urban impact.

Last week was my spring break (quite possibly my last spring break) and the ministry that I serve with at UT partnered with three local churches to sponsor a mission trip to the Big Apple. (Fun Fact: I went to NYC on a mission trip spring break of my freshmen year as well... starting and ending college with a trip to the 'city that never sleeps') I'm gonna have another entry soon on all of the sight-seeing stuff we did the first weekend in the city but this post is meant to focus on the reason we were there:

The organization that I had the opportunity to serve with for the week was Urban Impact. Their mission is to reach out to immigrants who come from the most remote and unreached areas of the world. They are a Christian non-profit organization that spreads the name of Jesus through teaching English as a Second Language. Sounds awesome, right?! It is!

I had the privilege of "teaching" on three different occasions which is an INCREDIBLE experience. All of the guys I worked with were extremely receptive and eager to learn but I had a special session with one guy in particular... 

This is Sam. He is from West Africa (I never could understand exactly which part haha). He's only been in America for 10 months and he currently sells cell phone accessories. He has a wife and four children (three daughters and a son) still in Africa and his whole objective is to bring them here for a "better life." I think a big reason this time was so special for me was not just due to the connection we had but the Lord has laid it on my heart to go to Africa at some point in my life (hopefully soon). 

Something else you should know is that we stayed in Rockaway Beach, Queens, which was hit HARD by Hurricane Sandy. Some of the stories we heard were terrifying and something I pray I never have to experience first-hand... but hearing all of this really helped us to connect to the people we were serving. In fact, Urban Impact is actually helping to launch a church right there on the island and we were blessed to be able to help. We worked on construction projects and handed out ALOT of flyers for promotion and it was SO WORTH IT. It was perfect (AKA God) timing because they still had a lot of work to do when we arrived in order to launch on Easter Sunday... but it was a HUGE success! They had over 150 guests last week with a few people accepting Christ! It's such a blessing that the Lord allowed us to be a small part of it. Here are a few pictures of the church to give you a better idea: (it was originally an old warehouse that Urban used to house supplies for the victims of Sandy)

 

So that's a small glimpse of what we did by partnering with Urban Impact last week. I could list countless stories of how the Lord worked through small conversations, street evangelism, the ESL classes, on the island and so many things... but it's hard to get the full effect through a blog. SO, please feel free to call/text/email/Facebook me and ask more about my trip and this wonderful ministry!

busy.

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while but hadn't quite nailed down what I wanted to say. And ironically enough, as I'm writing about being "busy," I've never had so much free time IN. MY. LIFE. But venture with me...

It all started well over a month ago when I was walking back from class one morning. This guy walking in front of me yelled at a friend across the street: "Hey buddy, can we grab lunch this week?" To which his friend responded, "I don't know man, I have a really busy week. I'll text you!"

This brief exchange really got me thinking... Isn't that a pretty normal response? "I have a busy week." Aren't we all busy? For example, on any given day, I have class, work, homework, intramurals, ministry events, group meetings, etc. Most days I feel like I wake up and GO GO GO until bed. But don't most people? Isn't that the norm in our society now?

So, the question becomes... what are we busy with? What is consuming our schedule? I think it's so easy to get caught up in all the things we "have to do" and lose sight of the important things in life. It's easy to skip a quiet time with the Lord after a long day. It's easy to let friendships suffer because of other commitments. It's easy to miss out on opportunities because we can't take our "blinders" off.

Prime example: Earlier in the semester I was going for a run... it was one of those days where I was "squeezing in" a workout because of everything else I had going on. As I was running down Cumberland Avenue, there was a homeless man sitting at the bus stop. Well as I went by him, something told me to STOP. To talk to this man. Pray for this man. Help this man. It was most definitely the Holy Spirit. But you know what I did? I kept running. I was "so busy" and in "too much of a hurry" to stop. To be obedient. This moment has stuck with me and I'll have to answer for my disobedience one day; but it has taught me to slow down. We can't continue to "run" through life, going from one task to the next blindly. We can't be too busy to see the needs of those around us. We have to learn, in a fast-paced world, to SLOW DOWN.

rampant.

My mind is running rampant tonight: I just finished the toughest week of my semester only to run face-first into a tougher one. We leave on Thursday for NYC to work with Urban Impact for a week. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my foot. I graduate in less than two months and head straight to Houston for the next three months of my life. And I have a heavy heart.

