To plant...

1 There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: 
2 a time to be born and a time to die, 
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

My friend and coworker was planting blubs of flowers yesterday, in the dark, before a storm. I asked her why we plant them now, she explained to me it's better to plant now so by spring they will be rooted and before a storm so that they settle.

Andy Stanley said "God does his best shaping and making during adversity."Just like these flowers God is going to root us more through the storm, the snow, the dreary weather of our lives more than the colorful, bright, cleared sky of our lives. It is during these times of Spring we begin to forget that we need God, that we need him in every decision, every move we make, every flower, and every cloud.

God has shaped me more in the past year then ever before, because I leaned on him. Every little prayer, every moment of silence, every inch of patience I received even after my patience was gone was from Him because God shapes us the most during adversity. When I am discouraged, tired to the core, upset, ready to quit He is there pushing me. Before this experience I did not realize how much I forgot about Him and it makes me feel so ashamed, but I know that is one of the main reasons i'm here.

You Can't Buy God

I love Toms shoes, in fact I own two pair. They are my favorite because they are comfortable, washable, fun, and they make me smile every time I put them on. If you are not familiar with the Toms shoe brand they are shoe and now glasses company that follows the one for one campaign. You buy one pair of shoes or glasses, and they give one pair of shoe or glasses to children in need. Some people say they are two expensive my response is well I bought two pair, one for me and one for a friend.

Charity Water! An organization dedicated to building wells and bringing clean water to communities in need. They asked for people to donate their birthdays! Instead of asking for objects or money they want you to donate water. By setting up your own Charity Water page and allowing people to donate online. The organization promises 100% of the funds raised go to the water campaigns and they fundraise for the business ends, brilliant idea.

ZOE ministries, or Zimbabwe Orphan Endeavor, is dedicated to helping communities in Africa buy building school houses, providing farming skills and animals, and much more. During their seasonal “Gifts that Grow” you can purchase a farm animal to give to a community. The community learns how to care for those animals and it becomes a sustainable source of income and food for the community.

These organizations along with many more like them are doing great things but it is not enough to buy what they are selling because we can't buy God. It isn't enough to believe in what they are doing, we have to do good.

Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to DO GOOD while they live.

Giving money and buying products that help good is great but God tells us that we are to "be happy and DO GOOD." You can't just stop after you buy a pair of shoes, and a goat for a village.

As a society we have become lazy thinking that if we go to church, give our tithe, and give a little more for some side projects our job is done. We get to caught up in the Product.

We cannot be bothered to take one of our only days off to try and go to a soup kitchen, we would have to call and find a time. Our lives are to busy for the Process.

We make excuses..i'm tired, I need to do laundry, I tithed this week, it's my only day off, someone else will do it. You are holding yourself back. Person

(I stole Product, Process, Person from Marty Cauley's leadership legal pad)

I am just as guilty! Since I have dedicated over a year to being an AmeriCrops member in Detroit I often have these thoughts that "that is enough." The truth is it is never enough for our God. Our God who gave his only son to die on the cross for our sins and we are to self involved to get up on our one day to sleep in to go do exactly was he told us..."DO GOOD!"

We can not sit on the sideline any longer. We can no longer sit in our rocking chairs talking the talk, no more "bless her heart" we need to go out and have our hearts be blessed by Him. We have to put on our Toms and walk in them toward the messes!

Andy Stanley said at Catalyst 2012 "The greatest thing you do may not be what you do, but when someone watches you do what you do." You may get discouraged thinking "I cannot change the world I am only one person" but what if someone saw you going out there "walking the walk?" Then they decided to walk with you, then someone else, then someone else.

Some 250,000 people attended the Civil Rights March on Washington...it started with a walk.

We Work for Hope

We Work for Hope

I apologize that it has been over a year since I posted. I wanted to start back up for a couple of reasons. One is that some other blogs that I'm currently following have inspired me to pick it back up and try and stick with it. Also because after working at Boys Hope Girls Hope for over a year has inspired me and I feel that I need to reflect on my time here. 

Why Hope

I wanted to explain the name change. I changed "We Work for Less" to "We Work for Hope" because I have been living out hope all year, more so then living less. Also because some people have inspired me recently that have inspired me. 

In my friend's blog (Cameron) she talks about hope, which is when the reflection started. In her blog as well as Katie Davis's they speak on a scripture...

"Return to to you fortress, you prisoners of hope." Zechariah 9:12 and it got me thinking..."prisoner of hope." 

Hope has been a reoccurring theme in my life this year and I  have continuously passed over the term in my day to day life. I work for an organization with HOPE in the name, I looked into volunteering at an organization in Africa call Door of Hope. God has been throwing it in my face and I, being selfish in my own day to day routine, passed it over without a second glance! However, today I see it! I hear it...I AM A PRISONER OF HOPE! 

My passion for youth comes from me being a "prisoner of hope." Normally when we think prisoner it is met with a negative cogitation. We think of people being "locked up" or being prisoners of war. Dictionary.com defines it as "a person or thing that is deprived of liberty or kept in restraint" but when you are a "prisoner of hope" you are only restrained by knowledge that God is going to push you to go outside of your comfort zone. God is going to push you to HOPE, to hope to feed the hungry, to hope to heal the sick, hope to BE the church. 

