As of this blog post, I've been down here in Clearwater Beach, Florida for a little less than two weeks. It doesn't feel like that though. People say that all the time, but two weeks ago I only knew some of the staff people and one student. Today, I could name any of the 46 other students and look on them as my brothers and sisters. That's a beautiful aspect of living in community with the Church. We might have some things in common, but the most important commonality among us is that we're all broken sinners that have been redeemed and are being sanctified by and for our Lord Jesus Christ.
When I was preparing for this summer, and for the first couple of days being down here I assumed that I would be working on a pirate ship for the summer. That job was actually a huge part of my initial excitement for and consideration of attending this summer mission. Day three, we were all together in our Morning Meeting, and were establishing who'd be going out to try and get a job at where. I didn't even consider any of the other locations. Pam's Pirate Cruise Ship? Yes. Hands down. There's an audition and it's hard to get a job there? Still yes. Hands down. Just put my name down. So, a group of six of us went and got to hang out on an actual pirate ship and ride on a 3-hour cruise ride.
The cruise is essentially a "booze cruise," where the parents drink alcoholic beverages and the employees entertain the kids with a treasure hunt, stories, musical chairs, water pistol fight, and dance party. We had SO much fun, and I got more and more excited for the possibility of working there. I honestly thought that I nailed the "audition" (they really just watched how we interacted with people/kids). The next morning I still hadn't heard anything, and four of the six of us had received texts/had phone conversations with Pirate Pam to discuss their employment and confirming their jobs. I hadn't heard anything. I waited for most of the day until about 1pm, and then I called them. I still didn't receive a definitive answer for another 45 minutes, but then received a text notifying me that they had filled all of the positions they needed for the summer.
Honestly, I was crushed. I didn't really expect for that to happen. Sure, I knew that it was a possibility that I wouldn't get the job, but I never really considered what I'd do if I didn't get the job. Well, I cried a lot. Processed a lot. Prayed a lot. Read a lot of Scripture. Even at that point, only a couple of days into the Summer Mission, there were at least four different people that called/texted/came in to check on me to see how they might be able to serve me/love me well. It made me think of Francesca Battistelli's song, "Hands of God."
I still don't have a job, but I'm not discouraged. I'm tempted to be yes, but I'm not. The reality is that God knows exactly where I am, what I need, and how to provide it best, and He is/will continue to. I'm excited to see how the Lord grows me,and my beautiful brothers and sisters here. There may be more posts to come, but if there aren't many, know that it's because the Summer Mission keeps me so busy with living life down here and furthering the Kingdom that I don't really have time to sit down and write about it. We'll see what happens with that!
Grace and peace be with you,
Alice
No comments:
Post a Comment