I promised myself before this summer began that I was going to be an intern in a way that would leave me exhausted at the end of twelve weeks, and I've done it. Now I am running on caffeine, adrenaline, excitement, and sadness, without much sleep mixed in. My final presentation has been given, my research report submitted, and my internship is over.
I am sad, because I am leaving behind a very unique time in my life that I will never get back again. I am leaving a place that I've come to know well, and friendships that had really only just begun. But I'm happy, too, because tomorrow I get to see my home for the first time in six months. For two and a half weeks I don't have papers to submit and I get to spend time with my family, and it will be a relief to be back in Michigan to rest and have a break before school starts up again.
I will miss Suffolk, but it's time for the next thing. Hello, senior year.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Miscellany
Oh, the things you have missed in the past two weeks!
1. The Pork, Peanut, and Pine Festival.
Several weeks ago on my solo drive to Richmond, I encountered, in the middle of a Virginia peanut field, a sign advertising said festival, and I decided then and there that I would attend. On Saturday the day came, and I drove an hour into the wilderness of Surry in a thunderstorm because I said I would. By the time I arrived, it was raining so hard I couldn't see, but droves of hardy Virginians were still trucking on through the mud to Chippokes Plantation State Park, so I followed. I marveled that such a huge festival, complete with tractor pull, barbecue cookoff, bluegrass bands, baby piglets, tours of the plantation house, and booth after booth of folks selling everything from little pig earrings (I bought some) to peanut pie (yeah, bought some of that, too) could have sprung up in the middle of nowhere like that. Nobody really seemed to mind that the park looked like it was about to be washed into the James River, so I pretended that I didn't notice, either, and milled about for a couple of hours until the storm got so bad that some official-looking men started telling everyone to pack up and get out. I had given up on my sandals long before because I kept getting stuck in the mud, and then I got my truck stuck and this huge man had to help me push it out, and then I went the wrong way on a one-way exit street and was told to turn around. And then I drove home.
2. A borrowed canoe.
Becca, one of the Dorschels' married daughters, has a canoe. She lives on a small lake in a neighborhood next to mine, and told me recently that I could borrow the canoe whenever I wanted to, so I have. That's the end of that story. But I have really enjoyed it, is the point. I have gone out several times hoping that a train would go over the bridge over the river just as I was paddling under, and on Sunday, IT HAPPENED. That's probably one of those things you're supposed to never do, in case the train careens off the bridge or throws rocks at you or something. But I just floated there grinning and admiring the graffiti.
3. A flock of admirers.
Per usual. I have a love note I got with my receipt from a waiter at Applebee's (complete with name and number) and there is a trail of broken hearts at the Salvation Army, if you listen to the things the old men say there.
4. The last research week!
That's right, folks. Except for tying up a few loose ends here and there, the only thing left on the table is to prepare for my presentation, which I will be giving on Saturday. The closer it gets, the less nervous I become. I'm just looking forward to finally being able to report on what I've been researching and be DONE! I've been studying Suffolk and disability for six months, and that's how long it's been since I've been home. It's time for a break!
If you're praying for me, please pray for peace and calmness and that I would say something helpful at my presentation on Saturday morning. Pray that I would have the strength to finish well. Thank you!
1. The Pork, Peanut, and Pine Festival.
Several weeks ago on my solo drive to Richmond, I encountered, in the middle of a Virginia peanut field, a sign advertising said festival, and I decided then and there that I would attend. On Saturday the day came, and I drove an hour into the wilderness of Surry in a thunderstorm because I said I would. By the time I arrived, it was raining so hard I couldn't see, but droves of hardy Virginians were still trucking on through the mud to Chippokes Plantation State Park, so I followed. I marveled that such a huge festival, complete with tractor pull, barbecue cookoff, bluegrass bands, baby piglets, tours of the plantation house, and booth after booth of folks selling everything from little pig earrings (I bought some) to peanut pie (yeah, bought some of that, too) could have sprung up in the middle of nowhere like that. Nobody really seemed to mind that the park looked like it was about to be washed into the James River, so I pretended that I didn't notice, either, and milled about for a couple of hours until the storm got so bad that some official-looking men started telling everyone to pack up and get out. I had given up on my sandals long before because I kept getting stuck in the mud, and then I got my truck stuck and this huge man had to help me push it out, and then I went the wrong way on a one-way exit street and was told to turn around. And then I drove home.
2. A borrowed canoe.
Becca, one of the Dorschels' married daughters, has a canoe. She lives on a small lake in a neighborhood next to mine, and told me recently that I could borrow the canoe whenever I wanted to, so I have. That's the end of that story. But I have really enjoyed it, is the point. I have gone out several times hoping that a train would go over the bridge over the river just as I was paddling under, and on Sunday, IT HAPPENED. That's probably one of those things you're supposed to never do, in case the train careens off the bridge or throws rocks at you or something. But I just floated there grinning and admiring the graffiti.
3. A flock of admirers.
Per usual. I have a love note I got with my receipt from a waiter at Applebee's (complete with name and number) and there is a trail of broken hearts at the Salvation Army, if you listen to the things the old men say there.
