A Little Delay

 6/30/13
Well.. Our flight leaving from LA was scheduled for 10:30 PM. We were delayed 45 minutes. Our connecting flight in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl was scheduled for 45 minutes after we landed, so you can guess what that means. We missed our connecting flight to Haiti, by 20 minutes. So we tried to figure out where to go from there. Let me side note and say that we were flying Spirit and they are terrible, terrible customer service, terrible organization. I will never fly them again and would advise anyone I know to not fly them. They told us since the delay in LA was due to them they would hold the flight in FL for us since we were such a big group but clearly they didn't. Sorry I had to let that out, but through this I have definitely gained patience and flexibility. We tried everything we could with Spirit to find another flight or connect somewhere else but they would not accomidate us. So after spending 7 hours in the airport trying to get everything figured out we found seats on the American Airline, but that flight did not leave until Monday morning, so where would we stay for two nights? Thankfully we had a girl on the team whose mom's college roommate lived in the area. This was such a God sent thing. They opened our entire group of 10 people into their home and have been just amazing. They took us to see the Everglades today and they were just gorgeous. So we head out in the morning and everyone is more than excited! Thank you again for all the prayers!

 When we were still happy thinking that we were headed straight for Haiti.

 The beautiful Everglades.

We had to take a cool team picture with our amazing host family in the Everglades.

Pre-Haiti

6/27/13
We head out for Haiti tomorrow the 28th and will be there until July the 6th. So yes, I will need yall to celebrate that United States for me with all the red white and blue. As we are finally so close to this trip I have been waiting for for the past 3 years I am filled with all kinds of emotions. Excitement of course, but also nervousness for the unknown. We have an awesome team that will be going that I know God hand picked for this specific mission. There are 9 of us one leader and a few translators. We will be alternating between a couple churches and a special needs orphanage. We could definitely use prayers specifically for flexibility, because in American culture we are set on schedules and times, but the Haitian culture is not like that at all and we need to be very mindful of that. Also, safety. Safety on the flights, in Haiti, and with the food we eat. I could go on for days about different things we need prayer for. I am so excited and thankful for this amazing opportunity I have been given and can't wait to come back with all the stories and life changing experiences. I guess this means after this post there wont be another one for a little over a week. Thank yall for all the support!!

Santa Barbara

6/24/13
We had Monday off so Jenny (a native of California) and Spencer and I ventured off to Santa Barbra. We went to their main street where most of the shopping is and it leads to the main pier. We had lunch at this precious place called Sandbar.

We went to the pier, but honestly I'm about over the sand. So we didn't hang out on the beach for too long.

It was very pretty especially with all the boats. Jenny said that its called "postcard perfect"

 

Santa Barbra pier

These were some double seated bikes you could rent to right together. They were too cute so we decided we would come back to ride them.

Malibu

6/20/13
We went to Malibu for the afternoon and I could not believe the sunset so I just HAD to share some of the pictures. And of course we made a little side IHop trip on the way back.

When we first got there

As the sun began to drop

Kathleen and I

Amazing

God sure knows what he is doing painting that sky.

