Finding my female identity

Tonight I went to "So That" our women's ministry group at church. A woman from church called me last night to invite me to come and talk about my experiences in Poland at the women's ministry group that meets once a month. I dread these invitations. But before you get all hot and bothered, let me explain. I am not a typical female--and I sort of take pride in that. I have never been into girly things--when I was younger I dressed in boy clothes and tried several times (without success) to pee standing up, makeup is not my best friend, the color pink makes my head hurt, I don't like having my nails painted, and I dislike shopping. In high school I generally gravitated towards male friends because I couldn't stand the drama that my female counterparts often exhibited. I kept up this behavior into college, and now--at the age of 24--I find myself with only a handful of close female friends who I can share my dirty laundry with. Being around females is hard for me because it's out of my comfort zone--it's unfamiliar territory. So I avoid female gatherings. As humans, we tend to avoid what makes us uncomfortable.

But tonight as I sat and listened to other women share their experiences in Poland (we had five other New Hope gals serve in another part of Poland this summer), and as I talked with some of the women in attendance--I felt a sort of bond. Once I got past the initial awkwardness and hyperawareness that I was around so many females, I slowly began to feel comfortable. I am realizing the benefit of stepping out of my safe bubble in order to form relationships (I have come to realize this summer that relationships are often the foundation for fellowship in Christ--but that's another blog post!). Women can be a powerful breed of people when united under once cause--and that excites me. So one of my many goals this year is stretch myself to connect with more women--I guess I'm finally sort of finding my female identity....

Back to school...

Today was our first day of classes! I have mixed feelings about going back to school this year. I love my job, but our summer was so crazy busy with classes that I feel like I didn't get quite enough time to myself. I also have some anxieties about this school year--one of them is living out my faith throughout the year both in and out of school. But despite my apprehensions, the time has come and students are filling up the seats in my room. So, I wanted to pass along a few passages from scripture that are really challenging me to live better (for a lack of better terms) this year because it is tough to live out a Christian life in our society. I hope they'll be of some benefit to others who might be reading:

• Romans 12
• Galations 6:16-26
• James 1:19-27
• James 3

Poland Update

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my four year old niece, Denelle, wanted to do something to support us going to Poland. So, she and her mom went and bought three picture books about God to send with us. On the last day we handed out these books to a few kids.

The first picture is of a woman at the camp who served as a translator with her two daughters.

The next is of two little boys who attend preschool at the Chojnice Baptist church. What's interesting about this family is that the parents aren't believers...though this is a kids book, I think it will positively impact the parents as well

The last picture is really special to me. The little boy in the picture is Bartek--he is three years old and is going through some rough times right now. His 14 year old sister was in my classes, and I found out that their father recently left them. The mother is raising three children on her own...I am confident that this book will be a comfort to both Bartek and his mother.