to be more than I had signed up for. Molly had just left for the Grand Canyon to visit her twin sister, and Kristy had just left to fly back to Washington, so it was just Chris and I and boy did those people eat. It was interesting doing all the cooking and cleaning and eating all at once and trying to keep everything clean that we had just worked all day to get that way. It turned out fine and it was a great time to spend with everyone. To me, that's always worth it. Felix made more jokes about Staniel. OH WAIT- I haven't talked about STANIEL!!! haha oh heavens....how do I start this. Mom---hold your breath.

Staniel is Sarah's (pastor's wife) older sister's son. So, her nephew. He's 26 and a couple of years ago (I actually have no idea when) his wife ran off with another man. They have a daughter that he sees once a month. The one time I spoke to him this is what he told me. Upon first meeting him, he was a bit reserved, quiet, and when he spoke of his ex-wife, rather sad. Anyway, that night at dinner one of the women were joking about me and all my boyfriends and I said "Yeah, I came to the Rez to find a husband!" And Felix said "How about Staniel!" So all night they joked about that and he didn't hear about it until he was about to leave and Grandma (the family matriarch) heard about this and jumped up and I thought she was going to have a heart attack at the prospect of having a white girl in her family, but they told me she was telling him to come back and talk to me. haha So I played it up and waved all sweetly and said "hagooonneeee!"- everyone died laughing. :) So ever since then, Felix has been very serious about it and asked me what I thought of him and everything. Very funny. He's quite attractive and they say he is brilliant and has a great job as some type of engineer. Thankfully we left Arizona before it could get too out of hand! haha

We had dinner with Felix and Rachel last night (Rachel is Sarah's youngest sister). They made us a traditional Navajo meal of soup with mutton, dumplings, and potatoes. And fry bread of course. It was wonderful. I love being with those two. They are so open and easy to talk to. And Felix is always getting into some deep Spiritual conversation asking what we think and it's always very thought provoking.

Tonight we loaded the van with all the supplies for Tokoi and Twin Pines and tomorrow we head out to Tokoi to meet up with the pastor Herman Harrison and try to set up some work sites for our next team. They come Monday so we've only got a couple days to get a lot done. And things on the Rez definitely work on Rez time. If he says he'll meet us at 8am, he means any time before dinner. Let's hope for 8 though. :)

More soon, I hope.
Hagoone!
Laura Marie

Rat Race: Round One

I’m not even sure how to begin this post. So much has happened. The team of 38 middle schoolers leaves tomorrow, and surprisingly, I will be sad to see them go.

We got here last Tuesday night and met up with Kristy, who is indescribably amazing. She has helped us from the first minute getting acquainted to the place. Wednesday night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Tate’s house, which are the pastor’s wife Sarah’s parents. Got it? Sarah has 8 other siblings and every single one of them and their families all live on this one road, at the end of which live the patriarchs- the Tate’s. So there was a huge birthday party for Sarah’s son Christian and her brother-in-law Felix. We grilled and ate and talked and played and it was crazy trying to get the family straight and who’s mother is who.

Relevant Cultural Tangent: With the clan structure the way it is- you also call your mother’s sisters your mother, and your father’s brothers are all your fathers. All of your cousins are called your brothers or sisters. So by the end of it you think that everyone has 6 grandmas and 17 brothers, and while that’s not entirely accurate, it’s just the way it goes. ☺
So the next night Sarah and James (pastor and wife) came over to discuss the coming week with us. It was a hard meeting. James is….well….particular about how he wants things. They were very vocal about their opinions about the mission and sometimes it was hard to hear, knowing we’ve been working with them for the last 6 years. They have a lot of pride in their people and their land and made no mistake about dispelling the “white man Savior” mentality, because their church has been active and involved in helping the community for long before we came here. So we have to be sensitive to knowing that they are very autonomous in their ministry and we are here to serve alongside and lead the groups that come. We already felt that way, but it was certainly humbling to hear it from them.

