Being in my third year of teaching, I have learned more about being a teacher from actually being a teacher, then when I was in school studying it.  I have learned from my fellow teachers and from actually being in the class.   I still have a lot to learn, but I know that I am a much better teacher starting in my third year than I was when I originally started.  What I did not expect was how much I have learned from students in these past few years.  

I will be honest when I say I have been a bit frustrated and a bit disgruntled when it comes to teaching recently.  I feel like I have been working very hard, and every day there is some problem that comes up that demands my attention, or I have had comments made at me that have discouraged and brought me down.  I am having moments where I am feeling burnt out. However, there are always those moments as a teacher that can lift my spirit and remind me of the reasons that I love to teach.  Those are again the moments when I have a good relationship with kids and I can see that they have a heart to learn both about how to be better people and about the subject that I teach, which is Spanish.  

There have been many moments as a person who teaches Spanish where I have learned from students who grew up speaking Spanish about different words or different ways they say things.  They are always wonderful to have in the classroom, so I have the opportunity to learn from them.  It can be hard because I know that I am supposed to be the teacher, so therefore I am supposed to be the person who knows everything.  However, I am very aware that I don’t have all the answers.  When a kid knows a word or two that I don’t, or there is a phrase that their family uses in Spanish that I don’t use, it is just more information that I can gain and teach to future students.  

A big portion of my job in teaching is helping my students become better people.  Sadly, there are many times when I have to get upset at incorrect or wrong behavior, and I need to remind the students to be kind, hard-working, and thoughtful.  However, there are moments in teaching (that would be considered the best moments) when students prove to me just how kind and thoughtful they really can be.  Recently I was at a volleyball game, and I saw a woman who was struggling to get up the bleachers.  I didn’t know exactly how to help her, and I was a bit frozen for a second. Then I saw one of my students offer to help the woman up the bleachers by giving her a hand that could support her on the way up.  This then inspired me to do the same. I also reached out my hand in order to help this older woman.    

This really reminded me of the verse, 1 Timothy 4:12, which says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”  There are many times that we can look at those who are younger than us or children as people who can’t inspire us or who can’t do as important of things as those who are adults.  However, that is not true in the slightest.  There are many moments that children can show us what it means to be good friends, good sons and daughters, and good learners because that is what they are expected to be.  When we can get to be adults, we may leave behind the idea that we need to be good at any of those things, because we have moved on to a new stage of life.

The Lord has always seen children as important to the kingdom of God.  He knows that they can look at things brightly and can be extra really good listeners to the Lord. Because of this, he would often talk to the children and use them as examples in his stories.  He was the best at spending time with children when many of his followers didn’t want to listen to them.  My challenge then for myself and for all of you this week is to spend some time listening to a child that you are near.  This could be like me with your students, it could be your own children, or it could be just some children that you are around on a regular basis.  See what they may have to say.  See what they are thinking and the kind items that they have done for others.  Then if you are a child or someone who is younger reading this, my challenge for you is to not be afraid to be an inspiration.  It can feel intimidating when you are a younger person, but there are many people who can be inspired by what you do and say.  

Recently I was reading through verses of the day, and one verse that was mentioned was Ecclesiastes 3:1 which says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”  We as people will often go through good, happy, and fruitful times, while we will also go through times of great strife, hardship, and frustration.  It is important that we can continue to find God’s purpose even amidst those seasons.  The season that you are in may not be the most perfect season.  It may not be the place that you exactly want to be in, but it has a reason.  The Lord has something that he wants to teach you, and he wants you to grow in fruits of the spirit, so that way you can grow fruit all over the world.  He also wants to bless you, even if these are the moments when you feel very far away from blessings.  But how can we choose to see goodness even amidst those hardships?  

This past year, my word of the year has been joy, and I have tried to stay focused on something joyful that happens every day.  I have learned that when I look at something joyful everyday, I can continue to find joy in every season.   This is not always the easiest.  For example, I don’t enjoy winter.  I don’t love the cold weather.  I don’t like that the sun is down for longer periods of time throughout the day.  I don’t like that I can’t run or bike outside as much either.  However, even I have to admit that there are many beautiful things that can come out of the months that winter presides in.  Hot chocolate and other hot drinks can easily be enjoyed by a vast majority in the winter months, and often this is the season when I go to more basketball games that my students participate in.  Of course, this example was more about the actual season of winter.  When in reality, the verse is talking about seasons of life.  

