This week was a bit rocky. Here's what happened.
Note: I'm having trouble getting pictures/videos organized because everyone has a few I want to add here, so I'll go ahead and post this now and hopefully add the pictures/videos in later!
Monday
Class on Monday was a bit weird. The lady teaching us is very nice, but we differ a lot in our theology. Our topic this week is The Christian Life, but I didn't really learn anything yet.
The highlight of the day was probably the ride home from Monday Night Service, in which we all sang Vondervall. For about 20 minutes. At the top of our lungs. Adventures.
Tuesday
Tuesdays for me are usually pretty boring. Not bad, just boring. Not a lot happens, and this week I'm not really connecting with the class, so really there wasn't much noteworthy to write about.
Wednesday
Yet another stunningly normal day. I talked with Ryan a lot. He's super cool.
Thursday
Wow, this week is boring. On Thursday after all our scheduled activities, I went into Antigua with Tom and Ashley, and then we watched a (hilariously poorly made) movie about the missionary William Carrey. Despite the ridiculous movie, he's got a really cool story and I like how he truly gave up everything to follow God's plan for him.
Friday
WHAT A BORING WEEK. Maybe it's because last week was so adventurous.
Saturday
On Saturday, I went to Bailey's house to watch the new Doctor Who episode. I still have a Matt-Smith-sized hole in my heart, but I do love Peter Capaldi. When we got back, I helped with Ashley's English class and watched the Outsiders, which is exceptionally funny to watch with Europeans. Saturday night was a bit rough; I was really discouraged because I feel like nothing in my life is changing.
Sunday
After church on Sunday, Tom and Ashley and I went to Pollo Campero (a fast-food restaurant here) and I got pizza and horchata (all I ever need in my life). Then, we got ice cream and stopped in Cafe Barista for coffee to go, but we ended up staying there and talking for a couple hours. When we came back I did some laundry and had a peaceful afternoon at home.
• But this is one corner of one country on one continent on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever shrinking and growing and creating and destroying, and there is so much to see... •
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Week 4: Relationships
Last week was absolutely wonderful. I learned a ton of really helpful things I can really apply to my life.
Note: I'm having trouble getting pictures/videos organized because everyone has a few I want to add here, so I'll go ahead and post this now and hopefully add the pictures/videos in later!
Monday
This week's classes were on Relationships and taught by Dayle Annand and Bri Musch; two of the absolute sweetest women in all of existence. They're on staff at YWAM here in Antigua so I get to see them often, but being under their teaching was especially wonderful. Over the weekend, we were assigned a personality and spiritual gifts test, and the first half of class on Monday, we went through it with Dayle. My results were that I am melancholy with some traits of sanguine, and my currently most prominent spiritual gifts are teaching, faith, and mercy. Dayle talked a lot about "owning your personality": not using it as an excuse, but also not being afraid to be yourself. For example, even though I'm a melancholy by nature, I can't just say, "being depressed is my personality and I can't change it"; that's a negative part of my personality that I have to try to overcome. After the break, Bri taught on healthy intimacy, breaking it up into its purpose and its levels. The levels bit especially helped me clarify this heavy subject. She said that the first level is intellectual; you share your name and basic information about yourself. The next is social; you spend time with that person, beginning to get to know them. Then personal: likes and dislikes. After that comes emotional, which is when you begin to share your life experiences. Finally is the highest level, which is when you feel comfortable sharing your deeper secrets and thoughts with a person. It was really freeing to me to realize that I get to control how fast I become intimate with someone; I don't have to be their best friend overnight.
Monday evening we had our service at IDC, at which Dayle taught on healing difficult relationships. The important thing to remember about that is that you are only in control of yourself; if the other person causes problems, you're called to forgive them and try to love them, but you are not responsible for their actions.
Tuesday
In class on Tuesday, Bri taught first on the foundation, pillars, and results of healthy relationships.
