Gratitude List 10/24

        A few years ago, I started keeping a prayer journal. In my prayers, I would include long lists of things, gifts, for which I am thankful. I still keep a prayer journal and still keep these lists.
      The author of the book I am currently also chose to keep track of God's gifts. In the book, One Thousand Gifts, she describes her journey of learning gratitude through challenging herself to create a list of one thousand gifts from God. Slowly, she unpacks gratitude as a spiritual discipline that slows down time and as an act of "unwrapping love". I highly recommend the book for her thoughtful meditations on gratitude and her exquisitely poetic writing voice.
     With that said, here is my gratitude list for today:

• Thursday nights are my Friday nights because I have Fridays off. My Sabbath is near.
• My gracious housemate, Colleen, shared her pumpkin curry lentils and rice with me for dinner. Best meal with lentils I have ever had. 
• Andrew Bird's cover of Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You".
• My tutoring kids. They challenge me, on numerous levels in all kinds of ways. 
• Square dancing at First Presbyterian every other Monday night. It's only Thursday, and I can't wait until Monday. 
• Cold milk and warm banana bread for dessert from my other lovely housemate, Kalyn. For her friendship and generosity. 
• A roof over my head, electricity, a food budget, a van to drive, and even traffic to sit in. Not only are these each gifts in themselves but the fact that these gifts are all here in New Orleans, my favorite city, is an entirely different story. My blessings are countless. 
• I have never experienced grace in so many different forms in such a short amount of time. More on this later when I figure out how to talk about it because right now it's overwhelming...
• My housemates are family to me. My favorite nights of the week are when we are all together. We each have somewhat crazy schedules, so it's definitely a treat to spend time with all of us together. But during the week, we'll share meals, stories, homesickness, movies, or whatever else in small groups, which is just as beautiful, if not more so. 
• My books. A few weeks ago, my parents sent me six boxes (SIX!) of books and clothing. My books mean the world to me, but I could not bring many to New Orleans because I traveled by plane. Ripping up those packages felt better than Christmas morning for a small child. 
• The changing of the weather here. I saw a commercial this morning for an "End of Summer" furniture sale because "summer's ending quickly". It's late October, and for this Jersey girl, the summer's been over for a while. Yet the drop in humidity and increase in cool breezes brings me joy. Hot cups of tea don't seem as silly anymore. 
• The Presbytery of South Louisiana. This presbytery is wildly supportive of the YAV program. Everyone is so generous and welcoming that it's overwhelming. Churches, YAV mentors, and presbytery members have hosted us for dinner several times already. The YAV Board is gracious towards our needs by providing each of us with a mentor from the presbytery. We as YAV's have been invited to help serve at different ministries throughout the state. To say that we are being taken care of is an understatement. My site coordinator said that the Presbytery of South Louisiana loves YAV's the most. I cannot imagine how they could support us more. I have no idea how to receive these gifts, let alone thank the presbytery for them. 

For these gifts and for the countless others I am not aware of, I give thanks. 

What have you given thanks for lately? What do you praise God for? What would your list look like? 

Thanks for reading! 

     

October Update

First, let me apologize for my delay in posting. I have spent the last month absorbing and learning to adjust to life in New Orleans. Here are some snippets of my adventures thus far:

