Real Life Team Debrief: Kimonos Included
The month of December seems to be filled with moving parts. The three-month long Real Life trip I was leading ended on December 8th, and after a three-day leader debrief in Stone Mountain, I am back in Granada for another short spurt. Actually, I leave tomorrow for Young Life camp for five days. I’ll have a role there as ‘jefa de consejeria’ (that literally translates to ‘boss of counselors’), so I’ll essentially be stepping into new territory as I focus primarily on the female leaders as opposed to the Young Life kids. I hope it will be refreshing to step back into the Young Life sector since I took such a giant step away from it during the Real Life trip.
After I return from Young Life camp I will only be in Granada for one day before going home for Christmas on the 21st. I’m excited about spending a couple of weeks with my family and friends in Georgia, and especially for my sister Erin’s wedding which will be during that time as well.
When I return to Granada in January, I’ll have the privilege of spending the next four months or so with a new team through AIM called the Novas Project. This group of seven (with one more team member on the way) is already settled at El Puente and jumping into ministry. Seth Barnes Jr. has been guiding this team as they get to know the lay of the land, and I’ll jump on the bandwagon along with them after Christmas.
I cannot yet believe it, but it seems I’m entering the home stretch of my time here in Granada. January to May…it’s like spring semester of senior year, except I hope my willingness to dig into things here is a hundred fold what it was as a senior. El Puente has undergone grand changes in the past few months with some staff leaving and new members entering the scene, and it’s all been for good. I feel as if we’re sitting on the cusp of momentous progress in ministry and relationships, and I want to be as much a part of it as I can before I leave.
For me transition can be at times awkward, emotional, confusing, frustrating and yet refreshing. In the blur of the past few weeks I’ve felt all of the above and will probably continue to oscillate between those things as I keep processing the Real Life trip while moving forward at the same time. I have so much to learn and so much to grow in. Realizing that is easy. Being willing to grow up out of it is another story entirely.
And so that is where I’m left right now: reflecting, learning, transitioning. I have so much to look forward to and yet don’t want to miss the present moment. Nor do I want to so quickly walk ahead that I lose sight of the tougher parts of the last few months – the places I know the Lord has been stretching me and I need to grow in. Hopefully as I find the balance between those two things will I see the true growth the Lord is doing in me and be better prepared to handle what lies just ahead!
