Hola mis amigos!
So, I definitely owe an update. I left off on Sunday night, so be prepared for a long one.
Monday morning began with a successful birthday bamboozlement for Katie, my Texas Longhorns lovin' roommate. Kayleigh, Liz and I made pancakes that spelled out "Happy Bday Katie" in them, and it was wonderful. After our morning Quiet Time (we have this book called Four Sevens that has four weeks worth of daily devotionals- individual bible studies that have you read a passage and answer questions and apply it to your life. This particular one goes through Luke), we began reading this amazing book called God Space. It is about how to talk about and share your faith in every day conversation. It is pretty freaking awesome.
After lunch, we all piled into the car and headed to Lake Hart, Campus Crusade for Christ's international headquarters. It was an incredible privilege and so amazing to see where it all goes on. They have a HUGE amount of property with many enormous buildings. We got to see offices of the top leadership, including the offices of founder Bill Bright and his wife Vonette. Dr. Bright's office has been left the way it was when he died, and it was really cool to see it. We toured the international and national office buildings and took a pit stop in the prayer tower, which was my favorite part of the day. They had different rooms set up dedicated to different parts of the world, complete with large map tapestries and prayer requests from missionaries in those parts of the world.
When we were done at headquarters, we headed to the house of one of the national campus director and his family. They invite the project over every year after HQ tour and invite them swimming and grill us dinner. It was so splendid. I got to talk to their daughter who just graduated high school (she is going to UCF, Go Knights!). It was so sweet, I have met so many amazing people already.
So Tuesday was Traditions, which is Disney orientation. I felt like I was back at UF preview. We went to "Disney University" and learned cast member basics and other park information, some history, etc. We also got to walk around the Magic Kingdom wearing closed circuit FM radio headsets so that our leader could give us a tour but still be heard by 75 people. I felt like a secret agent with my little earpiece. haha. 8 long hours after we started, we graduated by getting our nametags! I was quite thrilled, it felt like a childhood dream coming true. After Traditions was over our whole project went to EPCOT to walk around and then watched the fireworks. It was total confirmation that all my hard work and prayer was paying off- God is so cool. He deserves all the glory for this. Watching the fireworks with people who already feel like family a week after meeting, knowing what we were there for- it was truly magical. Before we went in the park, there was a group of 11 of us who stood outside in a circle and prayed for the project and also for the world, since EPCOT is the perfect place for that.
Wednesday morning was my first training day, and I showed up and was immediately fitted for my ridiculous costume, which includes a waist high, ankle length plaid polyester skirt and a poofy sleeved, ruffly blouse, and little necktie. Not too terrible, and highly entertaining. Comfort is clearly not Disney's priority as far as costumes go, but it is very very doable. I loved it in all honesty. They also gave us a lanyard and let us pick out pins so that we can trade with guests. Pin Trading is a big deal here. I am sure I will talk more about it later. But so yeah, after taking some computer tests on safety, I was walked up and basically turned loose in the Emporium, Magic Kingdom's largest store. It runs the entire length of Main Street USA on the West side. My trainer, Pam, was wonderful. She was training Jaime, Erica, Tim and I, the four people on project who work in the Emporium. She was so sweet and kept insisting on how much of a family everyone is and how we will all cry when we leave because everyone is so close. I cannot wait. We also got to meet our first international buddy on our job site, his name is Emelien and he is from France and is here on the International College Program. He is new too, so he stuck with us on our breaks and it was great to start getting to know him. We got to learn about customer service and such, not much actual store training. We got to do a lot of "merchentaining" (merchandise+entertaining=merchantaining) which will undoubtedly be my favorite part of the job- interacting with guests and their kids. I had a swordfight with a 6 year old pirate and knew immediately that I have the best job in the world.
When we got back yesterday we had a movie night and watched Princess and the Frog and about 20 other people from project came, including some of the boys. We made home made popcorn (like in a pot with oil) and it was wonderful. I have not had popcorn in SO long- one time I went to a circus and ate popcorn (my mom had given it to me to take with me, dairy-free) and cotton candy and afterwards I got the stomach flu and was horribly sick. Consequently, I have not liked popcorn, cotton candy, or circuses for a very very long time. But I got over my fear and tried it again and loved it.
Today I had theme park orientation called Once Upon A Time Is Now! It was an introduction to the Magic Kingdom basically, and it was slightly pointless since I worked all day yesterday. It was sorta backtracking. Anyways, we had to be there at 715 which meant that my feet hit the floor at 5:45 this morning, a full 16 hours ago. I got marched around Magic Kingdom in dress shoes, hosiery, a skirt and a nice top, which is hopefully a once in a lifetime experience. It was really cool to see some of the stuff I won't normally get to see, such as the back of the Haunted Mansion. They even let us ride Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear, two of my favorites. It was all in all a fun morning, but it was quite exhausting. I came home, totally prepared to nap, and somehow found myself at Animal Kingdom an hour and a half later. Ten of us spent the evening there and had a blast. Pictures will come. Then I just spent some time with a few girls relaxing my aching feet in the jacuzzi here at the hotel. When I got home from that, I Skyped with Jessie, who was joined by Betsy and Cait. No matter how much I love it here, it was so wonderful to see some familiar loving faces. It was another awesome day, but I am so incredibly exhausted. I also got my first piece of mail today! A card from Amanda :-) I did the happy dance in our living room and then I put it on my nightstand.