Since then, things have been great. The team is from Mountain View Presbyterian Church from Scottsdale, Arizona, and the middle schoolers are some of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen! Yesterday, we were able to split into four groups and work on John Watson’s house, a home in Kayenta, a graffiti-ed water tower, and some odd jobs at the church. I went with the team to Mr.John’s house and we painted the entire exterior of the house and got to spend some good time with John and even made friends with a few of his cows! He invited us to eat our lunch inside with him, and the kids really enjoyed it. At the water tower, the group was able to cover the graffiti and is painting a beautiful mural of a sunset with some Navajo artwork. The group in Kayenta painted some rooms in a family’s home and at the church, a group built some new picnic tables and then dug a trench to lay a water line close to the outdoor kitchen where we cook! No more hauling water! Praise the Lord! On Saturday the entire group went to Tuba City to de-tag many of the city buildings and spending time with some of the Navajo that have come out to work with us.

Yesterday, I’m sure it was an interesting feeling to wake up in the same pew they would be attending church service a couple hours later. Church was great and afterward allllll the family stayed around to make the famous NAVAJO TACOS. These go on the aforementioned fry bread. Sarah declared that it was tradition for the red-headed intern to learn to make fry bread. So I was shuffled over to the fire where Ericka and Priscilla were hand molding the lumps of dough that Liz had been preparing. It was amazing being the one trailblazing white-girl out there doing it. ☺ They taught me that the thickness was vital because too thin would make it crunchy and too thick would leave it doughy on the inside. Finally, after doing about 6 or 7 and one by one dropping them into the pan of Crisco over the open fire, I asked Priscilla to inspect my most recent one and her eyes lit up! “Usually it takes a week of practice to get it right! This is perfect!!” I was so PROUD!!! :D What a treat to get to cook with them. That afternoon the team had the day off and had gone to Lake Powell, so all the teens (Navajo) decided to make a lake day too. We went to Antelope Point and swam in the frigid water, which I was thrown in viciously by sneaky boys, and basked in the sun. We didn’t get back til midnight last night, which did make for a very hectic morning, but it was well worth it.
AH! I forgot to mention- after church on Sunday, I was talking to Rachel, Sarah’s youngest sister who I guess is about 30 or so, and complimented her on her beautiful brown beaded necklace and earrings. The stones were really unique and shimmery. We were talking about jewelry and I mentioned that the one thing I would love to find is a silver hair barrette with turquoise stones in it. Well, later while I was making fry bread, she came over to me with a white box. Inside, she had placed her brown necklace and earring set as well as a silver barrette with turquoise stones. It was precisely what I had described!

Another Relevant Cultural Tangent: In Navajo culture, if someone compliments on how much they like a piece of jewelry you are wearing and shows a special love for it, it is fitting to take it off then and give it to them. (which I promise I didn’t know- my motives were clean) ☺

She was so thoughtful and giving, and even sitting here now, I am amazed at the blessing these people have been in my life already. Not just with beads and gifts, but enriching my life with meaningful relationships built on our commonalities in the Lord. Lovin’ it.

Hagoone!
Laura Marie

PS: There is a rat in our house. Maybe a mouse. I don't honestly care. But sometimes, at night, we see a blur fly across the baseboard and immediately Chris runs and gets a bowl or a mop or something ridiculous and we all stand ready to attack the thing if we see it again. We got really close a couple of times, but have not been successful. haaaaaah!

Ya'at'eeh!

