Real Life

Hello Dear Friends,

I miss you. College friendships are so unique and wonderful. Going in we know that at most we'll get to spend about four years together, and eventually drift to different parts of the country (or in our case, the ends of the earth) because of more school, jobs, family. Even still, the magic of college life somehow allows for friendships to grow and develop into relationships with all of the dimensions and flavorings of a wine that has aged well beyond its years.

Now that I'm in the "real world," I almost envy that phenomena.

Last summer I graduated, went to Haiti on a mission trip, and married my best friend all in a span of about two weeks. After a wonderful honeymoon in Jackson Hole we moved to Cary, NC (just outside of Raleigh). Trung had a great job lined up with a traffic engineering consulting firm, and I was certain I would find something soon after we moved in. After a slow and hard job search, I interviewed for an AmeriCorps position with Habitat for Humanity in Chapel Hill. Even though I knew it would only be a temporary job, the position seemed like a good match for my skill set and background. What do I do at Habitat? That depends on the day, no--the hour, you ask me!

By title I am the Youth Programs & Faith Relations Coordinator. The type of work I do could be called program development, fundraising, and event planning. There are two different Youth programs I work with. One program works with the school district in the northern part of the county. Classrooms across grade levels incorporate issues like affordable housing, poverty, etc. into the curriculum. I help facilitate lesson plans, sometimes make presentations to schools about Habitat, and serve as a liason between teachers and Habitat. The schools also fundraise, and one of the high schools has a construction program through which the students build a Habitat home every year. This program is in its third year, and it's my job to sustain it. The other youth program is geared toward the school district in the southern part of the county, church youth groups, civic groups like girl scouts and YMCA, and local youth sports teams. I am helping to create this program, and also secured a $10,000 matching grant for the program to start well. I work with a lot of high schoolers, and sometimes they manage to stress me out. Who would have thought? ;)

As for the faith relations part of my job, I get to work with a lot of churches. It's quite awesome! Churches sponsor homes as well as rehab projects we do through funding and volunteer support. I help maintain relationships with several churches, as well as scout and start new relationships with churches in the community. I love working for a faith-based organization, and being a part of nonprofit that is making a very tangible difference in the community that I live in. The Habitat office I work for, does some incredible things. We work with UNC Chapel Hill often. Below is the link to a video of a campus wide project we did.

http://vimeo.com/16180607

I have had the opportunity to grow and learn so much in the short time that I've been there. I am working under a supervisor who has so much wisdom and insight, and it has been a great experience to work under her. After much prayer and thinking, I've decided to commit to another year in the program (you can only serve 2 years). I think another year will not only allow me to see more of my goals come to fruition, but it will give me the chance to continue to grow and develop professionally.

Hmm, this post is getting long, so perhaps I should share a little about marriage. First off, it's wonderful! Secondly, it's real life. What I mean is that when you're dating, and even when you're engaged, you're most likely not living life together. When you get married, suddenly all of your decisions include and affect another person. Yes, even the seemingly small ones. You face areas of life together that are hard enough for one person, like running a home, finances, etc. Needless to say it has been a huge growing process. But I can see God's hand at work in my heart any time conflict or hardship arises. I started reading a book called "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas recently. The theme centers around this question: What if God's purpose for marriage is to make you holy, more than to make you happy? Even though married life is great and I love Trung more than words can say, I am quickly finding that it's not made to satisfy me the way Hollywood paints it. Perhaps that would taint the idea of marriage for some. But I think I like the idea of a heavenly Bridegroom that is so jealous for my heart, he would let nothing on earth fill it. I think deep down my heart rejoices over the fact that even something as beautiful and intimate as a relationship with a spouse could leave me feeling like there's still something bigger and greater and more fulfilling than what I know now. It makes me eager and hopeful for the day I see Him face to face.

As I said earlier, I miss you dearly. It's great to hear where God has all of you! I was a little hesitant about how a blog like this could work, but I'm excited to see how Christ uses this to encourage us. For those of you who haven't posted yet, I know the first entry seems daunting. We have a lot to catch up on. But I urge you for the benefit of your sisters to set aside some time to at least start. If you can't cover every area of your life, start with just one :) Just like those papers in college, sometimes the hardest part is just committing to writing the first sentence.

Here are some glimpses of my life over the past year:

Our Wedding Day

Our snowy honeymoon in Jackson Hole (It was the end of May!!)

The whole family at the gardens at Duke University

Rock climbing on Pilot Mountain (this is a new hobby for Trung and I)

The wonderful team of ladies I work with at Habitat

Some of the high school students I work with (this is out on the Habitat work site)