Drug Screen Queen

In this interim of waiting to find a full-time job, the Lord has provided two part-time jobs for me to continue gaining experience, keep me busy and off the streets, and fill my hands with some much needed dough!

On Monday nights I head up to New Hope Counseling Center which is located in Cumming (a name that everyone except Atlantans seems to think is dirty, and hilarious..whatev), about 35 miles from my house. With my car's air conditioning not really working up to par and not having a radio, I make the best of the drive up 400 North with the windows down and ipod blaring my new podcast downloads. BTW- has anyone ever heard Cartalk on NPR or the podcast of the show? It's so hilarious. People call up and talk to Click and Clack about their car problems. They are just like me too. This guy called up yesterday to talk about a noise his 1993 Toyota Tercell was making upon acceleration, which Click and Clack said sounded like grinding walnuts (the guy actually made an audio tape of it and played it on the air). The hilarious part- it had been going on for three years!!

Anyway, I digress. Last night was my second night helping to lead counseling groups for this center. All the patients there are mandated to counseling through Forsyth County's Drug Court program. All my clients in the group are trying to avoid felony drug charges and will be in counseling with us for 18 months. You would think I would be super nervous about leading the group, but what I'm the most nervous about is the drug screens. When the drug screens are on the schedule (it's random, no one knows till you get there), I take all the woman and one by one go into the bathroom with them and do the screen. It's so we have eyewitness accounts that they are not tampering with the urine. I had to do it last night for the first time and it went amazingly well. They all have good attitudes about it and even helped me if I missed a step (it has to be labeled correctly, etc). I'm not like, exactly prepared to invade their space like that, but you know, in this business I'm just learning to roll with it.

Then the group went off without a hitch!! Score. I think I'm getting better at all of this!!

Missions

One of the things that makes me sad sometimes about finding a full-time job is that I will be saying goodbye in some ways to my full-time work with missions. I've been involved in overseas missions at least since 1994 when I went on a week-long trip to Zacatacus, Mexico with my church. I remember being 14 years old and a Christian for just about 2 years, having to give my testimony in front of hundreds of people. I had no idea what I was doing but hopefully I said something impacting! In college I actually met missionaries and learned that they were not "super human" but really just people like any of us who are trying to follow Christ and live out his calling. I got to go to Australia for two months and do things like ride horses in a rain forest, pet kangaroos, hold koala bears...Oh yeah wait...all the while building relationships with students to tell them about Christ.

In pursuing a full-time job in counseling, I am not sure when my next tangible missions experience will be. That seems sort of strange. You would think that God would make it clear how my passion for missions and counseling would mix, but He seems content to keep most of those details at bay at this point, which is probably for the best =).

I was praying about this yesterday and I realized for the first time how so many people in the bible had just "normal" jobs. Like farmers, fisherman, wives, fathers, mothers, shepherds, etc. It seems as though they were doing their careers wholeheartedly, however, were also prepared to go and do what God asked of them when His timing was right.

This encouraged me to remember how much God has used me for His glory through missions in my short life so far. I've been with Mission to the World for almost seven years, and in all that time I've helped to coach and recruit missionaries to serve short-term for the gospel. I've gotten to serve elsewhere in Europe and Africa several times. If God has called me to a more secular job that is not directly related to the great commission on the outside, then why not embrace it wholeheartedly as an opportunity to fully do what God has asked as many, many others have done. Meanwhile, I can still be prepared to look for opportunities my job to serve him on a more missional level.

I have gotten interested primarily in how missions can be used in counseling, and there has been several "chance" encounters over the past few months where I have met missionary counselors who live either full-time in the states or abroad, working tiredlessly to serve those who are in full-time ministry and their mental health needs. I got an email just last week about an MTW disaster response team that is sending counselors to Myanmar to work with those effected by the cyclone. My friend Laura D volunteers with the Red Cross and does similar things in the states when tragedy strikes.

How will God use me in this? I do not know. But I do know that even if I never live 100% in another country as a missionary, there are still plenty of ways that He can use me just as I am here in Hotlanta.

