I got the apartment! I move in August 1st and I'm very excited.
Yesterday I had an ice cream social for my youth group. It was a lot of fun! Tons of ice cream and toppings. We also played spoons and mafia... which got a lot more violent than when I was a teenager!
Nothing else too exciting happened. I'm basically writing this blogpost so I don't have to clean my room. Or pack. Or fold clothes...
Reflection: Yesterday when one of the 7th graders looked at me and said, "this is a lot of fun!" I agreed and then realized how awesome it is that I got to give these teens a fun day at church. God is awesome. At first I was nervous having a group of 7th-12th graders. I was nervous that I wouldn't know how to minister to the middle schoolers. However, I realized yesterday that this gives me a longer time to work with these youth. I really get to know them and be there for them as they grow up. I'm excited to be around these teens for a long time!
Lesson Learned: Just because you go in your room to clean, doesn't mean you actually will. You'll most likely just end up sitting on your bed on your computer.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moving Forward
It's been a quiet week at the Buschow house. Justin, his parents, his brother and his sister are all on Alive in You right now in Wisconsin. Carter, Justin's Grandma and I have been holding down the fort! I had to work late three days this week. So they told me not to come in to work this morning! Fridays are half days anyway, and I enjoyed sleeping in.
Monday I had my first meeting with the girl making her Quinceañera in November. I'm meeting with her seven times before her event. I was super excited! It went really well and I got two more phone calls this week about other girls who want to schedule theirs.
Wednesday night I had a meeting with a lot of the Catechists that will be volunteering with the program in the Fall. It was a great meeting! I'm glad I got to meet a lot of them. It has been a struggle just getting in contact with a lot of volunteers.
Today I'm going to look at an apartment that I'm leaning towards renting. I looked at the complex on Saturday and now they have an opening for a one bedroom. It's in Arlington and it would only be about a 25 minute drive from my work and 35 minutes away from Justin and his family. I wanted something in the middle so hopefully it works out!
I'm so ready for this hour long commute to end. I didn't leave my church until 8:45pm on Wednesday because of the meeting. As soon as I started driving home I remembered that the highway I was taking closed a section by the airport after 8pm. Since I didn't feel like turning around I figured it would only take me a little longer to get home. It took me two hours to get back. It took me an hour to go two miles because the construction was forcing everyone to go down to one lane. Do you know what it's like to be stuck between thousands of cars and two cement walls for an hour at 10pm with one battery bar left on your phone and your gas light turns on? I do. Thankfully I didn't have to be "that girl" who broke down and caused even more of a back up.
Reflection: If you would have told me, even a year ago, that I was looking at an apartment 2 minutes away from Cowboys Stadium I would have built a time machine to travel to the future and slap me in the face. It's crazy where life, and God, take you. I'm so happy to be in Dallas but I'll have to represent for the 49ers even more now.
Lesson Learned: When you are ministering to a young adult and you write a letter saying, "God can get on our last nerve sometimes. But it's when we figure out why he irks us so much that we learn how to grow," expect God to get on your last nerve. I guess I was asking for it.
Monday I had my first meeting with the girl making her Quinceañera in November. I'm meeting with her seven times before her event. I was super excited! It went really well and I got two more phone calls this week about other girls who want to schedule theirs.
Wednesday night I had a meeting with a lot of the Catechists that will be volunteering with the program in the Fall. It was a great meeting! I'm glad I got to meet a lot of them. It has been a struggle just getting in contact with a lot of volunteers.
Today I'm going to look at an apartment that I'm leaning towards renting. I looked at the complex on Saturday and now they have an opening for a one bedroom. It's in Arlington and it would only be about a 25 minute drive from my work and 35 minutes away from Justin and his family. I wanted something in the middle so hopefully it works out!
I'm so ready for this hour long commute to end. I didn't leave my church until 8:45pm on Wednesday because of the meeting. As soon as I started driving home I remembered that the highway I was taking closed a section by the airport after 8pm. Since I didn't feel like turning around I figured it would only take me a little longer to get home. It took me two hours to get back. It took me an hour to go two miles because the construction was forcing everyone to go down to one lane. Do you know what it's like to be stuck between thousands of cars and two cement walls for an hour at 10pm with one battery bar left on your phone and your gas light turns on? I do. Thankfully I didn't have to be "that girl" who broke down and caused even more of a back up.
Reflection: If you would have told me, even a year ago, that I was looking at an apartment 2 minutes away from Cowboys Stadium I would have built a time machine to travel to the future and slap me in the face. It's crazy where life, and God, take you. I'm so happy to be in Dallas but I'll have to represent for the 49ers even more now.
Lesson Learned: When you are ministering to a young adult and you write a letter saying, "God can get on our last nerve sometimes. But it's when we figure out why he irks us so much that we learn how to grow," expect God to get on your last nerve. I guess I was asking for it.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
DFW to OKC for CHWC
What up! Just got back from my mission trip to Oklahoma City! I had a great time working with the teens and serving the people of OKC. We went on Catholic Heart Work Camp.
CHWC was the first mission trip I ever went on. I was 15 and I went with St. Benedict's to Blufton, SC. I was instantly hooked on mission trips! Therefore I thought it was very fitting that the first mission trip I went on with my own youth group was Catholic Heart (although it was hard to not be biased after working on Alive in You the past two summers.) I remember being a teen and looking up to the cool college music guy and buying his CD so he could get through school. Now that guy (Dante) is married with a kid and still doing music for Catholic Heart! He told me that his first camp playing music was the Blufton camp. He also told me he had just seen P. Smith in Memphis. (Insert repetitive Disney song here. )
It was crazy hot in OKC. High of 105 one day. CHWC splits you up to work with teens from all over the country (which has its pros and cons.) I worked with 4 teens from Wisconsin and one from Austin, TX. The ones from Wisconsin had a difficult time staying motivated in the heat. We scraped and painted a house for a man who had some disabilities because of the chemicals he was exposed to during his work in a printing factory. Other people from my church put siding up on a house, cleared a yard, organized a barn and did some other painting jobs.