 I am currently a teacher.  However, I have also had many dreams of becoming a writer and writing a novel or to work at a nonprofit.  There are many times that I can sometimes feel as though I am not in the position that I am supposed to be.  Maybe there is someone also reading who doesn’t know if they are in the right position or the right job.  Many others can also struggle with the area that they are in life when it comes to whether or not they are single or married.  I am currently single, but I can start to wonder whether or not I am going to be single forever.  When we start to become unsure if we are in the right position or whether we are in the right relationship/no relationship, the Devil or the evil one then does an extra good job about making us feel even worse about that season we are in.  

My challenge for each and every one of you right now is to think about the place that you are in, and then list three incredible blessings that come out of this season of your life.  This can be written in a journal or in the notes section of your phone.  What season are you in?  Are you a student or are you in the job world?  Are you married or single?  Are you living in a small town or are you in a large city?  Depending on the major life situation/season you are in, what are three blessings that come out of that.  I say that you should write these down, so that way you can have a reminder of the blessings and the good things that can come out of each season, even if you are not necessarily in the season that you want to be in.  

Right now, using the example that I have already mentioned: I am a teacher.  This has been a major blessing in my life because I am growing all the time in my leadership skills.  I am leading people who are younger than me, yes, but I am still in many ways leading young adults.  It is a lot of work to be able to lead people, especially all day.  I need to be creative in my lesson planning and how I teach in order to lead and teach my students better.  Another blessing is that it has taught me is, to stay on top of my work.  I know that I need to make sure I grade on a regular basis, so that I will not fall behind and students will not have grades.  Lastly, it has taught me/is teaching me on a regular basis how to have more compassion and patience with the students that I am teaching.  This is something that I am still working on, and I probably will be for the rest of my life.  But, I would not be as strong in this if I wasn’t working as a teacher.  

I pray that this exercise will help you realize what the Lord is trying to teach you during this season of your life.  I pray that you realize you are growing and that you are being blessed by the Lord, even when it can feel as though he is the farthest away that he can possibly be.  I hope the writing of the blessings down serves as a reminder to see joy in all circumstances.  

There was a long time ago when I wrote a blog post about my four power words.  One of my four power words was to advocate or to show advocacy.  I believe that this word is one that is often talked about, but it is maybe not fully understood in its fullest potential and meaning.  There are a few different definitions or ways that we can look at this word. The one definition of advocacy from Cambridge Dictionary is “public support for an idea, plan, or way of doing something:”  This means that there is a person who wants to support a certain idea or a plan that will impact a majority of people.  

What exactly then do I mean by advocacy?  This can mean a few different things, but all of the main ways I am thinking about advocacy in regards to this blog post is referring to talking to the people that are in our government about the issues and the concerns to hopefully get them fixed.  I mean talking to the members of Congress through various different forms.  This could be signing a petition or sending a thoughtfully worded email.   Then there are also ways that one can call a person in position of power and try to make changes based on what is happening in the world.  

One of the main things that I would say that I am a major advocate for is anti-human trafficking and anti-modern day slavery.  There are many reasons that I am fighting against this so hard, and it has become my biggest passion throughout my life, even if it originally started out as just an extra curricular that I could do when I was in college to look better on my resumé.  However as I learned more and more about the problems and the slavery that is in the world, I could not just stand by through hearing the stories and the problems and not do anything to stop it.  

Another way to think of advocacy is to think of advocating or helping someone else.  This may even just be defending someone.  There are many times when people need someone else to defend them.   Every single person has experienced a time when we have seen someone being bullied or made fun of in front of us.  It can be really easy to pretend as though we do not see it.  This can also be when we see someone being made fun of from a distance and it is when they are certainly not there to defend themselves.  It can become especially easy to not defend another person when they are not around, but that is when it becomes the most prevalent and we can really show our loyalty and love to them from a distance.  

There are many reasons that I say advocacy is very important.  One of those reasons is that it teaches the importance of selflessness.  When one is focused on advocacy, they are less focused on themselves.  They are thinking about people on a larger scale.  You are not just fighting for an individual person, but rather a large group of people.  You are working for the world to be a better place for all individuals.  

Secondly, the Lord also thought that advocacy was important.  It is commonly mentioned in the bible when Jesus reminded everyone that they need to take care of the widows, homeless, and those who do not know the Lord.  However, the Bible even mentioned the idea of advocacy as early as Proverbs.  In Proverbs 31 8:-9, it says,  “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  The Lord wants everyone to speak up for those who are helpless and not as strong.  He finds them just as valuable as anyone else, even when the world does not.  There are those moments when it can be easier to look away from someone being hurt or ridiculed, but the life of a Christian was never one that was meant to be easy.  

