angela. grace.
"If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day."
- alex noble
Pay It Backwards: An Act Of Coffee Kindness
I completely admire the love for mankind in this story.
(via cakeface)
i can not update too much at the moment. but i just wanted to take a moment to explain to all you readers (yes, the many!) what my current situation is!
on monday, my new team & myself, left denver to head to sunny…uhm…beautiful!… umm no… well.. the big! state of texas! we arrived in austin tuesday night and today we had in-processing and paperwork with FEMA! we received our FEMA badges and tomorrow we are further trained before we head out to Galveston, TX! we are staying in a place called Camp Tarmac, which is an airstrip that has been transformed into a Tent City for volunteers! I am SO EXCITED! it will be such an experience to be right in the middle of all the damage and heartache and I really hope that I may be put into a position to truly make a difference. I hope to update as much as possible…but the next 6 weeks are going to be ridiculously busy!
i love you all and can not wait till the HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!
the following is a speech that i wrote in hopes to be picked to speak at our Americorps NCCC induction. i was not chosen…but i am posting this here for documentation purposes, as well as to share with you all the bigger picture of this organization and the impact it has already had on my life.
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William Arthur Ward once said, “Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service and character.” I love this quote because goodness, humility, service and character are the attributes of what an AmeriCorps member stands for and why we are here.
We have made it to the ceremony that officially begins the most challenging and rewarding experience of our lives. It is hard to believe that a month ago we were complete strangers, but now, 4 weeks later, we have become family. – A month ago we were unsure if this program would begin on time, yet 4 weeks later we are days away from fulfilling our hearts desire of serving others.
We have come from all corners of the country with a variety of life experiences and education. However, no matter how vast our backgrounds are, we now officially share a unique bond … We are Americorps NCCC members! We all gave up our comfort zones by taking up this opportunity. We left behind our hometowns, jobs, and our circle of friends & family, for 10 months of uncertainty and sacrifice. The remaining 9 months will undoubtedly bring us pain, joy, stress, laughter and some of the greatest memories. But more important that all of what we will gain…..is what we will give. We will give hope to those who don’t think they could ever recover & strength to those who may be too weak to survive on their own. We will fight fires, help the environment, mentor children and bring communities together. We will touch the hearts of Americans young and old and truly make a difference in the lives of those who need us most.
I am so thankful to be teamed up with more than 200 people who have a spirit that is ready and willing to serve. I encourage every single Corps member to take full advantage of each moment we have here. Every person has a story….take the time to discover it. Take advantage of every day’s hard work and every weekend’s opportunity to rest. Our remaining time in NCCC is going to fly by and before we know it, we will be reflecting on this experience as one of the best years of our life.
Be proud of this organization and constantly strive to meet and exceed the standards that are before us. We have a challenging 9 months ahead, but I could not be more certain that Class 15 will be completely successful. I am extremely thankful and honored to be associated with all of you and I look forward to hearing the results of all of our hard work.
So to the Denver Class 15, Fire, Earth, Water & Sun Units, as well as our Leaders: As we go forward, remember to love each other and respect the community. Work harder than you ever have before, but make time to laugh and play often. Create everlasting bonds with these people who are your family….But more than anything else, keep in mind our purpose and why we are here:::Goodness, humility, service and character. By staying focused on this….we WILL achieve greatness.
the above picture was taken nearly a week ago. we spent last friday hiking through rocky mountain national park.
yes. i got paid (very little, yet still paid) to hike through this beautiful scenery for my current job. i am so thankful for this experience and all that i am seeing and learning so far.
at the moment we are nearing the end of our 4th to last day in denver. on monday we will be leaving to travel to Austin, Texas, where we will be trained by FEMA. we will be assisting FEMA in any way possible to aid in the disaster relief from the hurricanes that occurred over the past few months. I know this experience will be one of the most tiring, challenging events that i must conquer. but i am SO READY! I have a wonderful team and am looking forward to creating ever lasting bonds with them.
i will try to keep this blog updated as much as possible over the next 6 weeks of craziness in texas. I am trying to give as much detail in this blog as possible in hopes that people who are interested in joining NCCC will have a better idea of what to expect.
check facebook often for many and all pics that are often uploaded.
so thats pretty much it for all. i am in love with denver, boulder, colorado and the WEST in general. (yes brent… you were right .. you completely CALLED it that i would love it out here) i love the beauty, the culture and the people in general. everyone is always on the go to do something physically entertaining and challenging.
As i pack up my dorm that has been home for the past month, i hope and pray that i will be returning to denver for a long period of time once again in the future. our teams will return to denver every now and then as it is our home base. but we will never again have an entire month to soak up this wonderful city. i hope i will return permanently but who knows what life has in store!
<3ubsm
2 weeks down, 2 weeks of training to go! we are now halfway through our NCCC training and by the end of next week we will find out our permanent teams and later in October we will find out our first project. there were quite a few moments today that nearly brought me to tears as the realization of this experience hit me, once again.
the first moment was right after we completed baseline. Baseline consists of a mile 1/2 run as well as completing as many sit-ups & pushups in 2 minutes that we can. the goal of completing baseline to the best of our ability is for our own personal record so that we can track our physical progress throughout the year. after this was finished, i walked along a hill that runs along the back of campus and overlooks the mountains. The peaks of the mountains are capped with snow and absolutely gorgeous. I realized, once again, that this experience is one of a kind and THE event of my young life. Its sometimes hard to understand how I even ended up here. The entire process of applying to NCCC was kind of on a whim. I knew that I wanted to have a different experience right after I graduated but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. God led me directly to this experience and I am so thankful.
