Thankfulness

//Some variation of this shared at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham today, twice//

My name is Stead Halstead, and I’ve been asked to share a little bit with you today about thankfulness. This year I’m working at the INN as an intern, a mission of this church to the students of Western and Whatcom in the area. I help coordinate small groups, financial matters, electronic publicity, and various other areas. So far, the internship experience has been great. I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot, and had to do a lot of new things to help make the INN happen.

When I look back over my short life, I realize I have a lot to be thankful for. Starting out at a community college, I’m thankful that I have parents that were willing to keep me around for a little bit longer. While during that time in my life I struggled to find a Christian community, I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to go to school and learn things that have helped made me who I am today.

I have a great family to be thankful for. Throughout my childhood and my college years, they have been supportive of all my random adventures and activities. I spent this last summer driving a tour bus in Alaska. After spending four years in school and having a job offer from the Fred Meyer headquarters, I predicted the last thing my parents would be interested in me doing would be running away to Alaska. For myself, I thought that giving tours in Alaska would be a great opportunity to practice public speaking, relationship building, and patience.  As well as have a great adventure. When I brought this plan up to my parents, instead of the confusion that I expected when they heard the news, they responded by asking if they could drive up to visit. I was still a little skeptical, but at the end of July, my parents made the 1700 mile trek to spend a few days with me, and get a little adventure in for themselves.

I’m thankful that even during my time at community college when I had essentially walked away from my faith, that friends, family members and people I had never met had been praying for me that I might come back. The result of their prayers was a seemingly random phone call from Drake, a great friend from High school. Drake encouraged me to move to Bellingham, while having full knowledge that none of my current educational or career goals could be met up here. As weird as his phone call, if not weirder, I accepted his offer to leave home.

I’m thankful that the INN and First Pres are communities of friends that encourage connectedness and growth. In my first week to Bellingham, I was invited by another old friend to attend the INN. Searching for something to belong to, I visited a few times. I joined a small group, that I reluctantly attended. Even with my resistance to being in the small group that I signed myself up for, my leader pursued me and eventually eliminated all of my excuses for sitting at home on Sunday nights. The more I attended the group, the more I enjoyed having a place to connect with other people, build friendships, and ask questions about faith that I either hadn’t yet asked or hadn’t thought about before.

This year, I’m also incredibly thankful for the support that this church gives to the INN. Week after week, you allow lots of students to flood through the doors of this beautiful building. I’m thankful that the Hamiltons have been generous in sharing their home with me. This congregation has shown incredible support to the INN.

Through the INN I have been a small group leader, local service planner, and student leader. This year, serving as an intern has also helped me grow in ways I never could have imagined. This has been an amazing piece of the Body of Christ to belong to, and I’m excited and thankful for the future opportunities to learn, grow and serve.

All Languages

It's always good to remember that some things need no translations and are universal across all cultures. The last half is the best!

Old Friends,

Last weekend I got the chance to have lunch with a former intern. We chatted about how things were going, and I told him about how much I've been enjoying it. It was great meeting up with him, and the breakfast was really fantastic.

Before breakfast, it had been pouring down rain. We were totally soaked in just the walk between the parking lot and the restaurant. After breakfast though, the skies had almost totally cleared and we had quite a bit of blue! It was aweomse to see, very energizing. Sometimes in the winter months, people get pretty bogged down here because of all the gray. I took the chance to take a quick picture of the chuch in the light, very cool.

In other news, I was walking to the office the other day, minding my own business when I ran into(well, almost) a deer. I was probably a good solid 3 feet away when I looked up and saw the deer infront of me on the sidewalk. If I wouldn't have looked up, I totally would have tackled the poor deer and probably gotten a swift paw to the face. That would have made a pretty crazy story.

The last week has been pretty fast paced for me. I'm not sure if I've just been unproductive, or my todo list is getting longer, but I'm working on it. Thursday I accomplished quite a bit actually, and chopped tons of things off the list. Very nice.

So far this weekend my time has been filled with coffee shops, friends, farmers markets, and some great dinners. My challenge for this next week is to hang out with more students, seeing how things are going for them at this point in the quarter, hearing how God is working in their lives. These walks and coffee times do more for me than just encourage me and hopefully help me keep up with what is going on in their lives, but also provide a great time to slow down for a few minutes and enjoy some relaxing momments with some friends.

INNferno

There's nothing quite as beautiful as lots of people gathering for late night worship things. I realized this as I walked through a swampy grass field near lake Samish on a warm, dark rainy night. Trying to avoid the deeper puddles, I couldn't help but keep my eyes looking down towards the ground, which was too dark to see anyway. In the middle of my trek though, I did manage to peer up accross the field towards my destination. The dining hall of the camp was glowing in the middle of the dark, muddy field that I was in.

The candles and fire illuminating the room cast tall shaddows accross the field of people sitting, standing, and supporting each other. I starred at the building for another few seconds and through the sound of the rain drops falling all around me and on my waterproof jacket came singing. The voices spread accross the field, seeming to fill the dark empty space.

Entering the building, I was greeted by a roaring fire, warmth, and many friends. The singing kept on coming, even louder as I stood in the crowd. Another opportunity to witness students connecting with God in various ways. Some ponder, some sing, others pray with friends.

These were good momments.

It's good.

In most every conversation over the course of the last month, students, parents, family, friends, Alaskans all ask, "So, how's the internship going?"

I usually answer something generic, like, "Oh, it's great!" or maybe, "I'm having a good time, and learning a lot!"

Yesterday in a conversation with someone I would consider a good friend as of recent, I stopped to think about my response a little. I wasn't lying to other people, I just hadn't actually thought about what they were asking. I haven't paused until yesterday for this question. The internship has made me pause for lots of other things, but this question hadn't made it there yet.

As I responded in the car, in an honest momment, I said that I loved it, but this time really, really meant it. I wandered to why I love it, and further.

I love that I get to see people connect with God, and make their faith their own after growing up with what their parents may have(or may have not) believed. Students land in this same place and understand that they have a chance to try new things, think differently, and discover more about who they are. I get to be a part of this and I'm loving it.

I love that I get to work with caring people. People that will tell me when I do well, people who will help when I don't. People that are very family to me.

I love the flexibility, because I think it mirrors the flexibility that the Kingdom of God demands. We operate in a stream of ideas that sometimes don't fit what has been done before.

This is a great year. Not just because I'm learning a lot for myself, but because I get to be a part of a community that is living and growing that meant so much to me as a student.

So when I'm asked how the internship is going, and I respond, "Oh, it's great!" these are the wheels that start spinning that makes me smile, and most likely chuckle, at whoever I'm talking to.

Fall!

The leaves are falling. Every day that I want to drive my car, it seems that I have to scrape off quite a few leaves til I can even think about driving anywhere. I think I've been doing a pretty good job of not driving too much, and I'm really enjoying all the walking I'm getting in.

This weekend was my frist real weekend to not do anything. I got in some good sleep, visited some great friends, and relaxed. Much needed!

I'll be writing about it more later, but my visit to Louisville was awesome. I'm really excited about the team that we selected and how well they all work together. We're working on a big website and working to make it useful for students.

A rainy day today, but not all bad. This week is going to be a little busy with working on the mission location announcement video. I think the idea for it is really cool, it'll just be up to me to pull it off technically. I know all the locations of the 2009 trips, and I wish I could say what they are. I'm really excited for all of the trips, and especially my own. We're going to a great place, and I've got a great co-leader! I've said too much :)