Two Weeks Notice

Nope. I'm not quitting anything. And nope. I'm not Sandra Bullock's worst-ever movie.

I have officially been living in Fairfax, VA for two weeks now, not including the incredible week I got to spend with high schoolers at Lake Champion, and I have just started noticing small little things I find interesting about this place. Some things I love, some I absolutely hate, and some quirks about this place that have just caught me off guard.

Things I've noticed and LOVED:

• Friendship. I have been here so briefly but have been blessed to already have some fun time with some fun new friends and I am really, really thankful for that!

• FRO-YO!!! Seriously, I'm hooked.

• A bike trail called the W&OD- Washington and Old Dominion trail. The trail itself is great and has finally given me a place to escape to with my bike for a few hours, but it is also a quaint little piece of history with cutesy rest stops that have antique-y benches and snippets of history. I likeeee that. 

Things I've noticed and not-so-loved:

• The humidity. I know, I feel so whiny complaining about it, but really. It's awful. Walk out the door: insta-sweat. No matter the actual outdoor temperature.

Things I've just noticed:

• Occasionally what I would call a "Park and Ride" is referred to here as a "Kiss and Ride". I think I like this, it's endearing. Although, I feel like I shouldn't like this, because, more than likely it has anti-feministic-y roots, I'm guessing deriving it's name from wives who would see their husbands off to work on the Metro- drive them to the stop, kiss them and watch them take off. Oh well, good thing I'm not a feminist.

Greetings

So. Here I am. In Fairfax, Virginia.

For those who don't know, in speed summary version:

ItookajobherewithYoungLife

Imovedhere3weeksago

Igetlostallthetime

Idon'tknowmanypeople

butIamLOVINGit.

As I try to figure out a brand new season of life, doing a brand new job, living in a brand new place and working to establish brand new friendships, I feel like the Lord has been teaching me just a ton.

As I've drawn near to Him, one specific thing I've been struck by lately is the way Paul, the servant and apostle of Christ, greets others in his many letters.

Paul, after a life changing encounter with the Lord, cleaned up his act, did a 180 and devoted the rest of his life to ministering to, encouraging, and loving God's people throughout the ancient world. He travelled from city to city, from new place to new place, spreading the good news of Jesus- what He had done for him, personally, and what He had done for the world.

In his letters throughout Scripture, Paul had boatloads of good and important things to say. But, more so than ever before, the way he begins his writings, the way he greets group and after group of people he doesn't necessarily know, has just captivated me.

In letters like the one he writes to the Philippians, he begins his address with comments such as,

I thank my God every time I remember you... I am confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus... I have you in my heart, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus... And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight...

Paul, repeatedly in his letters, welcomes and greets people with such warmth. Such excitement. Such a prayerful posture. Such encouragement. Such hope and confidence. Such gratitude and humility.

My favorite little Paul-ian greeting snippet right now, however, is a simple one. As he begins writing to those in Rome, he says in Romans 1:7,

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Goshhhhh. What if I greeted people, welcomed people into my life with this attitude?! I don't mean in a creepy, monk-like, deep-booming-voice and solemn-bowing-motion kind of way. I simply mean: what if my heart felt this way, assumed this posture towards others as I greet them, welcome them into my new life? What if I saw others first and foremost as loved by God and called to know Him? What if I inwardly offered others some of the grace and peace I find in knowing Christ?

Adventure

If life has been anything the past few weeks, it has been an adventure. I have been up to a lot, much has changed and shifted but the one consistency is this: life's been adventurous!

Last week I was so fortunate to spend a week out in nature, whitewater rafting down the Colorado River and hiking with my Dad, sister, and a few good family friends. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that adventure!

After returning from the wild, wild west, I got to spend my very favorite holiday and my last day in Wisconsin with some of the best people I know. After a day of fun, SWEATING, eating great food, laughing, playing cards and watching fireworks, I watched these five amazing women pile into a car together and drive away. Watching them go I felt so overwhelmed with the amount of love I felt for that car full of friends and by the amount of love they've shown me. We've shared some hilarious memories, some hard moments, and some unforgettable life experiences together.

Then, finally, just days ago, I loaded up my car with wayyyy too many things and headed east for the start of my biggest new adventure: life in Fairfax, Virginia!

I have now been in Fairfax for a few days and truly, every moment of every day feels like a little bit of an adventure. From small things, like journeying alone to the closest Trader Joe's (yes, of COURSE that happened within the first few days) to bigger things like praying about how to form a loving and supportive community around me, I feel brave yet unsure, empowered but nervous. On this adventure some days I'm certain I'll feel scared or overwhelmed or lonely. But more than anything I feel so assured that this adventure I find myself on is just where I should be. I've heard the Lord call to me to step out in faith in this way for Him, I daily wake up asking Him to remind me of the things He's promised me and I wait with excited expectation to see what new things are around each turn.

God intends for us to live adventurous lives. He desires for us to put ourselves out there, but reminds us that we are never alone. And especially in this season of newness I am so thankful for that! David gives word to what my heart feels, singing thanks to the Lord in 1 Chronicles. He says,

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name, let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually!

As cute little Russell from the movie "Up" exclaims, I feel the Lord saying to me, and to all of us, right now-- ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! And let's be thankful for that.

Yes, but...

In Luke 9, walking down the road with Jesus, one man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."


Jesus said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."... Still another man said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family."

