Wow! What a month!
You are probably wondering what I've been up to. Well, keep reading to find out!
On January 2 I officially started working at YWAM LA. Since then I have been working as the Lunch Lead in the mornings and the Grounds Lead in the afternoons.
Being the Lunch Lead means that I am in charge of the team in the kitchen preparing lunch. I get instructions on what we are making for lunch by two wonderful ladies who run the kitchen and I am in charge of making sure my team and I have prepared everything for lunch on time. My team consists of Mission Builders. Mission Builders are people from all over the world that come to serve our base for a time. (Anyone can come be a Mission Builder!) Right now my team consists of people from Brazil, Sweden, South Korea, and China. I LOVE working in the kitchen! And I've really enjoyed getting to know people from around the world!
Being the Grounds Lead means that I am in charge of the team taking care of the grounds. This includes mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, raking leaves, etc. Anything to keep our property maintained and looking nice. Most afternoons I have many of the same Mission Builders working with me as I did in the morning. On Monday's and Wednesday's I have 3 DTS students working with me as well. It's been really great so far working with the students and getting to know them and hearing how God is working in their lives.
We spent about a week or two pulling weeds which is something I normally don't enjoy, but this time it was kind of therapeutic. One afternoon in particular, God was speaking to me while pulling weeds. In life there are times that we tend to let weeds grow, but when we let God come in and remove what's not supposed to be there we allow Him to create a clean slate in us so we have room to grow into who He's called us to be. When pulling weeds we need to make sure that we remove the root so that the weed will not grow back. We also need to let God dig at the roots of our problems so that we can heal properly, allowing for healthy growth.
This month I also started a 10 week financial course. It's all about stewarding our finances and how our mindset on finances affects our relationship with God. We've only had one class so far, but I'm really excited to learn more and I hope to share more with you as I complete it.
I have joined the Beauty Arise DTS on their local outreaches the past 2 Friday's. I don't have much to share on local outreach right now, but I'm excited to partner with them as they go out into the city to spread the love of Jesus!
Well. that's been a lot more of the logistical side of my month. So now for some more personal things I've been dealing with (for those of you who are interested).
When you pack up and leave your family and friends behind and move almost 2000 miles away, it's hard. Goodbyes are hard, even if you know you'll see them again. (But, only about 3 1/2 months till I get to see them again!!)
This month has been a lot of settling in and figuring out where my place is here and how I fit in. It's taken time but I finally feel like I'm finding my place here! Since arriving back in LA I've been feeling a little off, like I wasn't completely myself, but this week I feel like I've found myself again and like I'm free to be wholly ME! And to be the ME that God has created me to be!
I'm working on getting back into things that I really enjoy doing (like painting!). I'm excited to see where that takes me!
There are some exciting things coming up in February and I'm really looking forward to this coming month!!