Okay, I love you all but my body aches in places that should never ache. I will update more later! Tomorrow a bunch of us have the day off, which I believe will be spent in group bible study and a trip to Blizzard Beach. So I will update on that later.
Mucho amor,
One tired, aching, ecstatic cast member :-)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
No Scheme of Man
Hiiiiiiii
So I know I just updated last night/this morning but I figured I would give you as many updates as I could while I could, meaning before working what will be 60 hour work weeks (between Disney and project activities). Also, I want to stay up till midnight so I can go pounce on my roommate Katie, who turns 20 today ;-)
This morning we went to church, and I realized just how much I missed worship. It has literally been almost a month since I sang worship songs with a group of people; I went to church the first week I was home then just tuned into Northpoint Live every other Sunday, which has the worship, but lets be real. My parents already think I am strange as it is, I don't know what would happen if I started randomly singing worship sets in my bedroom.
I went to Celebration Community church this morning. Celebration is this little Stepford-esque town that a lot of Disney employees live in. The service was really good, the pastor preached on Deuteronomy 8 and how we should always acknowledge God. We sang the song "In Christ Alone My Hope is Found," which is one of my favorite songs. There is one stanza in particular that always gets me, and this morning was no different-
"No power of hell,
no scheme of man,
could ever pluck me
from His hand."
It is just such a good reminder to me that people will always try and prevent you from where you need to go, no matter what kind of faith you have. Our greatest obstacle is rarely a lack of money or ability, it is a lack of faith in ourselves due to others lack of faith in us.
time out, its midnight. Time to go wish Katie a happy birthday.
Okay, I'm back.
But yeah, there were a lot of obstacles that tried to keep me from getting here, but the most difficult ones to overcome were ones that others put in the way. But it is becoming so clear to me that I am supposed to be here. It is wonderful.
After the church service ended, one of the Celebration Community bible study groups put on this HUGE free lunch for us and a big group from Campus Outreach (they are doing the same thing at SeaWorld and Universal) and talked to us about how grateful they are for us and how we bring life into their town every summer and how much they loved when we came. The one older woman Edie gave us her phone number and told us to come over anytime we were homesick and she would bake for us and help us with laundry. I love church ladies. I sat at a table with four girls from Campus Outreach, one of whom went to UNF. It was nice to talk to another Floridian.
When we got back from that we played sand volleyball for like an hour and then spent three more hours in the pool playing insane games. I am so exhausted, and I even took an hour long nap. Tonight we had Womens time, and we talked about modesty and how its rarely practiced anymore and how we can honor God with the way we dress, but that doesn't mean we need to wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts either. One of our staff guys, Jonathan, came and talked to us about how guys perceive things and what modesty means to them. It was so awesome to hear it from a guy who is only a few years older than us. I haven't put too much thought into the guy's perspective, so it was really cool to hear that.
Okay, its bedtime. I am getting up early with a few girls to make birthday pancakes for Katie lol.
I will close with the main verses we talked about tonight (one of my favorites- I memorized it in discipleship this past year, but I never thought about it in the sense of modesty)
Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord- this is your spiritual act of worship. Conform no longer to the patterns of this world but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12: 1-2
So I know I just updated last night/this morning but I figured I would give you as many updates as I could while I could, meaning before working what will be 60 hour work weeks (between Disney and project activities). Also, I want to stay up till midnight so I can go pounce on my roommate Katie, who turns 20 today ;-)
This morning we went to church, and I realized just how much I missed worship. It has literally been almost a month since I sang worship songs with a group of people; I went to church the first week I was home then just tuned into Northpoint Live every other Sunday, which has the worship, but lets be real. My parents already think I am strange as it is, I don't know what would happen if I started randomly singing worship sets in my bedroom.
I went to Celebration Community church this morning. Celebration is this little Stepford-esque town that a lot of Disney employees live in. The service was really good, the pastor preached on Deuteronomy 8 and how we should always acknowledge God. We sang the song "In Christ Alone My Hope is Found," which is one of my favorite songs. There is one stanza in particular that always gets me, and this morning was no different-
"No power of hell,
no scheme of man,
could ever pluck me
from His hand."
It is just such a good reminder to me that people will always try and prevent you from where you need to go, no matter what kind of faith you have. Our greatest obstacle is rarely a lack of money or ability, it is a lack of faith in ourselves due to others lack of faith in us.
time out, its midnight. Time to go wish Katie a happy birthday.
Okay, I'm back.