ADD
Then Dayle taught about healthy vs unhealthy vs toxic relationships. ADD It's been hard lately for me to try to reconcile past unhealthy and toxic relationships. We also talked about seeing the Holy Spirit as a person that we need to get to know through the steps of intimacy we'd been talking about. He's always 100% intimate with us and knows us completely, but it takes us time to get to know Him and feel comfortable sharing our lives with Him, and that's perfectly okay.
Tuesday night I watched No Se Aceptan Devoluciones (Returns Not Accepted) with Santiago, and it was a really great movie. Then we hung out for a bit and talked and I went to sleep.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we learned about setting healthy boundaries in our relationships. It was so liberating to me to be told, "Yes, you are allowed to set boundaries, and you should. Yes, you are allowed to take care of yourself in your relationships, and you should. Yes, you have authority because Jesus gave it to you, and you should use it." It was a wonderful and very helpful class for me.
Wednesday night, I finally got to go on a ministry called Soup Run; we went into Antigua with a big pot of soup and tortillas and passed them out to the homeless people and talked with them a bit. It was a good experience, but it was hard for me as well because I didn't know what to talk with them about really.
Thursday
Thursday was a super cool day. The final relationships class was on submission and how to deal with conflict in relationships. It was very helpful to me. I feel so much freer in my relationships now. I have choices, I can set my boundaries, and I can communicate what I feel and need assertively.
Thursday evening we went to Cafe Refugio (Refuge Cafe) for open mic night. I sang Vous Etês Mon Coeur with Luke, harmonies to Riptide with Bailey and Madison, and Stay Gone by myself with my uke. That last one was especially fun because, although I messed up the chords and the words, it was one of my favorite performances of my life because it was the perfect setting for the song and everyone really enjoyed it. I love the feeling of finally having adventures.
Friday
For Friday, I'll just paste in what I wrote in my journal, because it was quite the adventure and deserves to be described as such.
Saturday
On Saturday, we went to the mall in Guatemala City to hang out. We originally went to see a movie, but none were playing in English, so we got lunch and went bowling instead. I improved my past top bowling score of 16 to a 55, so that's a pretty impressive jump. After dinner, we had a fire on the roof and talked for a long time.
Sunday
After church on Sunday, I went to get pizza with Tom and Ashley. It was huge! And we ate it all. In one sitting. Like I said, adventures of all sorts. We got some groceries and things we needed and came back for a peaceful day at the base.
Note: I'm having trouble getting pictures/videos organized because everyone has a few I want to add here, so I'll go ahead and post this now and hopefully add the pictures/videos in later!
Monday
This week's classes were on Relationships and taught by Dayle Annand and Bri Musch; two of the absolute sweetest women in all of existence. They're on staff at YWAM here in Antigua so I get to see them often, but being under their teaching was especially wonderful. Over the weekend, we were assigned a personality and spiritual gifts test, and the first half of class on Monday, we went through it with Dayle. My results were that I am melancholy with some traits of sanguine, and my currently most prominent spiritual gifts are teaching, faith, and mercy. Dayle talked a lot about "owning your personality": not using it as an excuse, but also not being afraid to be yourself. For example, even though I'm a melancholy by nature, I can't just say, "being depressed is my personality and I can't change it"; that's a negative part of my personality that I have to try to overcome. After the break, Bri taught on healthy intimacy, breaking it up into its purpose and its levels. The levels bit especially helped me clarify this heavy subject. She said that the first level is intellectual; you share your name and basic information about yourself. The next is social; you spend time with that person, beginning to get to know them. Then personal: likes and dislikes. After that comes emotional, which is when you begin to share your life experiences. Finally is the highest level, which is when you feel comfortable sharing your deeper secrets and thoughts with a person. It was really freeing to me to realize that I get to control how fast I become intimate with someone; I don't have to be their best friend overnight.
Monday evening we had our service at IDC, at which Dayle taught on healing difficult relationships. The important thing to remember about that is that you are only in control of yourself; if the other person causes problems, you're called to forgive them and try to love them, but you are not responsible for their actions.