Waiting

Ever since I took my National Counselor Exam on April 12, I have been anxiously awaiting for my scores to come in the mail. I have to pass this test to begin the process of becoming a licensed counselor through the state which like gives you credibility and employers actually want to look at your resume. So yeah, it was a big deal. I studied and studied and had like a ton of people praying for me and I felt fairly confident that I passed, but you never know.

It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks to get them back. The six week mark came and went and we went to Mexico. My first thought on the flight back was about those dad gum scores. Did they come? Did I pass?

We got home and I tore through the mail, feeling a hugh rush when I saw the "NBCC" logo, which is the organization that I took the test through. The envelope was soon open and I saw the word: PASS. Ahhhhh!!!!! It was such a good feeling. I did a little dance in the kitchen.

The scores came with a bunch of other instructions in what to do next now that I've proven, at least academically, that I can be a counselor. One of the papers said that I had to wait another 8 weeks for the NBCC to do everything they need to do to get my scores to the licensing board, which means more waiting before I can get my associate counselors license. What? Eight more weeks? I was a bit disappointed. I am so ready to get that credential!!

It really was a good reality check though in how much I was just focusing on this one aspect of my counseling career. Really, God can find me a job regardless and I'm in the same boat as the hundreds of others who graduated in May and are trying to be gainfully employed.

God has a lot to say about waiting in the Bible. And isn't it true that we're always waiting for something? How often has the thought of "I'll be fine once _____happens" entered my mind? What would it take to be calm and peaceful just for today? Fortunately, the Bible also has a lot to say about that. This process is frustrating sometimes, but I'm learning so much about how to focus on God's presence and not on what I want to fix or change in my life all the time. I can be complete and happy in Him if I keep my focus strong. It's also helping me to wait for the harder things that seem less tangible, like marriage and kids and a new car.

One of my fave verses on this topic:
"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." ~Romans 8:6
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Puerto Vallarta!

I knew it would be awesome, and relaxing. And Puerto Vallarta surely did not disappoint!

Thanks to my friends Magdalena and Paul, we spent a week at their condo for free. It was in the heart of Old Town, right on the edge of the Malacon, which is the boardwalk area of PV. We basically laid by the pool, laid by the beach, swam in the water, slept, ate, read, read and read, got massages, walked and enjoyed the beautiful weather by working on our tans. I've never really spent a lot of time working on my tan before, and to be honest, it is hard work. You're always putting on more suntan lotion, and sometimes it's hard to get your book at the right angle when you're trying to flip over and make sure the tan is equal. It's rough, I know.

One of the things I've always wanted to do was go parasailing. I remember seeing pictures of my mom and Aunt Ann doing it in PV, and I missed my chance to do it when I went on a cruise after college several years back. They basically had parasailing all over the beach, so all we had to go is walk out and go. If you've never been, what happens is you are strapped in to a harness that is attached to a parashute and a really long rope that goes into the ocean and tied to a speedboat. The speedboat takes off, and pretty soon you are up in the air. By the way, it's REALLY high. I was pretty sure for a while there that I was not going to make it. But once I stopped looking down at the ocean and started looking up at the mountains and the scenery, it became pretty fun. I was higher than all the condos, that's for sure. Once I had relaxed and started enjoyed it, it was pretty much over. I thought it was worth it though. I'd totally go again. I celebrated the end of my life threatening adventure by munching on some shrimp on a stick complete with lime that Amy Ro let me leave on her towel for safe keeping (not really).

The food and beverage selection was quite awesome, and everywhere took dollars which was a bonus for us. We drank margharitas as big as our heads, and they had flavors like mango and pineapple which were new to me. I'm normally not a huge margharita fan, but I think I'm now won over. I also had a Pina Colada for the first time. Score! I proclaimed that I was going to hunt down the recipe and make them at home...to which Amy Mo said "you mean, like go buy some Pina Colada mix?" ooooops. Right.....Anyway, we also ate at this place called Pancake House twice, which had pancakes with chocolote and kahula in them, awesome eggs benedict, and my favorite- some excellent coffee! No, for the record we did NOT go there to nurse hangovers. We were pretty tame, of course! I did get to try some new Mexican beer, and Sol was my favorite.

Here are some pictures from our fun trip! I'm ready to go back...