Hi everyone!
It's been quite some time since I shared on this blog, but I'm hoping to get back into writing a bit, especially as I return to Central America this spring and hope to be able to share about my time there.
So just a little catch up on what I've been doing since graduating in May. I graduated with degrees in Spanish Literature & Language and Peace Studies from Whitworth University! It many ways it is hard to believe that my time as a student there is already over (thanks COVID time warp). As I've been reflecting on my time in undergrad, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the community that I've been able to journey with over the last 4 years. There's so many professors, campus pastors, peers, friends, mentors, and Spokane community members that have meant so much to me. It is still hard to find the words for the deep sense of gratitude that I feel for this community that has supported me, formed me, and challenged me to grow.
This summer I spent 10 weeks living just outside of Leavenworth, WA at Ingalls Creek Enrichment Center, a center for faith, calling, and community. I had the opportunity to work with a non-profit in Leavenworth called Upper Valley MEND (Meeting Every Need with Dignity) as the Community Development Fellow. I had the chance to work with MEND's gleaning program, a very robust organized effort to harvest fresh produce that local farmer's wanted to donate to help provide fresh produce for the community. MEND's work is really amazing and has lots of benefits -- it provides opportunities for community members to volunteer and join the gleans, helps farmers who may have extra produce or produce that cannot be sold, and provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the members of the community, many of whom may not be able to otherwise have access. Besides gleaning, I got to work at the Community Cupboard (food bank) and got to drive around the van for mobile produce pantries, visiting summer school programs, community events, lunch programs, and the migrant worker camp. It was truly such a wonderful organization to work with, and a really beautiful place to live!
When my 10 week fellowship ended, I was able to return to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks with one of my friends from college. Oh what a joy it was to be back in that space and to see friends who I consider to be part of my family. This was the third time that I've been to Nicaragua, and this time I found myself often reflecting on how special it is to have known and be known by this community over the last four years. It is so beautiful to get to see the kids growing up, babies being born, and the life and growth that happens in between. Christ is always so evident here to me.
I spent a good amount of time at home in CO in September and also got to visit my family in New Jersey for about a week. In October, I came back to Spokane to help with the prep work for the cohort of 10 Whitworth students that I will be working with as the Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Central America Study & Service Program (CASP). This is the program that I did during my junior year, and I am so overjoyed that I have the chance to return to some of these communities in Guatemala and Costa Rica that I got to know two years ago. I'm also so honored to have the chance to walk alongside the next group of students that are about to begin their journey of learning about the socio-political, economic, cultural, and religious realities while living in Central America, since this program was so formative for me and the way that I engage with/in the world.
At the end of October, I got to spend some time with my family in Oklahoma, as my brother is in his last year of undergrad there. And I also got to spend three days with one of my dear friends from the World Race before heading to Michigan for the Great Lakes Theology Conference at Western Theological Seminary. Still unpacking my time getting to glimpse the world of seminary, but for the last couple of months especially, I have been having lots of conversations with the trusted voices of wisdom in my life and in prayer about the potential of attending seminary.
This season since graduating (and even in this last year leading up to graduating) has been one of learning stillness and waiting on the Lord. It's felt really challenging in a lot of moments to not have an answer to the question, "so, what's next?"
Each opportunity that has come up this fall has, to me, felt like it has sprung up suddenly. I haven't had many things too clearly planned out in advance like I would like. But there's been a sweet beauty in trying to lean into stillness and listening both for how the Lord is leading in the future, but also for the here and now.
Some highlights from this fall that have been such unexpected gifts are...
- helping one of my housemates who also just graduated in May to set up her kindergarten classroom because she is a REAL LIFE teacher now (tear)
- getting to make a trip to Philly (while visiting family on the East Coast) to see beloved friends from Boulder and to get to learn about Eastern University's prison education program
- the opportunity to lead the prayer before Bryan Stevenson's lecture at Whitworth's President's Leadership Forum
- ^while at said event, connecting with someone who works with the Spokane NAACP who then encouraged me to get involved with Spokane's Justice Not Jails campaign, advocating that a new sales tax wouldn't be implemented in Spokane County, ultimately resulting in the building of a bigger jail (this ended up being a job + such meaningful work to learn about)
- learning a bit about Spokane Public School's approaches to restorative justice in the district
- visiting Grace (friend from the World Race/Nicaragua) in Oregon before she starts her REAL LIFE nursing job
- getting to visit Jaynna (my friend from the World Race) and to meet her dad
- visiting Western Theological Seminary and reconnecting with a few familiar faces (from Whitworth and Costa Rica), and getting to meet many new ones -- also learning about the Hope-Western prison education program
The blog is back. Yahoo