Jesus calls out to all of us: follow me. And the response of most? Yes, Lord, but...

The first man says, "Yes, Jesus, that sounds nice. I want to do that. But I'm going to just go home, spend a few nice years with my aging father until he passes and then after that I'll come find you."

The second man responds, "Yes, ok, I will follow you, but let me go home and say some goodbyes first."

Are these requests outrageous? I don't think so. They are the pleas of people who love their family and want to get some things straightened out before they radically change their life, following a man who claims to be the Son of Man.

But Jesus calls us to follow him. And to follow him not carefully, not after meticulous planning, not when the time seems right, not when it is easy, not when we have dotted our "i's" and crossed our "t's".

In fact he warns us, "the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He says that a life lead by him will not be comfortable or easy or cushy.

But he calls, nonetheless, to follow. To surrender. To yield. To be lead. NOW.

There are so many "yes, but..."s I have about following with the entirety of my life. Do you have "yes, but..."s? What would it look like for us to just simply say, "Yes, Lord, I will go."

Nouwen: In the Name of Jesus

It is entirely possible that I've spent more time in my bed in the last two days than I have in the last two weeks combined. I hate being sick. Hate, hate, hate it. But, on the bright side, the last 48 hours of feeling under the weather has allowed for time to read some good things and catch up on episodes of New Girl. Which, by the way, is hilarious.

Sometimes this blog expresses my own thoughts and sometimes not. One super short but quality read I just devoured is a compilation of reflections on Christian leadership and is called, "In the Name of Jesus" by one of my all-time favorites, Henri Nouwen. I will spare you of any of my Nicole-ish commentary and just provide some Nouwen nuggets that gave me cause for reflection. Enjoy!

If there is any focus that the Christian leader of the future will need, it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking us, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?"... 

Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word, and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?... 

Their leadership must be rooted in permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice and guidance... 

Without this, future leaders will be little more than pseudo-sociologists, pseudo-psychologists, pseudo-sociologists, pseudo-social workers...

Who am I?

As I prepare to wrap up a chapter of life- life in college, in a house of amazing friends, in Wisconsin- I have been challenged a lot to really ponder who I am. Gosh, that sounds dramatic and midlife-crisis-ish. And not unlike the scene in Zoolander when Derek Zoolander asks, "God, who am I?"

But, with this next season of life, a lot of my current roles and identities will change or disappear. And truthfully, in major ways I let what I do- how I spend my time and with whom I spend my time- dictate to myself who I am.

I've let the fact that I'm a student, a friend, a roommate, a daughter, a sister, a teammate, a Young Life leader, an AmeriCorps volunteer, a child advocate, a nanny, blah, blah, blah define who I am. I sometimes cannot see myself apart from these identities, these roles I've held for the past few years.

I just finished a book. But that isn't news to a lot of my roommates and friends. I've been talking non-stop for the past few days about "Love Does" by Bob Goff.

In part of one chapter, Goff writes about when the apostles go through the process of selecting a twelfth to be a part of their posse after Jesus dies and is resurrected to replace Judas.

After Jesus left, the ones who were following Him decided they needed to add another apostle to replace the bad Judas. The requirements were pretty straightforward: the replacement needed to have been with Jesus the whole time He was here, and he had to be a stand-up guy, too. There were two guys the apostles camp up with.

One was a guy named Matthias, and the other was a guy nicknamed Justus. I'm not sure how they cast lots back they. Honestly, it sounds a lot like rock, paper, scissors to me. Somehow, however, they picked Matthias. He got the nod and has been in every stained-glass window from then on. But I've always wondered, what happened to Justus? We never hear about him again, yet he did all the right things, saw all the right stuff, knew who Jesus was, and was a faithful guy.

The thing is, "Justus" sounds a lot to me like "just us". God's plans are full of just-us kind of people. I would say probably the majority of us are just-us people, folks who don't get capes or stained-glass windows. We just get the opportunity to do what God wants us to do without a lot of fanfare.

Even though he lost rock, paper, scissors, I bet Justus was one of those secretly incredible guys who kept on being incredible. We get the same shot....

Although not Goff's point at all with this passage, this little snippet stuck out to me as a reminder that we are called to be like Justus- simply to be obedient and full of love. No matter what. No matter what titles we may or may not hold, no matter what roles we've been asked to take on. No matter if we have "capes" or "stained-glass windows" to tell us or others who we are.

So regardless of what roles and identities I'll soon be leaving behind and what new ones I'll soon step into, I really just want to be like Justus. I want to be someone who spends time with Jesus. I want to be a "stand-up guy". I want to be a "just us" kind of person. I want to be perhaps a secret, unidentified doer and lover.

Dos dias mas...

There are only two days left of Project Grow! It has been a HARD year. Literally everything that could have gone wrong and any little thing that could have sprung up to cause unexpected problems for us... has. But even so, I am so glad I stuck it out for a second year. 

I love this program, this initiative to get kids who, at age 3, are already lightyears behind their peers, ready for Kindergarten so that they stand a real chance at surviving in the academic world. I love this program, this environment where real, trusting, one-on-one relationships are fostered and encouraged. I've loved my time with Project Grow and will forever cherish the memories made this year and last.

Here, Jamarion and I are perfecting our hand shake, which by the way goes a little like this... 7 high-fives, a salute, and then "deuces!!" I clearly hadn't quite mastered it at this point. Good thing I still have two more days with this little guy.