I hope life is treating all of you well. I miss each and every one of you so much and would give anything to have a weekend together back in the Swamp. I have a few seconds to breathe, so I figured I would update y'all.
This summer was incredible. I interned for the second year in a row for Disney Summer Project. It is hard to describe this summer in anything short of a novel, or a five hour conversation. The community I experienced on my staff team was incredible- there were 11 interns! We formed a tight-knit family within the first two days and the goodbyes were incredibly painful six weeks later. The leadership side was incredibly hard this year though. All four of the girls I discipled had significant things in their testimony (rape, abuse, loss, etc) and it was so heartbreaking and intense trying to speak into that and point them to Jesus. The highs this summer were really high but the lows were really low. I felt like I was on the most insane roller coaster ride of my life, probably even more so than when I was a student on the project back in 2010. I had a lot more leadership than some of the other interns since this was my second summer, which was really incredible. I got to give a few talks to the whole project and multiple talks to the women. After the first Women's Time talk I gave, a girl named Ashley came up to me and asked if we could talk some time. That conversation turned into a summer-long (and probably life-long) relationship where she revealed a lot of incredibly heavy stuff that she had never told anyone before and that was deeply impacting her life and her walk with God. I spent a few hours with her at a time several days a week really breaking down the Gospel and what it means to experience redemption and sanctification. It was the most challenging, heartbreaking thing I have ever done, but it has made the Gospel and the Bible relevant in ways I have never really known before, so it was incredible at the same time. It brought out a bunch of my own skeletons that have been hanging out in my closet a loooong time, and that's never fun, but it allowed me to experience a lot of freedom in my own life too. I am so so thankful I got the chance to go back again, and as hard as it was, I would do it all over again if I had to.
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| My discipleship group- Naomi, Megan, Kendra, and Liz |
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| Our intern team- ten of the greatest friends I could as for |
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| Ashley- the girl who rocked my world |
I was home for about three weeks before heading back to St. Louis. I just love this city. It feels like home. I am so happy to be back at my church here especially. My church is awesome, and I am part of an incredible community group that is really all about missional living. We work really hard to serve each other in any way we can, and it is so easy to see God moving because of it.
School is super challenging this year though. This semester I student teach 20 hours a week (8-12 every day), then I drive back across town to school where I take class from 1-4 every day (except Friday). I am also starting to work on my Independent Study, which is basically my program's version of a thesis (by May I will have basically written a 50+ page research paper and presented my findings in front of 200 people). The pace is exhausting, and I am only two weeks in. I ADORE my first student teaching placement, preschool, but I am at basically the toughest site. It is the nicest school for the deaf in the whole midwest (arguably the country) but the expectations are super high. The learning curve is veryyyy steep, and I am exhausted when I leave at noon every day. Today was day 8 of student teaching, and while most of my classmates are still getting settled in I have already turned in two assignments and gotten both back and had to redo them. I feel like I will never catch up, but I am learning so much I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think the hardest part to get used to is the "no free time" part. Last year, I was taking 18 credits and working three jobs, but our classes went from 10-2 every day so I could stay up late doing homework or hanging out with people. This year I am up at 6 every day, and by the time I get home at 4:30 I barely have enough time to get all my homework and lesson plans done before it's bedtime. For an extrovert, its very draining. And considering my love language is words of affirmation, it kinda sucks to be told you suck all the time.
I will get used to it though. I absolutely love being in the classroom, and I love teaching pre-k so much more than I thought I would. I feel like a sponge soaking it all in, and I am so confident I am following the career path God designed for me.
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| Me, Landon, and LJ- two of the little stinkers who stole my heart last year (I was their lunch/recess/afterschool aide) |
Anyways, I miss you guys. I want to hear updates on your lives too! And, you should watch this video. It will make you want to come live here with me and Melissa. It shows a ton of my favorite places in this city. Love you guys and praying for you always.
Kel
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