So this is what it feels like to breathe again...

Hello friends,

It's been a couple weeks since I've updated you.. so I have a lot to share! The month of craziness is coming to a close.... and I'm finally going to spend more than a couple days at a time in Puerto Rico. It's finally going to feel like home again.

The last time I wrote, I was in the airport on my way to training in Colorado for Wilderness Ranch this summer, where I work as a backpacking guide. I spent almost a week in CO- it was great great time to spend with friends that I hadn't seen since last summer, and connect with the new guides! It was also such a sweet time of being poured in to spiritually, getting to spend time in prayer and allowing the Lord to start preparing my heart to be back there this summer. It also snowed multiple times... and I'm pretty sure one morning we woke to a chilly 14 degrees outside... so let's just say my body was in shock, and not very pleased with me, haha.

Frontier Ranch after a night of snow! 

After I left Colorado, I went to Texas for 2 days to see friends and family in Houston and Austin with Matt- who had stopped there on his way back from Colorado as well. The time was short, but it was sweet to be in Austin- a city we love and call home- and get to be with friends who knew us before we moved to Puerto Rico.

We headed back to the island on March 8th and a few days later my family came to visit for a week! My mom, brother, sister and grandparents all came down for their spring break. It was really fun to show them what my life is like here,  show them around and just all be together- it's been a while since we've gotten to do that. They met some of my friends here, went to the beach, the rainforest, hung out in Old San Juan and ate enough plantains to last me for a year. It was a really sweet time with them... They left on Saturday and I miss them already!

My brother, Matt, hanging out on El Morro

The view from the front of El Morro

It's a weird feeling to be back to normal life here. Last night, I found myself trying to process the last month- with all the traveling and people coming to visit. It's been crazy busy, and I feel like I've barely had time to breathe. It was such sweet time with people- whether I traveled somewhere to see them, or got to show them my life on the island. But I will admit, it's nice to feel like I live in Puerto Rico again. It's almost like I forgot what normal life is like here... and I'm having to re-introduce myself to the island. So it's a sigh of relief to be back to normal... to be able to breathe... to be home.

It's funny though... because as normal as it feels... my routine is so not routine. Every day is different. One thing finishes and another begins... creating this continuous string of days and relationships and events that make up Young Life in Puerto Rico. The most prevalent thing on my mind right now is taking kids to Crooked Creek, a YL camp, this summer. Honestly, if you're not going to CCR Week 4 this summer, I'm sorry... because it's going to be the best week of camp in the history of Young Life! I can't wait for these kids to have the best week of their lives there! Please continue to pray that God would provide ways for kids to go, and that we would be bold in asking them!!

That's all I got for now... more updates to come in the next week! Also, please feel free to shoot me an email or call me if you want to know more, if I can do anything for you, or just if you want to catch up! I would love to hear what's going on in your life!

Thank you for praying for us, and for high school kids here... It's encouraging to know that we have friends in the States supporting us.

Love,
Lindsay

And the craziness continues...

So today is the first day of my favorite month.... partly because of March days in Austin... mostly because of March Madness. Yes, that’s correct. I base my favorite month selection off of Cinderellas, last second shots and One Shining Moment... which still makes me cry every single year. To me, March is the beginning of spring... the start of new life. I love spring... I’m not sure completely why, but I love the color that comes back to the world. I love the anticipation of sunny days with cool breezes... there’s something adventurous about it. So let’s just say... I’m excited to see what the next month holds. 

I’m not dogging on February though. It was a great month, especially with Young Life, and it did it’s part to close out strong in the last week. In March, we would call that “playing hard for 40 minutes.” Please bear with my basketball references throughout this post. Back to February... 

The last time you heard from me, Matt and I were sitting in the airport on our way to Richmond, VA for the Commonwealth Regional Retreat. It was an incredible time! We arrived in Richmond on Thursday night, along with all the other staff from the Caribbean islands (Bermuda, Bahamas, St. Croix and St. Thomas). On Friday, the Caribbean staff hung out together, along with the regional director of Virginia and the Senior VP of the Northern Hemisphere of International YL. It was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, prayer and equipping us to help YL succeed on our island. On Friday night, the hotel was invaded by 900 volunteer leaders, staff and committee members from the Commonwealth region. It was slightly overwhelming, but so so encouraging to worship in such a huge group of people. The conference ended on Sunday morning, and Matt and I left so encouraged. It was so good to be together as the Caribbean region- get to tell stories of what’s happening with YL on the islands, laugh together and share meals together. 

Caribbean YL Staff from Bermuda, Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Croix & Puerto Rico! 