Thirdly, the other important piece of advocacy is being able to use your voice.  The United States has a government where the people have an opportunity to be a part of the decisions and changes that are being made.  This means more than just getting the chance to vote for who will be in presidency and who will be governor.  We also have an opportunity to talk to those who are in power.   A majority of their job is to listen to the people who they are in charge of.   There are many times when we can believe that we are not contributing to the world that we are in.  We can see the bad things that are happening in the United States.  This can leave us feeling hopeless and helpless.  When one advocates and chooses to use their voice for a positive outcome, we can actually make an impact and make a change.  

At the end of the day, I am a big believer in one finding something they are passionate about and being willing to fight and make changes out there in the world.  This can be at a small scale when you are willing to save or help the person standing next to you to the bigger scale of fighting for a major cause you believe in.  Go out there and find your passion and make this world an overall better place. 

In this past week’s blog post, I wrote that one of my challenges was for everyone to find one passage to meditate on for the whole week.  The passage that I chose to meditate on was John 15:1-17.   I meditated on it everyday, and then I would write down something new that I discovered and thought about from the passage.  Because I read through this passage once a day this week, there were different items that popped up to me, and they are not in the order that the chapter goes in. 

Day 1: I originally chose this passage because I was reading about it in the book, “Jesus” by Charles Swindoll.  He wrote something that hit me hard, especially if you know how I am struggling with feeling inadequate, yet feeling like I need to do everything.  This passage states that a person can not bear any fruit unless they remain in God, similar to how a branch can not bear fruit without being attached to the vine.  Often, we want to believe that we can achieve our life goals, create a ministry, and get all of our works done (essentially creating fruit) without God.  We can’t.  I can’t.  It has been a hard thing for me to accept, but the truth of the matter is that I can not.  I am not meant to.  I am God’s workmanship or vine to reach the world, but I am not meant to leave his side or go AWOL and do it on my own.  If I continue to try to do life on my own, apart from God, I will only end up doing more and more work, and it will not be profitable.  

As I read through this passage on day two, I was struck by how much this passage talks about God’s love and how we as his people need to stay in his love in order to feel his full love and joy.  This is seen in verses 10 and 11, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  There is undeniable joy that comes from abiding in the Lord’s love.  Yes that may mean needing to obey his commandments and make sure that we are doing the hard tasks, but that is the way that we will always continuously feel his love.  This is also why we need to make sure we spread that love to the others around us.   

On the third day, I noticed that the passage really wants to highlight that God is the gardener and will get rid of all the fruits/vines that don’t bear any fruit.  When a gardener prunes, they cut off branches in order that the dead areas can be removed to make room for new life and life-giving branches to come in.  It can be really difficult to go through the pruning process.  It isn’t easy to get things cut off from us and to be changed in healthier ways, but at the end of the day that is going to be something that really gets us to be in a better position than we were before.  The Lord has to sometimes use experiences that are not the most easy or the most encouraging in order to grow more fruit or to become more and more Christ-like.  The Lord knows that there are times when we may have to grow through experiences that we don’t necessarily always enjoy, but if this is going to help us grow as Christ followers and help us spread God’s word, then it is worth the hard process.    

On the fourth day, I really noticed the last couple of verses.  This includes verse 16 which I will lay out here, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”  The Lord has chosen us.  Isn’t that a wonderful and amazing feeling? The Lord has chosen us to be someone who can spread God’s word and be God’s workmanship.   There can be times when we can feel really inadequate and not meant for anything, but the Lord has seen our potential through working through him and knows that we can bear him fruit.  Don’t ever feel as though you can’t be used by God.  If he has chosen you for something, he doesn’t make mistakes.  

On the fifth day, I noticed verse 8 which says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  When we allow the Father to work in us and to work through us, we bear much fruit.  When we bear that fruit, then we will show the world God’s glory.  We will be the Lord’s disciples and that is how the Father’s message will get out.  This, again, though, will only happen when the Lord is at work.  We can not be God’s disciples without the help of himself.  Another thing that I noticed from that day five was that those who don’t abide with the Lord, will be ones who wither and fall away.  We again won’t be able to fully prosper for the Lord if we are not abiding in him.  Burnout is a very real feeling, and it will happen when we are trying to do too much without the Lord on our side.  

I know this is different from a usual blog post for me, but I think that it is important that I take my challenges that I write in my current blog posts seriously.  I knew that spending time writing about the passage I spent time with this week was a good way to hold me accountable and make sure I take a deep look at just one small passage from the Lord.  It was a very good feeling to read over this passage and really take in the truths that are held in 17 verses.  I would love to hear the passages you pored over this past week if you had any, or if you are going to plan on doing that this following week.  