Jill's House

6/21/13-6/23/13
Jill's House was started in Virginia as an afternoon respite program for families with children with disabilities. They later began a camp on the weekends to reach even more families and expanded to LA for their first camp ever that we attended. We were each buddied up with a child with a disability or a typical sibling. I was buddied with a 10 year old boy (because of privacy laws I can not tell his name so I'll just call him D). D had very very high functioning autism. Honestly, if you didn't know he had it you would just think he was very shy or socially awkward. D and I had an automatic bond. The first few questions I asked were 1. do you like to eat? and 2. do you like to run? What do you think his answers were if we had and automatic bond? YES and NO.... duh... After that I knew we would get along just fine. D came along with his typical cousin that I will call Lee. After asking a few questions he said, "Are you like Scottish or something" and Lee quickly jumped in and said "No she's British can't you tell?" haha I have just gotten use to it by now. This was the first time that D and Lee would spend the night away from home. We got a brief overview or our camper before they got there and I found out that D has a very low self esteem. I knew this was something I could definitely help to bring up during the weekend and of course dove straight in. By the end of Friday night (the night they arrived) D was volunteering to sing this Scottish song to the entire group. The director couldn't believe it. Sorry this is so jumpy I just think of one story that makes me think of another story and so I am just jumping around. We sat down to eat dinner on Friday and as we finished I looked at D to let him in on a secret that we were having smores later and asked if he was too full to have any. He looked at me and said with hand motions "did you not know? I have a dinner bucket and a dessert bucket and though my dinner bucket may be full, my dessert bucket is still very empty and actually crying for dessert." I had never heard it put like that and decided that would be my new saying. We woke up Saturday with the day FULL of activities. D and I were finishing breakfast and it was clear he was becoming more comfortable with me. A little girl with autism went running by screaming and D leaned over to me and said, "see her? She has a lot of autism, but me, I only have a little." I was at a loss for words. How do you respond to a child telling you about his disability. I have been around people with disabilities but never had a child directly tell me that he only has a little autism. I replied to him by saying and we love you both no matter how much autism you have. I found out that night as we debriefed that D is mainstreamed in class. To stem he flaps a sock, but during school he refrains from flapping because he is embarrassed, so when he comes home he flaps for 30 minutes straight. That blew my mind that he could have so much control over his flapping, but also that he was that embarrassed to hide who he was. We also on Saturday did a low ropes course. Like I said earlier D has a very low self-esteem and gives up very easily. They explained that at the beginning of the course you have to say "My name is _____ and I accept this challenge." So D did. We began helping him through the course. We were on the balancing wire when he looked at me and said "I want down, I can't do this." but we cheered him on despite the thoughts of quitting and he tightened his grip and said (in the middle of the ropes course for the second time) "MY NAME IS D AND I ACCEPT THIS CHALLENGE" and took a step forward. It was awesome. It was like I literally saw him take every doubt he had, put it behind him, and move forward. I felt like a proud mother. On Sunday they were getting ready to leave and D turned to me and said "I can't wait to come back, this has been the best weekend of my life." Chills went through my body and at that moment I realized that not only had I taught him a few things, he had taught me more than he will ever know.

D on the ropes course

D coloring

 

D singing for the whole camp

 

D on the part of the ropes course that he said "My name is D and I accept this challenge."

I forgot to describe at the beginning how I have been scarred for life of ever sleeping in a cabin again. We walked into the cabin (pictured below) and began setting our bags down when I saw a spider crawling across what was SUPPOSE to have been my bed I turn to run and see a spider climbing up the opposite wall. We began killing these when we saw 8 more crawling around, but that was NOT the end of it. We looked by the beds and there were dead moths everywhere (pictured below) you can only image how well this went over if you know me. We were quickly switched to a different cabin for those of you who were concerned about me sleeping in the spider/moth infected cabin.

Infected cabin, although it looks very innocent

dead moths

 

There was a gorgeous view on the way up to the camp so we had to stop and take a picture. Oh, and the roads on the mountain were like the actual ones you see on movies that make crazy turns and winds. It was crazy!