4. The last research week!
That's right, folks. Except for tying up a few loose ends here and there, the only thing left on the table is to prepare for my presentation, which I will be giving on Saturday. The closer it gets, the less nervous I become. I'm just looking forward to finally being able to report on what I've been researching and be DONE! I've been studying Suffolk and disability for six months, and that's how long it's been since I've been home. It's time for a break!
If you're praying for me, please pray for peace and calmness and that I would say something helpful at my presentation on Saturday morning. Pray that I would have the strength to finish well. Thank you!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Bests and Worsts
With just three and a half weeks left until my plane flies out of Newport News to Detroit, I feel that I'm at a point where I can offer an honest overview of my internship. I can finally adequately address the simple question, "So, how is your internship going?"
I'll start with the best part. This internship has been encouraging and affirming beyond anything I expected. I majored in community development as kind of a last-ditch effort, convinced that God was calling me in some way to assist the church in helping the poor, but my failed attempts in the past had left me equally certain that I was not the person for the job. My first economics class at Covenant scared me so much that I came very close to ditching the whole thing again. I was an unofficial English major for half of sophomore year.
This internship has repeatedly affirmed not only that I am called to church based community development and that this is what I want to give my life to, but that I am actually equipped to do it. I am doing some good research. Working at the church just feels right. And the things I've learned in the classroom over the past three years are connecting, making me realize what a fantastic foundation I have to enter this field. Equally importantly, Westminster has showed me that church based community development can be done well, when I was beginning to doubt that it was possible. I am so blessed to be here at this time to get to watch how these brothers and sisters wrestle and succeed.
The worst part has been loneliness. Hands down. I did not expect to struggle so much with feeling homesick and isolated. At times it has been crippling. This is the first time I've ever been somewhere where I didn't know a soul before arriving, and it can be difficult to connect with people in a real way when they know and you know that you're only temporary in their lives. This is just one of the ways I am finding that God is showing me my weaknesses in much louder terms than usual, and as hard as that can be, I am thankful for it when I stop and consider. As he provides for me daily he is showing me yet again that he is my strength. He is also forcing me to learn to deal with myself on a deeper level than I have ever had to before. Honestly, I'd rather know now what some of my biggest issues are going to be as a CDV practitioner than be shocked by them further down the road. Plus, I've done some creative things to manage my loneliness that I might have missed out on otherwise, like driving by myself to an art festival in Richmond on Friday night, attending a two-and-a-half hour long service at a black Baptist church downtown with Sister, asking an older lady at church if I could spend some time with her and getting invited to a tea room for lunch, and getting the youth intern to teach me how to drive a stick shift.
The short answer to "How is your internship going?" is this: I am uplifted and I am lonely. God is giving me exactly what I need!
I'll start with the best part. This internship has been encouraging and affirming beyond anything I expected. I majored in community development as kind of a last-ditch effort, convinced that God was calling me in some way to assist the church in helping the poor, but my failed attempts in the past had left me equally certain that I was not the person for the job. My first economics class at Covenant scared me so much that I came very close to ditching the whole thing again. I was an unofficial English major for half of sophomore year.
This internship has repeatedly affirmed not only that I am called to church based community development and that this is what I want to give my life to, but that I am actually equipped to do it. I am doing some good research. Working at the church just feels right. And the things I've learned in the classroom over the past three years are connecting, making me realize what a fantastic foundation I have to enter this field. Equally importantly, Westminster has showed me that church based community development can be done well, when I was beginning to doubt that it was possible. I am so blessed to be here at this time to get to watch how these brothers and sisters wrestle and succeed.
The worst part has been loneliness. Hands down. I did not expect to struggle so much with feeling homesick and isolated. At times it has been crippling. This is the first time I've ever been somewhere where I didn't know a soul before arriving, and it can be difficult to connect with people in a real way when they know and you know that you're only temporary in their lives. This is just one of the ways I am finding that God is showing me my weaknesses in much louder terms than usual, and as hard as that can be, I am thankful for it when I stop and consider. As he provides for me daily he is showing me yet again that he is my strength. He is also forcing me to learn to deal with myself on a deeper level than I have ever had to before. Honestly, I'd rather know now what some of my biggest issues are going to be as a CDV practitioner than be shocked by them further down the road. Plus, I've done some creative things to manage my loneliness that I might have missed out on otherwise, like driving by myself to an art festival in Richmond on Friday night, attending a two-and-a-half hour long service at a black Baptist church downtown with Sister, asking an older lady at church if I could spend some time with her and getting invited to a tea room for lunch, and getting the youth intern to teach me how to drive a stick shift.
The short answer to "How is your internship going?" is this: I am uplifted and I am lonely. God is giving me exactly what I need!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Here are some pictures.
Just my three favorites.
1) Before the Decade Dance. That's me on the right, rocking Emma's sweet tie-dye shirt.
2) Me and Jenn at the Decade Dance, which was in the Great Hall. Weird. And what's with that guy behind me?!
