It was one of these days...

Wish I could tell you every day was rainbows and sunshine,

but that would be false, folks.

It's easy to feel alone, sometimes.

It's easy to become weighed down by the burdens life throws onto our shoulders.

For a girl who is very in touch with her emotions, it's very easy to become sad.

But these times are what draw me closer and closer 

to God.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed" ~Psalm 34:18

Operation Beautiful

So, one of my Facebook friends posted something about this Operation Beautiful. I decided to check out the website, www.operationbeautiful.com , and fell in love with the idea immediately. It's simple. People post anonymous notes on post-it-notes and leave them around places. It builds people up, and reminds them of their worth, that they are beautiful, and that life is good and things get better. After posting the note, you can take a picture and send it into the website and every picture gets posted. 

The mission on the page states "The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other people to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!"  

Obviously, I'm all about it, so I stocked up my car with post-it-notes and pens, so that I have them with me always. I went out around town, and left some in the Goodwill, Dollar General, and at the Post Office. 

Of course doing something like this risks the chance that someone might find it, and it have no meaning for them, or it'll be intercepted by some Grinch or Scrooge and crumpled up and thrown away. But then, there is the chance that you will truly bring light to someone's day and give them the encouragement they have been looking for.

Join the operation.


#OperationBeautiful

On a mission....

Car is all equipped....

Dollar General Shelf

Mirror in the fitting room at Goodwill

Mailbox and the Post Office

:)

Productivity at it's finest.

So, in honor of MLK, we had the day off. The schools were off, so no work for me! I decided to make the day a productive one.

Aside from vacuuming, doing some laundry, dusting, sweeping kitchen floor, washing the car, doing some dishes and grocery shopping, Clarissa and I decided to tackle a project we've been pondering for awhile: the garden. 

It's not something I've ever done,and seemed a bit less than ideal: playing in dirt, with cockroaches, slugs, lizards, and huge spiders, in the hot, hot sun. But, I did it, and it was quite the experience! 

I love being able to do new things while down here. It's just such an incredible time in my life right now, that I don't always appreciate. But I'm learning and growing...and sooner than later, tasty vegetables will be growing as well ;)

Take 2 :)

I'm back in action here in Southwestern Florida, folks, here in Immokalee, Florida.

After some much needed r&r back home in cold, miserable Cleveland, it's time for take two of my adventure.

Being home was great, got to spend time with family and see some friends! Sadly, was unable to see everyone I wished to, but keeping in mind my time here is temporary and I will be back home for good before I know it.

I came back the 3rd of January, and then two days later we had our first immersion group from John Carroll come down. It was an amazing, incredible group of people, and it was so much fun having them down here and helping them get to experience Immokalee for themselves. We took them to morning placements (Habitat for Humanity, Social Services, CIW), and then in the afternoons they volunteered at the Early Childcare Center. At night, they came over to our house, and we all piled in our living room for a speaker and then some games to follow. We went to the lake and the beach, had a bonfire and a cookout, it was awesome. It was a real blessing of a group and everything went lovely.


Clarissa and I at the beach with the JCU Immersion Group :)


JCU Immersion Group #1 with us at Lake Trafford :)

Following week, we started back up with our volunteering.
I decided this time around, I am not going to work at the ECC anymore, though I love the babies and miss them dearly. I am devoting my mornings solely to working at Pace. I've come to really love it there, and believe it to be leading me to what I want to do in life. 

I thought it was teaching. 
I thought it was teaching little kids.

Don't get me wrong, I love little kids. But this teaching experience down here has truly taught me so much in patience, humility, unconditional love, patience, planning ahead, flexibility, communication, and oh-did I mention patience?
I feel God calling me in a slightly different direction-that being in some kind of career working with at-risk teens. My plan could definitely use some fine-tuning, but my prayer since being down here is that God will lead me and show me what He wants me to do with my life, and each day it is getting a bit more clear. :)

I am happy and I am blessed.
I need to work on my listening a bit more though, and be more aware of God trying to speak to me.
Life gets so cluttered with noise and junk, stress and things just not going my way.....I have to remember to allow myself to be led, and guided in the right direction, rather than trying to make my own plan. 
Silly me, things never go according to my plan anyways.

But yeah, it's been good. It's been real good. I have some people planning to visit me soon, and I'm very excited for that. There is midyear retreat coming up as well, very excited to see my fellow volunteers..I love the work I am doing down here...More immersion group planning....Things to keep me busy and take up time, and I just want to soak in every minute of it, because before I know it, my time here will be done.

Another thing I've come to love and appreciate being down here, 
is the beauty in nature, the beauty of creation. It never ceases to take my breath away. The skies at sunset just look like this beautiful painted artwork that God just threw on a canvas just by Being......

I love it.

Oh, and I have gotten to play volleyball at the park quite a few times since being back...and that just makes my life complete. 

:)

Sorry for the rambling, but if you follow my blog regularly, you have most likely come to realize that rambling is my blogging style. :)

Peace, love, and all good things,

Amanda