Tuesday
In class on Tuesday, Bri taught first on the foundation, pillars, and results of healthy relationships.
ADD
Then Dayle taught about healthy vs unhealthy vs toxic relationships. ADD It's been hard lately for me to try to reconcile past unhealthy and toxic relationships. We also talked about seeing the Holy Spirit as a person that we need to get to know through the steps of intimacy we'd been talking about. He's always 100% intimate with us and knows us completely, but it takes us time to get to know Him and feel comfortable sharing our lives with Him, and that's perfectly okay.
Tuesday night I watched No Se Aceptan Devoluciones (Returns Not Accepted) with Santiago, and it was a really great movie. Then we hung out for a bit and talked and I went to sleep.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we learned about setting healthy boundaries in our relationships. It was so liberating to me to be told, "Yes, you are allowed to set boundaries, and you should. Yes, you are allowed to take care of yourself in your relationships, and you should. Yes, you have authority because Jesus gave it to you, and you should use it." It was a wonderful and very helpful class for me.
Wednesday night, I finally got to go on a ministry called Soup Run; we went into Antigua with a big pot of soup and tortillas and passed them out to the homeless people and talked with them a bit. It was a good experience, but it was hard for me as well because I didn't know what to talk with them about really.
Thursday
Thursday was a super cool day. The final relationships class was on submission and how to deal with conflict in relationships. It was very helpful to me. I feel so much freer in my relationships now. I have choices, I can set my boundaries, and I can communicate what I feel and need assertively.
Thursday evening we went to Cafe Refugio (Refuge Cafe) for open mic night. I sang Vous Etês Mon Coeur with Luke, harmonies to Riptide with Bailey and Madison, and Stay Gone by myself with my uke. That last one was especially fun because, although I messed up the chords and the words, it was one of my favorite performances of my life because it was the perfect setting for the song and everyone really enjoyed it. I love the feeling of finally having adventures.
Friday
For Friday, I'll just paste in what I wrote in my journal, because it was quite the adventure and deserves to be described as such.
Basically, it was the scariest and most wonderful thing ever."22 AugustToday started out normally. Breakfast, intercession, worship, quiet time, lunch. But then I left with Luke, Robert, and Santiago for a 6-hour hike. The beginning part was normal because I’ve done it a few times; I knew what to expect, where to go, and where to step. Then came the substantially harder part: an almost-vertical wall of loose dirt and sparse plants. I was absolutely terrified. We didn’t get very far up it before I started crying and having a panic attack. But then something wonderful happened: I took control of it and I stopped it and I decided I was going to move on. The climb up wasn’t easy; I was still terrified. Santiago pulled me up the hardest part though. Then after much, much struggle, we got to the top, walked a bit more, and settled down to have a fire and some snacks. We shared the rest of my tortillas and beans and we talked and prayed together. I felt so close to them. It was wonderful. When we left though, it was already completely dark. I have never been more afraid in my whole life than coming down that thing. I was absolutely sobbing. At one point, right at the top, the root I was hanging from came loose and I fell and a ton of dirt poured over me and I just cried and cried and cried. Then Luke and Santiago helped me get to the next part, where I had to hold onto a vine above my head and slide down like 6 feet to a tree stump that was very stable. That vine snapped too, but I fell right into Luke. After that, it wasn’t easy and I was still terrified, but I got down okay. All those boys are so wonderful to me. I am so blessed to be spending this time with them."
Saturday
On Saturday, we went to the mall in Guatemala City to hang out. We originally went to see a movie, but none were playing in English, so we got lunch and went bowling instead. I improved my past top bowling score of 16 to a 55, so that's a pretty impressive jump. After dinner, we had a fire on the roof and talked for a long time.
Sunday
After church on Sunday, I went to get pizza with Tom and Ashley. It was huge! And we ate it all. In one sitting. Like I said, adventures of all sorts. We got some groceries and things we needed and came back for a peaceful day at the base.
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