But yeah, there were a lot of obstacles that tried to keep me from getting here, but the most difficult ones to overcome were ones that others put in the way. But it is becoming so clear to me that I am supposed to be here. It is wonderful.
After the church service ended, one of the Celebration Community bible study groups put on this HUGE free lunch for us and a big group from Campus Outreach (they are doing the same thing at SeaWorld and Universal) and talked to us about how grateful they are for us and how we bring life into their town every summer and how much they loved when we came. The one older woman Edie gave us her phone number and told us to come over anytime we were homesick and she would bake for us and help us with laundry. I love church ladies. I sat at a table with four girls from Campus Outreach, one of whom went to UNF. It was nice to talk to another Floridian.
When we got back from that we played sand volleyball for like an hour and then spent three more hours in the pool playing insane games. I am so exhausted, and I even took an hour long nap. Tonight we had Womens time, and we talked about modesty and how its rarely practiced anymore and how we can honor God with the way we dress, but that doesn't mean we need to wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts either. One of our staff guys, Jonathan, came and talked to us about how guys perceive things and what modesty means to them. It was so awesome to hear it from a guy who is only a few years older than us. I haven't put too much thought into the guy's perspective, so it was really cool to hear that.
Okay, its bedtime. I am getting up early with a few girls to make birthday pancakes for Katie lol.
I will close with the main verses we talked about tonight (one of my favorites- I memorized it in discipleship this past year, but I never thought about it in the sense of modesty)
Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord- this is your spiritual act of worship. Conform no longer to the patterns of this world but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12: 1-2
Saturday, June 5, 2010
on a Quest
Howdy folks.
Things are still going swell here in the Happiest Place on Earth. We actually have yet to make it to any of the parks yet, but we have made it to some of the resorts. It is wonderful.
I am really starting to feel at home here, even though I am still struggling to be 100% here. Sometimes my heart and mind wander back to home or Gainesville, but I really think that once I get on the job and into a routine it will be easier to focus.
Speaking of which, I have a job!! I went to Disney casting on Thursday and I will be working sales on Main Street!!! There are four of us with that assignment, two other girls and a boy. I cannot wait for the job to start. I go to Traditions on Tuesday, which is Disney's orientation. Then on Wednesday, its off to work!!
Yesterday was day 2 of "surf instructors training" and we all graduated!! We talked a lot about how to build friendships with international students and how much of an impact we can make, because the people we impact can make an impact on others who impact others, etc. After that we went swimming for several hours and got to know each other even better. I feel like I have known some of these people forever already!!
One of the greatest things about this project is that there are so many ways we get to interact with each other. We have Life Transformation Groups or "LTG's" which are the summer project equivalent of Theta Alpha's accountability groups- four girls plus staff women who meet weekly and basically live life with each other. We had "Soul to Souls" on Thursday as well, which is where we took an hour or so each and told our life stories- major events in our lives, how we came to know God, whats going on in our life right now... it was really awesome. Our leaders are the "staff moms." All of the other groups only have one leader, but all three of our leaders are mothers, so its going to be very rare that more than one of them will be able to meet with us at the same time. Three staff moms= 1 staff woman. Haha.
We also have ministry teams, which are teams that lead different parts of the project. There is a prayer/world vision team, communications, evangelism, and communities. I find out which one I will be on soon. We also have co-ed bible studies and Womens and Mens time. So, I think we will get to know everyone really well through all our different divisions.
Today we met with our LTGs in the morning and went through a lot of material about doubting God, and we went through a lot of Romans 8, which is one of my favorite passages in the whole bible. Then, after a yummy ham sandwich and some blueberries we had some training in how to share our faith with people. We learned how to use the Quest survey, which is a short survey that can lead to spiritual conversations with people. After that, we took a trip to Lake Eola, which is this gorgeous lake/park smack in the middle of downtown O-town. We walked around and talked to people using the survey, which was really awesome. Lake Eola park has a large homeless population and it was really awesome to get to know the people there and to talk to them about God and pray for them. I have held a special place in my heart ever since I worked at the homeless shelter in Gainesville a year and a half ago, so I loved getting to serve them.
After leaving there, my LTG went to good ole McDonalds for dinner and then took a trip to Walmart for some things we forgot the first time around/ things that our condo is missing- potholders, hand soap, gum, antibiotic cream for the gash on my leg from an intense game of sharks and minnows last night. After that, a few of the girls in my condo and I rented the movie Fireproof and baked cookies and made popcorn the old fashioned way. When the movie was over, we spent an hour or so talking about where we have come from and where we are now in our walk with God. It was amazing.
Tomorrow we are going to church for the first time in Orlando. We had two choices, one that was very contemporary (Mosaic) and one that was contemporary but slightly more traditional, Celebration Community. I think I will try Celebration Community because I am here to get new experiences and, although I miss Anthem Church with every heartstring, I feel like Mosaic would be just like it. After that, we have Women's time, which I am excited about.
So, this was a long entry, but it covered three days, so yeah. I miss everyone so much. I will update more soon!!
