I have two awesome updates. Tonight after going to dinner, a bunch of us went down to this beautiful waterfall not too far from the college. The sun was just setting, and the sound of the water and the frogs was just incredible. The view was breathtaking as the sky turned a thousand shades of red. I brought a jembe and Corey brought his guitar and we did a little worship set. It was just a very surreal night. God is so good. Second of all......I finally know some locations I will be this summer!!! Woo Hoo! Here some of them are!
June 11-15 - Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana.
June 17-21 - Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana.
July 2-6 - Hope College, Holland Michigan.
July 9-13 - C.I.Y. Offices, Joplin, Missouri
July 16-20 - Lee University, Holland, Tennessee.
July 22-26 - Lee University, Holland, Tennessee.
In Him,
Adam
Expecting the Unexpected...
I guess you could say that inspiration can many times come from some of the most unlikely places. I have probably learned more this week than many years combined, and the funny thing is, I have been told nothing new. The last week has been quite consistent. We have been working very hard to get the sets ready to hit the road. Let me give you a little bit of idea of the context in which I have been working in. All of the interns have finally arrived, most of them arrived Sunday and Monday. There are twenty-three of us in all. We consist of sixteen regular interns (8 guys, 8 girls), 5 tech interns, and 2 student interns. It is somewhat stereotypical of how the work is separated. The ladies do all of the administrative work (most of the time) and the guys do most of the grunt work (which requires an immense amount of organization as well). This week I have been building the major props for the sets. I do my work outside for more room. It has been about 90 degrees with the heat index, so that alone working all day for a week is really draining. It is really easy to become frustrated with the work. However, I must explain how I received this great guidance and inspiration. Every Wednesday we have a devotional with one of the staff members. Last week it was Andy Hanson, the President of C.I.Y., and this week was Robin Cigars. I saw him speak at both of the events I attended at Milligan in Tennessee. He spoke the night I gave my life to Christ at a C.I.Y. event. He sat us down at this huge conference room table, looked us all right in the eyes with a look that I have seen before. It's that look someone gives when you know they mean business. It's the look someone gets before they get angry, or before they just found out some incredible news. I had no idea what to expect. He looked at us for another second, and started out by saying very firmly... "you all need to know this... this summer... this summer is NOT about you." He continued, "this work is going to be hard, real hard, but we are workmen for God. He has given us the strength to make this happen. This conference is about God, this conference is about these lost, broken and confused teens." I could never quite capture the passion that was in the words he spoke simply by typing them. He talked to us for about fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes in which I am not sure I blinked once. I was reminded in an instant of when I was in C.I.Y. only three short years ago. I didn't know God, I didn't know anything, I had no direction. But someone who was in the position that I have now, humbled down and made this event happen for me. If they didn't decide to duck down behind the scenes and work hard, I mean real hard... I would not be here right now. I wouldn't be at CCV, I probably would not know Christ in any way like I do now. How powerful is that? Our King of Kings pours such incredible love, grace and strength on us that we can undoubtedly achieve the seemingly unachievable. We can love the unlovable. We can work for 16 hours strait in the sun, loading and unloading, packing and unpacking, setting up and tearing down. And you know what... we can do all of that with NO credit. That is the beautiful thing of being a servant. In Greek the word is doula. Doula is the modern version of the Greek word for a slave or servant. We are called to be a servant, or even a slave for Christ. It's a powerful idea. You never know when someone saying something that has been said before, but with such incredible passion will effect your life. You should always expect the unexpected. I am really happy to be here. I know I am supposed to be here, and I know I am learning. I already feel like I am best friends with many of the interns already. We did this awesome scavenger hunt with all of the C.I.Y staff in three vans with video cameras, it was a lot of fun. Our team won of course, unfortunately I had to eat butter to do so... not so fun... We also had an evening where all the guy interns went to this staff members house and has burgers on the grill and stuff. We played horseshoes and "redneck golf". It's a really fun game with two balls connected with a rope and you must wrap it around these poles in the distance. I am 3 for 3 so far, so we will see how it goes. So it is about 11pm right now and I am so tired. I never thought I would say that. On a side note. I have slept better since I have been here, than I have my whole life. I have had such a clear and care free mind, and I have worked all day, and just been so tired that when I lay down I am OUT. heh. Many of you know this feeling. This is very new to me. Most people who know me know that I don't sleep, so this has just been incredible. I get up at 6:30 no problem. The last time I can remember being able to just fall asleep when I lay in bed was CIY 3 years ago. God is so good. So feel free to shoot me a comment! All of your prayers have been so vital in the incredible things God is doing in my life. And I thank you all with everything in my heart I hope all of you can feel some day how I feel now. Peace & Love.
