Hello friends!
It has been ages and ages since I've posted and I'm sorry I've failed to keep you updated about my life and such. A lot of things have changed within the last few months. I find it kind of funny that last year at this time, my prayer was for my life not to be boring. Well the Lord certainly answered that prayer with a resounding yes! I think it’s a given that our lives won’t be boring for long if the Lord is leading us.
The biggest change is something I’ve recently become involved in called a CARES Team. The CARES program allows me and a teammate to live in an apartment complex and make it into a community. We work part-time to plan events for the community and take care of the residents. It is a great way to get to know people and build relationships with them. Please pray that my teammate Emily and I would do our best at this job. Our residents are 95% Spanish speaking, which was why we were chosen for this property. In spite of my poor Spanish skill aside from “Hola, como estas?” Emily’s first language is Spanish. She’s a better communicator than I am anyway, so we definitely make a good team. I get to be in charge of logistics and party planning, which suits me very well. I pray that we would both have a love for these people that doesn’t come from ourselves, but from the Lord.
I am still teaching English as a Second Language to adult refugees; however I’ve cut my days from 4 to 2 because of CARES. I couldn’t give it up entirely, and I hope to continue to be involved in my students’ lives and spend more time visiting and building relationships than teaching. I like teaching, but it is exhausting work some days and I feel my time would be better spent talking with people in their homes. I also teach twice a week in a church about an hour away. My students there are from Armenia and they are wonderful, too. I couldn’t ask for more appreciative or dedicated students. Pray that I would be able to find time to do everything I feel called to at this point and that I would be able to do these things well. I don’t want to be a “Jack of all trades but a master of none.”
On top of all of this, I have been given the privilege of speaking at churches and helping them become more involved/aware of their communities. As I’m not a fan of public speaking, it has been a challenge, but a good one. God is certainly faithful to accomplish what I cannot! This summer I will be leading at least 2 churches in a “Community Awareness Day”. We get to go out in the community and just learn about the different peoples that reside there, where they are from, what they believe, etc. It will be really similar to what I got to do in New York, so I’m excited about that. I miss New York a lot some days!
On a more personal note, I really love life right now! It’s crazy, and some days aren’t very fun, but I feel that I am where I am supposed to be. I’m very content in what I’m doing, but not to the point of being too comfortable. Most days, honestly, I am stretched beyond what I think I can do, but God is always faithful to deliver me when I feel about to stumble, or snap on someone, or just curl up in a ball and fall asleep when I need to be working. I appreciate all of your prayers more than you can imagine. I’m so blessed to know the Church is lifting me up from all over the place! Thank you! :)
