End of Junior Year at Dordt

Hello Friends!

I kind of forgot that I started this blog. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. I am beginning to understand the saying that I have always heard older people say and never believed: time goes by faster the older you get. It's so true.

It's hard to believe, but I just finished my junior year at Dordt College. I can now say I am a senior in college :D So weird... This last semester was probably the busiest I have had yet, but it was also one of the best. I took 6 classes (18 credits)--3 were social work classes, 3 were electives. I also continued working at a nursing home as an activities assistant. I love my job! The residents are so sweet and full of funny stories and great wisdom. We should all pay more attention to the elderly. I also continued to be very involved in my college home church, Christ Community Church. I have the privilege of helping out with the Jr. High youth group on Wednesday nights. The students are awesome! They are so full of energy and life; I love hanging out with them. I also continued with some volunteering this year and was the president of two clubs on campus: the sign language club and the social work club. As I said, it was a very busy semester, but I thoroughly enjoyed everything I was involved in.

I am currently home for a couple of weeks. It is great to spend some time with my family. Mom and Dad are actually going to be empty nesters this summer. Joe is in the Army and is stationed in South Korea, Hannah is going on a Teen Missions trip to Haiti, and in less than 3 weeks, I will be leaving for Denver, CO!

I will be participating in the Denver Urban Semester (www.denverurbansemester.org) through Milehigh Ministries. I am one of 10 young adults who will be spending 9 weeks in Denver to serve, learn, and grow. I will be working at Joshua Station, a transformational housing program for women and children who are homeless. Along with the internship, I will be taking classes on Christian leadership and ministering to the poor. I am super excited about this unique opportunity. I am very interested in working in an urban environment and am very thankful that God has given me this opportunity. I am excited about what He is going to teach me through this experience.

I am hoping to update this thing on a regular basis once I get to Denver (maybe once a week?). I figure it is probably the easiest way to keep everyone up to date on how things are going and what God is doing in my life.

I hope and pray that you are all doing well and would love to hear from you soon! :)

Have a beautiful day
Britt

Lessons form a trash compactor

Last night my family and I went to see the movie Wall-E. I loved it-- not necessarily for the quality or plot, but for all of the lessons it teaches about humans. One of the biggest lessons it teaches is about the need we all have for companionship and community. Wall-E was lonely; he longed for contact and friendship. The humans in the movie reminded me a lot of people in America. We often hide behind our computer screens and other forms of digital communication without really connecting with those around us. In the process, we miss the beauty in the world around us and the joy of true relationships. As the saying goes, no human is an island. God created us for community and relationships. Donald Miller, in his books Blue Like Jazz and Searching For God Knows What, talks a lot about this topic. I do not have the books with me right now, I would share some quotes. They are excellent books, though, and I will share more about them in the future.

Another thing I learned from Wall-E is the complexity and beauty of human communication. Throughout the movie, there was hardly any talking. However, everyone in the theatre understood what was going on by picking up on the emotions and observing the actions of the characters. I recently learned that human communication is 93% body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. The way God wired us is amazing! There is no way we could have evolved considering the complexity of our forms of communication. How often do we take things like that for granted.

More to come.
Have a beautiful day.
~Britt~

First Post

So I have never had a blog before. I'm new at this sort of thing. But I wanted a place where I could share the things that God is teaching me and post thoughts and questions. I don't really have anything to say right now, I just wanted to figure out how this things works.

Have a beautiful day.
~Britt~