My oh my has it been a busy two weeks, friends!
First, I left Nashville a couple weeks ago and headed for Montreat to lead a small group during the second week of this summer's youth conferences. Just like college conference back in January, this was my first youth conference at Montreat. Not on purpose really...we were just always busy when my church's youth group went. But, anyway. It was such a wonderful experience. I spent 3 hours a day leading a small group of 26 high school youth. Some discussion of keynotes and such, some just hanging out and having fun, some eating Dunkaroos (thanks, Black Mountain Dollar General). And as it turns out spending a couple summers as a camp counselor is excellent preparation for small group leading. Seriously though, I met so many wonderful/enthusiastic/inspiring youth, and on top of that met some awesome fellow small group leaders, made some YAV connections, spent some time with friends from Davidson, and got my fill of energizers (not that there's such a thing as too many of those...). And I mean, I tell ya. These conferences I keep going to keep directly applying to my life. Wondering Wanders? Searching For the Signal? Sheesh, Montreat.
From there I headed down the road to camp. Camp was...so so wonderful. But weird. Wonderful to see many of my close friends that are still on staff there, but weird to not be on staff with them. I was one of the first aid folks for the week, so I didn't get to do a ton of camp-y stuff, but I did have a thoroughly entertaining sea weed (or...lake weed?) battle with some 8 year olds in canoes on Lake Refuge. And I learned a new blessing. If you're interested in blessing your food a la Sponge Bob Squarepants, you just let me know. It really was wonderful though. Lovely to see the people I already knew and fun to meet some new ones. Hard to leave yet again, but I've got some more thoughts on that coming later.
Annnd approximately 7 hours after I got home to Davidson from camp, Mom and I were on our way to Ohio, from whence we'll be heading to Michigan tomorrow. I was telling my mom in the car ride up here that I feel like a lot of great/difficult/meaningful things have happened in the last two weeks, but I'm not quite sure I've had the time to process it all. So, we'll see what ends up on this here blog in the coming weeks. There's the last two weeks, and then the fact that when I get back to Tennessee in a week I'll have just one more month left in Nashville. After that, a week and a half in Davidson and it's off to New Orleans! I s'pose one day maybe I'll be in one place for a while...
Love,
Allison.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
On the road again...
Come Saturday, I'll be heading back to the homeland (aka North Carolina) for three-ish weeks. I'm fortunate enough to have two weeks of "service to the greater church" built into my job description, largely because of the fact that most of PSF's students are gone for the summer. Workin' my way down I-40 I'm going to lead a small group at the Montreat youth conference next week, then a few miles down the road I'll spend a week volunteering at camp. After that I'll be using my remaining vacation days to go on a family reunion in Michigan.
I've realized that I have really mixed feelings about these upcoming adventures. Don't get me wrong, I'm eagerly awaiting rounding a curve on the interstate and catching my first glimpse of the North Carolina mountains, and getting to spend two weeks there. And I genuinely enjoy spending time with family (which I count as a major blessing). But I've also become quite attached to Nashville. And the other day I realized that, taking into account my upcoming traveling, I essentially have one month left in Nashville. One. That's not very long. At all.
And things will be different this time around, in the mountains. Montreat is familiar enough, but this will be my first time at a youth conference and I'm responsible for a small group. My only time spent at camp has been when I was on staff (not counting the half-week I went for way back in like 1995), and this time I'll be just a volunteer for the week. Seven days is a lot less than two months.
Adding to the strangeness of this year's camp experience, today I learned that camp's Site Supervisor (aka Maintenance Magician) passed away last night. Besides the fact that I'm pretty sure Dennis could fix anything that broke ever, he always just drove camp from project to project in his red truck waving and smiling and making friends. Surely something will feel a little off at camp this summer. For a long time probably, because Dennis, if you ask me, is a pretty irreplaceable person. Dennis, if you're reading blogs up there in heaven, we love you and we'll miss you so much. Thanks for being a wonderful person and for everything you did for camp. And to whoever happens to read this: please just keep Dennis' family in your thoughts and/or prayers, and throw a few prayers in the direction of the Camp Grier family and this year's summer staff as they start the summer off on this sad note.