Love, Kelly
Things are still going swell here in the Happiest Place on Earth. We actually have yet to make it to any of the parks yet, but we have made it to some of the resorts. It is wonderful.
I am really starting to feel at home here, even though I am still struggling to be 100% here. Sometimes my heart and mind wander back to home or Gainesville, but I really think that once I get on the job and into a routine it will be easier to focus.
Speaking of which, I have a job!! I went to Disney casting on Thursday and I will be working sales on Main Street!!! There are four of us with that assignment, two other girls and a boy. I cannot wait for the job to start. I go to Traditions on Tuesday, which is Disney's orientation. Then on Wednesday, its off to work!!
Yesterday was day 2 of "surf instructors training" and we all graduated!! We talked a lot about how to build friendships with international students and how much of an impact we can make, because the people we impact can make an impact on others who impact others, etc. After that we went swimming for several hours and got to know each other even better. I feel like I have known some of these people forever already!!
One of the greatest things about this project is that there are so many ways we get to interact with each other. We have Life Transformation Groups or "LTG's" which are the summer project equivalent of Theta Alpha's accountability groups- four girls plus staff women who meet weekly and basically live life with each other. We had "Soul to Souls" on Thursday as well, which is where we took an hour or so each and told our life stories- major events in our lives, how we came to know God, whats going on in our life right now... it was really awesome. Our leaders are the "staff moms." All of the other groups only have one leader, but all three of our leaders are mothers, so its going to be very rare that more than one of them will be able to meet with us at the same time. Three staff moms= 1 staff woman. Haha.
We also have ministry teams, which are teams that lead different parts of the project. There is a prayer/world vision team, communications, evangelism, and communities. I find out which one I will be on soon. We also have co-ed bible studies and Womens and Mens time. So, I think we will get to know everyone really well through all our different divisions.
Today we met with our LTGs in the morning and went through a lot of material about doubting God, and we went through a lot of Romans 8, which is one of my favorite passages in the whole bible. Then, after a yummy ham sandwich and some blueberries we had some training in how to share our faith with people. We learned how to use the Quest survey, which is a short survey that can lead to spiritual conversations with people. After that, we took a trip to Lake Eola, which is this gorgeous lake/park smack in the middle of downtown O-town. We walked around and talked to people using the survey, which was really awesome. Lake Eola park has a large homeless population and it was really awesome to get to know the people there and to talk to them about God and pray for them. I have held a special place in my heart ever since I worked at the homeless shelter in Gainesville a year and a half ago, so I loved getting to serve them.
After leaving there, my LTG went to good ole McDonalds for dinner and then took a trip to Walmart for some things we forgot the first time around/ things that our condo is missing- potholders, hand soap, gum, antibiotic cream for the gash on my leg from an intense game of sharks and minnows last night. After that, a few of the girls in my condo and I rented the movie Fireproof and baked cookies and made popcorn the old fashioned way. When the movie was over, we spent an hour or so talking about where we have come from and where we are now in our walk with God. It was amazing.
Tomorrow we are going to church for the first time in Orlando. We had two choices, one that was very contemporary (Mosaic) and one that was contemporary but slightly more traditional, Celebration Community. I think I will try Celebration Community because I am here to get new experiences and, although I miss Anthem Church with every heartstring, I feel like Mosaic would be just like it. After that, we have Women's time, which I am excited about.
So, this was a long entry, but it covered three days, so yeah. I miss everyone so much. I will update more soon!!
Love, Kelly
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A pathetic/glorious confession of how much of a Disney nerd I am
Hello dear friends :-)
As day two of project comes to a close, I cannot even begin to tell you how stoked I am for the summer. First off, the theme of the summer is Surfing. I just wrapped up day one of "Surf Instructors Training." Never in my life would I think that I would be describing God as "tubular" or "gnarly." But I guess until recently I never would have imagined myself as a missionary at Disney. So the point is moot. (I have always wanted to say that).
This summer I am committing myself to riding the big waves- going out every day, focusing on my task, finding the courage to just go, and hanging on for the ride. I am scared, but thrilled out of my mind. And guess what? We get to actually go surfing. Like on surfboards with real waves and stuff. We have a trip to Cocoa Beach scheduled soon. I will let you know how that turns out. If it is anything like my skimboarding, sea kayaking, or kneeboarding adventures it will probably end with lots of bruises but fantastic memories and plenty of chances to laugh.
I have been coined the Local on the trip, at least as far as the students go. The next closest person is from S.Carolina. It's really funny when people ask me questions that seem common sense to me, particularly about hurricanes (Jessie, if you are reading this, I am sorry for not believing you last summer when you said everyone in Chicago asked you about hurricanes all the time). Hopefully they are not all expecting me to be a pro surfer as well.
