I dropped the ball...literally.

Last night I was at the Tigers/White Sox game in Chicago. Some wonderful YoungLife people gave me their tickets for that game...row 12 right behind the Tigers dugout. The game pretty exciting with 2 grand slams in one inning (too bad the Tigers came out on the bottom of that!), but more importantly, I experienced the greatest disappointment of my athletic career: I dropped the ball.

Curtis Granderson caught a fly to end one of the innings, and as he was running in I stood up in my full Tigers' apparel and yelled, "Granderson, throw me the ball!" He looked. He saw the Detroit D. He threw. All my hopes and dreams of having a baseball straight from the mit of Curtis Granderson came hurtling toward me, got lost in the light a little bit, bounced off my hands, and landed three rows down. I dropped the ball and some White Sox fan--who probably never even played little league or knows a thing about baseball--kept it as a souvenir.

The rest of the game went by with many taunts from my friends and the random people around us about how I missed probably my only opportunity for a Major league baseball from a player.

Feeding Ducks

I was at home for a wedding on Friday and got to spend Saturday with my family--which involved a trip to the park for Noah and me. He spent some time feeding (and petting ahhh!!!) the ducks. Every time I spend time with this kid I'm reminded of the joy with which we should all approach life. Just thought I'd share some "feeding ducks" video from earlier this summer.

I'm Back...I think.

My father so kindly reminded me that I've been slacking off on this blog thing. Well, I guess the nine million transitions in my life overtook my blogging. But I'm back. Not in Guatemala, but back.

The transition back to Los Estados Unidos was a bit hard, to say the least. I've been analyzing it lately and really think that I transposed a lot of my culture shock onto Hinsdale. A little hard to minister in a place you don't really like (see JONAH). Well, God convicted me of my pretty crappy attitude and my heart is coming around and I'm excited to be here and working with middle school and high school students. Still not easy, but my heart and attitude are here.

It's interesting to think that one year ago I was student teaching in Guatemala. I've come so far, seen so much, and grown immensely in the past year. I'm thankful for all of it, but ready to live in the same place for more than a couple months.

I think the realization that is sticking out to me right now is what it looks like to pursue justice and mercy for all of God's children. God's children who are literally starving in Guate and God's children who are spiritually starving in the States are all crying out for someone to care and to love. So, unlike Jonah, I'm swallowing my pride and praying that God showers mercy down on this place and am anxious to see how he, in his infinite grace, uses me in that process.

Working?

I officially am employed by Young Life in Eastern DuPage...meaning what? you might ask. Great question. I am one of three new interns in the area and we daily ask ourselves the same question--are we doing what we're supposed to be doing? What are we supposed to be doing? A big priority for the past few days has been getting and meeting with leaders for my upcoming camp trip. Next Friday I am heading up a camp trip to Timber Wolf Lake in MI...88 middle school kids, 15 high school leaders, and 4 other adult type leaders. Talk about jumping in head first, right?

I was really challenged by the sermon Pastor Bill gave last week at 1st CRC in GR. He preached on the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18, and I've been using that passage and a few points from his sermon as the basis for leader training. A few things that stand out to me...whose fault is it that the sheep is lost? The sheep wanders off. How many sheep stay on the path? 99...yet the shepherd pursues the one relentlessly and brings him home. No questions. No judgment. And, he takes great joy in bringing that sheep home.

As I head into YL staff my prayer is that God will give me the strength and persistence to pursue kids in the way he pursues each one of us...and that he will use me to enable other leaders to do the same.

Update 1

It has been too long...I've neglected my blog in the craziness of leaving Guatemala, assimilating back into the US, YL trips, Chicago tours, and finally relaxing with my family. I have many updates to give, but I'll start by finishing the update on my YL service trip. The trip was a HUGE success. Kids really saw a different side of the world, saw how we're all connected, and saw that they can make a difference. I'm proud of how hard our YL kids worked and how well they served people. I was blessed to share that experience with that group of students and leaders.

During our time there YL had its first club in one of the neighborhoods. Our students did a skit which was pretty funny; Brady and Fito led singing. A lot of the work was shoveling rocks and sand and mixing concrete. We really developed our mixing muscles during the week :)

This group, along with two others, put new roofs on houses. This involved taking down frames and rebuilding supports before even attacking the roof itself. Kevin, the boy on the left, is a Young Life kid that Brady and the other leaders have been working with.

There were always plenty of children to play with if the work was slow or if we were waiting for supplies. The children had joyful eyes when they were playing with us, but when I looked into eyes that weren't directed at me I saw pain and hurt and hunger that reflected the lives they lead on a daily basis. We may bring joy into their lives for a day or two, but it's not permanent. The only joy that can truly change these eyes is the joy of the Lord. Thank God for people like the YL staff who are in this neighborhood every day!This is the picture of the Guatemalan City dump that backs up to the neighborhoods that YL works in. The trash stretches on and piles up more than I could describe or imagine. Many people make their living and lose their lives working in this dump.

This picture gives a pretty good view of the houses in which we worked. The big bags are bags of trash that were filtered from the dump and now will be sold for a VERY meager living.

The story of these two young girls broke my heart. Both are teenage moms with a second on the way. When we talked to them, neither had eaten in over two days. Malnourished and pregnant, not the ideal combo. We took them to a grocery store and one of the girls almost passed out in the store. We got her some yogurt and crackers to eat there which stabilized her. I was able to buy them groceries, and with rice and beans as a staple in the diet I bought about a months worth of groceries for less than many people here spend for a week. But what happens after the month is up?

As you can see, we got a lot accomplished during the week and learned a lot. But the more we learned and the more projects we finished, the more I realized that our work is futile against the overwhelming poverty of these dump communities. I guess I have to have confidence that small scale redemption will make a large impact in someone's life--even if it's just the four year old girl who was fed for the first time in two days. This area truly represents the yearning and groaning of a creation awaiting the redemption of Jesus Christ.