• With Mid-City Ministries, I am tutoring 3rd and 4th graders on Tuesdays and Thursdays and co-leading a teen bible study on Wednesday nights. We are currently working through the first chapter of 1 John. Oh the stories I could share about my kids...Next week, we will be hosting a Hispanic Week in honor of National Hispanic Heritage month. (We'll be celebrating a little late, but that's alright.)
• At First Presbyterian, I am volunteering with the Program of Hope homeless outreach ministry on Wednesdays, which provides bus tokens, Salvation Army vouchers, lunches, toiletries, and transportation to medical appointments. I'm making friends with some of our guests, which has been a true blessing and treat. One of my main projects that I am working on is creating a manual for incoming volunteers to learn about how to run the ministry. Also, I am hosting a book study for the young adults at a local coffee shop on Rob Bell's latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God. I am thrilled to lead this study because of the enticing questions that come to mind while diligently preparing for its fruition. 
• Sunday nights are held sacred here in the Zimpel house. It's our one time to guarantee to cook and eat together. Sundays here are still my favorite day of the week. 
• There was a warning for New Orleans to witness the effects of Hurricane Karen that ended up amounting to about an hour of rain total spread throughout the day two weeks ago. Concerts were cancelled, grocery stores were packed, and some parts of LA within an hour evacuated. Not New Orleans. The worst we were anticipating were heavy rains and the possibility of the power going out. Yet there were none of the above. We got very lucky. The last hurricane I witnessed was Hurricane Sandy, just about one year ago. My family and I were very lucky to only lose power during the storm. Therefore, thankfully, I have very little experience with severe storms. Because of this lack of experience, when I talk with everyone who survived Hurricane Katrina, all I can offer is sympathy. I cannot even begin to fathom their experience. This is easily the most difficult challenge I have come across. As a house, the YAV's have been watching Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina called When The Levees Broke. Here is a clip from the film that will certainly give you the chills. The depth and complexity of the wounds left here create a backdrop for every living thing here. The rehabilitating city and its thread-bare citizens have grown humbly strong. They are the walking wounded. Katrina left wounds on everyone and everything. Continued prayers for healing for this exquisite place and its remarkable people. 
• According to my mentor from Presbytery, there are palm trees here that are not native to New Orleans. In fact, there were very few in the city before Katrina hit. Yet when the city was starting to rebuild, the government chose to plant them everywhere. I have yet to speak with someone who knows why. It's interesting how something as simple as a tree can be seen as a peeling band-aid for a city that lost so much blood, literally and figuratively. 
• Homesickness comes in waves, usually unexpectedly. A stranger at the Rite Aid might look like a close friend, or a song on the radio might trigger a memory from the summer. Sometimes these moments nip at my heart and swiftly leave; other times, the pain feels like a genuine and deep omission. Yet my housemates have been the best cure. Their humor, compassion, understanding, empathy, and authenticity have been my remedies for these aches. 
• Adjusting to the climate of South Louisiana has been a challenge. Despite loving the spring-like weather in January two years ago on a mission trip to this beautiful city, I am truly grieving the cold weather. I find so much joy in the changing of the seasons, more than I was aware. However, today was the first day I could legitimately wear a sweater because of the wind! The little things...
• I am pumping my own gas with confidence, I might add. I am a Jersey girl to my marrow, so before moving to New Orleans, I had only pumped gas literally twice by myself. Ever. I've pumped my own gas a whopping five times since moving here. Again, that's literally over double my previous experience in about one month. I find this simple "accomplishment" quite satisfying. Again, the little things...
• A handful of weekend highlights: watching roller derby, free tickets to the WWII museum,  listening to incredible local music for cheap, thrift shops, square dancing twice a month at First Presbyterian, amazing food everywhere, outdoor evening art markets, visiting the library that's only 3 blocks from my house, and cooking with my housemates. 
• Last weekend, we YAV's went to the Feliciana Retreat Center for the Presbytery meeting for the Presbytery of South Louisiana. As an amateur treehugger and PC(USA) nerd, I was thrilled for this opportunity. We had a blast getting to know our Presbytery and cheering on our own site coordinator, Layne, for the Presbytery's approval of her ordination!
• Tomorrow, I am actually headed back to Feliciana for a Presbytery-wide youth group retreat! My housemate, Alex, and I are leaving in the morning and coming back Sunday night, just in time to have dinner with Layne and our other housemates! 
• And finally, this evening I took a solo trip to the French Quarter around dinner time to hear Kristin Diable, a local musician I've known for quite some time. I got to meet and chat with her for a bit, finding to her to be a great dancer, an old soul, and as playful and passionate as a kid. 

Thank you for reading!

Highlights from the YAV Orientation at Stony Point

Two weeks ago was the week-long orientation for all 70 YAV's, both national and international, at Stony Point Conference Center in NY. On Monday morning, my housemates and I (totaling to eight of us) woke up at 3-something to arrive at Newark airport late afternoon. I was the only one who had a layover, so when I got to the airport, I had to look for college-aged students who looked like they had packed to move away for a year. I soon found them huddled and quiet by the windows with their enormous bags protecting them from these strangers. After a while, we quietly packed in the van and rode the hour to Stony Point in silence. As I sat in the front row of the van, I quietly smiled, knowing that friendship, laughter, and tears were inevitable for the week ahead. (All of which beautifully unfolded by the end of the week.) With that said, let me map out the events and words that were spoken during this gracefully challenging week:

Disclaimer: This blog showcases my opinions exclusively, not the opinions held by the PC(USA) or the Presbytery of South Louisiana. This is all my own voice.

