Half-Way

*I am just stating for the record that I try to be open and honest in these posts. I never want to offend anyone.I am simply trying to speak my true feelings on things so that my prayer supporters can know how to pray for me

“Don’t ever give up on or discount anything that Jesus was willing to die for”

               2 months and 2 days ago I boarded a plane and flew across the country to Reno, Nevada to meet the people that would become my family for a semester. I was super excited and super nervous! I had no idea what God had in store for me in Lake Tahoe, CA but I knew that I could trust that He would hold my hand the whole journey, just like He always has. This has been a crazy journey and I would not have made it to this half-way point without clinging to the feet of Christ. I have learned so much in 2 months and I am thankful that I have been faced with some of the hardest days of my life. Lake Tahoe is gorgeous and I know people would LOVE to be living this close to a place of such beauty, but I have learned that just because a place is beautiful does not mean that it is an “easy” place to live, work, and minister. I learned that when I served at the Grand Canyon and I am re-experiencing that here. Sin is rampant in both places and the need for Christ is great in both places.

My goals here in Tahoe are:

1. Tell young children about the love of Christ and get them and their families involved in an active body of believers. This goal is to be accomplished by teaching a rough and rowdy bunch of 1st and 2nd graders in an after-school program and by loving on their families. I try my hardest to always speak with the parents when they come in and I also try to make sure that my students have something to take home with them to remind them to tell their families about our Bible story. Only two of my 22 students have ever attended church. One of my students is autistic, one of my students has two mommies, 3 of my boys have ADHD, one of my sets of twins cry about absolutely everything, 6 of my students go to a school where they are only learning Spanish, and most of the girls cat fight constantly and act like they hate each other. I LOVE these kids and would not want a different class for anything! They are teaching me how to love with the love of Christ, speak with the voice of Christ, and see with the eyes of Christ. It’s a beautiful mess every single day!

2. Become an active voice in the community and be intentionally relational with people so that they can come to know Christ as their savior. This goal is accomplished by volunteering in a Kindergarten classroom at the local public school, meeting with people at a community Bible study, watching children during Mom’s Morning Out and Parent’s Night Out programs, baby sitting, house sitting, pet sitting, and cleaning houses. I have also found that one of the best places to witness to people is inside the doctor’s office when I get one of my usual rounds of sickness. I have been to the local doctor’s office on 4 different occasions and each time God has opened doors for ministry.

As you can see, we stay really busy here. The hardest thing for me to get used to has been that I am required to spend most of my day cleaning a building and then such a short amount of time is spent on these goals. I have been told that having a clean building is a reflection of Christ and I am trying to swallow this fully, but most days I would much rather spend more time on a ministry that I feel might be more beneficial to the Kingdom.(Please know that I am not saying that cleaning, paying bills, and the other not-so-fun but absolutely necessary things are not a part of ministry. These are a part of our lives and I recognize that! I am simply saying that I would like to spend as little time on these things as possible so that more time can be spent on building relations with people in the community and in our school.) I am not in charge of this ministry and therefore, I do as I am told. That has been a big lesson for me to learn. I’m opinionated and analytical, but God has put two ladies in charge of me that I don’t always agree with or feel love from. It is my job as a servant of Christ to do as these ladies say and rely on Christ for love and encouragement. I will not lie and say that this has been easy. I will say that God is teaching me how to be a true servant and that this lesson gets just a little bit easier each time I am willing to swallow my pride and do as I have been asked. I have been reading through the New Testament these last 2 months and I have been challenged over and over again to build a Biblical community wherever I am. I do not want to be a part of the problem in the church. I want to do as Christ has asked me to and build up my fellow believers. Building up a true Biblical community is not necessarily one of the “goals” here in Tahoe, but I believe it should be. We should all swallow our pride, control our tongues, serve one another in love, and build one another up. What a huge task that totally goes against our flesh nature! It’s a good thing as believers we are called to crucify our flesh right?!

The other day I was asked by my supervisor why I am here in Tahoe. My answer was and is Mrs. Anderson. Mrs. Anderson is the lead teacher in a kindergarten classroom at a local elementary school. She is a mean, cynical lady who needs to know the peace and love of Christ. I love her despite the fact that she feels the need to cuss about everything and despite her desire to break down her fellow teachers. She is living with no hope! What else should I expect? I volunteer in her classroom every Wednesday morning from 8:30-11:15am and I have been amazed at the conversations that God has ordained in such a short amount of time. The very first day I met her, I learned that she has never been to a church before and that she doesn’t understand the “Christian culture” as she called it. She also doesn’t understand why I would leave my family to come to Tahoe. What an open door! She now knows where I stand and why I believe being in a local body of believers is so important. She also knows that I would love for her to come and sit beside me on a Sunday morning. What she doesn’t know is that she is a sinner that will die and go to Hell if she does not come to know Christ. Please pray that this conversation comes in God’s timing! Please pray that she comes to know Christ and that she can finally have joy in her life. Please pray that she will have the strength to stand against everything this culture teaches and will surrender her life to Christ.

This adventure has been nothing like I expected or planned for. I expected to teach all day every day and to work at the church on Sunday’s. I did not expect to become a professional cleaner, baby sitter or dog walker. I did not expect to butt heads with my supervisors. I did not expect to face culture shock. I did not expect to get sick and have to spend so much of my time in a doctor’s office or laying in bed. I did not expect to have to deal with the loss of 13 people the last few months or the grief that comes along with that. I also did not expect to meet a grumpy old lady and long to see her come to know Christ, have a giant break through with a child who has autism, laugh until my belly hurts when my students tell me jokes that aren’t even funny, baby sit a kid who will only let me hold him when his mom drops him off, be reminded of the glory and power of Christ just by looking at a lake, or have my eyes opened to the need for homeless ministries. I am amazed at what Christ has in store if we will just hang on long enough to see it! He is Sovereign and able to be trusted. His plans are greater than our greatest plans!

Just another reminder of God's creative power... What a mighty God we get to serve!

Celebrating one of our church member's Birthday

Can't get over this!

This is "screaming baby". His name is Jack and he is the sweetest little one in the world... He just screams a lot when his family drops him off at the church. I have had the privelage of baby-sitting him and so we have bonded and now he loves me. What a blessing! His family also asked me to house/pet sit for them for 10 days. Another mighty big blessing!!

This is part of my class. Love love love them!

Wouldn't trade these sweet babies for anything!

Tucker. I have no words to explain how precious this wild little boy is!

No matter the country, no matter the age.... There will always be time to dance in Miss Laura's class!

Trying to fit in with the other northern California tree huggers! :)