So here is the first of what is sure to be many Disney-isms that I will encounter in my own head this summer and probably for the rest of my life:
So this afternoon we were talking about the Holy Spirit and how it flows through us like "streams of living water." We began by contrasting it to dead water- stagnant, murky, not moving, smelly, gross, and inhospitable were some of the words used to describe "dead water." So then Kevin (one of the directors) asked us to describe what we thought "living water" was like- and my mind jumped immediately to one of my favorite Disney songs EVER and a personal theme song of mine:
"What I love most about rivers is you can't step in the same water twice; the water's always changing always flowing"
Shame on you if you don't know what thats from.
Anyways, my roommates and I raided super walmart after training today and literally bought so much food it almost didn't fit in my car. But it was good times, and now our condo is well stocked with the essentials (and popsicles). I absolutely adore the girls I am rooming with and cannot wait to grow closer as a "family."
Tomorrow we go to Disney casting to fill out more paperwork and such, which I am excited about (not the paperwork, the trip to the casting center). I will fill you in more when I know more- probably tomorrow but maybe the next day. I pinky swear I am going to update as often as I can.
Thanks for surfing with me :) I love you all!!
<3 Kelly
As day two of project comes to a close, I cannot even begin to tell you how stoked I am for the summer. First off, the theme of the summer is Surfing. I just wrapped up day one of "Surf Instructors Training." Never in my life would I think that I would be describing God as "tubular" or "gnarly." But I guess until recently I never would have imagined myself as a missionary at Disney. So the point is moot. (I have always wanted to say that).
This summer I am committing myself to riding the big waves- going out every day, focusing on my task, finding the courage to just go, and hanging on for the ride. I am scared, but thrilled out of my mind. And guess what? We get to actually go surfing. Like on surfboards with real waves and stuff. We have a trip to Cocoa Beach scheduled soon. I will let you know how that turns out. If it is anything like my skimboarding, sea kayaking, or kneeboarding adventures it will probably end with lots of bruises but fantastic memories and plenty of chances to laugh.
I have been coined the Local on the trip, at least as far as the students go. The next closest person is from S.Carolina. It's really funny when people ask me questions that seem common sense to me, particularly about hurricanes (Jessie, if you are reading this, I am sorry for not believing you last summer when you said everyone in Chicago asked you about hurricanes all the time). Hopefully they are not all expecting me to be a pro surfer as well.
So here is the first of what is sure to be many Disney-isms that I will encounter in my own head this summer and probably for the rest of my life:
So this afternoon we were talking about the Holy Spirit and how it flows through us like "streams of living water." We began by contrasting it to dead water- stagnant, murky, not moving, smelly, gross, and inhospitable were some of the words used to describe "dead water." So then Kevin (one of the directors) asked us to describe what we thought "living water" was like- and my mind jumped immediately to one of my favorite Disney songs EVER and a personal theme song of mine:
"What I love most about rivers is you can't step in the same water twice; the water's always changing always flowing"
Shame on you if you don't know what thats from.
Anyways, my roommates and I raided super walmart after training today and literally bought so much food it almost didn't fit in my car. But it was good times, and now our condo is well stocked with the essentials (and popsicles). I absolutely adore the girls I am rooming with and cannot wait to grow closer as a "family."
Tomorrow we go to Disney casting to fill out more paperwork and such, which I am excited about (not the paperwork, the trip to the casting center). I will fill you in more when I know more- probably tomorrow but maybe the next day. I pinky swear I am going to update as often as I can.
Thanks for surfing with me :) I love you all!!
<3 Kelly
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I'm here!
Hey everyone!!
I am exhausted so this will be short but I wanted to post anyways.
I made it here! My project is officially started!!
I made it here around 1:30, feeling utterly guilty about my 2.5 hour drive after most of my fellow project-ers (I need to figure out what to call everyone) drove cross country or took half a dozen planes to get here. Anyways, me and Wanda the Honda and Henrietta the Second (my GPS) made it safe and sound. I checked in with the staff and was sent off to my "condo" for the summer, which is wonderful. We are staying at the Runaway Beach resort which is less than ten minutes from Disney. It is gorgeous! All touristy and tropically but still adorable. I am staying in a three bedroom condo with 6 other girls. We have a full kitchen, big living room, washer/dryer, everything you could ever want! I am gonna post pictures later. My roommates are from all over the US- Illinois, Loiusiana, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas. I am the only Florida kid on the whole project! There are 33 students and 13 staff.
We had a good old fashioned summer cookout for dinner- burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, chips- the works. It was delicious! After that we headed to Downtown Disney for a surprise- a scavenger hunt all over Disney property!! It was really fun, my team tied for first place. We won Mike 'n' Ikes and Sour Patch kids haha.
Anyways, I am here, everyone is already exhausted, everyone is awesome, and I know about 5 names. I will work on that and get back to you. Tomorrow we have project orientation, so I will update after that.
Love you all!
Kelly
I am exhausted so this will be short but I wanted to post anyways.
I made it here! My project is officially started!!