My friend and roommate for the summer, Shaniese, was recently talking about a friend’s mom that is a major prayer warrior, and then used the term, being in tune with her Holy Spirit.”  I realized that this is something I haven’t thought much about.  I know that I have the Holy Spirit. I know that it is a part of the trinity, but do I know and am in tune with my Holy Spirit?  What does that even really mean?  Like many of my blogs, I am going to try to figure this out and reflect on it in order to grow.  My initial reaction or thought is that those who are in tune with the Holy Spirit are ones who look to the Holy Spirit for advice and usually know what the best reaction or item is that they should do.  It is also a person who can look around at others and know what to pray not just for themselves but for ones around them.  

In my past, I have written a blog post about the song, “Holy Spirit,” by Francesca Batistelli, and I have written a blog post about prayer.  I believe that this idea is similar to the blog post I wrote about prayer, but a bit deeper.  I believe that one who is in tune with their Holy Spirit is a person who deeply cares about prayer and believes that it is an important piece to one’s devotional life.  However, being in tune with your Holy Spirit is also being able to understand more and more of what God really wants to do and having an understanding and a better sight about what others need and how you can be praying for them.   I believe that in order to be able to really know what God is desiring, one has to be willing to meditate on God’s word and be willing to listen to the words God is wanting to tell you. 

I am not necessarily a person who is an expert on meditation.  In fact, for a long time, I didn’t think it was something that I should do.  Not because it was necessarily evil, but I thought that it was something that was associated with other religions.  However, there are times in the Bible when it says to meditate on the word of God.   For example, there is the Bible verse of Joshua 1:8, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  This, therefore shows that it is completely fine to meditate as long as you are meditating on the right things and this definitely includes the word of God.  One will be more in tune with the Holy Spirit if they know the right commands and lessons that the Lord wants to teach them.  For my first challenge in this blog post for both myself and others is to spend time on one passage this week.  It can be a short passage, but it is something that you can meditate on, maybe even memorize in order to grow closer to the Lord.  

The other big area where we may need to give a lot of time in meditation is in prayer and our daily conversations with God.  I read a book called Meditation by Jim Downing.  In this, there is a discussion of God’s desire of communion.  “Communion, then, is a two way communication, an alternating impact of two personalities where we listen intently and then share intently with the other person; there is an actual sharing of lives involved.  This is what God wanted to do when he said to Moses, ‘I want to commune with thee.’ It was God’s idea; it was his desire, not Moses.” I had never really thought about communion that way, but when you think about it, God was having a meal with his disciples when there was the first communion.  To this day, we think about having communion, we are having bread/crackers and wine/grape juice in remembrance of the last supper for Jesus, but really it is like having a meal with the Lord.  

Another big piece about being in tune with your Holy Spirit, I have found, is that one needs to be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit.  I always struggled with this when I was a kid.  I didn’t understand how one could listen to God or listen then to the Holy Spirit.  As I have gotten older, I have only improved in this a little bit.  I, like many others, still struggle with this on a regular basis. My other challenge for you that I am also going to try is to make sure to spend 5 minutes in complete silence after saying a prayer.  I am going to start doing this at least three times a week and then it will hopefully become a part of my regular routine.  This will not be the thing that I am very used to.  I will not necessarily enjoy sitting in complete silence, but I know that I need to spend time in prayer but also spend time listening to the Lord and what he has to say.  Through our meditation, both in our prayer lives and in our daily reading of God’s word, I believe that we can all be people who know and understand and are, therefore, in tune with our Holy Spirits.  

If any of you are like me, then sometimes you can overcommit yourself.  I have a bit of a problem with getting myself too involved and then end up being very busy and incredibly exhausted.  I was really bad at doing this when I was in college.  I got myself into many different jobs and leadership opportunities.  I loved all of it, but there were times I got really excited to have a break.  I am now noticing that as I am approaching my third year of teaching, that I am starting to get more and more involved in the school and community around me and that I am doing the same thing I did in college.  I am now coaching two activities, speech and cross country, and I am helping with bookkeeping in basketball.  I am also getting more and more involved in church and still volunteering with IJM.  I love doing all these things, but now I am more and more busy and I am finding I have less free time.  

One day I was reading my Bible, and I found a story that really summed up this idea of overcommitting yourself.  To give some context for these verses, Moses was leading the Israelites before they were in the promised land and was listening to any problems the people were having.  He would listen to both sides and would then inform them of God’s decrees and laws.  There were a lot of problems that arose, so Moses was finding himself incredibly busy listening to all the problems. “Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good.  You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out.  The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.”  (Exodus 18: 17-18) To continue with his advice, Moses’s father in law then told him to find other God fearing men to listen to the people’s problems and help them dispute it in God’s way.  Moses was still going to be doing the work that the Lord had put in front of him, but he was now going to be splitting the jobs amongst others who can be trusted with the Lord’s work.  