When I got off the bus with my work group we were met by our Code Officer who showed us where our supplies were and what we would be doing. He looked at my group and said to our bus driver, "Does this group not have an adult leader?" After I told him that I was the leader he said, "oh, I guess I'm just used to older adults who can drive and bring their groups in cars."
I can drive. I'm an adult. I'm a 22 year old Youth Minister, dude!
But he ended up being super nice and came to the program on Thursday that CHWC hosts for all of the residents we help. He said a few words about our group and it was really sweet. Apparently he and his wife are on a waiting list to adopt a child from Catholic Charities! So say a few prayers for his family!
The Archbishop of Oklahoma City came and said Mass for us on Friday! That was really cool. I was so excited that I got out my camera and took a creepy stalker shot of him saying his homily. Enjoy:
This week I have been working on scheduling for the fall and getting a group together for the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference. It's like NCYC but put on by the Diocese of Dallas and it's the first time they are ever doing it! I had 6 teens respond that they would like to attend and I'm so excited to bring them.
Next week Justin and most of his family is going on Alive in You to Wisconsin with their church. I'll be holding up the home front with his grandmother and little brother! Carter is probably excited that he gets the Xbox all to himself.
My family took their annual trip to New England this past week. I was sad I couldn't be with them but I got to Skype with them a few times. God willing I will be able to go with them next year!
Reflection: Last post I said how being a youth minister takes the perfect balance of assertiveness and humility. That is still true, along with the fact that you can have 0% shame. There was a dance party one night on the mission trip and the only girl in my group wanted someone to go up and dance with her near the front of the stage. I rocked my face off, awkward white girl style.
Lesson Learned: Being stuck on a roof without a ladder painting siding in sweatpants in 100 degree weather is very uncomfortable. (The shingles were too hot for me not to wear two pairs of pants, I was the adult so I was the only one allowed on the roof, someone in my group came to borrow my ladder and "no one could hear me" when I was calling for them to bring it back. That was a difficult task.)
Oh hey it's me on a roof! Doesn't that look safe?
PS: Doesn't the Director of Youth Ministry at this church look super awesome and fun and amazing and incredible? Check out my Youth Ministries Page!
CHWC was the first mission trip I ever went on. I was 15 and I went with St. Benedict's to Blufton, SC. I was instantly hooked on mission trips! Therefore I thought it was very fitting that the first mission trip I went on with my own youth group was Catholic Heart (although it was hard to not be biased after working on Alive in You the past two summers.) I remember being a teen and looking up to the cool college music guy and buying his CD so he could get through school. Now that guy (Dante) is married with a kid and still doing music for Catholic Heart! He told me that his first camp playing music was the Blufton camp. He also told me he had just seen P. Smith in Memphis. (Insert repetitive Disney song here. )
It was crazy hot in OKC. High of 105 one day. CHWC splits you up to work with teens from all over the country (which has its pros and cons.) I worked with 4 teens from Wisconsin and one from Austin, TX. The ones from Wisconsin had a difficult time staying motivated in the heat. We scraped and painted a house for a man who had some disabilities because of the chemicals he was exposed to during his work in a printing factory. Other people from my church put siding up on a house, cleared a yard, organized a barn and did some other painting jobs.
When I got off the bus with my work group we were met by our Code Officer who showed us where our supplies were and what we would be doing. He looked at my group and said to our bus driver, "Does this group not have an adult leader?" After I told him that I was the leader he said, "oh, I guess I'm just used to older adults who can drive and bring their groups in cars."
I can drive. I'm an adult. I'm a 22 year old Youth Minister, dude!
But he ended up being super nice and came to the program on Thursday that CHWC hosts for all of the residents we help. He said a few words about our group and it was really sweet. Apparently he and his wife are on a waiting list to adopt a child from Catholic Charities! So say a few prayers for his family!
The Archbishop of Oklahoma City came and said Mass for us on Friday! That was really cool. I was so excited that I got out my camera and took a creepy stalker shot of him saying his homily. Enjoy:
This week I have been working on scheduling for the fall and getting a group together for the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference. It's like NCYC but put on by the Diocese of Dallas and it's the first time they are ever doing it! I had 6 teens respond that they would like to attend and I'm so excited to bring them.
Next week Justin and most of his family is going on Alive in You to Wisconsin with their church. I'll be holding up the home front with his grandmother and little brother! Carter is probably excited that he gets the Xbox all to himself.
My family took their annual trip to New England this past week. I was sad I couldn't be with them but I got to Skype with them a few times. God willing I will be able to go with them next year!
Reflection: Last post I said how being a youth minister takes the perfect balance of assertiveness and humility. That is still true, along with the fact that you can have 0% shame. There was a dance party one night on the mission trip and the only girl in my group wanted someone to go up and dance with her near the front of the stage. I rocked my face off, awkward white girl style.
Lesson Learned: Being stuck on a roof without a ladder painting siding in sweatpants in 100 degree weather is very uncomfortable. (The shingles were too hot for me not to wear two pairs of pants, I was the adult so I was the only one allowed on the roof, someone in my group came to borrow my ladder and "no one could hear me" when I was calling for them to bring it back. That was a difficult task.)
PS: Doesn't the Director of Youth Ministry at this church look super awesome and fun and amazing and incredible? Check out my Youth Ministries Page!
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