This past month has been awesome. I said before that I can hardly believe it's already been a month and everything from here on out is going to be on a downward slope toward the end. By that I mean, I'm sure it's going to go by really quickly, and I don't want it to. Anyways, in the spirit of it being a look back, I'm going to give some highlights and lowlights of the month, as well as a list of things that I've learned or am in the process of learning. I anticipate some of it being funny, some of it being serious, but all of it being true.
Highlights:
- WEEK TWO. The entire second week of the summer, which was spent with Horizon Church's college-aged group, was a highlight. Every person in the group was awesome to hang out with and work alongside. Everybody in the group was coming on the trip from very different situations with regard to their faith, many of them wouldn't even consider themselves Christians. It was amazing to see how God impacted each of their lives through their time here and how they grew and learned so much in such a short amount of time. The week was life-changing for many of them and I really hope they are able to hold on to what they learned and keep it going. I genuinely miss them all.
- FOOD. We have had some pretty spectacular food this summer. The nuns at Casa Hogar San Jose make some of the best Mexican food you will ever have. The woman who caters for the groups a couple nights per week is an angel, straight up. And believe it or not, the best thing I've had this summer was actually at an Italian restaurant that is owned by the father of one of Back2Back's volunteers.
- "QUIET" TIME. I put it in quotes cuz a lot of my time with God hasn't been quiet. I've had some really awesome time with God this summer, listening to him speak to me through time spent in scripture, songs that pop up on iTunes, moments at the beach or at the ministry sights, even random moments throughout the day when I wouldn't have expected anything, God's been pointing over at something and just being all like, "Okay, this, this right here, this is what you're supposed to learn right now."
- STAFF AND PEOPLE. The Back2Back staff and interns, our bus drivers, the people from the groups; it's been awesome spending the summer with each of them. The staff here in Cancún (and every Back2Back staff person I've ever met) are just plain old freaking awesome. As compared to when I was in Monterrey, I do feel like I've had a chance to get to know a lot of the staff better, just because of the much smaller group sizes and campus. I'm always excited when they get there in the morning and love whenever I get the chance to hang out with any of them. The interns have been awesome as well. It was sad to see the June intern leave, but it's been great having our new intern for July joining us. And the people from the groups have been super cool. There are people that after a week, I feel like I've known for years. It's been great to be able to share the experience with all of them.
Lowlights:
- MAZATLAN/RIVERVIEW. Not being in Mazatlan where Riv is has been a little hard. Before I was invited to Cancún, I had been planning on a week trip to Mazatlan this summer. This week is the week of that trip, and I wish I could be alongside them. I think it's cool that our influence is spread out a little bit and we've got such a good relationship with Back2Back that we've got our hands all over, but there's still something about missing out on sharing the experience with people from back home. That and my bff is an intern there and I miss him ever so much. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it would be cool to be there with them.
- GOODBYES. I've had to say an awful lot more sad goodbyes this year. Having smaller groups allows me to get to know people a lot better, but makes me feel it a lot more when those people leave at the end of the week. I don't know how the fulltime staff people do it.
- THE FALL. I could put this as a highlight as well, because I've been getting really excited about the big move I have coming up when I get back, but it's also been a burden throughout the summer, having to buy books, figure out financial aid, continue to apply for jobs and assistantships, etc. It's weighed on me a bit because at the moment I have yet to figure out how I'm going to pay for grad school in the fall, and continue to be unemployed. So if you're looking for something to be praying for me about, there's one for ya.
- BUG BITES. They're big. They're everywhere. They've created a constellation on my legs and feet.
What I've learned:
- DON'T WRITE PEOPLE OFF. There have been several people in groups that when they first walked through the door, during that initial assessment, I wrote off as someone who's gonna have a hard heart, who's going to be hard to deal with, who's going to take themselves too seriously, who's going to bring everyone down, only to discover that they were the person I connected with most during the week and ended up learning more than I would have ever thought possible. Granted, some of the initial assessments panned out as accurate, and such judgements are a natural human instinct, but I've learned not to let that instinct limit my perception of what God is going to be able to do with that person.
- SATAN IS A DOUCHE. It's become abundantly clear to me that Satan is a complete jerk. We just finish a particularly emotional worship set and I'm feeling a little extra vulnerable and BAM, someone says something in just the right way that makes me feel like a worthless piece of trash. It's happened my whole life, but I finally just now have identified the pattern. Doesn't make it any more fun to deal with, but I've definitely begun to see the connection.
- FORGIVENESS. This has been a big theme in what God's been teaching me this summer. A lot of what has stuck out to me in scripture or songs or thoughts I've had or situations I've reasoned through has come back to grace and forgiveness. I've figured out that God is glorified more through any opportunity of mine to reflect some portion of his character, namely his grace and forgiveness, than through any of my attempts to just show off how much I've accomplished despite my situation. I've figured that out, still working on applying it to my life, but it was a big revelation for me.
- MOSQUITOS, like satan, ARE DOUCHES. Mosquitos are little flecks of Satan that peel off of him and fly into the world to suck out your soul/blood.
What I love about Cancun:
- Geckos, the Mundo Maya drivers, Pizza Renaldi, the Back2Back staff, Chiquis, rain, Playa Delfines, the Mirage Titanium 5 air conditioner in my bedroom
What I've missed about home:
- Friends, family, working out, fast internet, cooking for myself, not sweating, my phone, Riverview, beer, Big Bang Theory, Ryan Freitus, not being covered in bug bites, Clif Bars
What I'm looking forward to for the coming month:
- Everything. It's been such a ride so far, I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for the remainder of my time here. Also, in week 7 we have no group, so we're going to be doing some cool stuff with that time. Right now, one of the things we're planning on doing is a day trip to Chichen Itaza, a Mayan ruin that is listed as a World Wonder. Pretty pumped for that.
Ways you can pray for me:
- I'm still looking for a job in Pittsburgh for when I get back. I didn't get any assistantships and so far my financial aid is not covering everything, so I still need to figure all of that out.
- Continued health, as I have not been sick thus far and would like for that to continue.
- Endurance, especially with the constant stream of people. I love meeting new people, and have met some awesome ones, but I get overwhelmed pretty easily with a not very big house full of people running all over. Also, leading music every night gets pretty exhausting emotionally, so prayer that it stays real and genuine.
- My friend who is an intern in Mazatlan this summer is also still looking for a job for the fall, so prayer for that.
Thanks a lot for your support, for your prayers, for reading along just to keep up with what I'm doing down here. It's been awesome and I've still got a month left. Loads of love and thanks.
Now listen to this song:
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