1. The most important lesson I learned this week was the most surprising and confusing one. I learned that I am an "intimate extrovert", meaning that I primarily get my energy from very small groups of people rather than from being alone or from large groups of people. To my friends, I am commonly known as an extrovert because I gain energy from being around people. However, spending time with a handful of friends is very different from being surrounded by over 80 people all day three days in a row. I was getting tired and even sick, trying to figure out what was wrong with me until one of our presenters explained that she was an intimate extrovert, and the lights went on. I had been so exhausted because I was spending my energy just being around so many people. This lesson, I think, is important because it has made me aware of my needs and keep in mind this year when it comes to working in ministry full-time and living in a house with seven other women. 
2. I learned to stop feeling guilty for parts of my identity that are out of my control and start focusing on using my voice to speak out. What I mean is that certain pieces of my identity each have their own history and meaning in the world. I am a young, white, straight, middle-class, Christian woman. With each of these terms comes certain assumptions, privileges, and even responsibilities and powers. What is even more interesting and challenging is that I am not even aware of all of these facets completely. There was a great quote from our speaker who said, "It's not about how we give up power but how we use our power." I pray that my communities and the Spirit through these communities would teach me more about power dynamics, awareness of my own privileges, and give me the strength and the ability to find my voice to speak out against these boundaries that separate and confine us so easily. 
3. I realized that I do not take culture-shock that seriously, which could be a problem in New Orleans. Although I am not leaving the country, I am moving to a completely different part of U.S. in a dramatically different context. I am entering a city that is not without its wounds, its pride, and its strength. The suburbs of New Jersey and the Uptown of New Orleans are more different than I am fully aware. To state a basic distinction, there are palm trees everywhere around here, which is itself a shock to my system as I am used to the wooded hills, pines, and oaks of my neighborhood and farmland of NJ. I could go on about Mardis Gras, Second Line parades, and festivals happening virtually every weekend...I need to remember that culture-shock can often involve homesickness, anxiety, anger, confusion, and withdrawal, among other things. Therefore, for my own growth, it would be wise for me to remember to be gentle to myself as I am trying to learn what it's like to live and breath in the lifestyle that New Orleans has to offer. It's been awesome so far because it feels like I'm on vacation in my favorite city, but I know that this feeling will wear down soon. 

Prayers for me as I continue to watch and participate in the unfolding of this new chapter of my life, living in New Orleans...

Starting My Placements and Building Community

Hello friends,

Last week, I started working at my two placements at the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans and Mid-City Ministries!

At the FPCNO,  I will be working with their ministry, Program of Hope, which is an outreach program for those suffering from homelessness. I will also being working on educational projects, both within the Program of Hope and through the Christian Education committee. I was thrilled to finally meet the congregation and get commissioned on Sunday! My new church family is so welcoming and generous; I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with and serve them.

My second part-time placement is at Mid-City Ministries where I will be helping tutor 3rd and 4th graders after school twice a week and leading a bible study for middle school students on Wednesday nights! I am so excited to meet the students I will be working with, starting tomorrow!

While I am very excited to start these ministries, I am also in need of your prayers. I want to learn about the communities I am serving, both on as a body and as individuals, so that I can learn how to love them and how my strengths and weaknesses will interact within these communities. I am also eager to see how these beautiful communities will teach me in the coming weeks and months.

Not only have I loved my placements so far, I have also been loving my housemates. I live with seven incredible women who are all smart, hysterical, fun, and committed Christians. I am blessed by each one of them in many unique ways. The house definitely feels different even if one of us is missing. They are already teaching me about myself, community, compassion, active listening, and what it means to build a covenant.

Last week, we built a community covenant as an effort to define who we are as a Christian community and what it looks like to work together, eat together, clean together, worship together, and love together. We spent six hours hashing out the covenant over two days, only to come to the conclusion that this is a "living" document that will continue to be shaped and re-molded through time. I am eager to see how this document changes, how the covenant changes us, how we change each other, and how the Spirit moves and blesses through all of this.

Thank you for your prayers and support throughout my YAV year so far! Look for postcards in mailbox soon!

Photos from the YAV Orientation Week at Stony Point Conference Center, NY

sunrise in the airport

notes on missiology

the campus

the labyrinth

 the meditation room

 

inside the meditation room

they have pigs!

Julius and me

 My small group leader, Maegan, and me

worship together 

 on my way back to my new home

Post about orientation forthcoming...

Photographs from my first two days.

These were taken in the Philadelphia Airport. I got to watch the sunrise after breakfast. (8/16)

                                                                      Jackson Square

                                                                   Cafe Du Monde

                                                                            d.b.a.

                                                    Frenchmen Art Market (all above 8/17)

Arrival!

After waking up at 3am for a 7am flight to Chicago to then board my second flight to New Orleans, I arrived safely in LA by 3pm.

My site coordinator, Layne Brubaker, picked me up from the airport. After the rest of the Young Adult Volunteers (YAV's) arrived and started unpacking, we cooked red beans and rice together. Over a cookie cake dessert, we talked about the upcoming orientation, traditions in New Orleans, and our hopes for the year.

