Last I wrote I just turned 30 and you got 30 things about my
life (here).
Since then lots of actual things happened (like I’ve moved back to California
for the week) so this may contain legitimate news. Or maybe not.
April:
In April I went to Northern England and Wales with some of
my college roommates. It was really
wonderful in pretty much every way possible.
Then I came back to Albuquerque and was in this little funk that I
couldn’t figure out. My sister asked me
if I had culture shock and I realized that YES I did, but not from the
geographical change but from the complete shift in lifestyle. While there I spent 24/7 with some of my
closest friends, then I came back to isolation and crazy roommates. In
this God reminded me of Paul’s message to the Philippians to be content in much
or in plenty and my need to apply that to really in every area of my life. And then of course I realized that I did have
friends in New Mexico, they just took a little more effort, like I couldn’t
just roll out of bed and expect them to be there. FYI, now that I am back in California I may
be craving that isolation a bit and be relearning this lesson. I also got
bangs.
May:
Part 1: Not on my timing, my parents drove to Albuquerque
and took the majority of my stuff hostage, driving it back to California. On one hand this was a huge blessing; on the
other hand it enabled me to not have to get rid of anything so now I have all
these boxes of stuff I need to still go through and I don’t really see that
happening any time soon. But some day I
may live independently again and really need a blender or collection of artwork
I got for $.40/lb.
Part 2: Along with my
parents taking my stuff, I got rid of my furniture and my lease so I had the
opportunity to help my friend Heather learn patience by letting me move in with
her. So one Saturday I loaded up my car
with the clothes I had kept with me and headed over to camp out in her guest
room. This was a really an amazing
provision and huge blessing.
Part 3: A few years ago I signed up for the National Marrow
Donor Program and this spring I was matched with a woman in need of a stem cell
transplant. I was flown to San Diego to be hooked up to a
machine for a few hours and just last week I got a call that so far my cells
have done what they were supposed to do.
There were some official sounding terms in the phone call but I don’t
actually remember what they were. Anyways
you should go to Bethematch.org and sign up to become a donor. Plus I got a
free pocketknife.
June:
I stayed in Albuquerque for the whole month of June, something
that hadn’t happened since last November so was quite the accomplishment! I
really like Albuquerque and spent some time daily reflecting on what I was going
to miss about living there and I spent the rest of the time intentionally being
with people. Mixed in there I was training the woman who
took over my job. She’s getting paid
twice what I got paid so I think she’ll be great. And hiring her gave me the freedom to leave
so really she’s my hero.
July:
June 30th was my last official day of work then
came the first two weeks of July when I continued working. I’m really bad at saying no. Then from July 12th-19th
I was a camp counselor at the high school camp my church helps sponsor. I’d never been to camp so I did quite expect
the insane amount of running. I also
didn’t expect two of the high school boys to ask me if I had a kid at
camp. On the last night I had each of
the girls in my cabin make beaded bracelets with a word or phrase from the week
that they want to apply to their lives.
On mine I put “full of mercy” from James 3:17. What I’ve learned from wearing my bracelet is
that it takes a lot more than a bracelet to get me to be merciful. But at least it’s a reminder that I’m a
sinner.
After camp it was finally time to start my trek back to
California. My friend Deborah drove with
me and we visited the Grand Canyon on the way and San Francisco, Santa Cruz,
Oakland and Berkeley once we got here.
It was a jam-packed week full of things so completely opposite of New
Mexico (like traffic and water) but I guess it was a good christening.
August:
Of course now people are asking what I’m doing now, and most
assume I’m on a career path since I did go to school for some purpose. Well, stop thinking that. Saturday I’m going to Mascota, Mexico for an
indeterminate amount of time. It’s the
town I’ve gone to pretty much every year since 2006 to assist a friend, Luz,
with whatever she needs (from Bible studies to visitations to concerts). This time I’m going down with my brother
Jeremy, his wife, Cristina, and their 3 kids (8, 6, 4months) to do a Vacation
Bible School for 40-80 kids so you can pray for us. On the 11th they’ll be heading
back but I’m unemployed and really in no rush, so I’ll be staying behind for
August and maybe part of September. I
just have a one-way ticket. You can
pray for me, that I won’t have the escape-ism/permanent vacation mentality but
really be open to how I can best serve the Lord while there. And that I’ll have self-control in regard to
churros and popsicles. But He’s
already been very gracious and I’ve found my passport, my Spanish Bible and
earplugs.
Love you all,
Joy