All that said, as I mentioned in the beginning I think I'll still love my time in North Carolina and Michigan...I just didn't anticipate having such mixed emotions, I guess. Someone told me once, just a few weeks after I'd moved here, that I would fall in love with Nashville. And I'm fairly certain he was right.
We'll see how it goes, this processing that's going on right now. Not being ready to leave, but knowing how important to me the places I'm visiting are. Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself, too. I do have all of July and a week of August to soak up Nashville after these upcoming adventures...
Love,
Allison
And things will be different this time around, in the mountains. Montreat is familiar enough, but this will be my first time at a youth conference and I'm responsible for a small group. My only time spent at camp has been when I was on staff (not counting the half-week I went for way back in like 1995), and this time I'll be just a volunteer for the week. Seven days is a lot less than two months.
Adding to the strangeness of this year's camp experience, today I learned that camp's Site Supervisor (aka Maintenance Magician) passed away last night. Besides the fact that I'm pretty sure Dennis could fix anything that broke ever, he always just drove camp from project to project in his red truck waving and smiling and making friends. Surely something will feel a little off at camp this summer. For a long time probably, because Dennis, if you ask me, is a pretty irreplaceable person. Dennis, if you're reading blogs up there in heaven, we love you and we'll miss you so much. Thanks for being a wonderful person and for everything you did for camp. And to whoever happens to read this: please just keep Dennis' family in your thoughts and/or prayers, and throw a few prayers in the direction of the Camp Grier family and this year's summer staff as they start the summer off on this sad note.
All that said, as I mentioned in the beginning I think I'll still love my time in North Carolina and Michigan...I just didn't anticipate having such mixed emotions, I guess. Someone told me once, just a few weeks after I'd moved here, that I would fall in love with Nashville. And I'm fairly certain he was right.
We'll see how it goes, this processing that's going on right now. Not being ready to leave, but knowing how important to me the places I'm visiting are. Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself, too. I do have all of July and a week of August to soak up Nashville after these upcoming adventures...
Love,
Allison
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tongues of Fire and YAVs and Stuff!
Pentacost. Celebrated 50 days after Easter it recognizes the end of the Easter season on the Christian liturgical calendar. (For folks unfamiliar with but interested in the occasion, here's what Wikipedia has to say.) And, in case you don't need Wikipedia's help but want a refresher on the biblical part of it all, check out Acts 2:1-6:
So, I guess really the point of all this is just to encourage you, if you're a PC(USA) church-goer (or if you're not), to support the Pentacost offering this Sunday. You can also support the YAV program directly, or support a YAV individually...like...say...me going to New Orleans next year (info to the right if you want more on that). But seriously. Even if you just put a dollar in the offering plate, help the PC(USA) do good things in the world!
Also, in other news: brushing your teeth and then eating yogurt is a bad idea. Blech...
Love,
Allison
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
The thought occurred to me, rereading that just now, that that whole experience was probably a little bit terrifying for people there. I mean seriously...violent wind and then there's fire on people's heads? But, whether it was scary or not, people ended up (after some words from Peter recorded later in Acts) attributing the events as the work of the Holy Spirit, and thus begun the Church we have today.
Anyway. The PC(USA) has an annual Pentacost offering that supports different mission programs of the denomination, including the YAV program. (It's one of a handful of "special offerings" throughout the year.) I was inspired to write this particular post because a Nashville friend and YAVA put a link to this blog on Facebook. Given that you listen to me ramble about the YAV program plenty, I felt like I should share this other guy's thoughts too. So take a look, he's got a lot of good things to say.
Also there's this nifty video from PC(USA)'s website...fun fact: Robert in the video is from Davidson! Whooo Davidson! You can read about his experiences as a Hollywood YAV here.
Also there's this nifty video from PC(USA)'s website...fun fact: Robert in the video is from Davidson! Whooo Davidson! You can read about his experiences as a Hollywood YAV here.