I think that it is important that if you struggle to be like me or like Moses in the Bible to think about why we feel we have to do everything?  Is there a deeper reason why we need to keep ourselves busy?  I want you to spend some time in reflection on this, (like I have recently).  I have discovered that my reasoning is I have a bit of a savior complex, and I need to feel validated by all the things that I am involved in.  I am afraid that if I am not super involved and not as busy as possible, that I am not important.  When I first got to college, and I wasn’t involved in anything yet, I didn’t know who I was.  I didn’t think I was important.  The very same thing happened when I first moved to Buffalo Center and started teaching.   I didn’t think that I had an identity besides merely being the Spanish teacher.  This may very well be one of the reasons I felt the need to get involved in many things quickly, besides the pure love of my activities.   The problem with this is that many others in the United States really do struggle with the idea of putting their complete identity into their work and the items that they accomplish.  However, this can also very easily lead to more and more anxiety and stress.  What happens when you fail or don’t measure up to the standards that you had originally set?  What happens when things don’t go as planned?  This is a lot to think about and it can leave many others in a constant state of worry and ultimately feeling as though they are incomplete.  

I was recently looking at an article that discussed the toxicity of the hustle culture written by headversity.  This article stated that when we are in a constant state of hustle or working till the work is done without any rest, our bodies are put in the constant state of fight or flight, and therefore releasing more cortisol into our bodies.  This increased and prolonged release of cortisol leads to many mental health problems including anxiety and depression.  It also usually creates burnout as our bodies will eventually create the rest they have been desperately needing.  I am not saying that it isn’t good to work hard.  I believe that hard work is essential, and our willingness to work for both others and the organizations that we serve actually puts us in a great position to honor the Lord and show others how to do that as well, but when it becomes the only thing we care about, then it starts to become an idol.  That won’t show God’s glory.  

It is also important to realize that if we believe we need to do everything on our own, then we are showing quite a bit of arrogance. I know that sounds harsh, but the reason that I say that is because when we believe that we need to do anything, it may be because we have this idea that we are the only ones who can adequately get everything done.  We may start to think that we are the only ones who can be depended upon, or that we are the best for every single job that we do.  That can start to get a really rough outlook on others and what they can bring to the table.  Even though it can be a hard thing to understand at certain times, we actually can learn more from others doing a task.  Someone is going to be better at a task than you, and we are not going to discover this if we never let them try.  Plus, we could be standing in the way of helping them find their purpose and role in life and for the Lord.  

If you find yourself that you maybe are over committed, there are a few things that you need to do.  I realized that soon if I continue down the path that I am going towards, I am going to have to do some cutting back on some items.  I am going to need to do some serious evaluating as to what items I need to keep in my life and what other things I need to start getting rid of.  However, the one thing that I would recommend when it comes to thinking about cutting back or starting to say no to things is making sure that you pray.  The Lord is really the only one who can help us make the wisest decisions.  Because making prayer here is a priority, it is also really important that we keep the devotional and prayer piece in our life every day or at least most days.  We need to make sure that whatever schedule we pick, we have a time with the Lord set aside.   

In the end, we have been taught at least if you are living in the United States to really want to strive and to hustle through life.  However, that again, can make a lot of us feel as though we fall short and have the need to continue going until we are in a very overworked system.  The Lord doesn’t expect us to do everything.  He expects us to take the opportunities and passions that he has given us and to handle it well.  Again, my favorite verse is Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”  When doing whatever you can for the Lord, that also includes not overworking yourself.  You don’t need to look like you are a superhero and can do so much.  It is just important that we are just faithful with the items that we have been given. 

Have you ever been in a shower, and the water is only half coming out of the shower head while the other half is still coming out of the head from the bathtub?  Sometimes I just don’t pull the lever up all the way so that the water isn’t coming out of the top of the shower all the way.  This recently happened to me, and I realized that this is in many ways similar to how I can act.  I am only half in.  I am like the water that is coming from the shower, when some of myself or the water is still coming out of the tub spigot.  When this is happening, you are not getting the best shower in because the water pressure isn’t as good.  Similarly, I am not being the best version of myself when I am not fully invested.  I sometimes struggle feeling like I am completely present or involved in the things that I am doing.  While I am physically present and even doing my job, I am finding that there are times when I am not emotionally or mentally present. 

