a windy silence

i apologize for not having written recently.

the winds of life started to pick up and so i set down my pen, letting them pull me in different directions and trying to make sense of it. i’ve been struggling to get my thoughts organized and all that, but then i thought, ideas are prettier when they’re written raw.

so here’s what you missed in the interim of my windy silence: 

-three of my beautifuls graduated highschool early December: Angie, Rosa, and Susy. i was blessed to be invited to their graduation and had a lovely time watching them receive their diplomas, going out to a pizza buffet to celebrate, and capturing their joy and beauty through a camera lens.
//UPDATE: two of them, Susy & Angie, are now in La Viña (the ministry school that i studied at before starting my internship/staff jaunt at Living Hope International). it's SO wonderful to watch them grow and learn!!!

Susy, Rosa, me, & Angie

-Christmas Eve, our ten ladies and two of us supervisors went downtown with seven bags of sweet pastries and a big jug of strawberry milk, handing it out to street workers and homeless mothers. I cannot begin to express the sense of proudness I felt spill out of my chest to see them bless others with not only a yummy treat, but their huge smiles and special words, and to watch them receive appreciative smiles and words back.

-on New Years Eve, we had a special late night talk about our goals for 2015 and the things we wanted to change and improve. parts of their hearts previously kept hidden were brought out and illuminated that night, and it was encouraging to see the unity and strength between them. we wrapped it up praying for one another and turning over these intimate things into our Father’s hands.

-the beginnings of January, two beautiful girls from Minnesota came to serve and love for several weeks. having only walked past them and smiled last summer when they visited, this time we shared more than a quick greeting, and in the time i got to knew them, they quickly took up space in my heart. making (and keeping) friends is such a blessed thing.

Erika, the "ginger"

Dani, the "fake ginger"

-days after they departed, in the end of January, i was informed that there was going to be changes throughout the building, and many of the supervisors were going to be relocated into different dorms, due to the new interns that were coming in who needed experience. i suddenly found myself without little ladies to wrap my arms around, as i moved into a dorm consisting of all twentysomething women: half staff, half college girls. the change hit hard and unexpected, but i knew it was God getting ahold of me. the day of the big move, we held an hour-long taco party, just us four supervisors and our ten girls, reminiscing over the last year’s good and bad, sharing tears and laughs. our little band surprised us at the end, pulling out drawings specific to each one of us house moms, with a special note from each one of them written on the back. it was such a bittersweet, beautiful moment, as was the goodbye that followed.


since the change, I have been floundering around a bit: trying to get a grip on my priorities, balancing work between what's urgent and what can wait for tomorrow, taking on new small projects, and trying to encounter more of Jesus’ heart in me. and through all the hardness of my heart and bits and pieces of it floating around, there’s something new emerging, a new chapter slowly being written after i thought the most important one had come to a close.

life’s been good folks, but there’s something new rushing in, and I’m a bit excited for it.