3) Our group by the Overlook.
1) Before the Decade Dance. That's me on the right, rocking Emma's sweet tie-dye shirt.
2) Me and Jenn at the Decade Dance, which was in the Great Hall. Weird. And what's with that guy behind me?!
3) Our group by the Overlook.
Carly Rae Jepsen, don't you EVER call me!
I spent most of last week at The Edge conference with Westminster's junior high youth group, and let me tell you-- there is nothing like a van full of 13-year-old girls to ruin a taste for Top 40. Even so, I am thrilled that I went. I could write down everything that happened, but you wouldn't want to read that, so I'll just share some of the highlights.
- Old friends. The conference was held at Covenant and I didn't tell anyone I was coming, so I got to surprise Hannah, Damarise, Leah, and even my brother, who was in Chattanooga for a different youth trip. Jonas was so shocked he slammed me into a tree. Ah, brother love!
- New friends. I attended my first youth group meeting at the beginning of my internship because I wanted to do something that frightened me, and kids are it. I am so glad I kept going back! I have rarely enjoyed a weekend so much, and I had a blast with this group of people, kids and leaders alike. Knowing them is going to make it a lot harder to leave in a few weeks.
- Encouraging conversations. There were a lot of those this week. I was refreshed in my faith far more than I expected to be, and every day brought someone else who either told me exactly what I needed to hear, or needed to hear something I had to say.
- Activities geared toward junior high students. I love the high energy and lack of dignity present in most middle schoolers. The Decade Dance and Water Fest were such a blast, and included all of my favorite elements for a good activity: at the Decade Dance, I got to poof my hair up and dance like a lunatic, and since I'm in college I am automatically cool, so I even got respect for looking like an idiot. Water Fest ended in being covered head to toe in mud and Vaseline and getting sprayed off with a fire hose. I couldn't have been more delighted.
- Sitting in a van for eighteen hours. This was, unfortunately, the Year of the Crisis for the group, so we wound up being on the road for about a year and got home at 4 a.m. on Thursday. Oddly, this drive falls into my "fond memories" list as well. There's something about a miserably long drive that bonds people together, especially when you're so tired all you can do is laugh.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Mismatched buttons and peanut butter
You know those days that you can't quite complain about but just feel a little bit… off? Like wearing a shirt with the top button accidentally looped through the second button hole. Nothing quite works the way it's supposed to and you're never sure what's going on. You can't decide if you ought to be bothered by it or just laugh instead.
That's how yesterday was. I led my first-ever focus group in the morning, after carefully grooming my questions over the weekend to be sure I was fully prepared. I was expecting about six or seven of our regular participants to show up. By nine o'clock, all of the regulars were in the room chatting boisterously and drinking coffee, and by the time I abandoned ship at ten, there were sixteen people in the room, including a cute little girl with braids and a very serious-looking baby who wished he could climb across the table. The most ridiculous thing about this situation was that half of these people I had never seen before and no one had invited them. I don't know where they came from! My professors at Covenant would have been thrilled to peek into the office yesterday morning and see me trying to conduct "sensible and helpful" research in an environment that was in exact opposition to my purposes. It didn't go terribly, and I actually thought it was quite funny, but there were far too many people and too much chaos for me to do really ideal research.
By the time I left work I still felt rather thrown by the focus group and by managing things on my own all day, with Hayden gone in San Francisco. I clambered into my truck and was about to start it, only to realize that I had somehow got peanut butter in the ignition. What?! This struck me as impossibly funny and I laughed mindlessly on the steering wheel for a couple of minutes. If anyone saw me it probably looked like I was weeping.
In an attempt to make sense of a very strange day, I did something completely irrational: I drove half an hour just to find ice cream. Suffolk's only very serious fault is that it doesn't have a single place to buy an ice cream sundae within half an hour of downtown. For a place that already reached ninety degrees in May, this seems completely unreasonable to me. My own homeland still struggles with the 50s in that month, and there are like four good places for me to buy a cone within walking distance of my house. Anyway, yesterday was the final straw. I was not going to put up with an icecreamless existence anymore. So I chucked research for the rest of the day and drove out to Sweet Frog for a sundae (Sweet Frog is actually frozen yogurt, so healthy, and Christian-run, so spiritual. Boom! I win!). Afterward I went to the gym and ran until I wanted to die. Yeah, all of my choices yesterday made a ton of sense, too.
But the ice cream and the run made me feel better. Can't wait to see what the rest of this week holds...
That's how yesterday was. I led my first-ever focus group in the morning, after carefully grooming my questions over the weekend to be sure I was fully prepared. I was expecting about six or seven of our regular participants to show up. By nine o'clock, all of the regulars were in the room chatting boisterously and drinking coffee, and by the time I abandoned ship at ten, there were sixteen people in the room, including a cute little girl with braids and a very serious-looking baby who wished he could climb across the table. The most ridiculous thing about this situation was that half of these people I had never seen before and no one had invited them. I don't know where they came from! My professors at Covenant would have been thrilled to peek into the office yesterday morning and see me trying to conduct "sensible and helpful" research in an environment that was in exact opposition to my purposes. It didn't go terribly, and I actually thought it was quite funny, but there were far too many people and too much chaos for me to do really ideal research.