So today was amazing. We went to church at Twin Pines, which is one of the sites we will be staying and working in July. Josh had informed us that the service starts at 10:30 but if you get there at 10:30 or even at 11 there may possibly be one or two people there at best. Sure enough, we got there at about 10:45 and there was one car at the church. Josh said that people would probably show up later, so we took a walk past the outhouses...and through the brush to the nearest mesa. There is no running water at Twin Pines, just like Toko'i (the other New Mexico site). We will have to build temporary showers with a hose and PVC and carry our water over to the "kitchen" for meals. Anyway, back to the service, there only ended up being about 10 people at church, 8 of which were related to Harry, the pastor. Harry's wife, Blanche, lead worship and it was very cool. Half English, half Navajo, and so beautiful. Navajo isn't like any other language I've heard. Maybe like tongues, haha. Actually, a lot like that. After worship, Harry asked Josh to come up and testify for a minute, and much to our surprise, he went down the line and called on us too. After that, Harry informed Josh that he would be giving the message for the morning after Sunday School. Blanche got back up and lead Sunday School which was basically just Bible teaching and it was really wonderful. They had been going through a book and this week was on Holy Spirit Living. Good stuff. Josh got up and spoke from Philippians 3. During Sunday School an elderly man had come in who Harry informed us later could not speak English, so he translated as Josh spoke. Josh had not planned for this apparently, and due to stage-brain or whathaveyou, he was completely unaware that he spoke for about an hour and a half. We joked with him in the car on the way back to the Mission and he had no idea. He thought it was about a half hour! He had made Harry go hoarse from so much translating!

After the service, we met a sweet man named Edmund who will probably be helping us a lot with construction. He and Harry took the four of us around to some prospective work project sites and they were really good. We met a woman named Nora who was probably nearly 90 and we are going to do some work on her house as well as her son's trailer down the road. When we got back to the church, Harry invited us in to his house and Blanche cooked dinner for us (that's right...dinner. Church got out a little after 2). With dinner she had what she called hot bread, that looked like over sized tortilla-like pancake things. SO tasty! Not sweet, just cooked dough, but it was amazing. She told us she would make the famous fry bread for us when we come back. Fry bread has been talked up to us by the interns that came out here last year. They say it compares to funnel cake that you might get at the fair, with powdered sugar on top. That sounds pretty good to me. :)

We sat around with them and watched home videos of the National Navajo tribal dance competition, in which several of Harry and Blanche's kids and grandkids competed! Ages 30 to 3! It was incredible to see... all the traditional clothes of the tribe and hundreds of navajo dancing different dances. Pretty awesome.

Harry taught us a few words today. Ya'at'eeh is hello. (sounds like yah-teh) Hagoone' is goodbye. (ha-goh-neh) and Ahe' he is thank you. (this one is harder cause it's got a phlegm sound... ahche-heh) Hopefully I'll be learning a lot more. Many of the elderly navajo don't speak English at all, and since Navajo only became a written language about 30 years ago, most of them do not read or write. Navajo is incredibly hard to read because it wasn't created as a written language. I also learned that the Navajo do not point if you ask them where something is, they point with their mouths, moving their lips to one side of their face. Neat, huh? Also, it would be incredibly rude to drive up to a Navajo home and knock on the door. You must stay in the car and honk, and once the resident of the house has come and opened the front door, then you may get out of the car. I learned so much today and for the first time felt like I got a good dose of the culture. It was great, getting to know Blanche and Harry. Blanche even came out after dinner and gave Molly and I each a pair of hand-crafted earrings- they are beautiful!!! What a great family, and what a great day.

Hagonne'!
Laura Marie

the land of Enchantment

at least that's what the license plates say... we shall see... :)

Two days ago, Chris and I made the 10 hour drive to Fort Worth, Texas and arrived at Molly's house in time for the wonderful dinner she cooked for us. Landon, one of the other interns, lives in Molly's hometown and he came over and had dinner and spent the night with us. What a fun guy. We left Ft. Worth around 9 yesterday morning and made the 9 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The car was PACKED. We stayed with one of Molly's friends from school, Kelsi, and she and her family were so wonderful! We had a blast with them and feel like we already made good friends. This morning, Kelsi took us to a New Mexican restaurant downtown and then we walked around the University of New Mexico campus... it was really incredible. One of the buildings looked like it belonged right next to the Alamo. Well, most of them were still pretty unique- very southwest style.

