Weekly Report: Week Three

Church of the Resurrection, Intern’s Weekly Report
Week 3
May 15, 2006 – May 22, 2006

Every bursted bubble has a glory! Each abysmal failure makes a point!
Every glowing path that goes astray, Shows you how to find a better way.
So every time you stumble never grumble. Next time you'll bumble even less!
For up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!

- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This week has been one the transitional one that I was hoping for; the week where the panic eases, the road ahead seems straighter, and the rhythm of this bi-vocational life finds its stride.

I expect that I had so hyped the expectation of the pressure I’d be under that the fact that carrying two loads is not nearly as bad as I expected sometimes worries me. I panic because I am not stressed; I shudder because I am in a good mood. I am deeply troubled that I am enjoying this so much. I think my concerns are because I generally associate “results” and “achieving goals” with “running myself ragged”; but as I consult my learning goals for the internship I see that they are being met in a timely fashion: I am getting out or calling out for visits (even though they sometimes have to be rescheduled); the cool school and the day camp are coming together at a good pace, reports and journals are getting written, meetings are fruitful, I feel as though my personal prayer and devotional time is gradually moving me into a deeper life in Christ and well…. I am having fun.

There. I’ve said it. I am loving every minute of this.

For an introvert, making that initial contact is tough, but not an insurmountable hurdle; and once I am engaged with a person, I enjoy every moment of that contact. I love the time after church (though I am still deeply embarrasses at how many names I don’t yet know, and should!) talking to the congregation, persuading potential volunteers to become actual volunteers, catching up on people’s week, listening to personal stories, feeling the movement in the congregations life and feeling very much a part of it. I love the Sunday afternoon/ Monday phone calls made to people that I didn’t see in church to find out how they are – they generally turn into very fruitful “phone visits”. I love figuring out the names of our children, and which one belongs to whom under the clever guise of playing with them after the service, and I am even beginning to enjoy the service itself as the ebb and flow of ministry finds its own stride.

I’ve learned to mitigate the worst of my fears: the financial ones by working from home as much as possible, or scheduling several visits in the same general area on the same day to save on gas, and to save on cell phone calls by phoning out from work, and beyond that, my other great fear – that I would not be able to find a sufficient number of volunteers for our needs is also falling by the wayside as each day, each week, someone new steps forward and raises their hand.

Who knew all you had to do was trust God?