Monday, February 21, 2011

President's Day = Agency Closed

I don't think I could have been more happy to go to bed on a Sunday evening last night. Typically, it's the least favorite part about my weekend, however last night I was able to close my eyelids knowing that there was no need to set an alarm, because tomorrow was President's Day!

I'd like to take this moment and thank all of the Chiefs of State (past and present), if not for you and your efforts to better, or in some cases unintentionally worsen, our great Nation I wouldn't have had today off of work. Ergo, I salute you! :)

As most of you are aware by now, I work full time at Wood County Job and Family Services in the Income Maintenance department as a Caseworker. I determine eligibility for Food Assistance, Cash Assistance, and Medicaid. I have been working at the Agency for a little over four years, but in this position for almost two years.

This morning, I woke up at 8:00am, which was fabulous! In my opinion, 8:00am is like the best time to wake up in the morning. It's not too late and it's certainly not early, it's just right. Got out of bed, grabbed a book and then clambered back into bed with a PB&J for breakfast and my book. I read for about an hour and a half (practically half the book) and then decided to I should do something productive with my life, so I went to the Community Center for a bit.

The Community Center, second best place in Bowling Green to people watch. GFT is totally first. My favorite place to people watch there is in the weight lifting area, especially if you're there between 4pm-6pm Monday-Friday, because guys' weightlifting is just funny to me. Their facial expressions, the way they walk, the level of noise they have their headphones set at... I think it's called SCREAM on the dial. When I'm on the track, I also enjoy creating life stories of the people on the track with me.. their names, their jobs, what they're thinking about, what they were doing before they got there today. It's just another way to allow my mind release energy and avoid focusing on the pain of exerting my body for a small amount of time. Sometimes my Glee playlist doesn't always do the trick.

So after a fun filled day of doing nothing, and loving it, it's now Monday night, about 10:20(ish), and that means just one thing..... time for bed, then time for work. Now, typically I would enter some complaint or heavy sigh about how much I hate going to work... however, tonight I couldn't be more thankful to say that I get to wake up in the morning and I get to go to work and clock in, because I am BLESSED to have a job.

There are so many, so many people who are jobless right now. And I can promise you fellow bloggers, that those people would bend over backwards and do anything to switch roles with me, just so they would have employment. Regardless of how hard it may be, how boring the workload is, or how slowly the time passes... bottom line remains, I have a job.

Not just any job, but one that offers health insurance, guaranteed pay every two weeks, evenings and weekends off, holidays off.... like President's Day. Opportunities for vacation time and comp time, and a personal day on top of that..... I'm only 24, and I have a job that some people would work their whole life to obtain. Such a genuine blessing, that I am so incredibly thankful for. And on top of all that, I get to be a light for the Kingdom to my coworkers (like Stella, see previous post) and to my clients. I am able to offer them a genuine love and kindness through the Father, in such a dark and hard time of their life, such a rich opportunity.

On Friday my supervisor gave me some super sweet information... they support me in going to Grad School, and they understand that it's something that I want and need to do full time. They also told me that if I choose to continue working full time, they would be as flexible as possible to make sure that school is my priority. But if need be, part time is also an option...

To top it all off... she told me that my request regarding the dress code at our Agency was approved for me. About two weeks ago, I informed my supervisor and the Director of our Agency that I was interested in partaking in a cause that would take form through fashion, and that I was planning on wearing the same dress for one month. However, I knew that in order to do this I would have to be sure that it wouldn't be out of line with the dress code policy. My request to do 1 dress for 1 month was authorized. Starting March 15th, I will be walking alongside Amy, and countless other woman to support and raise awareness for the Daughter Project. FOR THE DAUGHTERS!

For all of these reasons, I am thankful that I have not any job, but my job.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

notecards for Stella.

After church this morning, I headed back to my apartment for an early lunch and had full intentions of going to the Community Center for my Sunday mid-afternoon run (I say like as if I normally do that on Sundays, and I don't... I felt the need to be honest there). However, I was feeling particularly proud of my hair today, and I didn't want the ponytail to ruin my luscious locks, so instead I went to Panera to be productive.

For the past week I have been trying to carve out time to work on this project thing that I created in my mind for a good friend of mine. My friend, we'll call her Stella, is on her spiritual journey and seeking answers and asking questions about who Jesus is, what his purpose is, ect. So, I wanted to take the opportunity this Valentine's Day to share with her the most beautiful love story ever, the story of Jesus the Christ.

