Mid-way through...

It is crazy to think that we are already halfway through our summer project down here at Disney World, but it is also crazy to think that we still have half of it left! Last night was our Mid-way project banquet, which was a time to thank the staff for everything that they have done, now that they will be leaving us, and also it was a celebration of what is still yet to be done with students stepping up into the leadership roles and really taking ownership of the project and its purpose.

This last week has been insanely busy trying to balance work, talking to people, figuring out how all the leadership stuff will work out, and just the normal project activities that we have going on. We finally have gotten into a little bit of a groove with how our schedule for work is, so that has been one of the positives of the last couple of weeks. We are now working 5 days of the week, with Wednesday off to devote just to project and one other day off of work. It has been really good for us to actually get into a normal schedule at  work, so that we can truly get to know our coworkers and develop those relationships. We have really started to get to know some of the people there that we see on a regular basis. Now we are trying to figure out how we can really get to know them on a more personal level by hanging out with them outside of work situations. I am really excited to see how we can actually get into these people's lives and really share the love of Christ with them.

My carpool group has had to deal with some really odd, awkward situations at work with one of our coordinators at work, so a prayer request would be for that situation to be resolved quickly. We desire to share the love of Christ with everyone there, so we want to be as much of an example of how Christ would treat people while we are working.

At work this week, it was the 4th of July celebration on the 3rd and the 4th, but since the 4th was on a Wednesday, we didn't have to work on one of the busiest days of the year for the Magic Kingdom. We did get the opportunity to work on July 3rd, so me and my carpool group did get to experience some of the busyness of the holiday. At first, when we got assigned our positions on for the parades and fireworks, I was a little disappointed because I was assigned to the bypass, so I didn't think that I would really get to interact with the guests as much and help them out, but then I volunteered to work as one of the people who would be positioned at the entrance to the bypass and keep track of the amount of people who came into the bypass from my entrance. This was cool because I got to be out on the edge of the entrance and still help guests out with questions. In fact, I even got the opportunity to help out a lady and her older son with several disabilities with a request for a restroom where both of them could be in at the same time. Me and one of my coworkers blocked off the men's restroom, since it is less used, and directed other guest to other restrooms while they used it. It just so happened that my manager walked by while we were doing this and was wondering why I wasn't exactly where I was assigned, and after I explained it to him, he gave me a Great Service Fanatic (GSF) card. It is the first one that I have received that I actually earned. (While we were training, the manager gave us one when we first operated the turnstiles). It is always encouraging to be affirmed that I was doing a good thing, because most of the time if people do these things, it goes unnoticed since there isn't a manager around most of the time.

Today, the staff has actually left, so it is finally becoming a reality that we are now the ones who are operating this project and they are not here to work with us. The responsibility is now more a reality than it seemed to be just even last night when we were saying the things that we really appreciated about the different staff members. I am going to miss the talks that I had with my discipler Chad and my discipler at UNO Lee, but I am excited to get to go even deeper with the other people here on project and grow in my relationship with Christ. I am glad to say that I have definitely been figuring out a lot about myself and my relationship with Christ that I had not actualized before now. Chad made me a "vision plan" for me personally relating to what he saw in me as strengths and areas where I can improve. It was encouraging for me to see that what God had been just recently teaching me, were the same things that Chad encouraged me to grow in, so it is always awesome to see affirmation in what God is teaching me. He brings up things over and over for me, on purpose, and even though I hate the fact that I have lots of things to work on, it is an encouragement that I am listening to the right things that God has been revealing to me so far this summer.

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."

I have been figuring out how I have not really been myself most of my life, and that through Christ and the freedom that he gives, I just need to courageously be me and leave what happens with my life up to Christ. I can say that the 7-8 months of my life, I have been myself more than I ever had been for an extremely long time, and even thought it is still a struggle, I am becoming more of myself as I grow in Christ.

Here's to the 2nd half of summer project and trusting God for what he will do with it. I'm out!