 I think that the reason I have a struggle with this concept is because I can have low energy.  I can often want to be just more in my own zone, and I want to make sure that I focus on myself, rather than the Lord or the task that I am doing at hand.   I also have found that I am struggling with this more and more when I am on my phone.  I have found that I can easily feel as though I need to go to my phone as opposed to spending time doing other things.  I have become very selfish with my time and want to do things like be on Facebook, watch my youtube videos, or contact people via text messages.  I don’t like that I have started to focus more and more on my phone as opposed to looking around and appreciating those that are around me.  Because I have focused less and less on living in the present moment with letting myself get distracted by other things is stopping me from being full in or in this metaphor be the water that is fully on.  

This is something that I have also recently discovered in my training for a half marathon.  I have definitely learned in the past from doing my first half marathon to now that it is incredibly important to be fully invested. It is essential to eat healthy, drink water, and run a lot.  I am very good at the running portion.  I am very good about making sure I am getting my miles in every week, and if I am not running, I am making sure that I am doing other strengthening exercises.  However, I am sometimes really bad about making sure that I am hydrating and getting enough water.  I also sometimes don’t eat like a person who is about to run quite a few miles the next day.  My diet isn’t the worst, but it could definitely make some improvement. I can’t just do this halfway.  If I only do it halfway, there is no way that I will be able to run the half-marathon on the day of.  As I am a month out, I need to remember this.  

The Bible talks about being lukewarm as opposed to being fully involved or invested. For example, the Bible mentions this in the last book of the Bible in Revelation.  This is in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot…So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”  God is very similar to us as humans.  When you are in a special relationship with someone, whether it is a great friend, a love relationship with a significant other, or a parent, you don’t want to have a half hearted relationship.  Relationships that are only half way there are not the ones that you trust and really go to when problems arise.  God is also described as jealous, so he wants to make sure that we are devoted to him fully. God does not desire those who are only half in whatever they are doing.  He is not very happy about those who are not ready to give their full hearts over to him. Therefore, if we are going to be a person that is a Christian and someone who really, truly, represents the Lord, then we need to be willing to fully represent the Lord in every situation we are in, in every conversation, in every relationship, and in everything that we are doing.  

All in all, my goal is to become more and more present wherever I am.  Jim Elliot has a simple quote that best represents this mindset and that is, “Wherever you are, be all there.” If I remember to give 100% to whatever situation I am in, then I believe that I will be a better representation of a person who is living like a water faucet fully on.  I know this is the only way to really do a good job.   I know that this is especially true with my Christian walk with the Lord.  I will only really be able to spread God’s word through being a water that is fully on. 

I have just finished my sixth summer at the Bridge of Storm Lake!! I have already mentioned this a few times throughout my last few blogs, but now I want to include my overall reflection from the summer.  This summer, I learned more and more about how to be a leader.  This was my second summer in the role of summer coordinator.  However, last summer I was hardly ever in charge of both the kids and the team, but this summer I was in charge of the 10 team members as well as usually 60 kids that came to our programs regularly.  That being said, I was in charge of roughly 70-80 people on a daily basis.  I am so very happy that I have been given the chance to grow the relationships that I have with the kids for the sixth summer in a row.  I know that a lot of them trust me a lot more now as well as see me as a mentor figure.  I have learned so much from them.  I have seen how well they take care of each other, especially brothers and sisters, and I know that I need to take care of the people in my life in a similar way.  I have seen them have so much joy to play outside and to run around, and I know that this is something that I need to continue to have in the future.  I need to remember that joy over the little things just like they do.   

I had two quotes that I looked at this summer for inspiration.  The first one was “a person who feels appreciated will always do more than expected.” I learned that in order to be a leader, you need to be willing to encourage the members on your team.  Those who are under you will be willing to work harder and do more tasks for you when you make sure they feel appreciated and loved for their job.  I tried my best to give love, support, and kindness to my workers, so they would know that I enjoyed having them there.  I had the opportunity to have young adults getting ready to grow into their leadership roles.  I am so hoping the Bridge overall gave them a lot more skills that they can take away in the future, no matter what they do.  

The second quote I looked at was, “Never say ‘That’s not my job.’ That oozes arrogance and laziness.  Chip in to help with what needs to be done, even if it’s not your responsibility.  Do what needs to be done or help someone find the solution. Even when nobody’s watching.”  I wrote a whole blog post about this called, “Leaders do the Dishes.”  But to summarize what I wrote in that blog, it is important that my team saw me set the expectation by actions so they know what they should also be doing.  Even though I was a “boss figure,”  I am not too important that I can’t do the tasks that I ask of them as well.  I do want to take this time to shout out to my wonderful summer team members.  Caitlyn, Alondra, Brady, Nathan, Isaac, Joshua, and Gracelin, thank you for working so hard and growing so much in your leadership.  I see so much great potential in you all.  I know that whatever you all choose to pursue, you will be great.  I am so happy that you all chose to spend the summer with us.  I hope that you think about coming back sometime, either for another working summer or at least to volunteer for a while.  