I made it here around 1:30, feeling utterly guilty about my 2.5 hour drive after most of my fellow project-ers (I need to figure out what to call everyone) drove cross country or took half a dozen planes to get here. Anyways, me and Wanda the Honda and Henrietta the Second (my GPS) made it safe and sound. I checked in with the staff and was sent off to my "condo" for the summer, which is wonderful. We are staying at the Runaway Beach resort which is less than ten minutes from Disney. It is gorgeous! All touristy and tropically but still adorable. I am staying in a three bedroom condo with 6 other girls. We have a full kitchen, big living room, washer/dryer, everything you could ever want! I am gonna post pictures later. My roommates are from all over the US- Illinois, Loiusiana, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas. I am the only Florida kid on the whole project! There are 33 students and 13 staff.
We had a good old fashioned summer cookout for dinner- burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, chips- the works. It was delicious! After that we headed to Downtown Disney for a surprise- a scavenger hunt all over Disney property!! It was really fun, my team tied for first place. We won Mike 'n' Ikes and Sour Patch kids haha.
Anyways, I am here, everyone is already exhausted, everyone is awesome, and I know about 5 names. I will work on that and get back to you. Tomorrow we have project orientation, so I will update after that.
Love you all!
Kelly
Monday, May 31, 2010
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Its off to work I go!
This keeps getting cornier and cornier. And it will get worse before it gets better, trust me ;-)
Alrighty guys, this is it
I am all packed, and as always, I know I am forgetting something. I know I overpacked. Oh well, its not like I can't just head to the store in the next few days.
In all honesty, as the minutes tick by, fear is starting to creep itself in. I am not too fond of change. I am very stuck in my ways. I have basically eaten the same thing for lunch since kindergarten. I tend to date boys named Adam and both of my best friends are named Jessica. I have gone through a half dozen pairs of Rainbows and several pairs of Nike Shox, and thats about all that graces my feet. Just the other day I went swimming and thought it would be fun to try breathing on my left side instead of the right. It wasnt fun. I almost drowned. I have been swimming since I was an infant and I almost drowned in my own backyard, in four feet of water. Change is just not fun sometimes.
So this is crazy for me. I have never done anything like this in my life, it will be my first (but definitely not last) mission trip. I will literally be spending the next nine weeks of my life with 45 total strangers. That is so out of my comfort zone its shocking. I have never been the independent one among my friends, I can only pull off confidence if I have someone next to me to back me up. Ever since I decided to live my life for God and not myself (freshman year of college) I have struggled with finding my confidence in Him and not others. So this is literally a leap of faith for me.
God has really proven himself faithful through this process. I have heard absolute horror stories about raising support. Some of the most Godly people I know have had their faith shaken when support raising efforts failed. So I went in with an attitude that my experience would be the same.
WRONG.
For those of you who don't know, less than 24 hours after I sent my support letters out, my dad was diagnosed with renal and testicular cancer. My dad is my hero and my best friend. My world crashed down around me. Just last summer, my mom almost died from a blockage in her carotid artery caused by a long-undiagnosed genetic condition which makes her liver produce way too much cholesterol even though she weighs like 90 pounds and eats like a rabbit. It was terrifying and I had basically just regained my strength from that when my dads diagnosis tore my heart in two. I spent so many nights in bed basically yelling at God and asking how he could do that to us again. My dad was in and out of the hospital for all of march and april, having surgery after surgery. Complications from each surgery led to several very very scary nights where I basically waited up all night waiting for a phone call.
Instead of God shaking my faith with a lack of support, every time that I would reach a breaking point, a check would come in the mail. It was almost scary- God used this experience to constantly remind me that He was there and He loved me. I unarguably have the best support system in the world. Regardless of religion, my friends are the most encouraging, loving, and supportive friends and I never would have survived without them. (My friends actually made up over half of the money that I was able to raise, which is unexplainable. That never happens. Its crazy.) My dad was declared cancer free a few weeks ago, but he has a long road ahead of him- renal cancer has one of the highest recurrance rates, so prayer is still needed and much appreciated. But God is bigger and more powerful and I know that no matter what, everything will all work out.
So, lets do this thing. I think its almost better for me to go in knowing that I am in no way, shape, or form ready for what God has in store for me. Usually (like 99.999% of the time) when I go in knowing what to expect, I am wrong, and then not only do I have to start over but I have to swallow my pride and deal with being wrong, which is not fun. Yeah, I struggle with pride a lot. I am workin on that.
So heres to one last supporter shoutout:
Thank you so much!
My great aunt Fay (again!)
Sharon Brown
Janice and Paul Libbey
Kristen Marks
And I am so happy to announce I have raised 100% of my support for this summer (my mom gave me the last $24 lol) I literally would not have been able to do anything this semester without you guys, but as always, all the glory goes to God. After all, He put you guys in my life at this time for a reason. Its pretty awesome.