Southern Accent

6/14/13
So I had no idea my southern accent was bad or even there at all... Until I came to California that is. I stopped counting after the 4th day of being here how many times someone stopped in the middle of our conversation to ask "Where are you from?" or "You must be from the south". In four days one of those statements or questions was asked 19 times. That made it pretty clear to me that I must have a southern accent. We worked in this outreach on Tuesday night at a church around Agoura Hills. It is called friendship class where children with disabilities can come to hang out with friends and have a Bible study. One of our friends that came was named Amanda. We introduced ourselves to each other and began just normal conversation. She stuck her hand in the air to pause me in mid sentence and say "Wait, is that accent you have British or something?" hahahaha I died laughing and told her that was the nicest compliment I had received since I had gotten out here. One can only wish for that British accent, but last night Kathleen and I found out that the southern accent was all we needed. I don't remember if I have told ya'll but Kathleen is from Alabama and went to Auburn so we are each others little bit of the South right now. Yesterday, we decided that we were really missing the southern culture and hospitality, so we decided half way through the day that we would go rent The Help from the red box at the grocery store right next to the hotel and if they did not have it we would walk right across the street to Walgreens and get it. Well Ralphs, the grocery story, didn't have it so we headed to Walgreens desperate to find this movie. We struck out there so we headed back for the hotel. As we were walking and discussing how much we wanted to watch this movie we developed this plan of how we would talk very nicely with a very southern draw to the front desk guy at the hotel and just hope that he would drive us on the hotel van (which you have to reserve 24 hours in advance to go anywhere) to target. We started talking and explaining how we really just needed this little bit of the south right now and one of the guys was about to get off but said he would drive us. We got to target and ran through there in search of the movie. WE FINALLY FOUND IT! We yelled like we had just won the amazing race. People were stopping to see what happened. I mentioned that the only thing that would make this just that much more southern was if we had some sweet tea to drink while we were watching, so what did we do? We headed to the drink isle. On the way  we realized we should get the van driver (Ryan) a treat for taking us so we took a poll, that consisted of one guy that looked to be about Ryan's age. "What kind of candy if you can have any kind would you choose?" The answer "Butterfinger" We grabbed a gallon of sweet tea and headed to check out to grab a Butterfinger and head out. As we were walking to the cash register something caught our eye on the end of an isle. It was like it had been placed there on purpose just for us, like a sign that we needed it. Mason Jars. Perfect to make our sweet tea taste a little better and more southern. Of course we had to, so we grabbed them and headed out. We made it back to the hotel and left the desk workers some sweet tea in a mason jar. (they acted like it was the coolest thing they had ever seen) and then realized we didn't have a DVD player. ha..... so we asked them and they gave us a player but took us to get a cord that was missing first. We got to the room it was suppose to be in but it was no where to be found. He hands me the key card and says, "Here yall can just have the Hollywood Suite to watch the movie in" WHAT?! so we ended up in this massive suite with a massive TV, The Help, and some sweet tea in mason jars. Needless to say it was a great southern night and our accents might have helped us out a little bit.

Second Week

6/12/13
I can't believe it is already the 12th. I am planning on uploading pictures of the IDC (international disabilities center) which is the Joni and Friends building we are in right now through all of these classes. There is a floating chapel in the center of the building which I'll explain later but it was built strategically to echo the sound. We walked in this morning to the employees worshiping in the chapel and being able to hear the beautiful sound echo through the building. Afterwards we went into the chapel for our worship. It was one of the best worships I have experienced. Although there was only 10 of us in there the music was so loud and the voices were being raised and it was clear that the Lord's presence was surrounding us. We are going through a book right now called Lead Like Jesus. Which has been very interesting and I believe should be read by any leader in the workplace. This week we are also assigned to work in the different departments in the building and I have been assigned to International Outreach. It has been very interesting to learn the processes and things they do. I will be sitting in on an international meeting tomorrow which is very exciting! This weekend we will be heading to a church in Pasadena which honestly, I'm not even sure what we are doing there. I think it will be a respite day for families with children with disabilities. I am just loving it!

Mr. Mazza

6/7/13
I started this one a couple days ago and for some reason got stopped and have been so busy so here we go. Wow... I don't know another way to start this one off. I'm sure many of you do not know, because I had no clue, that the president of Joni and Friends was the CEO of Hyundai. That blew my mind that someone with so much success in a corporation would not necessarily step down to Joni and Friends, but change to such a different job and non-profit at that. He spoke to our group today on his journey he had to get to where he is today. Side note, the entire time I cried and then I looked around and everyone else was crying too so I didn't feel like such a baby. As an overview of his journey, he graduated and enlisted in the army, when he came back he had had a taste of control and power and decided to work himself up in the corporate world. This started the journey to end up as the CEO for Hyundai, when they were blessed with a son they named Ryan. Ryan was 1 of I believe 8 children that were born with his type of disability. (I can't remember the name of it) but basically when he was developing his skull completely hardened instead of leaving the soft spots for room for growth. Every part of his face was moved forward and as soon as he was born they took him away for what was the first of around twenty surgeries. After reading over what I am writing it does not sound near as good as when Mr. Doug says it, so I am going to attach the link to a video they have made to tell his story. If you have to time to watch it, it really is worth it.
http://www.joniandfriends.org/television/ryan-legacy-hope/
It is not very often you meet the president of a company and he or she says more that five words to you if your not one of their top priorities, but Mr. Mazza shared his testimony with us, sang worship songs with us, and even ate lunch with us one day. But seriously the video is worth watching.