By the time I left work I still felt rather thrown by the focus group and by managing things on my own all day, with Hayden gone in San Francisco. I clambered into my truck and was about to start it, only to realize that I had somehow got peanut butter in the ignition. What?! This struck me as impossibly funny and I laughed mindlessly on the steering wheel for a couple of minutes. If anyone saw me it probably looked like I was weeping.
In an attempt to make sense of a very strange day, I did something completely irrational: I drove half an hour just to find ice cream. Suffolk's only very serious fault is that it doesn't have a single place to buy an ice cream sundae within half an hour of downtown. For a place that already reached ninety degrees in May, this seems completely unreasonable to me. My own homeland still struggles with the 50s in that month, and there are like four good places for me to buy a cone within walking distance of my house. Anyway, yesterday was the final straw. I was not going to put up with an icecreamless existence anymore. So I chucked research for the rest of the day and drove out to Sweet Frog for a sundae (Sweet Frog is actually frozen yogurt, so healthy, and Christian-run, so spiritual. Boom! I win!). Afterward I went to the gym and ran until I wanted to die. Yeah, all of my choices yesterday made a ton of sense, too.
But the ice cream and the run made me feel better. Can't wait to see what the rest of this week holds...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Somethin' Bout a Truck...
Yeah, I know every word to that song.
And here I am with the trusty pickup. You can't tell from this picture, but it has super cool camouflage detailing around the windows and hood, and hunting stickers on the windows.
I am pleased to find that I actually look somewhat capable standing next to it, and not as little and comical as I had feared.
And here I am with the trusty pickup. You can't tell from this picture, but it has super cool camouflage detailing around the windows and hood, and hunting stickers on the windows.
I am pleased to find that I actually look somewhat capable standing next to it, and not as little and comical as I had feared.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Suffolk on the Move and my dear old 310 notes
It's Saturday afternoon. I was up at 6:50 this morning, after a night in which the dogs decided it would be a good idea to bark loudly at anything that moved-- the cats, a toad, a bumblebee-- and some things that didn't. The bumblebee must have stung Shagnasty (that is really their dog's name) when he tried to eat it, because he then sat in the sun room and smacked his lips loudly for about twenty minutes. Anyway, I had to be up early to pick up one of the HFS peeps for Suffolk on the Move, and then meet up with five more of the participants and Hayden's family for the one-mile fun walk down at Constant's Wharf. It was fun, as promised, and the weather was lovely for it.
I have the house to myself today because "my family" is at the beach. Last night I took advantage of this by spending the evening in their kitchen, blaring boy band music, having several loud Skype conversations, and using like every dish in the house to cook things. Now I'm curled up with my notes from Community Development 310 (Community Development Principles and Issues), getting ready for my focus group on Monday morning. Reading over these notes is really getting me pumped as I remember all the times I've left Corbett's classes literally trembling with excitement (sound like an exaggeration? Try extreme nerdiness). I love this stuff.
I have the house to myself today because "my family" is at the beach. Last night I took advantage of this by spending the evening in their kitchen, blaring boy band music, having several loud Skype conversations, and using like every dish in the house to cook things. Now I'm curled up with my notes from Community Development 310 (Community Development Principles and Issues), getting ready for my focus group on Monday morning. Reading over these notes is really getting me pumped as I remember all the times I've left Corbett's classes literally trembling with excitement (sound like an exaggeration? Try extreme nerdiness). I love this stuff.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Southern Firsts of the Week
1. Why didn't anyone tell me before now that barbecue can be vinegar-based?! This week I had my first experience with Carolina-style barbecue. Oh, the brilliance of a tangy sauce instead of a sweet one! I rescued all the leftovers and have been eating it as often as is reasonable for the past three days. You can just put it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon like cereal. (Well, maybe you can't. I can. I might be alone in my desire to eat bowlfuls of sour, salty meat.)
2. I parallel parked that huge green pickup truck this week in the middle of downtown. I had forgotten that I can't parallel park, then realized that I've imperceptibly learned how, in a half-ton pickup.
3. This week in the community garden, one of the HFS women and I chatted back and forth for a couple of hours as we worked, fertilized, and pulled weeds together. Suddenly I recalled how overwhelming the garden had been on my very first day at HFS, as this same woman and her friend kept up a steady conversation that I could barely understand through their thick, Southern African American accents. I was thrilled to find that now I was chattering with her just as steadily, and hardly missing a word.
2. I parallel parked that huge green pickup truck this week in the middle of downtown. I had forgotten that I can't parallel park, then realized that I've imperceptibly learned how, in a half-ton pickup.
