it's business... but it's absolutely my pleasure.

Today in Goodwill I heard a little girl ask her mom what "justice" meant. After a couple of failed attempts at trying to explain it the mom said, "You know Superman and Wonderwoman? They fight for justice."

I am working in a building FULL of Supermen and Wonderwomen.

And I love it.

newness

I got the itinerary for our first days of orientation at World Vision (Side note: one of the things on the agenda is "Speed-dating Icebreaker"...). This, and reading the discussion board of our intern facebook group, made things hit home.

I'm doing an internship at World Vision this summer. There are 50 interns... all looking for a chance to learn and grow. Newness will be the theme of the summer... and I'm just now realizing it.

I do this.




Emily and I were 30 minutes away from Collegedale, TN when I realized that I had actually transferred from Walla Walla to Southern. Before that moment they had all just been steps. It's time for change so... fill out an application, figure out financial stuff, find somewhere to live, convince Emily to road trip to Southern with me... and then I was there all of a sudden. I was taking classes, meeting TONS of new people, feeling alone in a crowd, and getting my world rocked in a wonderful way. I remember becoming very somber in that last half hour... teary eyed and everything, leaving Emily with the impossible task of trying to make me see the bright sides.

{in the parking lot before the goodbye. we're trying to be happy...but if you look close you'll see that i'm definitely not}

I'm so excited about World Vision, I really am. It's just interesting that I don't realize I'm doing new things until those new things are right in front of me, waving their big flashy "newness" arms. Getting that internship was motivated by theories and steps... It's time for change so...I need an internship, I want to do social justice stuff, I need to turn in a resume, I need to interview, I need to decide, I need a car, I need a place to stay... and so I checked all the requirements off not realizing that I'd actually be DOING this internship. I'm not going to camp this summer, for the first time in five years. Five. Years. Sheesh that's hard to swallow.

But it feels wonderful. It feels wonderful to do new things, to grow and be stretched. It feels wonderful to have a dream and a passion and be going for it. God has done some amazing things in my life by pushing me to do new things. I'm just glad that it takes me a little longer to realize that I'm actually doing this stuff...

{but this is what newness has brought me... and i'm more than okay with that}

on giving

You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

-Kahlil Gibran

a little update

I've been home for almost a week now. It's weird being back here, sometimes... if I think too hard about it, or actually when I'm not thinking about it at all. I'm SO comfortable here...but then out of place at the same time. Odd, I know. But, really, it's been awesome. I LOVE these people. Connecting is a wonderful thing. Did you know?

Here are some documented adventures for your viewing pleasure...

our biker gang. don't mess with us. especially kati.

any takers? c'mon ladies...

Bridge jumping...into water. don't be confused.

World Vision starts in a little more than a week. Am I prepared for this? I have no idea...but I'm doin it. I'm doin it with my whole heart. I need to prove some things to myself. Some things about work ethic and strength of will and...those kinds of things.

Oh man, I just got flutteries in my stomach. Adventure time!

zooming

Maps are deceiving.

Kansas isn't pink and you can't see a huge black line when you cross into another state. The ability to cover Texas with your thumb doesn't tell you how big it is. There are people in there. There are roads and fields and mountains. There is garbage, in all sense of the word, when you zoom in. But maps don't tell you that. They look clean and tidy with their over-simplified rainbow colors.

It's an amazing thing to drive across country. You see the state signs, the weird billboards and the wide open fields. You get to meet the people that inhabit that green, tan, or orange state...and then you start to feel how big your country is, and how small you are.

I've been thinking a lot about how to broaden my world and have a better understanding of my place in it. I think zooming in is part of it.