Sight Seeing

6/8/13
Today we decided since we had nothing planned to be typical tourist. We left the hotel and headed towards Santa Monica, passing through Malibu on the way. We got to Santa Monica and it was still pretty chilly and cloudy like it is most mornings so we decided to start out with the pier. 

We walked around to all the booths and and rides and looked onto the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was the beach but with mountains right behind it. The pictures we took do not do it justice. 

I had been saying that I wanted to meet one of the surfers that I pictured to be in California (long blond hair, tan, tall, muscular, carrying a surfboard) so we walk past this booth and this guys says "Hey would you like a 10 minute surf lesson" um... DUH so this is the result 

(they made me stick my tongue out because I kept joking asking if it was the surfer thing to do)

After sticking our toes in the Pacific and watching someone actually get rescued by the lifeguard we decided we were ready for something else. 

We piled in the van and headed for Beverly Hills. We of course stopped off at Rodeo Drive (Sorry Dad) to take a picture and walk around. 

Then we went searching for the Hollywood sign. It's not nearly as easy as they make it seem. We drove and drove and drove and this was the best picture I could get. As we were passing by it on the highway in a 2 second period. We drove into the hills on different streets trying to get the closest and clearest view but it was just not going to happen, so we decided on another day when we have free time to just do the hike to the sign. 

Although we could not find a good view of the sign, we did find a great view overlooking the city. 

Traveling

As I arrived to the Jackson airport yesterday morning many emotions passed through me. I would begin my journey that could change my life, but I was also not going to see my family or friends for for two months. Some know that may be a good thing for my family and I. Ha (joke) side note, I still am trying to figure out how to make my things I write in my blog come over as funny. So as I am waiting to board my flight from Jackson to Atlanta, yes I know I don't understand why they would send me from Jackson to Atlanta to Los Angeles, but it happened, I met Ellen Jussely who is another intern at JAF with me. She was very easy to talk to and made finding the connecting flights much easier. On the way to Atlanta I made my second friend of the trip, he was in his 70s with a white beard and a straw hat. As he got up to leave he pulled out his business card and said "if you ever make it by Virginia come by our museum and give me a call, I am the public relations coordinator." Ellen and I waited in Atlanta for our flight to LA and began talking. She is actually the entire reason you are reading this right now. Anyone who knows me at all knows I don't usually write my papers for school/ or any at all. I know y'all are questioning how she was able to convince me to blog, but the thought of being able to look back and reflect day by day on this experience was something I couldn't pass up on. So back to my trip, we boarded to head to LA and Ellen happened to be in the row in front across the isle. We were about to take off when the 3 yr old behind Ellen began screaming crying followed with the captain coming over the speaker saying we would be delayed because of weather. I was seated next to two Asians that spoke another language the whole time. The man in the isle seat began pushing buttons on his screen so hard that the head of the man in front of him began slamming forward. He kept peeking over his shoulder at the Asian trying to hold back from saying anything. Finally after enduring the poking for a few minutes, the man finally turned around and said "whennnn youuuu pokeee thee screennnn........ Itttt pushesss myyy seatttt." As if the men did not speak English. "Useeee theee tipppp offf yourrrr fingerrr." The Asian looked at him and nodded and said I speak English. All I could do was look at the window and hold in all the laughter that was trying to escape. After this event I realized that every time I readjusted my self in my seat with the arm rest I accidentally hit the channel changer of the guy next to me and he would just sit there and a few seconds later he would change the channel back. We landed in LA and caught our shuttle to the hotel, got checked in and tried out the hotel restaurant. This brought an end to my traveling for a little while.

The mountains were just beautiful and reminded me that I am so small compared to these mountains but yet God knows me and every move I make.

 

Haiti Assignments

6/7/13

Today we received a Haiti overview. We were given our main roles for the week. I was paired with Kathleen and we were told we would be in charge of bible stories and skit. This was something I was very excited about because that is typically my favorite time during bible school, but it also showed me how much more of growing in the word I need. We came up with a theme for the week, John 3:16. What better verse for a group of kids that may never hear another word about our Father than this week. This is huge to me. I have worked in bible schools many times but not one that the skit I have the team present could be the only time in their life that they hear it. This is a lot of pressure but I know with The Lord on my side and the constant prayers I am receiving from everyone these skits and our time with them will be a week that The Lord speaks to them and that they will never for get. I am so excited and can't wait to see what ways God will use me in. 