Tomorrow, our only plans are to explore the local thrift shop and the coffeehouse down the street during the day. At night, of course we are headed out to hear local jazz.

Sunday, we are headed to church together at Lakeview Presbyterian Church, grabbing Po'Boys for lunch, and then we head back to Lakeview for some youth programming for the rest of the afternoon.

We are then flying down on Monday morning (6am flight!) to Newark for our orientation at Stony Point Conference Center for the week.


Again, thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Preparation and Fundraising Update

I have very exciting news: You all helped raise over $4,000 to complete my fundraising for the year!! I was not expecting this overwhelming response. Thank you to all of you who have given generous gifts and kept me in your prayers! More thank-you notes will be mailed this week, so check your mailbox soon.

I leave on the 16th to fly to New Orleans, spend a few days with the other New Orleans Young Adult Volunteers before we all fly into Newark. From Newark, we are headed to Stony Point, NY for the week-long orientation for all of the YAV's. And finally, on the 26th we fly back to New Orleans for our year of service to begin!

I am thrilled and a little anxious about this year. I've never spent so much time away from home and my friends, so I am anticipating that some days will be challenging. Still, I am very privileged to be able to serve with some amazing people in an incredible city. I am ready to learn more about discipleship, servanthood, compassion, and trust in God over the coming year.

I am asking for your prayers throughout the year for my ministry and the ministries of my fellow YAV's. If you are interested in becoming a prayer partner for me and are able to commit to praying for me once a month, please email me at hannahmills7@hotmail.com.

Again, I thank you for reading this blog, taking a moment out of your day to think or pray about my ministry and how God will be working through me and the people I am serving this year. Thanks again for all of your generous contributions to make this year happen! You rock!

In gratitude,
Hannah

My Support Letter

Hello friends,

Below is my letter asking for support through prayer and finances that I have been sending out the past month. If you would like one, along with more information about the YAV program, please email me at hannahmills7@hotmail.com

I am thrilled to tell you that I have been chosen by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to serve for one year as a Young Adult Volunteer in New Orleans, Louisiana! As part of this exciting commitment, I have to raise at least $3,000 in gifts and pledges for my year of service, and I am hoping that you will join me on my journey by supporting me in this effort.

Through the Young Adult Volunteer program (YAV) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I will be joining over 70 other young adults serving at 16 different sites both domestically and internationally. While I am still learning my specific responsibilities, I will be working in two part-time positions. One of my positions is at the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans working on the Christian Education committee and helping run their homeless ministry. My second position is working with the non-profit Mid-City Ministries where I will be helping run an after school program tutoring program for elementary school students.

I am definitely anticipating this year will be life-changing for me. Although I have experience working with children and in Christian education, I know that I will be challenged and have to step outside of my comfort zone. My focus will be on helping meet the needs of others. I will be challenged to trust God in new ways through this process. I am eager to see what God has in store this year for all of the YAV’s and in the ministries that we are participating.

As I am beginning to write this new chapter in my life, I am inviting you on this journey with me. I am inviting you to be a partner in ministry with me. I hope you prayerfully consider making a gift or a pledge toward my financial support. The timing is critical as I need to raise $2,000 by July 1.

I have enclosed a special flyer that includes more information about the YAV program and my own reasons for wanting to serve. I am also including a Covenant of Support form and ask that you consider making a gift or pledge. I invite you to please pray about becoming a partner in ministry with me for this year.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your consideration, prayers, and hopefully your support as well!

In gratitude,

Hannah Mills

My Placements!

I have two of them while I am there!

I will be working at a church serving through their homeless ministry and Christian education.

My second placement is with the non-profit, Mid-City Ministries, where I will help tutor elementary school children after school. 

Please pray for me as I try to prepare my heart for serving in these places to which I have been called. 

Introducing...

My name is Hannah Mills, and starting in August 2013, I will be serving the city of New Orleans on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as part of the Young Adult Volunteer program. 

I am serving as a  YAV because I want to spend this year preparing myself for a life of service. As a disciple of Christ, I am called to serve and love my neighbors. I cannot separate my discipleship from works of faith. I also have a strong sense of calling to ministry through the discernment of my Christian community.

I plan to attend seminary after I complete YAV with hopes of one day becoming ordained in the PC(USA) as an associate teaching elder and youth minister. I am anticipating that my YAV year will challenge me as a disciple, calling me to trust God more and start developing the heart of a servant out of love.

I am eager to document my experience and share with you how God is working in my life and in the lives of those with whom I am living and serving.

I ask for your prayers because I cannot dream of serving this year without a strong community supporting me.

If you are interested in supporting me financially, please message me, and I can show you how.

Thank you so much for joining me on this exciting new journey!

In gratitude,
Hannah