When did June turn into July??!!

I guess it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted an update. The last couple of weeks have been amazing. Again, for the sake of organization, I will go by categories…

Internship: I have not been working at JAMLAC too much the last couple of weeks; I have spent most of my time at Joshua Station. I have continued to attend the staff meetings and the Family Advocacy meetings. Last week, I helped clean out and organize the supply closet, which, if you know me, is right up my alley, since I love organizing things. I also have been doing a lot of research and calling around to find a Spanish translator to work with our family advocates, as well as someone who can teach the advocates Spanish. We have a couple of families here who primarily speak Spanish and a family moving in that only speaks Spanish and it is hard for the advocates to really assist those families with a language barrier. One thing I have decided this summer is that I really want/need to learn Spanish; it would definitely come in handy.
One additional thing about my internship that has been awesome: I have been able to spend a lot of time with my mentor, Rebekah, who is the administrative assistant at JS. At the beginning of the summer, each of us interns was assigned a mentor to meet with on a weekly basis and walk with this summer. I am fortunate in that I get to see my mentor throughout the week, since she also works at JS. Rebekah has been such a blessing to me. She is very encouraging and fun to be with.

Classes: I really do wish this was a semester program. (They are planning on turning it into one in the future.) Each class is crammed with so much information to process. I am continuing to learn a lot about challenges in urban America and how Christians should respond. I am also learning a lot about myself and the importance of soul care. I will expand more on this concept in a later blog. I have a feeling this post is already going to be ridiculously long.

Mom’s Visit: My mom came to visit me over the 4th of July weekend! She arrived the night of the 2nd and left on the 6th. I was able to take her to some of my favorite places around Denver. We also attended an Arts Festival and spent some time in Downtown Denver. On the 4th, we went down to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The park is beautiful with amazing rock formations. We hiked around a bit and took some cool pictures. We then spent the rest of the afternoon in a small town near Colorado Springs called Manitou Springs. Sort of a hippy town, Manitou Springs has a ton of unique little shops and restaurants. This was one of the best 4th of July’s I have ever had. It was so nice to spend some time with my mom, even though the visit was short.


Retreat: On Wednesday, all of we interns and the DUS director, Greg, went on a retreat up in the mountains. It was amazing. We were in a cabin with no running water or electricity, surrounded by trees and mountains. And the cabin had a woodstove! I am convinced that there is no greater smell in the world than waking up to the smell of a wood stove. The location reminded me so much of Alaska. We had some really good bonding times together. We also learned and practiced the spiritual exercises of Centering Prayer and Lecto Divina. On Thursday, we spent much of the day in silence and solitude. I was able to walk around in the beautiful forest by myself and do a lot of reflecting, reading, and praying. It was nice to spend some time with God in the silence with no distractions. I feel like one of the things He is teaching me this summer is to slow down and really listen to what He is trying to teach me in the world and people around me. During our solitude time, I also had the chance to watch and feed some chipmunks. They were so cute and I almost had one eating out of my hand. (Probably not smart, I know, but whatever.) Thursday night we all went to visit a little town called South Park (it has nothing to do with the cartoon). It is basically set up like a mountain town from the 1800s, with lots of cool buildings and houses to walk through including an old-style blacksmith’s shop, general store, saloon, and bank. It was so cool! Afterwards, we all went out to eat. Friday morning we hiked up a mountain; it was gorgeous. The mountains were spectacular and the ground was covered in wildflowers. It boggles my mind how someone can look at the beauty of the Earth and believe it all happened by chance. After spending a relaxing afternoon at the cabin, we came back to Denver Friday night. The whole retreat was such a blessing.

Prayer Requests/Praises: First of all, my sister arrived safely in Haiti! My parents received a letter from her last week and it sounds like she is doing well and experiencing a lot already. I am so proud of her for being there and I know this will be a time of growth and maturing for her.
Please continue to be in prayer for Carlos and his wife, Diane. (I mentioned them in my last post.) Diane is now out of the hospital, which is a miracle, but they have to amputate her foot due to the infection. Continue to pray for her health and peace for them both.
My car was finally fixed and is no longer overheating! Praise God! Hopefully it will not have any more issues this summer…
You can also be in prayer for the new families we have at Joshua Station. Pray that they might adjust well and really flourish here.

I’ll end with a quote I received during my retreat, which I have found to be very true:
“God has never changed for He always remains the same. But since we’re never fully capable of knowing who God is, what He chooses to reveal to us is always changing. And as result, changes what we know about Him, often offensively changing who we thought He was.”