Beyond Suffering 2

6/5/13

 

We started the morning with another devotion from Joni's book and sang a few worship songs. Joni came in to talk to us on healing she gave a few of her own stories, but one of the things she said was that in the mornings she wakes up and would do anything to not get out of bed and go through the strenuous pattern of tasks she does everyday before work. She says that many times she says "Father can I just please borrow your smile and good attitude for the day?" And also "I can't do quadriplegia today, but I can do all things through you." This really struck me because many times I wake up thinking I really don't know if I can take this test or just wake up in a not very good mood, but Joni has these struggles everyday and continues to put on a smile. She said I wake up every morning desperate for Jesus. Those words are something I am striving for, waking up everyday desperate for Jesus. 

 

After this we got to meet Joni and spend a little time talking. 

 

When we hear church we automatically think of the building, well at least I do, but the church is so much more. We were given a large piece of paper and asked to illustrate the word 'church'. This is what my group came up with

We decided that a church is not a building at all, it is the community in the building and what they do and how they serve others. Also, wrote GOD in the background because all though we may not see him he is always present in every decision and action the church has or does. We also added the Bible, cross, prayer, singing, and food because these are all the things a church will do to worship and praise our Father. There are other aspects to this picture, but one of the most important we found was that we wanted the picture to be messy because a church should be messy. A messy church means a church that is getting their hands dirty to work with others and also we left some space to represent that every church has room to grow. 

Beyond Suffering 1

6/4/13
Today we began with a devotional from one of Joni's books, and then started straight into our classes on the book beyond suffering. During this class time Jason said something that really got me thinking, "the church needs to get messy." That is something that many people in a church are not willing to do, we strive for a picture perfect church community with many members that seem to walk the perfect walk alongside of Christ, when we should really be getting into the community looking for those that are not "normal" and walking the perfect walk. How many churches actually have ramps to the pulpit? Bet you've never thought about it until now. Not many churches expect for someone in a wheelchair to preach. We tend to think that homeless people or other cultures are the least ministered to groups of people, but it is actually people with disabilities. We read a biography by Renee Bondi called "When Disability Strikes". She was sleeping one night and in her sleep dove off the end of the bed, she woke up from her body hitting the floor. She went to the emergency room and is now a quadriplegic. This story was a very strong reminder that we are not promised today, tomorrow or any day. We then heard Mike Hoggatt's testimony which is a really awesome story about him and his wife deciding to adopt, they were approached with a little girl who had lived with her mother who was a drug addict and was also switched between 6 homes in two years. Long story short they adopted her although she had autism and began welcoming her into their family. Three years later she had a tumor growing in her side and had to it along with her kidney removed. She began chemo and radiation and while this was going on they found out they were going to have a baby. He told us all of this to ask what exactly defines a disability. It's a rubric that weighs a measures a person and people with disabilities are found to be lacking. Ultimately if the church was following exactly what Gad says, there wouldn't have to be a special needs ministry at all

Testimonies

6/5/13

Well initially I was going to write today about all these great points Joni and James had given on our Beyond Suffering series on healing, but after the night I just had ill have to get back to that. I along with 6 other girls (Jennie, Anna, Becca, Rachel, Jessica, and Lindsay) began the night in the hot tub. We made a group decision that we wanted conversation that was more than surface level and decided to see if each one of us would share our testimony. Honestly, at first it had me think that I can't remember the last time someone asked me to share, and all the events that have happened in my lifetime since then began racing through my head. I volunteered to go first because I tend to always be the one in the group who is not afraid to break the ice. This was only the beginning of a night that taught me so much, but allowed our friendships to grow to another level. I have only known these girls for three days and they are already able to share with each other some of the deepest secrets of their life. Throughout each testimony I sat back speechless listening to the things these girls had gone through, but carried through with God.  I had been smiling and laughing with them not knowing what they had gone through to get that smile on their face or that joy in their heart that allowed them to smile. (I honestly have so much to say about this experience that I can barely type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts.) Things like depression, molestation, thoughts of suicide, abuse, and being disowned from family were things that I have heard about but have not actually known people that have been through it. I sat very humbled at how blessed I am and thankful for my testimony of growing up in strong Christian household. Not only did this allow me to learn more about these girls but also made me think that with my friends back home we have never really discussed each others testimonies. I am excited to come back and allow relationships at home to grow in these ways and to share all of my many stories that have already occurred. 