Overwhelming thought today: At some point, I'm going to fail my friends. My friends are going to fail me. Leaders are going to fail me. Mentors. Teachers. Family. Co-workers. They're all going to fail me and I'm going to fail them. It's a sad fact of life... we're all fallen sinners. Many (or most) of the time I'm a second-thought or after-thought to friends. BUT not to God. He will NEVER fail me. His story is that of REDEMPTION. How could I not be encouraged by that?!

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or frightened because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."

[Deuteronomy 31:6]

Strong words from Moses to Joshua... and me. So this week, I'll be encouraged because my God is mighty. He's big. He's a healer. He's a provider. And He loves me. I pray you'll be encouraged as well.

crippled.

Welp. I haven't blogged in quite some time... my apologies to all of my die-hard followers (the few. the proud. the loyal.)

I've been meaning to write about my current injury for a couple of weeks now BUT my heart hasn't been right in regards to my situation. For those of you who don't know, I broke a bone in my foot a couple of weekends ago playing indoor volleyball. (I would explain more but it's really a pathetic story of a collision and a lack of balance.) Consequently I'm now in a BOOT for at least two more weeks... maybe four. I had crutches (seen below) but I ditched them pretty quick (despite the wishes of my mom. and my friends. and probably my doctor.)

And honestly... I was bitter. Really bitter. The first week was tough. I was training for my first half-marathon. My last semester of intramural soccer had just started. And to top it all off... (feel free to laugh) I started a "walking" class the week after I broke my foot. Yes, I need the credit hour in order to graduate and, you're right, I can't walk. Perfect combination. 

Thankfully, my mom (a constant sound of reason) made sure to remind me that my God is in control and is trying to show me something during this hard time. Besides, as His Word says, I'm not promised tomorrow so I better rejoice in TODAY. (But I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while to get to this point!)

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble of its own."

[Matthew 6:34]

Luckily, I have some pretty incredible friends and co-workers that have been more than helpful during this time. Some have walked (lesbe honest, crawled) to class with me. Others have brought me food. Given me rides. Sympathized. Listened to me whine. So for that... I'm grateful. 

I still have my rough days and my bitter moments... Ya know, those times when you're hobbling back from class and somebody runs past you or your friends play a game of pick-up soccer. But I realize that there will be other half-marathons. And soccer games. And I'm bound and determined to pass this DANG walking class! However, prayers are always appreciated for a timely return to action and strength on my bad days...

storms.

Ever ran in the rain? Well I did tonight... but not by choice. It's one thing to go for a jog during a spring shower. It's a whole new ball game late-January in Knoxville. It had been raining all day but there was finally a break in the weather so I TRIED to take advantage. But Mother Nature and I have not been getting along too well lately... (see my previous post for more on that).

I was more than a mile from my house when the bottom DROPPED and it started to pour. It was dark. Cold. Windy. And now raining. Plus I was running UPHILL. (Although when do you ever run downhill in East Tennessee?) Do you think the wind was at least blowing at my back? Nope. Hitting me in the face? Of course.

While I was running uphill into the cold, rainy wind... one of my favorite worship songs started playing on my iPhone. GIVE ME FAITH. Here are some of the lyrics:

I need You to soften my heart

To break me apart.

I need You to open my eyes

To see that You're shaping my life. 

All I am

I surrender

Give me faith to trust what You say

That You're good and Your love is great

I'm broken inside, I give You my life

I need You to soften my heart

To break me apart

I need You to pierce through the dark

To cleanse every part of me.

I may be weak

But You're Spirit's strong in me

My flesh may fail

But my God You never will. 

As I continued to trudge through the storm, a passage from Hebrews came to mind...

"Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

[Hebrews 12:2]

I instantly realized that this moment was such an incredible representation of our lives. We're going to encounter storms. They're going to be hard. But we have to fix our eyes upon Jesus. Upon the cross. Do you realize how hard it is to look up when the wind and rain are hitting you in the face? My vision may have been impaired but I wasn't blinded... I knew the direction I needed to go. I knew where I could find warmth and refuge. From the physical rain, it was my house. From the spiritual rain, it was my God. 

short LOOONG weekend.