-Adam
Currently reading Everyones Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg.
John gives us this incredible idea of Christian Community like I have never heard it explained before. We are called to be ONE. He explains how the word Shalom is used in Scripture. It is the community that we are supposed to live in with each other. It's how we should love each other with sheer Agape. The agape that a mother has for her new-born child. The agape that Christ had for us to die for us. If we begin to recognize the fact that we are all imperfect, and we come "as is", then we can learn to grow with each other to work on those many deficiencies we all posses.
-Adam
Currently reading Everyones Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg.
John gives us this incredible idea of Christian Community like I have never heard it explained before. We are called to be ONE. He explains how the word Shalom is used in Scripture. It is the community that we are supposed to live in with each other. It's how we should love each other with sheer Agape. The agape that a mother has for her new-born child. The agape that Christ had for us to die for us. If we begin to recognize the fact that we are all imperfect, and we come "as is", then we can learn to grow with each other to work on those many deficiencies we all posses.
learning to serve...
There is no doubt in my mind that I was definitely meant to read my devotion for the day today. Today was I guess you could say not quite how I expected today to go I guess you could say. Right now I am partaking in a part of the internship known a "zero week." Basically the few of us that arrived early (about 7 of us) prepare for the coming of the rest of the interns. Let me take you back to my day of travel yesterday before I continue. Of course it was never fun saying goodbye to Meliss for 3 months, then a I found my way to Charlotte, NC. That flight was delayed. I hung out in Charlotte in their very nice airport, then got to my terminal to find a Express flight. It was a quite small plane, but it was the smoothest flight I have ever been on. I want to give you all at home a visual of what I am seeing. Philadelphia airport..HUGE. Charlottes Airport...HUGE. Fayettevile Arkansas airport... not too huge. It was actually funny. The baggage claim was actually the same thing as the check-in, check-out, ticketing, and the main lobby. So from there I got picked up by another intern and brought to his apartment to stay for the night. Only to be somewhere else tonight, and somewhere else in a few days. (so much for unpacking) NOW to the part of my blog where I tell you why I am really glad I read my devotion today. Just to give you an idea, the title of my devotion for the day was "the habit of enjoying adversity." Today was hard. No introductions, no lessons, no instructions, just strait to work... hard work! All day we were lifting stuff, and building stuff. Just a ton of work that is incredibly tedious and almost pointless. But this has all been for the better for these reasons. The devotion I read told us about how no matter how difficult something may be, I must say "Lord, I am delighted to obey you." And that is the attitude we must have! Although our life events don't always line up with our expectations, we still must continue to rejoice in our Father... I know the tedious work I am doing will all pay off when we hit the road, and start showing these kids God. It is an incredible humbling job, and even if it sucks, we should take Joy in being A True Servant. God tells us in Philippians 4:19 that "my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. How awesome is that? If we just continue to have faith in the Lord provision, then it's allllll good! The relief I am being told is that things change a lot when the rest of the interns arrive, and changes even more when we hit the road. So it should make for some interesting times. Peace & Love.
Flora.
ps. We got our first crazy thunder/rainstorm today, came out of nowhere!
Flora.
ps. We got our first crazy thunder/rainstorm today, came out of nowhere!
Let the adventure begin
So I guess I had not thought that my first few lessons would be happening before I even got the oppertunity to jump on a flight. I leave tomorrow at 3:45pm from Philly into Charlotte, NC. From there I am taking a smaller plane to Fayetteville, Arkansas. That plane will probably be about the size of my civic, and should be interesting! Some other interns will pick me up from there, and take me to Joplin, Missouri. I will be staying there for a few weeks for training. So this weekend woke me up to a lot of things that I did not really expect. I spent a lot of time this weekend with the people that matter in my life. I went to the only place worth going to in the summer with Melissa... Ocean City, NJ! Then I hung out with the family for the remaining time. It hit me real hard how easy it is to take advantage of the people that are always there for us, the people that actually care how we are, the people that are actually reading my blog. heh. Anyway, we can never just "get used to" those people that love us. It's okay to let them know we really appriciate how much they really do care about us... I have a feeling this is going to be a trip full of lessons. I'm ready to serve God any way I can! I will continue to pray for not only my trip, but for what God will do on this adventure. It would be incredible if you would too... Lets get this thing started...