3. This week in the community garden, one of the HFS women and I chatted back and forth for a couple of hours as we worked, fertilized, and pulled weeds together. Suddenly I recalled how overwhelming the garden had been on my very first day at HFS, as this same woman and her friend kept up a steady conversation that I could barely understand through their thick, Southern African American accents. I was thrilled to find that now I was chattering with her just as steadily, and hardly missing a word.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Moving right along
This has been a good week. I feel like I've hit a rhythm in my research. I have enough meetings to keep me busy and interested and I still have time for all the assignments I have to turn in. I feel productive, but not like I'm drowning or unable to enjoy those around me. I'm beginning to form what feel like real connections with some of the people at church, and I can drive around Suffolk and even through that scary underwater tunnel to Norfolk with nary a problem. I'm learning how to balance my needs to connect with people here, feel supported by people at home, and spend time by myself. I'm feeling where my limits are, emotionally and academically, but also trying some things that kind of frighten and stretch me (junior high youth group, anyone?). My first month of research is over, and I dare say I'm happy.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Value of Bumper Stickers on One's Laptop
Yeah, I do that hipster thing. I have college, coffee, and Christian bumper stickers, one for frozen yogurt, and a backpack logo, all on the front of my Mac. It makes me look cool, smart, holy, adventurous, fun, and concerned for the environment, all at once. There's really no losing with these stickers, even though Dr. Mask told me once that he would be disgusted if his daughter did that to her laptop.
Plus, my laptop bumper stickers have invited some interesting conversations over the past week. A couple at the library stopped me several days ago to ask about the "Together for the Gospel" sticker that I got from a Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago, and we talked a while about our mutual faith and the work I'm doing this summer. Today in Rosa's, the little local coffee shop in downtown Suffolk, a friendly woman at the table next to mine noticed my Covenant sticker and asked about it. Turns out, her cousin goes to Covenant-- and her cousin happens to be one of the first people I met there. In fact, I had lunch at her house during one of my first Sundays on Lookout Mountain!
So there you have it. Another benefit to stickering up your laptop. You're cool, you're smart, you're holy, you're adventurous and fun and environmentally conscious-- and you'll probably have more friends.
Plus, my laptop bumper stickers have invited some interesting conversations over the past week. A couple at the library stopped me several days ago to ask about the "Together for the Gospel" sticker that I got from a Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago, and we talked a while about our mutual faith and the work I'm doing this summer. Today in Rosa's, the little local coffee shop in downtown Suffolk, a friendly woman at the table next to mine noticed my Covenant sticker and asked about it. Turns out, her cousin goes to Covenant-- and her cousin happens to be one of the first people I met there. In fact, I had lunch at her house during one of my first Sundays on Lookout Mountain!
So there you have it. Another benefit to stickering up your laptop. You're cool, you're smart, you're holy, you're adventurous and fun and environmentally conscious-- and you'll probably have more friends.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Welcome, Week 4!
The third week of the community development internship is known by my predecessors under a number of affectionate titles: "third-week freakout," "misery," "the week I cried every day." I'm not sure what to call it, but I'm glad it's over.
About a week ago, Hayden began to ask me rapid-fire questions about how things were going with work, at home, at church, with my experience in the community. I answered with bland positivity until I realized the truth: I was overwhelmed by new faces, freaked out by my research, homesick for Michigan, and just plain crabby. Suddenly I kind of wanted to cry. I guess that's what Hayden was looking for.
It was so good to have Hayden remind me of the normalcy of what I was feeling that week. I looked back over some school notes on culture shock and realized that's exactly what was represented in my glum thoughts: "Why don't you pronounce your vowels like 'normal' people? Dress like 'normal' people? Have a 'normal' fresh body of water instead of this stupid, salty ocean?!"
I think that the worst has passed, although my birthday on Thursday made it a little better and a little worse at the same time. It was awesome to have people here who cared that it was my birthday and to Skype with my family and get emails or letters from my friends, but it was not awesome to also know that I'm still very much a newcomer-- there's nobody here who can recall celebrating any other birthdays with me.
After a perfect Sunday, biking through the Great Dismal Swamp and chatting with Jay and Lizzie, plunging into the 3 feet of murky black water that is Lake Drummond (is it odd that this is an element in my definition of a "perfect Sunday"?), and coming back to a terrific Skype conversation with close friends, I feel just about ready for a new week. Now I'm going to join the family and some neighbors out by the fire pit to close out the day. Here's to Week 4.
About a week ago, Hayden began to ask me rapid-fire questions about how things were going with work, at home, at church, with my experience in the community. I answered with bland positivity until I realized the truth: I was overwhelmed by new faces, freaked out by my research, homesick for Michigan, and just plain crabby. Suddenly I kind of wanted to cry. I guess that's what Hayden was looking for.
It was so good to have Hayden remind me of the normalcy of what I was feeling that week. I looked back over some school notes on culture shock and realized that's exactly what was represented in my glum thoughts: "Why don't you pronounce your vowels like 'normal' people? Dress like 'normal' people? Have a 'normal' fresh body of water instead of this stupid, salty ocean?!"