So, I will post often. I cannot wait to post pictures of my new home, my new job, and my new "family." I will send postcards too. I love you all and feel free to write me while I am at project! I will have my computer but come on, who doesnt love mail? My summer address will be:
Mike Ditka Resort
Kelly Wood
Campus Crusade for Christ
3000 Bonfire Beach Drive
Kissimmee, FL 34746
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!
Kelly
Alrighty guys, this is it
I am all packed, and as always, I know I am forgetting something. I know I overpacked. Oh well, its not like I can't just head to the store in the next few days.
In all honesty, as the minutes tick by, fear is starting to creep itself in. I am not too fond of change. I am very stuck in my ways. I have basically eaten the same thing for lunch since kindergarten. I tend to date boys named Adam and both of my best friends are named Jessica. I have gone through a half dozen pairs of Rainbows and several pairs of Nike Shox, and thats about all that graces my feet. Just the other day I went swimming and thought it would be fun to try breathing on my left side instead of the right. It wasnt fun. I almost drowned. I have been swimming since I was an infant and I almost drowned in my own backyard, in four feet of water. Change is just not fun sometimes.
So this is crazy for me. I have never done anything like this in my life, it will be my first (but definitely not last) mission trip. I will literally be spending the next nine weeks of my life with 45 total strangers. That is so out of my comfort zone its shocking. I have never been the independent one among my friends, I can only pull off confidence if I have someone next to me to back me up. Ever since I decided to live my life for God and not myself (freshman year of college) I have struggled with finding my confidence in Him and not others. So this is literally a leap of faith for me.
God has really proven himself faithful through this process. I have heard absolute horror stories about raising support. Some of the most Godly people I know have had their faith shaken when support raising efforts failed. So I went in with an attitude that my experience would be the same.
WRONG.
For those of you who don't know, less than 24 hours after I sent my support letters out, my dad was diagnosed with renal and testicular cancer. My dad is my hero and my best friend. My world crashed down around me. Just last summer, my mom almost died from a blockage in her carotid artery caused by a long-undiagnosed genetic condition which makes her liver produce way too much cholesterol even though she weighs like 90 pounds and eats like a rabbit. It was terrifying and I had basically just regained my strength from that when my dads diagnosis tore my heart in two. I spent so many nights in bed basically yelling at God and asking how he could do that to us again. My dad was in and out of the hospital for all of march and april, having surgery after surgery. Complications from each surgery led to several very very scary nights where I basically waited up all night waiting for a phone call.
Instead of God shaking my faith with a lack of support, every time that I would reach a breaking point, a check would come in the mail. It was almost scary- God used this experience to constantly remind me that He was there and He loved me. I unarguably have the best support system in the world. Regardless of religion, my friends are the most encouraging, loving, and supportive friends and I never would have survived without them. (My friends actually made up over half of the money that I was able to raise, which is unexplainable. That never happens. Its crazy.) My dad was declared cancer free a few weeks ago, but he has a long road ahead of him- renal cancer has one of the highest recurrance rates, so prayer is still needed and much appreciated. But God is bigger and more powerful and I know that no matter what, everything will all work out.
So, lets do this thing. I think its almost better for me to go in knowing that I am in no way, shape, or form ready for what God has in store for me. Usually (like 99.999% of the time) when I go in knowing what to expect, I am wrong, and then not only do I have to start over but I have to swallow my pride and deal with being wrong, which is not fun. Yeah, I struggle with pride a lot. I am workin on that.
So heres to one last supporter shoutout:
Thank you so much!
My great aunt Fay (again!)
Sharon Brown
Janice and Paul Libbey
Kristen Marks
And I am so happy to announce I have raised 100% of my support for this summer (my mom gave me the last $24 lol) I literally would not have been able to do anything this semester without you guys, but as always, all the glory goes to God. After all, He put you guys in my life at this time for a reason. Its pretty awesome.
So, I will post often. I cannot wait to post pictures of my new home, my new job, and my new "family." I will send postcards too. I love you all and feel free to write me while I am at project! I will have my computer but come on, who doesnt love mail? My summer address will be:
Mike Ditka Resort
Kelly Wood
Campus Crusade for Christ
3000 Bonfire Beach Drive
Kissimmee, FL 34746
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!
Kelly
Friday, May 14, 2010
Let's Get Down to Business
.... to defeat... the Huns....
Just kidding.
I tried to make a tap dance routine to that song for the 5th grade talent show but my mom wouldn't let me because she said people would think I was weird if I danced to a song called "Be a Man."
I know I have sucked it up with updates, but this post is my attempt at redemption.
I am SO stoked to report the current standings- I have reached 92% of my support raising goal!! God has been so faithful throughout all of this and has shown me how truly generous some people are. It is so easy to get discouraged when trying to complete a task like this, but it is further proof to me that nothing is impossible when God is in control.
