I came across my daily log that I kept in Puerto Rico awhile ago when I still down in San Diego. It was hardly in depth but it was fun to look over anyways. It brings back a lot of memories. Prayers go out to my brother and sisters in Puerto Rico right now and those who are heading over!
6/24 Aguadilla w/ Jess
Gabriella: Christian, family, friend killed
Mary: Catholic, not comfortable sharing faith, Biology student
Christopher: Pred-Med, worked on farm, also attends colegio w/ bro Christian, good handle on relationship w/ God, Massachusetts and practice English
6/25 Inter Americano w/ Syd
Zual-only person we talked to but we needed it
-praises
-led book club
6/26 w/ Jared
-Shayra + Jose
-followed up with Christian
-Gustavo-Christ is either lunatic or Lord
-spiritual discipline: silence
6/27 w/ Meg + Jared
-Lady w/ less English
-Roberto
-Follow up with Gustavo
-Beach
6/28
-Beach Boqueron
-Chico Goodbye
6/29
-Bonhoeffer-Relativism
-Paul in Acts reflecting on ministry
-"Hike" - twisted ankle
-Don Quixote
-Church
6/30 w/ Sam
-Jonathan (2hrs)
-Ivan-wants to become pastor
-Candy Bar awards (Symphony)
-1 Corinthians 1 + 2, John 3
7/1 w/ David
Javier-atheist/going to S. Carolina
Oscar-had to leave
Luis-recommitted
Gustavo-talked to him again
7/2 w/ Joe
Vladamir-Catholic
7/3 w/ Carina + Hank
Jose-Catholic Background
girl-high school student, God answered her, Cru high school
7/4
-Beach w/ Cru highschool
7/5
-Beach cleanup
-Surf shop
-Cambija for lunch
-Telephone Pictionary
7/6
-Talked w/ Roger
-The Movement
7/7 w/ Micah
-Krispy Kreme
-Alexis-girlfriend Catholic
-Ephraim
-Lunch w/ Diego, Andres, and Jose
-Taco Bell
-Parks & Rec
-Outreach Mayaguez Track
-Soccer, spikeball, pizza
7/8 w/ Hank
-Eury-spoke mostly Spanish
-Joshua-freshman, Psychology, relativist
-Julian-studying for MCAT
-Happy Bowls
-Brazil lost 7-1
7/9 At the house: cleaning, reading, blogging
7/10 w/ Micah
-Christopher agnostic, pessimist
-Alexis-Marine, latter day saint
-Nestor and Jeshua for lunch
-Alberto accepted Christ
-Men's appreciation/Bella's B-Day
7/11
-Caves and Arecibo
-Cowboys
-News about Tre
7/12
-Jobos beach w/ Jeshua + Ephraim
7/13
-Street Market
-Coffee Shop Rincon
-Chruch w/ Jeshua at The Movement
-Discussion on marriage, dating, and relationships
7/14 w/ Micah
-flyering
-talking w/ Jeshua
-soccer outreach again
7/15
-Playa Sucia w/ Jeshua, Ephraim, Jose, Nadia, Gabriel, Angelo, Romero
-Friend's Cafe
-Talk of siblings/schooling w/ Meg + Jess
7/16 w/ Micah
-Jeshua
7/17 w/ Hank
-High schoolers
-waterfall
7/18
-Women's appreciation
-cleaning, dance party
7/19 San Juan and Tres Palmas
-Lunch, Dinner
-Meg testimony
-celebration of project
7/20 Team time
-Old San Juan, fortress, etc.
-Quiet people discussion
-Meg/Carina testimonies
7/21 Team time
-Fortress old San Juan w/ Jeshua
-Airport then Caribo Hilton
-Sam, Bella, and Amy leave
7/22
-Day at the Hilton
-pool/dock/food
-exploring fortress/talking
7/23
-3:30 am left hotel
-flight to Fort Lauderdale
-Goodbye in LAX
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Looking Back: Community and Spiritual Disciplines
The year is winding down and I look back with ideas of things I need to work on and many praises to lift up. I recently read an article talking about what is needed to build true community. Honestly, I was not that interested in the article, but more in the topic it attempted to tackle.
Community has always been something near and dear to my heart. Although many who look at me might find it hard to believe, I am a very social being. I love to interact with others and build relationships. It helps me thrive. It gives me immense joy. I look back at this year and I am very hopeful about the new relationships I was able to foster and the old ones I tried my best to maintain.
It always is so difficult since there are only a finite amount of hours in a day, but I tried to make a concerted effort to meet with people in my social circles, to get to know them better and hopefully to build community. I've always enjoyed doing that and I'm sure I will continue to do that. But there is always room for growth and my vision for next school is an even closer, tight knit group of individuals who feel comfortable. That's a vision, but hopefully with some intentionality it might be possible to get closer to that goal and more fully represent a Christ-centered community.
However, looking back over the year, although I would say I did decently in trying to foster community, my daily disciplines like time in the word and my prayer life honestly did not feel as solid and impactful by the end of the year. It just was not going all that well.
So over summer, I want to get back into my daily rhythms and do everything I can to stay in community even if I'm not in close contact with all my school friends. It's true that summer can sometimes be a scary prospect, but it can also be a time of immense growth. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store.
In fact, I read this passage in another article recently and it really spoke to me. It brought to mind my time in Puerto Rico last summer where I felt like I really learned to surrender my sleep to the Lord. Surrender in other areas of my life is still something to be working on though.
"And, for a few, this may mean the most spiritual thing we can do is surrender our sleep for a season. Whether it's nursing a newborn, battling an illness or warring in prayer, we may voluntarily or by necessity set aside normal sleep patterns. In such seasons, we will submit our bodies to Christ, boasting in our weakness as we call upon God's strength amid an unwelcome thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12: 7-10) or standing in God's might against the devil's schemes (Eph. 6:10-11)."
On a side note, I also now really want to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together...
Community has always been something near and dear to my heart. Although many who look at me might find it hard to believe, I am a very social being. I love to interact with others and build relationships. It helps me thrive. It gives me immense joy. I look back at this year and I am very hopeful about the new relationships I was able to foster and the old ones I tried my best to maintain.
It always is so difficult since there are only a finite amount of hours in a day, but I tried to make a concerted effort to meet with people in my social circles, to get to know them better and hopefully to build community. I've always enjoyed doing that and I'm sure I will continue to do that. But there is always room for growth and my vision for next school is an even closer, tight knit group of individuals who feel comfortable. That's a vision, but hopefully with some intentionality it might be possible to get closer to that goal and more fully represent a Christ-centered community.
However, looking back over the year, although I would say I did decently in trying to foster community, my daily disciplines like time in the word and my prayer life honestly did not feel as solid and impactful by the end of the year. It just was not going all that well.
So over summer, I want to get back into my daily rhythms and do everything I can to stay in community even if I'm not in close contact with all my school friends. It's true that summer can sometimes be a scary prospect, but it can also be a time of immense growth. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store.
In fact, I read this passage in another article recently and it really spoke to me. It brought to mind my time in Puerto Rico last summer where I felt like I really learned to surrender my sleep to the Lord. Surrender in other areas of my life is still something to be working on though.
"And, for a few, this may mean the most spiritual thing we can do is surrender our sleep for a season. Whether it's nursing a newborn, battling an illness or warring in prayer, we may voluntarily or by necessity set aside normal sleep patterns. In such seasons, we will submit our bodies to Christ, boasting in our weakness as we call upon God's strength amid an unwelcome thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12: 7-10) or standing in God's might against the devil's schemes (Eph. 6:10-11)."
On a side note, I also now really want to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)