Alive and Growing

Half of my team was in Orlando this week! My supervisor Ryan was here for meetings, and Kelsey came to receive training in UserTesting. It was really fun to have them around in person, and we got Chic-Fil-A and frozen yogurt for team bonding. We even got some in-person vision-casting, where Ryan talked about how to make bring more students to a place where Cru gives them value. This was taken after we talked about vision stuff.

Marketing and Yogurt

Field ministry has been cool, too! This week, we reconnected with a lady from the Japan pavilion, and we got her number. She only has one more month in the US, but hopefully we can share God’s love and truth with her in the coming weeks! And look who I met on the way~

 It's Goofy!

Also I wanted to give my supervisor a shoutout: Ryan is very invested in my growth. Earlier this year, I told him I wanted to work on being a better communicator, and he sent me stuff in the mail! These charts are for effective listening and speaking. Hopefully I’ll be able to read the workbook and share what I’ve learned with all of you 😊

Learning to Speak and Listen

I also bought my tickets home for thanksgiving this week! Looking forward to being back on the West Coast in November.

Life Lesson

This week, I had a lesson in bonding. It's the first concept presented in the book, “Changes that Heal” by Henry Cloud. Here is the quote, and my week of bonding.

“When we are in a loving relationship,

 a bonded relationship, we are alive and growing. 

When we are isolated, we are slowly dying.”

It has been a good week for me, with part of my team being here and being able to go home for Thanksgiving, and even possibly serving on the worship team at Nona Church. But because many interns are still grieving that one of the interns has left, I felt like it was not appropriate to talk about the great things that were happening in my life. I felt alone in my excitement and joy.

So there I was Friday morning, confronted with my loneliness, when it felt like the people who cared most about me were the furthest away. I went up to the prayer center on the fourth floor of my building trying to press  but ended up crying for an hour. God reminded me of what I had been reading in the book, about the fact that we are by nature, relational creatures that need relationships with others. So I hesitantly made a Google calendar meeting with my intern coordinator, Ann. I wrote:

“I feel really alone today and I wanted to reach out. I’m sorry for the short notice and totally understand if you’re not available or in the office this afternoon.”

She responded: “Hi Anne-

Just saw your email/calendar invite. I tried to find you around the office...I would love to hear how you are doing. Come by my desk at the time you suggested.”

Yikes. Now I have to be needy and tell her that I wish things were better, that I wish I was more connected. After talking with Ann, she urged me to share how I was feeling with my roommates. More bonding. But that’s what happens when you listen to God, right? He tells you to take one small step of faith, then the next, then the next. None are comfortable, but it’s part of the growing process.

So I sent a message in our apartment group message: “ Hi roomies. In light of working on my communication skills, I wanted to reach out and share something with you. Would it be possible to have roommate time before Aftyn’s party tomorrow [Saturday]?”

Got positive responses, which was good. But then Saturday morning came around, and I really didn’t want to see any of them before I talked. Finally at 10am, I dragged myself out to the living room and sat on the couch. We made small talk for awhile before Jennifer asked me, “Are you OK?”

I shared, and it created a very special space where we got to share where each of us was in the grieving process. Moral of the story: Taking the step of risk is scary, but worth it! Bonding makes us alive and grow. 

And then we went to Disney to celebrate Aftyn’s birthday!! It was fun to spend the day with her and the other interns. After all, how many people get to spend their birthdays at Disney?? What was even more special was that the Japanese lady we met during field ministry was working and made her a birthday bookmark, which she is holding in the picture below.

"I'm Celebrating Aftyn's Bday"

That is mostly all. We're making bread and pop tarts this afternoon. They may or may not appear in the next blogpost. In the meantime, enjoy this view of Florida. Have a blessed Sunday! I pray that you are all bonded - alive and growing.