Quiet

19 May 2011 1 Comment

by raindropsintheocean in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

I saw the sun rise three times today.  Third time’s a charm, Mr. Sun.  Actually, I lost count after the fourth or fifth time the sun rose from behind a peak, only to be obscured again as I drove through the hills from San Luis Obispo to Pismo Beach.  I dropped my housemate Tyler off at the train station early this morning.

Things are pretty quiet around here.  Most people are gone on outreach or vacation and support raising trips.  Will and Lori are having a new baby girl any day now.  We received a new staff woman, Jael, from the Netherlands a couple weeks ago and now she is away on her new staff outreach.  Our most recent addition is a friend from the surf DTS which ran at the same time as my DTS, Hoover.  We set him up in the guy’s room at our house, and he’ll start training next week.

Other than that, I am enjoying the newly redecorated office, painting a couple walls in the office, making a lot of art, playing violin in a musical, preparing for the next DTS and praying that God sends us more students so we can HAVE a DTS this July.

Like I said…quiet.

Playing in the Dirt

02 May 2010 Leave a comment

by raindropsintheocean in Uncategorized Tags: ,

My last post was April 9.  Could it be May already? 

The end of April is a “port of entry/exit” for our base.  What that means is this is the time when some staff go and other some on.  Cody will be leaving from his outreach location with the Discipleship Training School, and I had the pleasure of sending Lauren on her way last weekend.  Both of them will be in a transition time, discerning the next step in their lives.  Cody will be with International House of Prayer in Israel.  Lauren is on a short sabbatical in England.

We are also receiving a new staff member, Philip, who will be living in the Grover Beach.

Along with the port of entry, we will be having our “Big Ops” meeting, which is where we all come together, give our reports for each department, and “change seats on the bus”…which means we change which departments we are a part of, which ones we facilitate and so on.  I am currently facilitating four of the five departments I am a part of, and while I enjoy being involved with each of these departments, I don’t feel that I need to facilitate everything.  So please pray that the Lord directs me on how to commit my time over the next six months. 

Finally, in two weeks (May 12) we will be having the “16th Street Barbecue” to build community on our street and get to know our neighbors better. 

What does all this have to do with playing in the dirt?  I have been re-potting rescued plants today.  By the time I find them they have been sent from Trader Joe’s to the local food bank, where they will either die or be given away for free.  Most of them are wilty from being root bound, so I set them in the kitchen until I can attend to them.  One pot of herbs has been there a couple weeks because I needed to buy a bigger pot for it.  Several of the plants died, but a few were salvageable.  I have noticed, however, that every time I look at them they are swimming in water.  I think a roommate or a friend has taken it upon themselves to rescue the plants by drowning.  They are so root bound, however, that the water doesn’t even go through the pot.  It just sits there.  Convicted of my plant neglect, I purchased a larger pot for them today and freed them from their confined little marsh.  At the base of the lavender I found nearly a half inch of tangled, rotting roots.  The poor thing…my friend kept watering and watering it when what it really needed was soil and space. 

And then I think of all the transplanting that is going on around me…people moving in and out of the base, people moving around with responsibilities within the base.  It reminds me that sometimes the most obvious solution is not the one needed, and might even be harmful without the proper care.  I pray that we all find our feet in good, spacious soil with room to grow.

YWAM Pismo Beach Structure

19 Mar 2010 Leave a comment

by raindropsintheocean in Uncategorized Tags: ,

I thought it would be helpful, in my blog post this week, to explain the structure of the base and talk a little about the staff.

Currently, we have thirteen staff at YWAM Pismo:

Will
Lori
Brandon
Kirsten
Lauren
Natasha
Jaque
Cat
Cody
Tyler
Stephanie
Paulina
ME!

Base Ministry:  Our base has 15 departments (also called committees or ministries) that help it run.  These departments cover all the basic needs of the base: physical, financial, communications, administrative, spiritual, etc.  For instance, we need people to make sure we have paper clips, that checks are processed, that the toilet gets cleaned, that bills are paid, that people know about our base, and that we are doing the things we are called to do!  We share these responsibilities by serving within these departments.  Everybody serves in at least three, everybody facilitates at least one.  Some people also have personal ministries, which I can tell more about later.  We try to get all our work done, both for the base and personal ministries, during our work hours.  This just helps to keep us accountable for how we spend our time and also keeps our lives relevant to the culture in which we live.  A little story from yesterday will be a good example of how we all “wear different hats” and how that works together:

Lauren and Cat are both part of our Outreach Department and were going to the store to buy supplies.  I was with them on their errand because I had an errand of my own.  While we were out, I needed to take an hour from our work day for a last-minute appointment.  Lauren is on Guidance Committee (which is like the human resources department) and Cat, being in the Administrative department, is the person who is responsible for tracking time off and time away from base.  They were exactly the people I needed to communicate with!  They put on their administrative hats for a moment, we talked about the business side of what needed to be covered.  It was such a blessing!  Then they put on their supportive ministry friend hats and prayed with me.  Another amazing blessing.

The departments I am on are:

Hospitality
Intercession, Worship, and Spiritual Warfare
Outreach
Staff Development

People also have personal ministries and the base hosts two schools.  I can talk more about those another day.  I  hope this gives you a more clear glimpse into my life at YWAM Pismo Beach.