Another moment that brought tears to my eyes today occurred just a few moments ago. We had a workshop on “healthy living” in AmeriCorps. The AmeriCorps counselor came to speak to us about depression, homesickness, etc. She then had all of our team leaders come to the front of the room to create a panel so that we could ask questions about projects and their previous experiences as Corps members before they became team leaders. One story was told that I am sure I will never forget.
An Americorps team had been assigned a project in the Gulf and they were coming through to gut the house and remove all the damage so that the frame would remain and remodeling the home could occur. Well, as this team was working on the home, a couple stopped by to ask them what they were doing to the home…the team explained who they were and what their project and purpose was and the couple, completely confused, quietly walked away. A week later the couple appeared again and asked them the same question…the team was a bit surprised that these people were so confused about what they were doing but they explained again what the project was. The couple then revealed that the reason they were asking, is because this was their home and they had no idea that AmeriCorps was assigned to help them. They had been staying in a shelter or some sort of housing for victims and it turned out that AmeriCorps had accidently assigned the wrong home to the team. AmeriCorps was never intended to be working on their home. The couple later revealed to the team that they were so thankful that they were helping them because they were in such distress that they had previously planned to commit suicide. They had picked out a date and were set on ending their lives because of the amount of distress they were in.
This is such a clear picture of how God works. I am so thankful that I will be able to work for this organization for the next 9 1/2 months. I pray that I may make even a fraction of the difference in one person’s life as this team did.
aNg
Denver.
this is where i live (for) now.
and its absolutely breathtaking!
GO . JAGS .
the past week has been pure insanity. i have already been through more in a week than most people experience in years! this experience is most definitely going to be THE experience of my life. every single day we are trained with lessons that i will hold with me forever. this past week we have been learning all about americorps nccc, our benefits, our teams (aka our family for the next 10 months) and some of the basic skills that we will be using throughout our projects. the people here are absolutely incredible…some of the smartest, most caring people i have ever met.
the highlight of my week was definitely sunday, october 12, when me and a few of the americorps men headed downtown to see MY JAGS take on the denver broncos. it was wonderful having a little piece of home with me here in denver. i had a wonderful time and was so thankful that we WON!
i am so thankful for this experience and i encourage anyone and everyone remotely interested in this opportunity to really look into it. i know that this job is going to help me with my future career/education goals more than any other 10 month job could do for me.
<3ubsm.
I AM IN DENVER!
so, a decision was not made until friday afternoon, but it was made, and here i am. It has been a complete whirlwind ever since i found out that i was coming to Denver. yesterday was me & brent’s 2 year anniversary and also the day i flew out of jacksonville at 6 am. it was one of the hardest things i have ever done and yesterday i was unfortunately questioning this entire commitment. However, today is a new, beautiful day and i am feeling much more optimistic. the fact is that this program is INCREDIBLE. they put together projects that really do help out others and we are trained through top notch activities and people. we have a month of training in denver and by the beginning of november we will be making our way out for our first project somewhere along the gulf coast (i assume). i hope to adjust to life here quickly. i have already met some incredible people and i am excited to begin this process. keep me in prayer for all of the trials and challenges i WILL be facing. take care yall!
<3 - bsm.
aNg
today a decision will be made.
but i should backtrack.
monday night, i came home from work…a shift that was supposed to be my 3rd to last shift. I came home only to log on to Facebook and instantly get an online msg from a teammate who had received a msg stating that our Denver Class had been postponed and that we would be receiving a phone call on Tuesday to explain.
Tuesday came and went and no one received a phone call. We have an online group where all 200 of us can communicate and talk about how excited we are for Denver, however this group quickly became full of chaos and panic as word of this delay spread.
I feel that many people don’t understand how significant this delay is and how destructive it is to the hundreds of volunteers for AmeriCorps NCCC. The volunteers for the Denver Fall class as well as the Sacramento Fall class have both received numerous confirmations about this trip as well as plane tickets that were set to leave as early as 5am on Monday morning. These volunteers have quit their jobs, sold their homes, sold their cars and packed their lives away into many boxes, storage centers and traveling bags. This is a HUGE hit to all of us.
There were all sorts of rumors flying around online yesterday. One that was pretty standard was that our class would be delayed until February 2nd, a delay that really forced me to decide if this is something I want to wait 4 more months to do… I decided that it is.
However, today we find out the truth. Today at 3pm a decision will be made and I am hoping with all my heart that we are either leaving on Monday or later this month…anything longer than that will destroy me. I have decided that I probably will wait for the next class in Ferbruary, but it doesn’t mean that I am happy to wait that long. That means 4 more months of serving at a restaurant, 4 more months of rent and living somewhere where I can not comfortably feel at home, 4 more months of not being happy because I am still not doing what I love to do.
I have forced myself to see the good in waiting 4 more months though and there is some good. I do feel like the bad wins in this contest though.
wish me luck, keep this process in your prayers.