If I had to pick my favorite memory from this summer, it would have to be when we took a group of middle schoolers and a few elementary schoolers on a bike ride.  I absolutely love biking which is the reason why I enjoyed this event so much.  The kids who don’t often get the chance to bike had the opportunity to see and feel the enjoyment I so often do while biking.  Then on top of all of that we were able to give a few bikes away, and so I have been able to see those same kids biking throughout town.  They are becoming our independent middle schoolers who now have the ability to see and do more on their own.  We are helping empower those young people, and that is something that I am so blessed to be a part of.

I couldn’t have made it through without the wonderful crew that was around me.  To Jay and Shelly, thank you for being my leaders.  Thank you for being the best bosses and people that I can look to for advice and support.  Shelly, your compassion and gentleness is something that there needs to be more of in the world.  Jay, there are not many who can think of the ideas and creating of the opportunities for the youth like you can.  I am so glad that you developed the Bridge 11 years ago.  To Shaniese, Aimee, and Izzie, my summer queens, my best friends, and the best support that I could ever pray for, thank you for being you.  Thank you for being the people I could go to with any of my personal problems or my exciting news.  You three are some of the best people I have ever met and it is wonderful to see your love for the Bridge and the job that you have.  All of your passions, strength, and love for others is something that inspires me more and more every time I come back to see you and work with you. 

All in all, summer of 2021 was a summer I will not be forgetting any time soon.  I have felt so loved there, and I hope that I was able to give some of that same love back.  Until next time Storm Lake! 

I have mentioned this before, but I am in the process of finishing my sixth summer working at a nonprofit called, “The Bridge of Storm Lake.”  I talk very highly of this organization, and it has definitely changed a lot of my perspectives.  This summer, as well as last summer,  I was more of a staff member, and I was in charge of the summer team.  Therefore, I gave those on the summer team the jobs that they are supposed to be completing.  Because of the work we do and once we have fed children food, there often is a large number of dishes that need to be done. Because I am in charge, it can become easier and easier to get the members on my team to be in charge of the dishes as opposed to doing them myself.  

However, one weekend before I left, I noticed that there were some dishes in the sink, and there were already flies that were starting to pop up because of the food still lingering on them.  I knew that if I left the dishes out for longer, there would be more and more flies, and it would get grosser and grosser, so even though I wanted to just leave and get home, I knew that I needed to do those dishes.  I put on my headphones and picked a good playlist, and I made sure that those really gross dishes were done.  I even made sure that I did a little bit of sweeping and that the trash was closed, so the flies wouldn’t completely invade.  I knew that the reason was because I genuinely love this organization, and I want to make sure that it is taken care of.  However, I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t be headed home yet, and I was upset that the team members hadn’t done the dishes. Then I was humbled with the thought that I haven’t done the dishes in a long time.  I realized that I have been avoiding the dishes because I can make the other members do it, and therefore it was about my time to finish them.    

Leaders should not be bossy in the sense that they just tell others what to do.  They should also show others what to do by setting an example.  If you really want to be a leader, then you need to be willing to set an example for your followers to follow through not just your words, but, rather, your actions.  For example, Jesus was and is a leader.  He has many followers to this day.  At the time of his living, though, he had 12 close followers called the disciples.  With those disciples, Jesus was great at setting examples for how he wanted them to act. He was an amazing man (God) who was doing big miracles that everyone wanted to see for themselves, and he would often have the disciples take part in those miracles.  For example, when he was feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, he made sure that the disciples had a job of handing out the food.  They were then seen as members of the miracle, and therefore they were also getting admired and loved throughout the community.  

One of the greatest examples, though, of Jesus was when he taught his followers how to serve.  On the night of the last supper, he washed the disciples’ feet which is a huge act of service, especially back in that day.  Because the disciples were always wearing sandals and all they did was walk on dusty roads, their feet were often very dirty.  Nobody wanted to wash their own feet, let alone someone else’s, so when Jesus started washing the disciples feet, they were shocked and a bit upset that Jesus felt he needed to do this.  Jesus never stopped cleaning their feet though, and taught them a very important lesson through his response.  “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”  (John 13:14-16).  Jesus taught his disciples how to be a leader within the community and achieve many miracles through faith, but then he also taught them that to be a leader that many will respect is through showing love to others through service and care.  

