Special Offerings

Hello, people who may-or-may not be still following this blog! For those of you I don't see regularly, here's an update:

I accepted a new position with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) soon after returning to Louisville ("officially") in October, as the Assistant for Special Offerings and Appeals. Since then, I've been getting reacquainted with my city and my former / current coworkers, keeping busy setting up my new apartment and picking up a extra few hours in holiday-season retail to supplement my travel habits ;-) That, combined with the fact that I still haven't set up internet in my apartment yet, means I have been a little silent on the social media front. My apologies for those who got used to seeing everything I was up to on a daily basis!

The position in Special Offerings is important to me - mostly because the work that we do allows many others in the denomination to do their work. Including the Young Adult Volunteer program. One new addition to our offerings for 2013 is the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. It's no surprise what my favorite items in the catalog are featured on page 13 (and reproduced for you, below): supplements for Young Adult Volunteers like bus passes and groceries.

As a recipient of these funds in the past, I can tell you from experience how nice it is to jump on the bus to work, rather than walking 2 miles in the cold Belfast rain. I encourage everyone to check it out, especially those who have not yet completed their Christmas shopping, or those who prefer to give gifts that make a difference on a larger scale! Visit presbyteriangifts.org for more!

Greetings from Nashville!

Courtney, Kathryn and I have made our way to the deep south of Nashville, TN for the last few weeks of our YAVIT! tour. So far we've been able to see quite a bit of the city - from honky tonks on SoBro to a night at the Opera! We've had quite the tour guide in (Belfast YAV-turned-Nashville YAV) T.J.

He also gave us a tour of his current placement, Room in the Inn. It was really impactful to see his relationships to the participants at his site. Many former Nashville YAVs have even stayed on as employees. 

Don't worry, it hasn't been all fun and games - we've done some outreach, too. ;-) Last night we met the campus ministry at Vandy that I think deserves its own post... so keep an eye out for that!

We've just got one more night here in our "Cave" - the youth room at Westminster Pres that has been our home for the past week - before we head to Cookeville for the Middle Tennessee Presbytery meeting tomorrow. I can't believe our tour is almost complete!

YAVITs on Tour!

Courtney, Kathryn and I are in Colorado!

Airport stylin'!

It's really beautiful here, our hosts have gone over-the-top to make us feel welcome, and the Presbytery folks we've met so far couldn't be nicer. We have a few days up front to work a little more on our message and do some sightseeing, but we'll be polishing up our presentations in front of a (hopefully understanding) public audience soon.

Some of our engagements are for specific groups or require RSVP, but if you live in the Denver / Boulder area, here are a few places you can stop by and say hi to me in the next few weeks!

Sunday, 29 September (Boulder, CO)
10:30 am - St. Andrew Presbyterian Church

Friday, 4 October (Denver, CO)
9 pm - Salsa dancing at Blue Ice

Sunday, 6 October (Denver)
10:30 am - Central Presbyterian Church

Hope to see you soon!

YAVA

So apparently I'm not a YAV anymore.

Now that we've successfully survived the altitude at Ghost Ranch, the men and women with whom I've served for the last year are officially YAV-A... Young Adult Volunteer Alumni!

We graduated!
(OK, so maybe the caps are photoshopped...)

Please enjoy a few scenes from our retreat last weekend, where we came together to remember our year of service and work through the issues that come with reverse culture shock!

An update - and a new adventure!

Well, the time of sitting around waiting for the "next steps" is over - tomorrow, I will finally fly to Abiquiu, NM for the YAV transition retreat and reunite with the whole gang I haven't seen since last August (minus a few who will be sorely missed)! I am really, really excited.

After a week in New Mexico, I will head to Denver and Nashville for a few weeks to share my story with local churches and presbyteries. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to spend time in each of these cities - so if you're in the area, drop me a line! I'll do my best to update here during my time on the road.

In other news:

I was interviewed! Read it here:
Following God's call as a Young Adult Volunteer: Young adults find their voice and their place in the church

What I'm listening to:
I love this song. A friend posted this today on facebook, and even though I hadn't heard it since leaving Belfast, I've probably listened to it at least 10 times today while getting ready for the next stage of my journey. Enjoy!

Lyrics below:

Quest Physics

Several years ago, I read the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I imagine most of the people who are reading this have maybe at least heard of it...

Not long before deciding to begin the process of applying for a YAV year, I finally rented the movie version on Netflix. At the time, I wrote down a quote from the movie and kind of forgot about it - until this evening, when I caught the movie again on TV. It felt a little like coming full circle:

In the end, I've come to believe in something I call "The Physics of the Quest." A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.

Attraversiamo.

525,600 minutes

Exactly one year ago, I was sitting in my bedroom in Louisville, surrounded by luggage and... stuff. Trying to figure out exactly what I'd need for one year in a country I'd never visited, doing a job I couldn't even imagine (and then making sure that each bag weighed exactly no more than 50 lbs). The next morning, I would leave for orientation and then a year away from home.

(Otherwise known as that time Anna and I met for the first time IRL, and Instagrammed it for posterity)

I look about as tired as you'd imagine after staying up all night to pack!

Today, I sit in the bedroom of my childhood home, surrounded by luggage and ... stuff. Tomorrow I will finally be home home: My Old Kentucky Home. One year to the day from when I left. I'm pretty psyched. 

I will probably be wearing this shirt tomorrow, fair warning. 

Just thinking of all the experiences I've had and the people I've met in these past 12 months make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I am really glad I get to see my NI crew at re-entry in a few weeks, because I'm already going through DTs after just a few weeks apart. At the same time I'm prepping for home, all of next year's YAV's are getting off the plane in New Jersey for a week of orientation. I have such excitement and hope for them as they begin this journey, and I ask that you keep them in your thoughts this week as they are hit with more information than I've even been able to process this entire year.

I've not met the newest crop of YAVs, but a few of their blogs are already posted on the PC(USA) site. Feel free to check out the new NI crew (Sarah P. will be at my former placement sites next year):

• Courtney
• Kalli
• Marranda
• Sarah A.
• Sarah P.

Blessings. 

T.