Needy

Tis the season of giving! Around this time of year people become very generous and give time, food, clothing, money and much more. You cannot throw a rock without hitting some kind of drive for the "needy." As we become engrossed with the holiday season by giving thanks for the things we have we also begin helping the "needy." As I hear that term more and more this holiday season I begin to realize how much I hate that word .

Webster.com defines needy as 1) being in want: poverty-stricken  2) marked by want of affection, attention, or emotional support.

So who get's to determine who the needy is? Are we not all needy? Doesn't everyone WANT? I know that someone is rolling their eyes at me said "it's just a choice of words." Exactly, isn't the choice of words everything. A certain choice of words can invoke a particular kind of feeling. Maybe needy is to invoke in people to give, but doesn't it also sound a bit degrading. How many people have you met have ever said "i'm needy?" Probably, no one because the term is met with such a negative connotation. I've never heard anyone say they want to be the needy friend, or needy girl/boyfriend. So instead we use it to explain someone's economic situation?

We are all needy, we all need God's love. One of the greatest things about God is that he loves freely, he will offer you as much affection, attention, and emotional support than anyone else. We give to those less fortunate, but we are all needy.

I love the holidays because of how much people give to each other. Just please do not confuse needy with those in need of essentials because in Gods eyes we are all needy.

Why Volunteer?

When I graduated in May of 2011 I had many paths I could have embarked on. I chose to “take a year off” and volunteer a year of my life to AmeriCorps. I chose a program that would take me out of my comfort zone and out of North Carolina. I have always loved my home but I wanted to challenge myself and move away.

I found Boys Hope Girls Hope in AmeriCorps list of programs involving youth. The “official” description is:

“Boys Hope Girls Hope is an academic scholarship program for underprivileged youth in the metro Detroit area. Our program recognizes that children have the desire to be successful but social and economic stressors could hinder their ability to succeed. Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and we provide the best private education to our scholars. We empower our scholars to realize their potential by supporting them academically, emotionally, spiritually and financially. Children generally come to us at a young age and remain members of our extended family for life.” [1]

After applying to the program and completing a couple of interviews I was accepted to become and Academic Success Corps member. Then after a couple of more interviews I was asked to be the ASC for Boys Hope Girls Hope Detroit.

The population of Detroit is 706,585 (Raleigh is 416.468 people) and the percentage of that population that is below the poverty line is 34.5%.[2] The 2010 graduation rate from Detroit Public Schools was about 62%, which is up from 59% in 2009. The dropout rate in 2010 was about 19%[3]. 

          

So with those statistics in mind I moved from North Carolina to Detroit, Michigan. I didn’t move to save the world. I didn’t move to save Detroit. I moved to try and make an impact in a small group of teenagers. As an ASC I have assisted with homework, planned college tours, worked with scholars on college and scholarship applications, encouraged them to read for fun, and pushed them to see that college is in their future. Some of the scholars enter the program thinking they will never get to college; when they are in to the program we help them see that not only are they going to attend college but they will graduate college.

However, even with all the academic things I help with it’s the moments in between that have made this all worth it. The little moments like eating dinner together, or doing Zumba in the basement, playing Uno or just talking in the car. It’s the moment when one of my seniors gets into her first choice school, or the look on her face when she knocks on my door at 11:30pm to tell me her ACT score went up 2 points. It’s the moment when you see the light bulb go off in a scholar. It is these moments that make the stress, frustration, and exhaustion worth it. 

I volunteered with AmeriCorp to get out of my bubble and in return I fell in love with a group of youth who changed my life.

---

[1] http://www.boyshopegirlshope.org/

[2] Information from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/2622000.html

[3] http://detroitk12.org/content/2011/02/22/dps-reaches-62-percent-graduation-rate-the-highest-since-state-began-new-cohort-methodology-in-2007/

End of Your Comfort Zone

 “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”

 –Neale Donald Walsch

We are all faced with uncomfortable situations at some point in our lives. It might be physically, emotionally, spiritually, or just generally we have all be there. I know that you have been uncomfortable because you either have or will go through puberty and let’s just be honest that is uncomfortable for all of us.

However, how many times have you purposely put yourself in an uncomfortable situation? It is human nature for us to fall into a pattern. However, when we live our lives in a pattern we inadvertently push away the things that make us feel uncomfortable. Those commercials that talk about starving children we flip the channel, the ASPCA commercials we flip the channel…why? It might be because the images combined with Sarah McLaughlin singing “Angel” but it is also because it makes us feel uncomfortable.

It is not just life that begins at the end of your comfort zone. God’s plan for you is at the end of your comfort zone. At Catalyst 2012 Graig Groeschel talked about “certain uncertainty.” You destiny is at the end of uncertainty; your life is at the end of your comfort zone.

“To step towards your destiny, you have to step away from your security”

–Graig Groeschel

In order for you to do God’s work you have to go out of the comfort zone. You have to go to those that are hungry, go to those that are in need, go to those who do not know God. God does not say “sit stay and be comfortable” he says “go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19

Let God make a disciple out of you and do something on purpose that makes you uncomfortable. Step away from the security, step out of the box, and find what God has in waiting for you.