The point is that you are never too big of a person to do the dishes.  You are never too big of a person to take out the trash or do the laundry.  This is especially when you are at an organization or a place of work, and you may be a person that is higher up.  Even when, yes, you have the ability to tell someone else what to do, you should still find those moments to do the jobs that people just don’t want to do because followers will want to follow a leader that is willing to do those jobs. With that, willing to be a humble servant, even through being a person who is the leader, will come with a lot of respect from the followers and then, hopefully, they will follow your example.

This past week I went on a river boat cruise with my mom. This went up and down the Mississippi River. We left around the city of Davenport, IA to Dubuque, IA. This was really fun, and it was also very relaxing. The first day we went up the river from LeClaire, IA to Dubuque IA, and then the second day, we went back down.  This trip was definitely faster as we were going downstream as opposed to going upstream. As opposed to taking 10 to 11 hours, it only took us about 7. While also on the boat, we could feel just how much faster we were traveling. Just like in all things I write for this blog, this brought some different imagery to my mind in regard to the Christian walk. 

There are times that we as Christians get stuck in our comparisons. We are looking at others and we are seeing how much more successful they are, maybe how pretty/handsome they are, or that they have the characteristics that we would also like to have. What sailing on this river taught me though is that sometimes in life we are on a boat sailing upstream. We may be moving slower. We may have obstacles that are harder to get over and are fighting a current in our own lives like rivers face. The person next to us could be moving faster because they are headed down streams in their life and everything is going well. That in and of itself is one of the main reasons we should limit our comparisons. What others are going through is not what we are going through.  Another person’s journey isn’t our journey.  How can you fully know what others have faced or will face?  You can’t.  Not really.  You should really only focus on your own.  

The Bible does talk about comparisons including in Romans 8:6-8.  “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”  We are not to be the ones that look at others and hope that you could be like them.  There can be qualities that others have that we can admire and want to learn from, but essentially we should desire to be better for ourselves and have a desire to grow closer to the Lord for our own personal walks with him.  

I have an example from my personal life.  It isn’t entirely a religious or a spiritual example.  (But then again, if we are living our lives right, then we should have our center in Jesus Christ all the time.  Not just for the seemingly religious materials).  I have recently lost some weight.  I did not necessarily set out to lose weight within this last year.  I set fitness goals and then because of those goals, I also started to lose some weight and tone up.  While I am happy with this progress, and it is overall making me feel more confident, there are still sometimes when it can be hard for me not to compare myself to others.  This is especially true when I see some of my friends lose weight faster than I am or those who are naturally more fit/thin than myself.  In those instances, it can be easy to be lost in the comparisons.  It can be easy to think that it isn’t fair and that I am not as beautiful, when what I should be at that moment is happy for the progress I have made and celebrating the progress that my friends and others have made.  

We can also feel as though we are traveling upstream when we are going against what many others are doing. It can be easy in life to get swept in the current and follow what everyone is doing or what they are thinking.  However, that will most likely never feel right and will not be what you truly want to do.  For one example, it can be very easy to get lost in our love of the world and the things that are in the world.  Even though it can be very easy to love the world, we are taught throughout the Bible that we need to instead love the Father as opposed to the world. In 1 John 2:15-16 it says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. And the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world.” 

In both of these examples, it can be so hard to fight against currents and travel upstream.  It is not the natural way that your body wants to go.  You want to be like everyone else.  You want to have a life that is easy all the time.  However, if we are going to have the wonderful experiences and the prizes that are awaiting us in heaven, there are going to have to be the moments where we are fighting to swim upstream.  I do want to offer encouragement that there will be times when we are traveling downstream. These will be the times when maybe you have more energy, you are feeling emotionally and spiritually well, and you are getting things accomplished. Relish in those moments. Use them up to the best of your ability.  Store up that good feeling and delight in it as long as you possibly can.  However, I do want to caution you that during those times of feeling good and being spiritually well that we don’t forget where the main source of our energy and good feeling comes from.  It is just as important that during the high times that we depend on the Lord and that will definitely help us through the times we are traveling upstream and through the harder stages of our life.  

The lessons of traveling upstream on a river is this: don’t go with the stream just because that is what everyone else seems to be doing and don’t compare your own personal journey to anyone else’s.  Regardless of the direction, remember to keep the Lord as your captain.  He is going to be steering your life in the right direction through upstream, downstream, hills, rocks, heavy currents, and other boats.  Depend on him and you will get to your destination which just so happens to be a life of eternity with God the Father.