Community & Connectivity

Community and connectivity. These are the two words burning upon my heart today.

When I was in college, away from family, friends, and all that was familiar, I learned the importance of Christian accountability and fellowship for my spiritual growth. Sometimes it seemed way easier to remain distant and independent than to spend all the emotional energy it took for me to get into intentional community. But God eventually taught me that I CANNOT survive as an “independent Christian” - I was cut off from all the amazing gifts and encouragement from other believers that would lift me up in my own walk. The devil did all he could to prevent me from connecting, such that it even took until the middle of my third year in school to finally settle on a local church community. But once I finally pushed through, I sort of re-discovered myself in the context of a larger group. From the moment we are conceived not a single person is able to live independently, which is becoming more the case in our increasingly interconnected world. We rely upon our mothers to nurse us, our families to feed us and provide education, our governments to provide structure for our lives, our employers to provide us with income. We gain something from each of them, and they gain from us as well.

Starbucks: Not Open Late

9:40 PM. The local time as I begin this next blog post. About 30 minutes ago, I left my apartment at the shelter to go to Starbucks where I could use the gift card my sister bought me as a Christmas present. I dropped my roommate off at Subway down the street, stopped for $15 worth of gas to last me ‘til my next paycheck on Friday, and followed my GPS to the nearest Starbucks that I thought might be open late. (I found out a couple weeks ago that the closest one to me closes at 9 PM… far too early for a coffee shop to close in my opinion!)  Well, it led me to a grocery store which isn’t ideal when I need a table, chair, and Wi-Fi to do my blogging. So I put in the next nearest one, and as I approached I saw the chairs atop the tables like freshly cleaned teacups placed upside down and waiting for the next seating. I turned around and started to head back to my normal hang-out: Barnes & Noble which is always open until 11 PM but whose Starbucks café won’t accept Starbucks gift cards… very lame. But of course, why in the world should Barnes & Noble permit Starbucks to profit from their patrons??

So here I am, back at Barnes & Noble as usual because no Starbucks in Glendale is open past 9:30 PM on a weeknight. I wonder if I’m becoming a fixture here, like the four old Armenian men who sit at the exact same spot every weeknight, or the security guard who always gives me a weird look whenever I walk in the store with my backpack or my tote bag carrying my laptop. I’m thankful that at least I can count on Barnes & Noble to be open late.

An Ecclesiastes Week

Just got in from chasing down some residents who were still socializing in the hallway after curfew. It's a bit of a confusing role to be a girl in my twenties telling 30- and 40-year olds to "straighten up." It's certainly not my favorite thing about the job. But I have surprised myself. I have the capacity to do a lot of things I'm not initially comfortable with. Along the same line of thought, I was super proud of myself today when I checked a resident's gas heater that she couldn't get to work and figured out how to get the pilot light lit again. I did NOT want to have to call the gas company if it was something I could fix myself. So I read and re-read the instructions, praying I wouldn't blow up the apartment. It worked!

I got my own toolbox for Christmas, too. I'm becoming my own handyman. 

It's been a bit difficult the last two weeks, going home for Christmas and then returning to a busy workplace, all while reflecting on the multitude of changes that happened in the past year. I graduated from college, spent two months in a European squatter settlement, then moved across the country to start a new chapter of my life, with a new job, new people, new pace of life, new friends, new climate, new responsibilities. My family is also entering a new season. All these changes continue into 2012, so I enter into another year of great change. 

