Daily Life

So I was hoping to write a post about what my typical day is like in Allendale, but it turns out that I am still discovering what my typical day is, so I'll do the best I can.

Throughout the summer, there are action teams (high school students and adults) that come down for two weeks at a time in order to volunteer. Normal household life, which I have yet to experience, is somewhat suspended because of the teams. This summer the teams are doing fix-it projects in a our neighbors homes, landscaping on our Yale properties, work at Windows Doors and More, and are soon to be taking care more land that we are about to get from the city.

If it's a Monday, Wednesday of Friday, I wake up around 5:20, and leave at 5:25 with other women in my household to work out at the track around the Galilee Baptist baseball field. Galilee is one our neighboring churches in Allendale, and the household has determined that it is safe for a group of us women to go there without a male escort, a much appreciated freedom. Breakfast happens around 6-6:10ish, and then we have household/staff meeting at 6:20, followed by morning prayer with everyone at 6:45. Following morning prayer, I have a good long chunk of time for personal prayer, which has been a wonderful blessing. Thus ends the routine part of my day.

This summer I am helping facilitate all that needs to happen with the teams, but I don't have an official job title. I'm not the cook, or Gretchen's assistant, or shopper extraordinaire, or in charge of fix-its, or anything like that. I am in charge of planning and running the day camp that we put on for the kids in the neighborhood, which will happen on the third team in the middle of July. So I spend some time each day planning for camp, but it certainly doesn't take up the whole day. Otherwise, I am officially someone that other household and staff members can enlist to work for them. Thus on a "typical day" I might help Colleen in the Kitchen, or help Anne with shopping, or help Gretchen and Hannah with all their administrative stuff, or visit a neighbor whose house we are fixing, or a zillion other random things that come up. So even though I never know exactly what I will do each day, I have never had a shortage of things to do. This is a new experience for me. I like routine and having my whole day scheduled out, but I can see God working in my current situation. I have to rely on him for what I am going to do each day. I have to be constantly taking initiative yet I'm never in control. I also get to be grateful to the Lord for work each day. When you don't know what it will be, its harder to take it for granted.

My work day ends somewhere around 4 or 4:30 and then we have dinner at 5. Dinner is a great chance to get to know the team members better, find out what they did that day, and try to figure out what God is doing in their lives. Most evenings we have an evening session at 6:45. This usually consists of Nathan giving a talk. Following the talk we converse with the team members, trying to get their reactions to the talk and challenge them to respond to the Lord. Other evening activities might include Allendale area meetings, taking food to our neighbors, visiting and praying with people in nursing homes, or preaching in the neighborhood. The teams head to bed at 9:15, but we usually hang out longer in our living room (front of the women's house) chatting about our days, what we think God is up to with the team members, or just having life-giving conversation. Then sometime before 10:30 I usually go to bed.

Ok, there is a bunch of stories that I am yearning to tell, but they will have to wait. Hopefully this post will provide a framework to understand subsequent stories.