God doesn't want us to dream he wants us to hope. Some dreams never come true but our hopes we can do something about. Hope means "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best." Hopes can be put into action. Muhammad Gandhi said "be the change you wish to see in the world" he didn't say dream it he said be it. Hope is the bridge between dreams and reality, between "dreaming it" and "being it." I am not saying we should not dream. I think we need to dream and dream BIG. Dreams are often where our hopes derive from. However, to be God's "prisoner of hope" we have to be willing to serve him with our every fiber of our being, we have to be willing to let our hopes lead us out of our comfort zone. To have our hopes take us to Detroit, or Africa, or around the corner, or anywhere that we see that our hope can flourish. 

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" -Shawshank Redemption

Twas a night before Thanksgiving

Twas a night before Thanksgiving, when all through the house 

Every creature was stirring, except for the mouse

The Turkey was marinating in the Kitchen with care

In hope that the family would notice it there

The children were nestled all snug in their sweaters

Waiting to send their Santa letters

And mamma in her apron, and I in my chefs hat

Had just settled down when we heard a pitter-pat

From the living room there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the kitchen to see what was the matter
Away to the Christmas tree I flew like a flash
Only to see it fall with a clash

There stood a puppy, so lively and quick,
The puppy came over and gave me a lick.

-This Thanksgiving parody by Lydia Cauley :)

Pictures

*This picture is from my Uncle Paul, from a morning run in LA

"It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed" 
-the Five people you meet in Heaven

"I always wondered why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth...then I asked myself the same question" -Unknown

I am a planner!

I am a planner! I always have been alway will be. I want to fix things when something unexpected comes up but I think I need to learn to let it ride.

Matthew 6:26

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they?" 

Are you not much more valuable then they? 

I’m beginning to think about what a friend told me years ago. We were talking about over analyzing things. What if the reason we over analyze things is not because we’re planning for something but because we can’t let go of something else? She said we plan because our thoughts and plans are the only company we have because friends and families are unreliable.

I disagree.

I think we plan because we want to control our futures, but our futures are already planned for us. The paths are they we just have to decide to choose the right one. Our friends and families are what keeps us company and help us through out paths.

We are more valuable then the birds, God lays down our paths and we are but humble servants to his will. If you told me a year ago that I would be in Detroit, Michigan I would have thought you were out of your mind, but I guess God had other plans for me! So I will continue to push through the not so good days because this is where God planned for me to be!

A title

Disclaimer: this post is less about my current work as a volunteer. This post is more of a reflection in general

I became a stage manager for the first time by accident. My high school had a new theatre teacher and I was the only one who approached him at the beginning of the new school year, thus began my fall into the rabbit hole of theatre.

For those of you who do not know a much about theatre Wikipedia defines a stage manager as "practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel (e.g., between director and backstage crew, or actors and production management)."

The first time I was placed in a management role at UNCA was when I was selected to be the Assistant Stage Manager for Urinetown, under Lisa. Lisa was my inspiration with continuing in management and without her guidance in the beginning I do believe I would not have been half the stage manager that people say I am. I owe many thanks to her!

A title does not earn you respect, you do!

The title “Stage Manager” does not automatically earn you respects. The title does nothing define your job. Although any respectable actor or crew member will give a certain amount of respect to the person who is the stage manager out of professionalism but the rest must be earned. A person is defined by their actions not their title. I may call myself a stage manager but how can I expect respect from an actor if I am continuously late, don’t know the answer to any of their questions, or simple to not follow through on things I will say I do. This may all see to be common sense but what I have learned is that many people expect respect because of the title they wear.

This does not just pertain to theatre, but to anywhere. A director of an organization does not receive full respect because of the title, but of the actions while under that title. Now I am not saying that in a position of authority means having to be liked by everyone. I have worked with many people did not like me, or that I did not like but that did not mean I did no give or receive the respect earned.

Just because you have a title that implies leadership, it does not in fact make you a leader.

The thin line between professional and peer!

Another thing I learned while being a stage manager is that the hardest thing is to work in a position that has authority over your peers. I understand fully that being a stage manager in a university theatre is vastly different from that of a professional theatre. One of those main differences being that I have classes with the same people in the show, I am friends with them, I go out with them, and we know personal things about each other. So one of the hardest things is walking that thin line between professional stage manager and friend. Now I have been told my professors and bosses that I do a pretty good job of walking that line. However, I am my biggest critic and in hindsight I see how I could have handled situations differently.

The invisible line is also different with every person. For instance, my friend Cassidy, we have worked in many different areas together and I know that I can say something to her in a professional since (even if it may be a criticism or correction) and she will not take in personally. In fact she was one of the many people that I could also go to professionally and personally and ask, “how can I improve?” because she would tell me the truth and knew that I would accept the criticism with openness to improve.

To many times in theatre and in life do we take someone’s criticisms personally, could it not be that person’s comments were to help and not hurt? I understand that it may be in our human nature to defend our actions but sometimes the best way to improve ourselves is simply by listing to criticism with an open mind.