interview in chicago with csm!!

so saturday i drove back to chicago for my csm interview. it went really really well, although i felt really uneasy the whole time i was there, it was weird. it was like either God was calling me to do this and i was fighting him, or i wasn't equipped or prepared to do this work at csm. so the whole weekend i was trying to figure that out. and i think i did... but before i tell you about that... meet the other girls that interviewed this weekend with me. we called ourselves the K.K.K.... this is kristin from anderson university in indiana, kate from north park university in chicago, and kara... well, you know me already. ;)

after my interview saturday afternoon, they hooked us up with anthony, a csm host, to shadow him as he lead a group from holland, michigan. (that's anthony below... found it on csm's website.) :)they were SOOO much fun!! these are the hollanders at an amazing thai restaurant... and can i just say that the ducks on the wall totally make me want to play the shoot the goose nintendo game with the little dog that comes out and laughs when you miss a duck. :)

after dinner, we drove around the city on a prayer tour. it was really neat. on our way back, we went past this house... a car was literally like in their lower level through the front porch. it was crazy. we drove past like 4 times, took pictures, and anthony and adam, the youth pastor, got out and went to make sure everything was ok and no one was hurt. it was insane!!! i have never seen anything like that before. sorry about the blurriness of the pictures... that's what you get in a moving church van at night. :)

sunday morning we went to a spanish cafe for breakfast. oh my goodness the coffee was insanley good!! mmm!! this is in the van on the way to church... josh, jason and cain were smashing us lovely ladies. :)

church in lawn dale was awesome. a spanish preacher, Noel Castellanos, spoke and talked about our call to "Get Up" and make a difference in our community cuz if we don't who will? that was really kewl. i loved several different things he said... as follows...

*There are no places God is not. There are no insignificant places or places God does not love or want to be in. God has put me right where I am and where I am is absolutley crucial for the kingdom of God!!

*Jesus is drawn to impossible circumstances and situations. When we find ourselves in close proximity to great need - those are the places most healthy for us to be in as a Christian.

*Jesus was a toucher. He wasn't afraid to touch people in order to meet their need. How often do I reach out and touch others, or do I stick my hands in my pockets and try to heal by my words alone? To be like Jesus is to be like Jesus.

after church we went to lou malnati's for lunch. it's an amazing pizza restaurant that's famous in the chicago area. there are several others, but the one we went to is in lawn dale and the profits of the restaurant go directly to the community. it was really neat to see even restaurant owners being concerned about the well-being of their community and neighborhood, especially in light of all the gentrification that is taking place throughout the city which is a major issue all over the city.

this is our entire group at lunch... lemme try and name everybody, starting at the left of the table working my way around... sitting first, then standing.

so we've got: kristin, amy, girl, steve, youth pastor adam, csm guide anthony, amber, me, kate... and then standing from the left... katie, josh, nicholas, holly, jason, cain. i'll find out the other girl's name hopefully really soon, i feel awful that i forget it!!

this is katie, amber and me... katie and amber are both graduated from high school, katie goes to a college in michigan and amber is working and saving. they were awesome girls! i had so much fun hanging out with them and the group.

and this is kristin. so, going back to my whole uneasy feelings... i really started to feel like i'm not ready for this... not cut out for it. and kristin and i are talking saturday night. she's a social work major too, a junior... and last summer she traveled with an anderson worship band and went to different camps. somehow, in conversation, she talked about how she really felt like that experience prepared her to be in the leadership role that comes with csm... working with youth pastors and adults, something she hadn't experienced before last summer. so i'm not ready to say no to csm and yes to olivet, but i really think that God spoke to my heart this weekend and i think that i want to travel with olivet this summer and gain experience that will help me in the future. yet, at the same time, i am still hesitant to give up csm because i want to be in the place this summer where i can most make a difference on one person's heart... and i'm not sure that i know where that person will be yet. i don't know if that makes sense, but i'm continuing to pray and have asked olivet to continue to consider me... and we will see what comes of both application processes!!! :)

