Week 1 - done!

  Well, I survived my first week of interning!! Let me apologize in advance because I know that this update will just be a general overview of my first week. I'm still quite overwhelmed, but hopefully soon I will have a better grasp on things and can share more about the specifics of this internship. I can tell that this position is going to be super stretching for me. It's so odd to be in a position of authority over so many people! Every day I've been praying for confidence, while still staying humble. Humble confidence is DEFINITELY something that I'm going to have to develop. It's so easy to second-guess yourself and to remain silent in situations where you ought to speak up when you don't really know what you're doing. It's definitely intimidating, but I know that God is with me every day and will give me all that I need to do the work He has called me to do. He is so faithful and will never give me more than I can handle. At least I have confidence in that!

  Amidst the stress and uneasiness of starting a new job, there have also been some really fun times this week. Every Friday night is GNO (Girl's Night Out) and Friday is one of my on-shift days! I am so excited about this...having an opportunity to interact with the residents outside of the Vision of Hope home and its strict schedule. This past Friday we went to the creek where some of the ladies went swimming in the water. We made paper boats and raced them down the creek, chasing them from the shore as they went. We all had a great time.

  Right now there are 8 ladies in Phase 1, which is the phase I have the most interaction with. One of the ladies is about to move to Phase 2, and we are all very excited! We have welcomed two new residents since I have been here, and I believe we are welcoming another new lady this Wednesday! Getting the rooms filled is very exciting, and to be totally honest it's been really nice to have a couple of girls here who don't know more than we new interns do! I can tell that many of the residents who have been here for a while are having a hard time with so many new interns here. It must be hard to have to be so vulnerable and trusting with someone you just met. This can be discouraging to us new interns at times, but I know that this will pass once we get to know the ladies better.

    There are so many things that I'm learning already, and it's only been a week! So many areas of weakness are being revealed in my life, and I'm excited to strengthen them. Right now I'm learning to be okay with the fact that not everyone is going to like you. This seems like a "duh" moment, but being accepted by people is something that I've always longed for way too much! But here I am in a leadership position and I am new and some of the residents here are not going to like me at all...and I have to be okay with that! I have to remember that I am here to be their authority, not necessarily their friend. I am to love them with the love of Christ and by doing as my authorities instruct me. I do realize that the "not everyone will like you" lesson is something everyone knows and are told throughout their lives, but you never really learn to be okay with that until you're put in a position where you really aren't accepted by all. Oh well, life goes on, and I'm learning!

  Thank you all SO much for your prayers!! I seriously couldn't do this without prayer support. Please pray for humble confidence and wisdom to know how to handle every situation I may face. And please pray that I will be constantly aware of God's presence in my life, as I believe this will help me in the whole "humble confidence" thing.


"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." -Galatians 1:10

So it begins - training week!

 

  Well, here I am! My parents and I made it safely to Lafayette, Indiana! We arrived Saturday afternoon and all stayed overnight in a hotel. We were able to attend Faith Church on Sunday morning together, which I am very thankful for since that is the church I will be attending this year. The service was great! I really appreciate Pastor Viars as he preaches the Word with boldness, unapologetically. He reminds me of my wonderful Pastor back home!

  After the service I said my goodbyes to my parents and caught up with one of the current Vision of Hope interns. We had lunch with a fellow "newbie" intern, Helen, and then were taken to the house that we will both be staying at for these first two weeks. The family that Helen and I are staying with have been so amazing and encouraging. They constantly open their home to those who need it, and are also very active in Faith Church and Vision of Hope. This is truly a house of hospitality.

  Monday began our first day of training. There are seven new interns including myself. So far we have been covering the application process that the residents have to go through to enter into the program, how the medicine closet works, the household cleaning and cooking, and lots and lots of policies! I have been very encouraged by the openness of the staff here, and how they have made it clear that they are never too busy for our questions. They understand that as new interns we will be making a lot of mistakes, and that's okay! Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow, and they will lovingly correct us and direct us in how to handle the situation properly next time.

  After training each day, I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the other interns, those who are new like me and those who have been here a while. We've watched movies and floated in the river and...has anyone ever heard of slacklining? I never had, but one of the interns, Nickey, introduced us to it on Tuesday. Basically, slacklinging is where you stand on a cord that is suspended between two fixed objects,  (trees, polls, etc.) and attempt to balance, walk, do tricks...whatever you can do. We are all at the "walk as best you can and try not to hurt yourself" stage, but who knows? Maybe at the end of this year we'll all be pros, traveling around the world to do competitions and become famous and...

Yeah, right.

This is me slacklining:

And these are the pros:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KTZlSwgoS4

Nope, I don't think we'll get QUITE that good.

  I'm already learning so much. The main thing that I have learned so far is that loving someone doesn't always mean making their life easier or taking them out of situations that are hard and that hurt them. Many of the residents here have been through horrific, traumatic situations, and often struggle with flashbacks and panic attacks. These are so difficult for them, but this is something that they must work through in order to heal, and so in order for me to love them I must allow them to go through this hurt. Doing what makes others feel better isn't always the most loving thing that I can do. I think that will be a challenge for me...seeing the girls struggle and hurt, and knowing that this must happen in order for them to heal. I know that I will learn so much this year about showing the true love of Christ...and of course a ton of other stuff as well!!

  Tomorrow is the last day of training and on Sunday we start job shadowing the current interns. We will job shadow until next Saturday, then the real deal starts on Monday! Please be praying for wisdom and understanding of the love of Christ and how to reflect that to others.

  Thank you all SO MUCH for all of your prayers!! There is no way that I could do this without the prayer and support of all of you.

Love in Christ!

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 1:6

(All of the newbies. Back row L-R: Sarah, Hannah, Helen, Me, Karen. Front row L-R: Janessa, Susan.)