So, I guess really the point of all this is just to encourage you, if you're a PC(USA) church-goer (or if you're not), to support the Pentacost offering this Sunday. You can also support the YAV program directly, or support a YAV individually...like...say...me going to New Orleans next year (info to the right if you want more on that). But seriously. Even if you just put a dollar in the offering plate, help the PC(USA) do good things in the world!
Also, in other news: brushing your teeth and then eating yogurt is a bad idea. Blech...
Love,
Allison
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Being Together
This morning was Confirmation Sunday at 2PC. Depsite the fact that don't actually know any of the confirmands personally, it got me thinking. Thinking about how lovely church communities are, how important they are, and how powerful they are.
I feel like I should say first, though, that I am aware of how truly lucky I am to have been a part of congregations that I am comfortable in and that love and accept me. I know that's not always the case, and that different people have different experiences and views on going to church. But here are my thoughts...
This morning there was a part of the confirmation part of the service during which the confirmands spread out down the aisles, and the congregation laid hands on them to pray for them and welcome them into the church as members. Now...laying on of hands can be awkward. At least I think so. But that could be because I rarely like being the center of attention. I can also say, though, that I think to be prayed for is an incredibly meaningful thing, and the added aspect of physical contact can make it even more special. There we were, a whole congregation connecting literally and figuratively to 2PC's newest members.
At one of the last PSF worship services of the year, there was a commissioning service for a student who will be a YAV in Guatemala next year (her blog is here...check it out come fall!), and for me (as I'm heading to New Orleans in August). As we knelt facing the front of the chapel, the other students that were there walked up and put their hands on us (or on someone whose hands were on us), and Jennifer said a prayer for our upcoming journeys.
Now, I met these people in early September. That's not all that long to have known them, but if we're going to be honest here I almost cried during that prayer. (Almost.) It was so wonderful and a little overwhelming the amount of support I felt just from our modest little Tuesday night church of college students.
Who knows if this morning's confirmands had the same powerful experience, but I sure hope they did.
I just think it has given me so much joy to be part of these loving communities, that I hope everybody else out there can find one (or a couple) too. And I mean maybe that doesn't even mean church church. Sure PSF and camp don't have their own church buildings but they sure as heck are just as meaningful to me. And I'm not saying it doesn't count unless a whole congregation lays their hands on you. I just think Jesus was serious when he talked about being together.
I feel like I should say first, though, that I am aware of how truly lucky I am to have been a part of congregations that I am comfortable in and that love and accept me. I know that's not always the case, and that different people have different experiences and views on going to church. But here are my thoughts...
This morning there was a part of the confirmation part of the service during which the confirmands spread out down the aisles, and the congregation laid hands on them to pray for them and welcome them into the church as members. Now...laying on of hands can be awkward. At least I think so. But that could be because I rarely like being the center of attention. I can also say, though, that I think to be prayed for is an incredibly meaningful thing, and the added aspect of physical contact can make it even more special. There we were, a whole congregation connecting literally and figuratively to 2PC's newest members.
At one of the last PSF worship services of the year, there was a commissioning service for a student who will be a YAV in Guatemala next year (her blog is here...check it out come fall!), and for me (as I'm heading to New Orleans in August). As we knelt facing the front of the chapel, the other students that were there walked up and put their hands on us (or on someone whose hands were on us), and Jennifer said a prayer for our upcoming journeys.
Now, I met these people in early September. That's not all that long to have known them, but if we're going to be honest here I almost cried during that prayer. (Almost.) It was so wonderful and a little overwhelming the amount of support I felt just from our modest little Tuesday night church of college students.
Who knows if this morning's confirmands had the same powerful experience, but I sure hope they did.