Well this past weekend was quite the adventure... I might as well start at the beginning:

A Few Weeks Ago: One of my closest friends, Adam Livingston, calls to tell me that he and his beautiful fiance, Kelsey Toohey, have decided to move their wedding up from October of 2013 to... you guessed it... last weekend (January 19th). Normally this wouldn't be an issue BUT they live in Texas and the wedding was in Houston. Houston is approximately 14 hours from Knoxville... Have I mentioned that I had the privilege of being a groomsman in the wedding? Well, I did so obviously I was going to be there on their special day! Luckily, I don't have classes on Fridays and this past Monday was a holiday so I had FOUR whole days to work with until...

Thursday: Katie "Ramrod" "BK" Reimold (who I had convinced to go with me by promising her that she could see some of our favorite Texans for the weekend) and I were planning to drive to Nashville for the night and leave SUPER early on Friday to head to Texas. But Mother Nature had another plan...

Friday: Due to the weather (and poor communication within the Education Department at UT) we didn't leave KNOXVILLE until 11am Eastern time. We made a quick stop in Nashville to eat lunch with my family and switch cars with my mama... she was gracious enough to trust me with her Altima :) Well after being in the car for WAY LONGER than desired we arrived in Huntsvegas, Texas! Okay, actually its Huntsville and its pretty much in the middle of nowhere BUT some of our favorite people in the whole wide world live there. I had called our close friends, Kahler and Katy Stone and asked if we could crash on their floor for a few nights, and they were more than happy to host. This is what we arrived to...

Saturday: WEDDING DAY. I spent most of the day getting ready for the wedding and it was SO WORTH IT. The ceremony was one of the best ones I have been to and the reception was an incredible time as well. I was so happy to see old friends and share in Mr. AND MRS. Livingston's special day...

Sunday: We were able to see some friends from camp and it was truly a blessing, despite the fact we only saw them for a couple hours. We did, however, get to spend the entire day with the Stones. If you know me well you know how special this couple is to me. We just met this past summer but the friendships will last a lifetime. I was reunited with my "partner-in-crime" Kahler... oh the stories I could tell (and probably shouldn't). But the picture below is a pretty great one...

Kahler: "I think these are BLACK labs.."

(you can understand the laughter that followed)

Plus I got to spend time with his lovely wife, Katy... who is probably one of my favorite cooks EVER (don't tell my mom or either of my grandmothers). We were WELL FED this weekend, no arguing that! Kahler and I also had dinner with a great friend and mentor that night... the one and only Chase Epps! Such a blessing.

Monday: Return trip.. we got up at FIVE IN THE MORNING to come home... LOOONG DAY.

So our "long" weekend break from school seemed extremely short. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to or spend as much time as we would've liked but we will take what we can get. Gotta love Te-jas.

nero.

Anyone that knows me well has heard ALOT about a little boy by the name of Dinero... not just the (countless) stories I can share of all the ridiculous, hilarious and (sometimes) cute things he does and says, but of how much this little boy has impacted my life... Well he is on my heart today. BIG TIME. 

"Mista Caylub, tell him my name mean money!"

When I started working for the YMCA After-School Program two and a half years ago, I was placed at an inner-city school in Knoxville. The kids come mostly from single-family households with very limited income and don't have much going for them. Society has already written these little babies off, even at five years old. No one gives them any chance of making something of themselves... But after working with them for years, I know this to be far from the truth. I could write for days about all of the kids I have met through my job and how each one of them (even the "hard to love" ones) have taken a piece of my heart... but I could write for weeks about Dinero.

From the moment I met Dinero and his dad (it was his first day of Kindergarten), I knew we were going to get along just fine. Whether we were throwing the football, racing around the gym, building with Legos, dancing to The Cheetah Girls (don't judge; it was his favorite when he was 5!), working on his homework or just hanging out... our relationship grew.

Did he have behavior problems? Yep. Did it feel like pulling teeth to get him to listen to his teacher and do his work? Oh yeah. But throughout his first couple years of school, he matured ALOT. And my relationship with his dad grew as well... DeMarcus is a single father doing what he can to raise Nero right. He's young and learning but his love for his son is unconditional.

Even though I've been relocated to a different school and I don't see Nero every day, he still impacts my life. It was no coincidence that I was placed at his school so long ago at such a critical time for both of us. I still talk to his dad regularly to check on him; I visit when I can; I even attend his pee-wee football games. (They finished 2nd this year in Knox County... Go Roadrunners!) These times have been better training for parenthood than anything else I could imagine.

Do I impact Dinero and DeMarcus in a positive way? I think so. Will they continue to be a part of my life for years to come? I hope so. Has Nero taught me just as much as I have taught him? I know so.