I think that the worst has passed, although my birthday on Thursday made it a little better and a little worse at the same time. It was awesome to have people here who cared that it was my birthday and to Skype with my family and get emails or letters from my friends, but it was not awesome to also know that I'm still very much a newcomer-- there's nobody here who can recall celebrating any other birthdays with me.
After a perfect Sunday, biking through the Great Dismal Swamp and chatting with Jay and Lizzie, plunging into the 3 feet of murky black water that is Lake Drummond (is it odd that this is an element in my definition of a "perfect Sunday"?), and coming back to a terrific Skype conversation with close friends, I feel just about ready for a new week. Now I'm going to join the family and some neighbors out by the fire pit to close out the day. Here's to Week 4.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
IT IS SO HOT.
If I say that around any of the HFS participants, they snicker and tell me gleefully how much worse it's going to get.
Great CDV Article by Aaron Ausland
Dr. Mask just passed along this article to all of the CDV interns. If you're interested in hearing more of what community development is all about, it's definitely a worthwhile read.
Another update to come soon.
Another update to come soon.
Friday, May 25, 2012
"There's nothing here to run from" (Coldplay, Don't Panic)
There's a community development catchphrase for how to build enthusiasm for a project: "start small and succeed." That's important when you're starting a development initiative anywhere, so that you don't try to take on too much, and so that everyone involved slowly gains trust in the process instead of starting out with high expectations and becoming burned out and disappointed. That idea is just as important for a research project.
I'd really appreciate your prayers in the coming week. I'm beginning to really dive in to my research on what works and what doesn't for development work with the disabled, and to be honest, I'm a little freaked out. This is starting to feel like a big project for a little person over a short summer. Please pray that I would be able to take it one day at a time. I need to be able to keep my own personality in check, with my tendency to try to take tomorrow's burdens today and get it all done at once. My mind has been working way too fast and I need to be able to calm down, be patient, take a breath-- and start small.
Monday, May 21, 2012
CAPS meeting
Last week I attended a meeting of the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk (CAPS). CAPS is a partnership that was formed between area churches both to respond to immediate needs and to address the underlying causes of poverty in Suffolk. A coalition prevents too much duplication of resources as each partner church brings their particular strengths to the table and communicates with the others about those they serve and work with. So far, 22 Suffolk churches have joined the coalition.
Here's a picture of everyone who was present at the meeting on Tuesday: I'm in the front with the black skirt, and my internship supervisor, Hayden, is to the left.
The Suffolk News-Herald recently published an article about CAPS which you can read here if you'd like to find out more about the coalition. You can also check out the CAPS Facebook page at facebook.com/CAPSuffolk.
The Suffolk News-Herald recently published an article about CAPS which you can read here if you'd like to find out more about the coalition. You can also check out the CAPS Facebook page at facebook.com/CAPSuffolk.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Ten and a half to go
Okay, time for a real update.
I've been here for nearly a week and a half. The first few days in an unfamiliar place are unlike anything else one can experience, with every sense heightened by unfamiliarity, and this time the newness is highlighted further by the fact that there is not a single person or place here that I have seen before. Even during freshman year at college or May term in Uganda there were a few familiar faces, but not here. It is at once exhilarating and lonely, and I am riding the waves back and forth between the two. I knew to expect that, though, and even the loneliness has its attraction as part of the experience. Overall I'd say I'm adjusting very well and I really like it here.
I held the preparation for this internship lightly, knowing that things might change at any moment. One weekend I thought my internship had fallen through, and I've watched it happen to a couple of friends this year. So I arrived in Suffolk with few expectations, and my only nervousness was to hope that Lizzie Dorschel, the 19-year-old daughter of the family I am staying with, would like me and that my internship supervisor would be nice.
Here are my first impressions of the Dorschels: Lizzie running to greet me from the front step of the house. Discovering that my room has a door in it that leads to the roof. A cookout with family and conversations around the fire pit until after dark. A room above the garage, with wisteria-climbed stairs leading up to it. Talking about community development, disability, and the hospital stays and chemo that Lizzie and I have in common from our childhoods. Hayden accidentally knocking a picture frame off the wall as she carried a bag upstairs for me when I first arrived and Mary Alice's stern but smiling response to her apology, "Things like this do NOT bother me, Hayden!" Mary Alice's garden and the way that its beauty and comfort reflects what the whole house is like-- tasteful and full of personality, but not in a way that makes you feel like you can't touch anything. In fact, "you can touch everything," she said. Jay teaching me how to drive the Vespa, and praying for me the first night I was here. They couldn't have possibly known what Lizzie's quick conversation, Jay's prayer, Mary Alice's response to the cracked picture frame, and funny little things like the fire pit and the room above the garage and the roof door meant to me. But it all delighted me and set me immediately at ease.
At work I've planted onions and melons in the garden with Hope for Suffolk participants and they've taught me how to make recycled paper with ground-up church bulletins, dye, and flowers or string. (You can buy HFS products here, by the way.) I've done some office work, gone to meetings, met a lot of people, and asked Hayden lots of questions as I've followed her around, watching her in her role as director of HFS.