Finally, around 3pm we picked up Josh from the airport and headed out for our 3 1/2 hour drive to Farmington, NM. Josh works full time for Experience Mission and will be helping us get oriented to each of the sites where we will be working. He spent a month out here getting the two NM sites set up in April since this is the first summer EM has sent interns to these communities. So, from what I understand, the four of us will be spending the night here at the Many Waters Mission and commuting each day to Toko'i and Twin Pines meeting the pastors of the churches and some other important community members until Monday, when we will drive to Inscription House in Arizona and meet up with Kristy Clum, the wife of Chris Clum, who is the founder/creator of Experience Mission. She will be there for the first team that comes down and help us learn the ropes in AZ and help us with the cooking as well. Molly's really excited about that, having never cooked for masses before. :)

All around, these last few days have been a blast. A lot of time in the car, good talks, great food, learning each other and how this summer is going to look. I like it. More soon, I'm sure.

Blessings, my friends,

Laura Marie

6 days and counting...

Training was this weekend in Michigan and I flew into Detroit and Autumn Zimmerman, one of the awesome girls that interviewed me, picked me up. We stayed at her parent's home in Jackson and I got to meet about 6 of the other interns that came early. We got along so well and talked about the summer and made a bonfire and ate smores. We got up Friday morning and drove the last hour to a place called Miracle Camp where training would be held. I met the other 17 amazing interns, ahem, I mean "summer staffers" ;) that will be serving this summer. Everybody was just so great. We had lots of sessions teaching us all kinds of wonderful info we'll need  for the upcoming summer, everything from conflict resolution to being an effective leader to splinting broken bones to cooking chicken for 50.

I learned so much- especially about what is coming at me this summer. It's going to be hard. 10 weeks of hard labor and little sleep and a constant GO level is going to take a toll. I know it's going to be so worth it though. Not to mention Molly and Chris are amazing. We get along so easily. That is truly a blessing and I know the Lord has anointed it for sure.

This weekend we hammered out our individual responsibilities we will take on once we get out there and we'll be doing those each week as the church groups come. I am the Trip Coordinator, meaning I will be covering the overall schedule, the evening Leaders' meeting with the leaders from the church group, and the evening team meeting with Chris and Molly. I'll be leading worship each night at the service as well as coordinating which of us will be speaking each night and giving the message. I'll be in charge of making sure all the materials are purchased and arrive on time at each of the construction sites for Chris. There's a couple more things I'm doing too, but I can't recall right now. It's a big job, and I'm kinda spread all over, but it's going  to be fun. I feel like my job load is definitely things that I have a passion and gift for.

I leave in 6 days. It's crazy to think! Now it's just making my lists and getting things ready to go. Spent nearly $100 at Target today- bought an air mattress cause they told me my little camping mat wasn't going to cut it for 3 months. I know this is going to be an expensive summer, but I'm leaving it in God's hands because I know He is the ultimate provider!

Blessings and love,

Laura Marie

a lesson on love

Just finished packing for Training. I leave the house tomorrow at 6:30 or so. My sweet grandfather is going to take me to the airport since mom will be working. I don't even know what to pack. Will I need a backpack? Weather.com just isn't telling me enough, because somehow I've already forgotten what the weather is like in the Midwest.

Prepared last night for the message I will have to give to my fellow interns this weekend. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like practice for speaking to the groups once we are out in the field or if it's like giving a message directly for the interns. I'm hoping for the latter. Tonight I'll have to prepare my song list for the worship set. I'm pretty stoked about it. :) Who knows how it will go, but the Lord is in control. And I'm okay with it.

I'm speaking on the importance of our relationships with one another as believers. Have you ever been in a place where you didn’t expect to meet anyone who was a Christian? And then did? The bond of knowing you were brothers or sisters in Christ can be so strong and encouraging in a worldly situation, where you felt like you had a special bond and were immediately closer to that person than you would've naturally been. Often times, we lose this in the church. We forget the bond that we have under the blood of Jesus. He has placed us here as the Body, to encourage and edify and work alongside one another.