Christmas Lights

I'm not quite sure how it's December 21st already. One barely has time to turn around once December begins, and then it's over. Without final exams, school events, and tons of Christmas programs I thought that December would be a little more relaxed, BUT no such luck this year. Goings-on at the shelter have been busier than ever. Since it's been over two weeks since my last blog, I'll give a short bulleted overview of events since my last update:

• Dealt with a big verbal blow-up two Saturdays ago between two residents during on-duty time. Pretty high-stress. Had to tell a mom to "go to her room."
• Got a new roommate! Her name is Tiffany, and she's an Intercultural Studies student at Fuller Seminary. She's GREAT, and now I'm not alone as the only nights/weekends manager.
• Endured a flu epidemic among the residents here. I mentioned that I got sick, but literally every single staff member and nearly every resident, mothers and children, has gotten the flu sometime in the past month. The same weekend I had to deal with the verbal fight, another mom got really sick one evening. Tiffany and I attended to her baby and toddler while she was on the bathroom floor getting everything out, so-to-speak. I must admit I felt bad for her, but it was ironic because this particular mom has complained a lot that we are extremely "unhelpful" and "uncompassionate." She had even blown up on me earlier that day because of this issue! 
• Went to a Christmas party at the Beverly Hills Hotel with a woman from church who works there. It truly felt like a Cinderella night, because I got all dressed up, got a makeover from one of the moms here, and got to see inside one of the most luxurious five-star hotels in the country. Then at midnight... poof! All over. The only differences were that I still had both my shoes at the end of the night and no prince. I was glad to have my shoes though, because I really like them :)
• Tonight is Door of Hope's annual Christmas party and reunion. All residents and program alumni are invited to the huge event, and every single family created a wish list which Door of Hope annually has a Christmas drive for. The families will each receive gifts. We occasionally receive vehicles to present to deserving families, and we have chosen one of Glendale's moms to give a vehicle to tonight! I'm so excited, because this mom works very, very hard, has four kids who I LOVE. They are so deserving! Her old vehicle broke down a few weeks ago, and she has to use her day care company's van to drive to and from work even though it costs a boatload in gas. 

Bug Bugs, Flu Bugs & Phone Bugs... Just Kidding, Not the Last One :)

Cockroaches are gross. I don't think I've ever even seen one live before coming to California, not this many anyway. The far end of the building has been fighting an infestation for several months, with exterminators coming several times. If you don't know much about them, they like to come out at night when it's dark. Our kidsroom is one of the infested rooms, and the two times I've had to go in for things at night I could hear them walking on the linoleum floor and countertops when I walked in - no joke. I saw at least twenty of them the first time I walked in, and needing to check the computer hookup, I took a couple minutes to get myself adjusted to their presence and they to mine or else scurried away from the light. When I bent down to plug something in and a big one climbed out of the electrical socket, I think I seriously came close to a heart attack. This morning the exterminator came again, and after we were allowed re-entry into the room dead skeletons were all over the floor. I immediately resolved to vacuum them up. Unfortunately there were many live ones mixed in with the dead. After many squeals and squeamish cries of anguish, my co-worker and I managed to alleviate those visible. Out of sight, out of mind, for now.

After a weekend in spent in bed, I was elated to finally get out of my apartment and see the world again today. I caught a bug mid-week last week and began feeling rather snuffly, sneezy, and a little "off" in the head (as stopped up nasal passages somehow seem to stop up the brain as well). Of course, I took it only as seasonal allergies. With children coughing, sneezing, salivating, and transferring countless other unknown questionable substances from themselves to me, it was only a matter of time before I caught something. Plus the fact that half the city has some sort of flu or cold virus. I thought I was getting over it Saturday as I started to get my voice back, but my body decided that the scrumptious Chinese dinner I ate that night needed to go. And it did, as soon as I was able to get myself back into the building and make it to the bathroom. Saturday night was the most miserable I've had in a while, waking up nearly every hour from nausea and restlessness. I tend to be super independent, but this was one of those times when I felt pretty helpless and desperate and... yes, I had to call my mommy in the middle of the night just to cry and hear her voice. Even though mommies don't necessarily have magical healing powers, there's something about having them coddle you when you're sick - even if it's over the phone as a working 20-something - that makes you feel a bit stronger, like you can go on, just because you know they heard you.

I haven't been in my room for that extended a period of time like... ever, and while unpleasant, it forced me to slow down and get some much-needed rest.