Suffolk itself charms me. I've driven my big pickup truck and rode Mary Alice's bike around town to get to know the place, and I love the small town Southern dynamic and being less than a mile from the calm center of downtown and Rosa's coffeeshop. We're also right next to a river and I can see it from my window. In my attempt to become a part of this place, even for just a short time, I've joined the 20-something Sunday school at Westminster and attended the youth group on Wednesday night. I'm getting a library card and yesterday I joined the rec center in East Suffolk. It's two and a half miles from the Dorschels' house, so to ride my bike there I cut through the middle of downtown, which is full of signs telling bikers to stay off the sidewalks. That made the ride a little more exciting than I was anticipating.
Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I'm beginning to set up interviews and meetings. Next week, the research will hopefully begin in earnest.
I've been here for nearly a week and a half. The first few days in an unfamiliar place are unlike anything else one can experience, with every sense heightened by unfamiliarity, and this time the newness is highlighted further by the fact that there is not a single person or place here that I have seen before. Even during freshman year at college or May term in Uganda there were a few familiar faces, but not here. It is at once exhilarating and lonely, and I am riding the waves back and forth between the two. I knew to expect that, though, and even the loneliness has its attraction as part of the experience. Overall I'd say I'm adjusting very well and I really like it here.
I held the preparation for this internship lightly, knowing that things might change at any moment. One weekend I thought my internship had fallen through, and I've watched it happen to a couple of friends this year. So I arrived in Suffolk with few expectations, and my only nervousness was to hope that Lizzie Dorschel, the 19-year-old daughter of the family I am staying with, would like me and that my internship supervisor would be nice.
Here are my first impressions of the Dorschels: Lizzie running to greet me from the front step of the house. Discovering that my room has a door in it that leads to the roof. A cookout with family and conversations around the fire pit until after dark. A room above the garage, with wisteria-climbed stairs leading up to it. Talking about community development, disability, and the hospital stays and chemo that Lizzie and I have in common from our childhoods. Hayden accidentally knocking a picture frame off the wall as she carried a bag upstairs for me when I first arrived and Mary Alice's stern but smiling response to her apology, "Things like this do NOT bother me, Hayden!" Mary Alice's garden and the way that its beauty and comfort reflects what the whole house is like-- tasteful and full of personality, but not in a way that makes you feel like you can't touch anything. In fact, "you can touch everything," she said. Jay teaching me how to drive the Vespa, and praying for me the first night I was here. They couldn't have possibly known what Lizzie's quick conversation, Jay's prayer, Mary Alice's response to the cracked picture frame, and funny little things like the fire pit and the room above the garage and the roof door meant to me. But it all delighted me and set me immediately at ease.
At work I've planted onions and melons in the garden with Hope for Suffolk participants and they've taught me how to make recycled paper with ground-up church bulletins, dye, and flowers or string. (You can buy HFS products here, by the way.) I've done some office work, gone to meetings, met a lot of people, and asked Hayden lots of questions as I've followed her around, watching her in her role as director of HFS.
Suffolk itself charms me. I've driven my big pickup truck and rode Mary Alice's bike around town to get to know the place, and I love the small town Southern dynamic and being less than a mile from the calm center of downtown and Rosa's coffeeshop. We're also right next to a river and I can see it from my window. In my attempt to become a part of this place, even for just a short time, I've joined the 20-something Sunday school at Westminster and attended the youth group on Wednesday night. I'm getting a library card and yesterday I joined the rec center in East Suffolk. It's two and a half miles from the Dorschels' house, so to ride my bike there I cut through the middle of downtown, which is full of signs telling bikers to stay off the sidewalks. That made the ride a little more exciting than I was anticipating.
Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I'm beginning to set up interviews and meetings. Next week, the research will hopefully begin in earnest.
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Atlantic!
On Thursday night Hayden invited me to go to a Carbon Leaf concert with her at Neptune Park in Virginia Beach. It was a) the first time I'd seen the Atlantic and b), more dorkily, the first time I'd ever been to a real concert. (I really don't know how I managed that. Twenty-one years… the last three living between Nashville and Atlanta… I don't know.) Here's the report on the ocean: it looks exactly like Lake Michigan, but tastes different (I tested it), and has things in it that can kill you.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
CDV480
I've been avoiding this post because I don't like introductions. They feel unfamiliar and strained, and I'd rather just jump in and tell you about what has actually been happening around here for the past few days as if you already know all the background. Plus, much of the information in this post won't be new to most anyone who would be reading this blog in the first place. Nonetheless, I feel that I must, having been in Suffolk for almost a week now, explain what it is exactly that I am doing here.
I have been a community development major at Covenant College for three years. Microeconomics was enough to frighten me into very nearly becoming an English major for one whole semester, but my friends just rolled their eyes and waited for me to return to the fold, and here I am. I'm glad that I pressed on. I'm in community development because I believe that the church has a unique calling to care about the poor and oppressed, but that it also has some unique obstacles. Even the churches who feel their calling don't know what to do about it sometimes.