Two summers ago I went to Canada. I was going to be a part of a 35-person choir that would tour together for 3 weeks. We had 3 days to learn and memorize 15 pieces of music. Talk about crunch time. Immediately after we arrive and had dinner, we worshipped together in singing and then had some time to share together. The first thing our leader asked, very simply, was if each of us would share what we were expecting God to do on the trip. Most of the people in the room I had not met yet, much less did I know their names. But as each person began to share, there was a raw passion that began to build. It seemed a tangible entity in the room.

 

"I want God to expel the doubts I have in my life."
"I want a clarity about where God is leading me to go to college and what I should do with my life."
"I want to grow closer to God and depend on Him and nothing else."
"I want to become a leader in Christ and not be afraid to share the gospel and show others what Christ is about."
"I want to win people to Christ and change lives while we are on tour. I want our music and our witness to create an uncontrolable fire."

We had each shared intimate things, stories and glimpses into our lives. Let's be honest right now, on a first meeting with someone- this is rarely how the conversation goes!! And that's ok, because these types of conversations have their time and place. But my point in all of it is this: Because our initial connection was a Spiritual one, it was immediately an intimate one. From that night (the first night) forward, we were bound as a body of believers. We prayed for each others struggles and rejoiced in the victories. I have NEVER EVER in my life, seen this kind of intimacy and comraderie in a group of teenagers. EVER.

As I was doing my online training for what I will experience over the next 3 months, I read about relationships and leadership and about conflict. They laid out the problems that we are very likely to face within our own intern leadership team. There's only 3 of us and we will be working, eating, sleeping, for 3 months very closely with one another. It addressed issues like people vs. logistics/things and flexibility vs. detailed planning. Overall, I learned that in order to become a functioning team, we've got to get past the niceties and be real with one another. We must disagree and work it out. We must fiercely love and support one another and choose to encourage and lift one another up because it's what we were called to do. If you refuse to be vulnerable with others, they will never be vulnerable with you. The group will only go as far as the leaders are willing to go, and if we leaders aren't willing to do that with one another, we will ultimately be ineffective. I must be the kind of person that invites others to be real and honest and -themselves-, where they will find no judgment or even a spirit quick to "fix" them, but simply the love of the Lord. And I'm gonna let Him love on them through me. 

just started

So, I finally figured out how to start this thing. Pretty simple. :)

I'm so excited about my upcoming trip! I will be serving as an intern for Experience Mission, a mission organization that sends groups to cities and countries all over the world. The Navajo Reservation in New Mexico is one of the newest locations and I will be serving there for 10 weeks this summer! Chris Maxey and Molly Mulholland are two other interns I will be serving alongside, and we will be leading the groups that come each week in construction work, Kid's Club activities, worship services, and much more. I leave from Alabama on May 26th and drive to Fort Worth, TX to pick up Molly. She and I will then make the drive to Albuquerque, NM on the 27th to meet up with Chris and pick up Josh who will be training us for the first few days on the Rez.

I found out a few weeks ago that I will be leading worship each night for the groups that are there with us. This makes me excited and terrified at once. I've been singing for years but never excelled at any instrument, and knowing that I had to play guitar and sing was an anxiety-producing thought. The Lord has been faithful though, and through a few hours of practice and deliberation each day, I've been improving! My dear friend Jeffrey has been gracious enough to help me transpose some of the songs into singable keys with chords easy enough for me to maneuver.

This Thursday, I'll be flying up to Detroit, Michigan to meet up with all of the interns with EM to do our training before we hit the field. I am so excited!!! I can't wait to meet everyone and savor any extra bit of information I can learn about what we will be doing. Start praying now for the people we will meet and have the pleasure to serve with. I know the Lord has big plans for this summer and I'm just waiting for Him to bring me in on it! :)