Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Something to update you about...

Today was like living a day in Michigan. Only we have mountains in Utah. The weather was cloudy, but it hot warm and humid and breezy. It was amazing.

Lately my days have been great and let me fill you in on what’s going on:

I got a new job. So I still work at the church. I still work at P.F. Chang’s. And now I work for an organization called Calcutta Mercy Ministries that runs schools, orphanages and hospitals in Calcutta, India. They provide free medical care for children undergoing leukemia treatment and thalassemia. They also send out short-term volunteers from all over the world. These are a few of the many things they do. Check it out here. I do administrative work about 8-10 hours a week. It’s honestly an answer to prayer because I was getting pretty burnt out working at Chang’s because even though I think it’s a great place and I can do ministry there, I feel like I’m only being monetarily fruitful when my heart wants to be useful for the kingdom. I was asking God to help open doors if he wanted me to work somewhere else and a few days later Robyn asked me if I’d be interested in taking another job. This is perfect because I can keep my job at Chang’s (the breadwinner of the three occupations), but still do something that is making an impact.

Last night I had an amazing time with my students at K2. We did an exercise last week that placed the students in different classes (upper, middle, lower class) and wanted to show them the injustice of how people all over the world live. They walked away with tangible ways they could make an impact. Last night when they returned they had all sorts of stories of what they did in the past week that helped make a difference. I was incredibly proud and felt like it was something that really stuck with them.

This past weekend was the Dreamcenter Gala and it was a complete success! The Gala raised probably around $60,000 that will go directly to the Dreamcenter. The Dreamcenter offers after school tutoring and activities, meals and groceries, compassion and care, and so much more to the refugee communities in Salt Lake City who would go mostly unnoticed without them. (Another highlight: after I left set up crew in the morning we passed the entire Houston Rockets team as they were walking into Salt Lake’s only 5 star hotel. It was incredible! I touched Yao Ming.)

Travel plans:
- California July 2 – 5. This is going to be a short trip and really compacted so I’m not sure if I’ll get to spend time with any/all of you. Please don’t hate me. I’ll make a longer trip sometime in the end of the summer.
- Michigan July 20 – 27. (Woohoo!)
- Oregon. August (sometime). I’ll be hangin with the sis, hopefully visiting Jo and Todd, and checking out Portland State for a potential grad school.

Thanks for all your prayers and love. It’s so incredibly appreciated as I try to figure out what is next in this season of life. Miss and care about you all!

Peace,
Cat

Monday, April 21, 2008

Save your mind, read a book

Just finished Escape by Carolyn Jessop. Great read. I think everyone should read about it, especially in light of the recent raid of the Yearning For Zion camp in Texas. That's all for now...

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

So glad I live in a fishbowl!

I am sick yet again. I really, really hate being sick. But despite the pounding headache, the relentless cough, the ears being plugged and throbbing, and the constant snot (so gross I know), today was actually a good day.

Today I indulged in some "sick traditions." I watched Empire Records (a movie I discovered when I was home sick one day from school making it what it is today: my token sick movie). I read The Giver (a comforting quick read). The only thing I lacked of my traditions was my Red Wings sweatshirt. It's at home in my sister's closet.

So I was reading The Giver, a book I've read dozens upon dozens of times, and something stood out to me that never had before. Here is an excerpt:

"Jonas nodded. "I liked the feeling of love," he confessed... "I wish we still had that. Of course I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live."

"What do you mean?"

Jonas hesitated. He wasn't certain, really, what he had meant. He could feel that there was risk involved, though he wasn't sure how."

I think you need to read the entire book in order to better understand how this passage hit me, but I love it because there is risk in love. And yes, making the community in the story completely safe was a way to make sure no one was hurt. But in keeping people from pain, they sacrificed love.

It makes that old cliche so true: Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Love is a risk, but it's well worth it, don't you think?

Peace,
Cat

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Going back to college to work at a college

I love Utah. Specifically, I love Salt Lake City, I love my roommates, I love my students, and I love my church. I've told many of you that one of the hardest things to do was leave Moorpark Pres. I loved that church and spent twenty years of my life making that home. K2 was a rough transition because it was like starting from scratch. Just over 8 months later, I can honestly say that that place is home. I am blessed to have such amazing, humble, and good hearted leadership and especially to be working under them. The people I know there have quickly become my family. All I can say is God is good, and I don't know where I'd be without the K2 community.

My students continually amaze me. I am awed by the ways in which I've gotten to see them grow, and incredibly thankful to God that He has allowed me to be a part of their lives. Crazy... However, I have decided that youth ministry at a church is not where I belong full time. But...

About a month ago I got to talking with someone at church and it turned out that she is on orientation staff at the University of Utah (aka "The U"). As soon as she told me what she did I lit up. "Orientation staff?!" Many of you know that I loved being on orientation staff at APU with Alpha. There are two things that I did in college where I know God was calling me and I felt he was really able to use me. Those two things were Utah ministry and Alpha. I asked Michelle if we could meet up and talk about her job. We got together this past week and I just asked her question after question about her job at the U and the other universities she's worked at. I asked her about her grad program, getting jobs in higher education and pretty much everything under the sun.

After my time with her, I feel really good about going back to grad school and getting my master's in a higher education/student affairs program. This summer I'm focusing on taking the GRE, looking into different schools (right now I'm looking at the U, Portland State University, and Colorado State University), and continuing to pray for God's guidance and affirmation in this endeavor. If I decide this is what I want then I'll be heading to grad school - wherever that may be - in the fall of 2009.

So that's my life! Can you see me working in higher education? I welcome any input.

Peace,
Cat