I would like to thank:
David Peterson
Kristy Simmons
Rachel Snowden
Brittany Trimble
I love that all four of those people are my college friends. I honestly cannot even begin to count my blessings. I really think I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. Sure, this has been the crappiest year of my life. My whole world has been turned upside down so many times that I have no idea which way is up anymore, I just know I have to keep swimming. I think that a lot of times when we go through trials, we try and admit that we come out "stronger" on the other side. But that is totally not the case right now. I am not stronger. I am not necessarily "weaker" in the way most see it either, but I am definitely not stronger. So often as we grow up we become more and more independent until we reach a stage we consider "self-sufficiency." Well, quite frankly, self sufficiency sucks. Sure, its nice to not depend on someone else for food, transportation, major decision making, etc. But the more broken you are, the less able you are to pick yourself back up.
This year I have relied more on God than ever before. This has always been hard, I don't like giving up control (see my entry on "surrender") I have always been worried that if I put all my hope in God, He would take away the amazing people in my life because I wouldn't need them. But on the contrary, I found that when I turned it all over to Him, whether that was a whisper in my head during my daily routine or practically shouted as I lay face down in bed, angry at the world, there was someone there with the right words. When I prayed for an opportunity to just express the crazy emotions I felt, I would arrive at dance to find that we were working on a particularly emotional section of the piece. When I just needed to smile to feel like everything would be okay, I would walk into Sign Language class and see the beautiful faces of my friends who could make me laugh if it was the last thing I wanted to do. When I needed to cry, I would stumble upon someone from Theta Alpha who just happened to have tissues, an encouraging word, and, to the benefit of my soul but the detriment of my waistline, some sort of comfort food. When I needed encouragement, my community group was there. I had people holding me accountable for everything from actually attending class (although we all know thats the least important thing in college) to spending time with God every day even when I was pissed beyond recognition at Him.
No matter how hard I tried to escape, someone blocked my exit. And I am so thankful.
So here I stand. 18 days before my biggest adventure to date. Not strong enough to do it on my own. But wise enough to know thats not the way to go anyways.
"It's waiting for you, knocking at your door
In the moment of truth when your heart hits the floor,
and you're on your knees...
Love will hold us together,
make us a shelter to weather the storm.
And I'll be my brother's keeper
And the whole world will know that we're not alone"
-Hold Us Together by Matt Maher
In Christ,
Kelly
Just kidding.
I tried to make a tap dance routine to that song for the 5th grade talent show but my mom wouldn't let me because she said people would think I was weird if I danced to a song called "Be a Man."
I know I have sucked it up with updates, but this post is my attempt at redemption.
I am SO stoked to report the current standings- I have reached 92% of my support raising goal!! God has been so faithful throughout all of this and has shown me how truly generous some people are. It is so easy to get discouraged when trying to complete a task like this, but it is further proof to me that nothing is impossible when God is in control.
I would like to thank:
David Peterson
Kristy Simmons
Rachel Snowden
Brittany Trimble
I love that all four of those people are my college friends. I honestly cannot even begin to count my blessings. I really think I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. Sure, this has been the crappiest year of my life. My whole world has been turned upside down so many times that I have no idea which way is up anymore, I just know I have to keep swimming. I think that a lot of times when we go through trials, we try and admit that we come out "stronger" on the other side. But that is totally not the case right now. I am not stronger. I am not necessarily "weaker" in the way most see it either, but I am definitely not stronger. So often as we grow up we become more and more independent until we reach a stage we consider "self-sufficiency." Well, quite frankly, self sufficiency sucks. Sure, its nice to not depend on someone else for food, transportation, major decision making, etc. But the more broken you are, the less able you are to pick yourself back up.
This year I have relied more on God than ever before. This has always been hard, I don't like giving up control (see my entry on "surrender") I have always been worried that if I put all my hope in God, He would take away the amazing people in my life because I wouldn't need them. But on the contrary, I found that when I turned it all over to Him, whether that was a whisper in my head during my daily routine or practically shouted as I lay face down in bed, angry at the world, there was someone there with the right words. When I prayed for an opportunity to just express the crazy emotions I felt, I would arrive at dance to find that we were working on a particularly emotional section of the piece. When I just needed to smile to feel like everything would be okay, I would walk into Sign Language class and see the beautiful faces of my friends who could make me laugh if it was the last thing I wanted to do. When I needed to cry, I would stumble upon someone from Theta Alpha who just happened to have tissues, an encouraging word, and, to the benefit of my soul but the detriment of my waistline, some sort of comfort food. When I needed encouragement, my community group was there. I had people holding me accountable for everything from actually attending class (although we all know thats the least important thing in college) to spending time with God every day even when I was pissed beyond recognition at Him.
No matter how hard I tried to escape, someone blocked my exit. And I am so thankful.
So here I stand. 18 days before my biggest adventure to date. Not strong enough to do it on my own. But wise enough to know thats not the way to go anyways.
"It's waiting for you, knocking at your door
In the moment of truth when your heart hits the floor,
and you're on your knees...
Love will hold us together,
make us a shelter to weather the storm.
And I'll be my brother's keeper
And the whole world will know that we're not alone"
-Hold Us Together by Matt Maher
In Christ,
Kelly
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