From left to right, Jennie Smith, Becca Parker, Rachel Wilhelm, Anna Heffner, me, Jessica Willey, and Lindsay Cooley.  

Hiking

6/4/13

We finished work for the day and headed out to hike.... Yep, hike. Again for anyone who knows me you know that physical activity is not my favorite thing, especially climbing a mountain. It was worth the gorgeous pictures, for the for 3 miles of the 7 1/2 mile hike. So me and two others cut the hike down a little shorter and headed back to flat ground. Surprising huh? So I am currently blogging to you from the van that I am relaxing in while the others finish their trek of a walk. I'm planning on finishing the night off with a little hot tub time and then straight to bed. 

The view was amazing. The next one is me and Ashley, my roommate for the first week, once we made it to the top of the first mountain. 

This was my roommate for the first week, Ashley Hall. 

First Day

6/3/13

Today was the first day of my internship, we were picked up from the hotel on vans at 8, which really felt like 10 because of the time difference. We began by introducing ourselves to everyone and telling who we are, where we are from, what we are doing in our lives, and how we got connected with Joni and Friends. There are 18 interns and out if all of those there were two that were laid on my heart. The first one was Emily. When you look at Emily it is clear that she has a disability, but when she speaks you would have no idea. Emily starts by telling us that she has cerebral palsy. She went on to explain her struggles she had growing up with anger at God not understanding why he chose her to be different. When she was around 13 her parents felt that she needed a role model. They gave her a volume of Joni Eareckson Tada's books. She began looking up to her and soon gave her life to The Lord. Emily then came to terms with her disability and is now working in a community home to help assist others with disabilities. She found out about the internship, applied and got it, and then began fundraising. The week before leaving she had only raised $100 and was thinking that she would not be able to come. By Thursday before we were leaving she looked at her account and her trip was fully paid for. The other intern whose story grabbed my attention is Lindsay.  She was raised in a Jewish household. She became a Christian when she turned 17 and her mother did not speak to her for a couple years. She found out about the internship and immediately applied when she was accepted her parents told her they would not financially support her. She didn't know how she would raise the money she needed to get to California considering her entire family was Jewish. She found an extended aunt and uncle that happened to be Christian and due to the support they wanted to show her the financially supported her entire trip. These stories allowed me to sit back and think about how easy I have had it growing up in a Christian home and being healthy my whole life. Once we finished the day our directors gave us a tour of Thousand Oakes and Newbury (the area we are staying in). We hung out at a beautiful shopping area and then came back to the hotel for us to have our free time. Ellen packed her eno hammock so we hooked it up and relaxed before we went to bed.

                                    

This was my one of my friends I met while getting coffee and hanging out.

                                         

This was a beautiful fountain in the middle of this shopping center. 

Just an Introduction

Many of you may or may not know that I will be spending the summer away from the south for the first time. I have been blessed to receive an opportunity that will teach me more about myself, the field I would like to spend the rest of my life in, and allow my relationship with God to continue growing. Joni Eareckson Tada began a ministry to those with special needs after a diving accident she had leaving her as a quadriplegic. I have attended her family retreat camps in Dayton, TN the past three years along with my sister and mom. These camps began my love for this ministry. Through this I learned about the organization itself and got connected with this internship for the summer. I will begin in Agoura Hills, CA for the month of June. In this month I will enjoy classes on many topics including the biblical view of disabilities, intro to bio ethics, disabilities in the church, and many more. During this time we will also be involved in the special needs programs in churches in the surrounding areas. Once this months ends we will head to Haiti. In Haiti we will be helping in a special needs orphanage and in a church that also serves as a school for close to 200 children. I will return to Agoura Hills after Haiti for a couple days of rest and then will leave straight for family retreat in Murrieta, CA. There I will be assigned to a camper that has a disability and just love and play with him or her. That will end my summer in California and I will head back to brick city on July 27. I ask that everyone pray that my time will be productive and I will learn much to bring back with me. I can't wait to update y'all with the amazing experiences God will be giving me during this time in my life.