Right now I am sitting in a Starbucks listening to bluegrass music typing away at my computer. I remember week one of ASP in Morgan County where I left Sunbright High school and left to go find a Starbucks and sit, listen to bluegrass, and type away.
The difference here is I have a coat with me, there is snow outside, Christmas music is on, I have 4G connection on my phone, and I have to pay for the gas my car is taking up.
But i am still here. I still feel like I am in Appalachia just waiting for the next work order. The next group leader meeting. The next order to come in. So many things. I miss ASP. It is something I think about daily. And unfortunately I feel like my friends are getting tired of me talking about it all the time. I know if I were in their shoes I would be very annoyed at me for saying, "Well at ASP we..." or "ha yea did I ever tell you the time at ASP."
One thing for sure is I have my one liner down so well. I worked for a christian organization that focuses on preforming emergency home repair for people who are living in poverty. It's surprisingly hard not to go into talking for hours about ASP. It's hard for people just to say, "Oh that's nice, it sounds like you learned a lot over the summer."
ASP did so much more than just give me something to do over the summer. Man the life lessons I learned. I still haven't gotten fully out of the habit of getting up early and having a full day. I am not intimidated by much anymore. I can talk to people about things that I never could before. In a way... I've grown up. I sit at Starbucks or Caribou and I think about how far I've come since that first week at ASP.
God has done so much. I had a conversation with a guy I met the other day about different injustices in the world. Naturally he went to Africa, and China with the poverty and religious persecution that happen every day there. I listened and I do feel a surging in my body when I hear about the problems that are in those areas. However I couldn't Angie, Big Dave, or Wormy out of my mind. I said, "Have you heard of mountaintop removal?" Naturally this guy said,
"Nope"
How is it that something that affects so many people in the US doesn't even make the news here? What about the poor people in this country.
As I type this I feel judgement. I feel anger and confusion as to why people don't want to help close to home first. I know this is wrong. I know this reaction is not of God and that is something I must remind myself every time I see people spend over 100 dollars or more on coffee.
God calls us to love everyone and I know that there are many, many people who need help in other parts of the world. My prayer for myself is that I learn to desire to help everyone.
God is good in that I now know where I am going to school next semester. After all the confusion and worry and doubt I now know I will be attending Trinity Christian College. It is so great. I feel a peace about the place. Praise God for that answered prayer.
And now it's time to reapply to ASP. Already I am praying for another summer of extremely hard work. I sit here now and my heart wants to beat out of my chest because I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me this next chapter in my life. Praise God for his faithfulness.
Merry Christmas
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