For my required community development internship, I am here in Suffolk at Westminster Reformed PCA to watch church-based community development done well through Hope for Suffolk. I'm participating in the community garden and paper making business, helping around the office, going to meetings, getting involved with the church in a variety of ways, and especially doing research. I'll be writing papers, conducting interviews, and meeting with organizations on the topic of development work and disability. Disabilities or the receipt of disability payments lends special complications to poverty, and I will be trying to discover the best practices of community development in assisting people in these circumstances to live sustainably. Once I find out what local organizations and community members who are in this situation have to say about it, I will present my findings to Hope for Suffolk and to my professors at Covenant.
Those are the basics. There's a lot I've left out, but if you have questions about community development or my internship, please ask away. They're things I love to talk about. If you're from my church, stop me in the hallway when I come back home in August. Thank you for your interest, your support, and your prayers.
I have been a community development major at Covenant College for three years. Microeconomics was enough to frighten me into very nearly becoming an English major for one whole semester, but my friends just rolled their eyes and waited for me to return to the fold, and here I am. I'm glad that I pressed on. I'm in community development because I believe that the church has a unique calling to care about the poor and oppressed, but that it also has some unique obstacles. Even the churches who feel their calling don't know what to do about it sometimes.
For my required community development internship, I am here in Suffolk at Westminster Reformed PCA to watch church-based community development done well through Hope for Suffolk. I'm participating in the community garden and paper making business, helping around the office, going to meetings, getting involved with the church in a variety of ways, and especially doing research. I'll be writing papers, conducting interviews, and meeting with organizations on the topic of development work and disability. Disabilities or the receipt of disability payments lends special complications to poverty, and I will be trying to discover the best practices of community development in assisting people in these circumstances to live sustainably. Once I find out what local organizations and community members who are in this situation have to say about it, I will present my findings to Hope for Suffolk and to my professors at Covenant.
Those are the basics. There's a lot I've left out, but if you have questions about community development or my internship, please ask away. They're things I love to talk about. If you're from my church, stop me in the hallway when I come back home in August. Thank you for your interest, your support, and your prayers.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Little Inconveniences
Two weeks ago as the clock approached midnight I was huddled over a computer in the stuffy Kresge Memorial Library at Covenant College, putting the finishing touches on a 34-page research design (the taxing precursor to the summer research internship), when the computer unplugged itself and ate my executive summary. I fled to a nearby desk where a friend of mine, a year ahead of me in the Community Development major, sat studying. He was appropriately pitying, but also pulled me a little bit out of my tizzy as he firmly told me, "You need to pray. Now. I'm serious."
I've thought about that scenario several times since, like yesterday-- t-minus two days to departure for my internship location-- when I left my purse, complete with driver's license, all my money, my flash drive, and my keys in an unfamiliar and very packed Panera. And today, when my big plans to see all of Washington, D.C. with Anna were obscured, along with my vision, by an ill-timed migraine.
None of these things turned out to be a major disaster, though they were all inconvenient when they happened. I got my research design in on time and my host and my professor both liked it; a friend of a friend who happened to be at Panera picked up my purse and returned it to me; and my migraine parted earlier than usual and I was able to see parts of D.C. after all.
I don't think that a little string of inconveniences automatically translates into spiritual attack, although at times it could. But I do think that my friend's solemn reminder two weeks ago is something to take very seriously as I leave tomorrow for my internship. God is Lord over great and small, and I have to be reminded of that daily. Sometimes it takes a loose computer cord, a lost purse, or a headache to remind me that I am not in control. When nothing goes amiss, I get cocky and forget how fragile and dependent I am. To be honest, I was pretty fed up when I realized this morning over my frosted mini wheats that I could only see half of Anna's face and a migraine was coming on just when I least wanted it to, but I am thankful for the little dose of humility and reminder of who I must depend on just in time to send me off to Suffolk.
I've thought about that scenario several times since, like yesterday-- t-minus two days to departure for my internship location-- when I left my purse, complete with driver's license, all my money, my flash drive, and my keys in an unfamiliar and very packed Panera. And today, when my big plans to see all of Washington, D.C. with Anna were obscured, along with my vision, by an ill-timed migraine.
None of these things turned out to be a major disaster, though they were all inconvenient when they happened. I got my research design in on time and my host and my professor both liked it; a friend of a friend who happened to be at Panera picked up my purse and returned it to me; and my migraine parted earlier than usual and I was able to see parts of D.C. after all.
I don't think that a little string of inconveniences automatically translates into spiritual attack, although at times it could. But I do think that my friend's solemn reminder two weeks ago is something to take very seriously as I leave tomorrow for my internship. God is Lord over great and small, and I have to be reminded of that daily. Sometimes it takes a loose computer cord, a lost purse, or a headache to remind me that I am not in control. When nothing goes amiss, I get cocky and forget how fragile and dependent I am. To be honest, I was pretty fed up when I realized this morning over my frosted mini wheats that I could only see half of Anna's face and a migraine was coming on just when I least wanted it to, but I am thankful for the little dose of humility and reminder of who I must depend on just in time to send me off to Suffolk.
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