oh... and THEN!!! let me just TELL you what happened to me on the way home. oh my goodness!!
so i'm driving on lakeshore drive... i was about 20 minutes from csm, when my car breaks down. like the power goes out... my spedometer goes black and my rpm thing is going psycho... and i was talking to mom on the phone... so i lay the phone down... work my way into the right lane (from the 3rd left in 4) and get off on randolph street and my car dies at the bottom of the exit, right as you would turn right onto randolph and the next street up is lower wacker. so not the greatest place to be. and of course i'm alone, and it's probably like 5-10 degrees outside. so we call mr. rescue but they can't send a tow truck unless we know where to tow the car to, and of course, we have no earthly idea, so i try and get a hold of barry huebner my homegroup leader... shout out to lindsey kline and kenn knisley for helping save my life... and about 40 minutes later we get ahold of him, and he says, "where are you? i'll be there before dark." he's amazing. in the meantime, mr. rescue calls the police because i'm alone and it's getting dark and it's not safe at all. i wait about an hour and 20 minutes and there's no police, there's no police, and all of a sudden... a police man is there. i'm so excited because i'm freezing and i just want to call a tow truck and i figure he can help me, and i've lost both of my gloves, and i just want to be safe and warm. so i roll down my window, and he stomps over to my car and yells "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? WE THINK YOU'RE UNCONCIOUS. IS THERE A FIRE?" and i'm like, oh my goodness, no, my car just died, i'm ok, i'm sorry... and he storms away and waves the two firetrucks that had followed him away. he comes back and lectures me for calling 911 and doing a false alarm, thank you very much buddy i didn't call anyone and i just need help. he ends his rant with "I'LL CALL A TOW TRUCK" and he storms away and leaves. well, ok, at this point i lost it. i had been waiting for the police, and he comes and insults me for nothing and then leaves. i call mom and nicole answers, sorry nicole, i'm sobbing and am like "i want my mom!!!" while i'm talking to her, another fire truck pulls up and 4 firemen get out and walk to my car. they proceed to ask me if i'm unconscious... uh, duh... and then they ask if i want to sit in the truck and warm up. i'm like yeah, so i jump out and go with them, only i have to unplug my phone from the charger to do so, so my phone dies. while i'm in the truck they ask me what happen, and then they too get mad at me. while i sit there, they had to turn down two runs and they tell me that police don't come for calls like this and that i should try and start my car. so we go back, and it starts right, but it won't go anywhere... hello, the battery's dead and i'm not chancing going anywhere and leaving where i told barry i was. so i tell the firemen i'll be fine and lied about my heater working (i said it was on, and it was it just wasn't blowing hot air) and then tell them i'll just wait here for my friends. the fireman looks at me and says "your friends are meeting you here? well, they're never going to find you. we couldn't find you and we looked and looked." at this point i'm like "SATAN SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and i say, "i'll be ok, thank you. they'll come." he says, ok and they leave. ok... now i'm really messed up. barry's 20 minutes away, all my hope is shattered, my flashers lasted for 3 minutes before they too died, and my phone is dead and won't charge enough to let me turn it on let alone call anyone. so i open my bible and start yelling psalms 91 and following. mom asked me later if i thought God couldn't hear me... and i was just convincing myself that God was watching me and protecting me and it was going to be ok. it worked. and i calmed down and my phone worked again. and i got ahold of a tow truck, and barry and matthew showed up!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we ended up not towing the car, but charged it with my jumper cables and then moved it to a parking garage. wow. it was insane. so the following picture is of barry and matthew trying to charge the car in the garage. currently, barry has my car at his house and is working on it... something about the battery and alternator. praise the Lord that i am safe and alive and to him be all the glory for protecting me and rescuing me... and know that my salvation is not found in the police or the fireman or anyone else... my salvation is in Christ alone!!