It's not always the destination we remember but how we got there

The task of getting us oriented for our coming year of service fell to the wonderful Young Adult Volunteer Alumni, or YAVA,as well as the YAV staff. We spent a week at the Stony Point Center figuring out how we fit into this grand scheme of living out our faith, serving, and being served. If it sounds like a daunting task, I'm sure you're right. It has got to be unbelievably difficult to get 70 some odd people ready for various placements in various cities/countries all in one week so hats off to all of them for getting it done. 

Orientation: the determination of the relative position of someone or something

Why yes, that is how I think of the word orientation, but hey, what can I say other than I'm an engineer, but the fact of the matter is, it still applies. My orientation in life is determined relative to not only God but the people around us. Or to be totally geeky, God is my coordinate system, who gives meaning and placement to my life, but without relationships to other people, I'm just a point in space. God has placed so many other people around us (other points in space) and with that connection between us, we become a vector, having direction as well as magnitude, we become substantial.

Sometimes I forget that this is the way we are made. In college after the Search retreat, they asked us to stand up and say what we learned that weekend. I don't think I'll ever forget the words I said that day "This weekend I learned I can't do everything on my own" but sometimes I forget to live that out. I think the most important thing orientation has taught me is that exact sentiment, I can't do everything on my own; I need God and I need other people. Meeting the other YAVs serving this year as well as knowing there are so many YAVA creating a net of love and support is a wonderful, comforting, amazing experience.

I'm an introvert by nature and I truly enjoy spending time in solitude but we are made for more that just that. In the words of Toby Mac "I was made to love, and be loved by you" It's something I need to remember and I hope as the year progresses, I will seek to live out that love and embrace the love of others.

I leave you with some fun highlights of the week, some of which I didn't get pictures of so you get awesome drawing version!

Stony Point had pigs! They were super cute and were working on getting the fields ready!

Me, Audry, and Colleen after our walk to the lighthouse nearby. I am truly honored that we could be there for Audry's first lighthouse experience since apparently Kansas doesn't have lighthouse, who would have guessed?

Colleen and I put our feet in the ocean one more time before heading out to orientation.

I went to a Quaker meeting in the meditation room at Stony Point during a storm and it was an awesome time of being still, and knowing that God is God and I am not as well as a time of community, peace, and refreshment for the day.

Kathryn is a Zumba instructor so she taught a class for us. It was incredibly awesome and I loved every second of the dancing and the amazing faces she makes.

Pieces of New Jersey

The time has come for the list. What list, you ask? Why, it's the list of things that are classic New Jersey that I wanted to experience one more time before leaving the east coast for a year. The list is in no particular order and there are a few things that made the list but didn't get photographed so they are going to start off the list.

• Say hi and bye to friends and family (if I didn't make it to you, consider this my personal virtual hi and bye)
• Take a dip in the ocean/beach it up
• WAWA!

Stuffing my face with delicious hoagie!

Peach tea, smokey turkey with honey mustard and spinach, and of course pickles on the side

• Have dad make french toast! This one was made with peach bread from the Amish market, thanks to Kim for the bread!

• Ride my bike and watch the sun set over the bay.

• Surf Taco! Baja bowl as modeled by Jamie with Kevin in the back using the magic new soda machine (it's touch screen and has magical selections)

• Eat some pork roll! Yeah, I enjoy a piece every once in a while so I officially got my one piece a year in, the rest of the pan was for dad.

• Get stuck in traffic on the bridge while it opens! Okay, that wasn't really on my list of things to do but as it turns out, it did in fact happen in the last few days and is pretty much a standard of living on the island, so here it is none the less.

• Go Kayaking down to the lighthouse. The current was crazy strong but we made it all the way.

  

  Look, we're holding the lighthouse in our hands, sort of...

Just chillin' in the back bay

Dad and I managing to pose nicely for a photo.

• And last but not least, by any means - Go to Sonic with Jamie. Seriously, it was delicious. While I realize there are Sonics around the country, it just won't be the same without Jamie or a nuclear power plant in the background.

I've come to realize that a lot of things on the list involved food, and you know what, I'm okay with that. Food is delicious and I'm not apologizing for enjoying and savoring both it and the people with whom I got to experience the joys of eat these amazing foods. With that, I leave you with a picture of my last dinner at home - Roy Rogers biscuits with honey, scallops, and tofu noodles.

Also please note the awesomeness that is my dinosaur pasta scooper from Ikea.

As my time winds down until I leave for orientation (down to hours in fact), I am so excited to be starting my journey that I am sure will be filled with epic adventures as well as God's love, wisdom, and guidance.  Colleen and I leave tomorrow for orientation in NY where we will spend a week before parting ways on Monday when I will fly out to Montana and she will be driving to New Orleans so please keep our travels in your prayers. 

PS Just thought you should all know that I am also super excited to be spending a full week with Colleen before we depart.  You are all probably jealous of me that I get to spend a week with her (and if you are not, you should be) but I have to get my Colleen time in too before we leave. So here's to one last road trip!

The Countdown Begins!

First of all giant thank you to all who supported my fundraising campaign! My current total at last count is 2500 of the total 3000 I need to raise so a giant woot for reaching my initial goal of 2000! For the visually oriented of those of you, here's a graphic representation. And in case you don't recognize the shape, that is in fact the shape of Montana, but of course you all know that right?

If you haven't received a thank you in the mail yet, it should be winging itself to you shortly through the postal service. So while you wait, here's a picture of me making the excited face for you with the opportunity to give you a virtual high five; just place your hand to the screen and bam, instant high 5!

So I officially head out to orientation in one week from today. While it seems crazy that the time is finally coming when I will be out of the state for a year, I am unbelievably excited to be starting this journey and promise to update much more frequently. In my final days in the state there are some quintessential New Jersey things I want to enjoy once more before leaving so stayed tuned in the coming week to find out what makes the list but feel free to leave some comments on here if you have some suggestions.