I just think it has given me so much joy to be part of these loving communities, that I hope everybody else out there can find one (or a couple) too. And I mean maybe that doesn't even mean church church. Sure PSF and camp don't have their own church buildings but they sure as heck are just as meaningful to me. And I'm not saying it doesn't count unless a whole congregation lays their hands on you. I just think Jesus was serious when he talked about being together.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
(Matthew 18:20)
Love,
Allison
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Beautiful Thing
Music is a beautiful thing, friends, and music can do beautiful things. A link on the good ol' Facebook this morning led me to this video:
After a little research (aka clicking on a link) I've learned that it's produced by a group called Playing for Change. Check out the website for more info...they're doin' some pretty cool stuff over there. Music has always been a powerful thing for me, and I think it's just incredible to see it doing powerful stuff elsewhere too.
I couldn't help, reading and watching all of this, but think of the YAVs scattered across the world, in different continents or just on different sides of the country. We're all connected through this program, but doing different things...playing different instruments of sorts, still tryin' our best to play this collective song of love, one way or another. And I can't help but be thrilled that I get to be a part of that for another year.
Love,
Allison.
PS- As I was about to click "publish post" on this entry, I almost took down that last video. Not because it's anything less than awesome, but because I feel like I write a lot about how super it is to be friends with people and love everybody and such, but it's not all that easy. It is super, but it's not as simple as jammin' out to a Bob Marley song ya know? I'm leaving the video there though. I mean first because I just love it (the end is my favorite part), but also because despite the fact that there's a whole lot of hurt and conflict in the world, and despite the fact that maaaybe I didn't step all that far out of my comfort zone this year...gosh darn it I've gotta try! And anyway. What's the harm in a little positive thinking?
PPS- Look! I added fancy new tabs to the top of my blog! (And by "top" I mean right below the title...)
PPS- Update (June 6, 2011): Besides the music that is outwardly trying to do good things/support a cause, I'm just so thankful that music exists in general. I mean it's just so wonderful that somewhere along the line we humans figured out words and instruments and songs. I went to a concert last night with a fellow YAV (Sarah Jarosz...check her out) and the combination of her beautiful voice and crazy instrumental talent was just lovely. Also there's a special place in my heart for banjos and madolins and fiddles and cellos. You just really can't go wrong with that combo. I'm really going to miss Nashville music next year...but I'm pretty sure New Orleans will be able to keep me entertained too. :)
After a little research (aka clicking on a link) I've learned that it's produced by a group called Playing for Change. Check out the website for more info...they're doin' some pretty cool stuff over there. Music has always been a powerful thing for me, and I think it's just incredible to see it doing powerful stuff elsewhere too.
I couldn't help, reading and watching all of this, but think of the YAVs scattered across the world, in different continents or just on different sides of the country. We're all connected through this program, but doing different things...playing different instruments of sorts, still tryin' our best to play this collective song of love, one way or another. And I can't help but be thrilled that I get to be a part of that for another year.
Allison.
PS- As I was about to click "publish post" on this entry, I almost took down that last video. Not because it's anything less than awesome, but because I feel like I write a lot about how super it is to be friends with people and love everybody and such, but it's not all that easy. It is super, but it's not as simple as jammin' out to a Bob Marley song ya know? I'm leaving the video there though. I mean first because I just love it (the end is my favorite part), but also because despite the fact that there's a whole lot of hurt and conflict in the world, and despite the fact that maaaybe I didn't step all that far out of my comfort zone this year...gosh darn it I've gotta try! And anyway. What's the harm in a little positive thinking?
PPS- Look! I added fancy new tabs to the top of my blog! (And by "top" I mean right below the title...)
PPS- Update (June 6, 2011): Besides the music that is outwardly trying to do good things/support a cause, I'm just so thankful that music exists in general. I mean it's just so wonderful that somewhere along the line we humans figured out words and instruments and songs. I went to a concert last night with a fellow YAV (Sarah Jarosz...check her out) and the combination of her beautiful voice and crazy instrumental talent was just lovely. Also there's a special place in my heart for banjos and madolins and fiddles and cellos. You just really can't go wrong with that combo. I'm really going to miss Nashville music next year...but I'm pretty sure New Orleans will be able to keep me entertained too. :)
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