So, that's what I set out to do at Panera today. It was suggested to me this weekend by a dear friend and mentor, Kimberly, to give Stella notecards on a ring that way she can take them apart if she'd like, and maybe carry it with her if she wants to... I liked the idea, so I ran with it.

As I went through the four gospels, choosing which miracles, stories, and encounters I wanted to include in the love story to build the character of Christ I couldn't help but be reminded of when I had heard these stories for the first time. Before I knew it, there I was in the middle of Panera teary eyed and over come with emotion. I was so thankful in that moment for how the Lord moved in my heart, for how is was speaking to me, for me, about those scriptures I was reading. In that moment, I felt such a sense of urgency in what I was sharing. I so longingly would love to see Stella find her home in the arms of Jesus, and for her to see the beauty of His life and sacrifice.

In Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love, he writes about an older woman named, Grandma Clare (or maybe it's Clara - anyways). When this woman describes her morning routine and time with the Lord, she says that when she's done each day, she is so excited and anticipates the next morning when she can be with Jesus again, that she is moved to tears. Gosh, wouldn't it be awesome to be a woman like that, to have the longing for that intimacy with God the way Grandma Clare does? Even an ounce of that would be so moving to behold, to treasure. Not only do I want that for my own spiritual journey, but I crave that for Stella. I pray that she not only finds true life at the foot of the cross, but that she finds true and irreplaceable intimacy in her relationship with the Father.

I plan on giving these notecards to Stella tomorrow, for Valentine's Day. I've never been the mushy-gushy Valentine's Day is awesome kind of girls, however tomorrow is a day to celebrate love and relationships. What better way to do that, then by giving my friend the greatest love story ever told, and His desire to share that love with us.

I'll be sure to keep you posted about Stella.





Sunday, February 6, 2011

Micah goes to Meijer.

After a few months of abandoning my blog, I can proudly say that I am back! I had a bit of some encouragement from a good friend and fellow blogger, that helped me put some perspective back into my blogging adventures. So here I am, ready or not! ;)

So the Super Dee-Duper Bowl is today, yeah... big deal. I honestly have no idea who is even playing, nor do I care quite frankly. However, I will say this, I am so excited about the post game! Glee will be making it's Season 2 Volume 2 debut after the game, and I am stoked! I've been waiting for this moment for two months! Yes, seriously! It's going to be fabulous, and I cannot wait. Also, it will be fun to celebrate in the festivities with some close and dear friends.

Since my last post, I do have some updates. You'll be happy to know that I was accepted to Grad School at BGSU!! Woo-hoo! I'll be starting this coming fall, so August of 2011, and I cannot wait! It's going to be awesome! Totally ready to get back to the books, wow... I honestly never thought that I would say that! :)

This morning at Brookside, our Church family did something really cool. We ended early and headed to Meijer to contribute to the needs of a local food pantry here in Bowling Green. It was awesome! Well over 200 people from Brookside were storming the aisles of the store filling our carts full of goods to fill the empty cabinets and shelves of families and children within this community who are in desperate need of food. Our church filled over 6 truck loads of grocery needs for the food pantry. As this beautiful chaos was going on, my friend (and fellow B-sider) Holly and I were asked to help watch over the little kiddos as they too carried their purchases to the trucks.

Check this out: The children in our Children's Ministry collectively pulled their moneys together to also contribute to our Church's mission in giving to the food pantry. As the kids were checking out at the register (with help from a parent of course), I had the chance to ask them some questions about what they were doing, and it was so beautiful to hear their hearts through their responses. Here's a glimpse at one of the conversations I had today with my little friend while we were walking out to the truck. The beautiful part is, he's only six.

Me: Hey Micah, where is all of this food going?
Micah: Into that truck.
Me: Do you know where that truck is going?
Micah: Yeah, to the Food Pantry.
Me: Ohh, and what's that?
Micah: I don't know for sure, but I know that they need our help, and that's why I got to get groceries today with my brother.

I was totally caught off guard by his response. What a testament of faith and a heart longing to help and serve, coming from a six year old! How beautiful! It's amazing how easy it is for us to get in a mind set where we feel like giving and serving is a burden or something we have to do... when in reality it's more like what Micah said, we get to do it.

What a blessing it is for me to be a part of a Church family that desires to bless it's community.