On Sunday night, Matt and I hopped a train to Washington, D.C. to spend 2 days there. It was really fun to see the sights, go to museums and even do a little contact work! We booked our flight to D.C. a couple months ago, and it turned out that a group of high school students we know from PR were in D.C. on the exact day we were for a model U.N. competition! It was incredible how God worked that out and gave us a cool opportunity to hang out with those students in a different context outside of Puerto Rico. 

Potomac River from the Key Bridge

A fun surprise we woke up to one morning in D.C.! 

We headed back to the island on Tuesday night, spent a couple days catching up on work and hanging out with kids, and then my great friend Kim Ray came to visit! It was so fun to have her here and get to share with her what my life is like on the island! Matt and I took her straight from the airport to a high school basketball game, so she got her feet wet right away with what YL looks like here. For the next 4 days, Kim and I explored the island, went to the beach, the bioluminescent bay, El Yunque, Viejo San Juan and even tried a little salsa dancing! It was such a blessing and encouragement to me for her to come in to my world and to share that with her. It was also fun to see how God planted opportunities for us to run in to kids while we were hanging out doing everyday activities- again... it was really cool for kids to see me in a different context other than at their school. 

Kim & I at El Yunque

Rockin' the YLPR beach tank! 

Kim headed back to Texas yesterday and I’m following her today. Currently, I’m sitting in the San Juan airport waiting to board my plane to Houston, and then heading to Denver for Wilderness Ranch training this summer. The air conditioning is currently out in the airport... so let’s just say I’m excited about the Colorado cold at this moment. Hopefully, I won’t get in the habit of writing too many updates in the airport... 

Please continue to pray for Matt and I. We’re in the process of getting camp finalized and inviting kids. Pray for favor with schedules, parents and that kids would want to come! God is doing great things here with our relationships... it’s times like this when our schedules are crazy and we’re on-off island, that we need to trust Him in that. YL is His deal... I’m blessed to be a part of it. 

I love you all... thank you for praying, for caring. And you’re welcome for keeping the March Madness references to a minimum. 

Love,

Linds 

An update full of stories...

I'm sitting in the Newark airport during a 2-hour layover on our way to Richmond, VA for a regional YL retreat. Naturally... it's time for an update.

The past 2 weeks have been exciting! It has been so cool to see how God is orchestrating events towards growing his kingdom through Young Life in PR. 

First item: In our update email a few weeks ago, Matt and I asked for prayer for a marathon weekend with kids. The first event on the docket that weekend was BLISS, the overnight fundraiser put on by Baldwin School to raise money for the Lost Boys in Sudan. It was a blast! Over 1,300 high school students from all over San Juan camped out in the soccer field at Baldwin from 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. I was acting as the adult chaperone for one of the sophomore teams from Baldwin, and got to be with kids from 11 a.m. on Saturday until the event ended on Sunday morning. It was an incredible time hanging out with the girls on my team, but also getting to see kids that I know from other high schools all over San Juan... some of whom I hadn't seen since being back from the holiday break. There was music, food, parandas, soccer tournaments and zumba classes to keep the students occupied as they took turns walking in honor of the Lost Boys. The students took 1 hour shifts and walked from station to station where they had to complete "tasks" that gave them an insight in to what the life of a Lost Boy was like. It was so fun to hang out with girls I hadn't seen in a while, meet new ones and get to have a shared experience with a lot of girls that I know but haven't been able to spend a lot of time with yet! 

Sunday we rested up during the day and then headed to a high school Super Bowl Party we were invited to. It was really fun to have another opportunity to hang out with those kids in a relatively chill setting (compared to Bliss). So needless to say, Matt and I put in about 30 hours of contact work in 36 hours... it was exhausting, but God really blessed us with more relationships with kids! 

That week God continued to open up doors to hang out with girls that I haven't been able to much so far... which was an incredible answered prayer. On Tuesday, the Baldwin headmaster randomly decided to give the whole school a day off. So I invited a couple sophomore girls to go to the beach with me. They had a basketball game that afternoon in Dorado, a suburb of San Juan, so we ended up driving out to the beach in Dorado and hung out all day. I was with 3 girls; one I know really well, and the other 2 are girls I've been praying for every day... that the Lord would give me time with them, that they would know Him. It was such an answered prayer to get that chance to hang out with them all day! I got to hear about their lives, their friends and just have fun. By the time their basketball game was done and I dropped them off at home, we had been hanging out for 8 hours! It was such a sweet time. Please continue to pray that God would give me more opportunities like that and continue to grow these relationships. 

Don't worry... it just keeps going... one more story... 

Last week, Matt and I were hanging out at Starbucks... I was doing admin work and he was tutoring one of the girls we took to camp last summer for a history test. The conversation soon turns from history to what it looks like to live out a relationship with Jesus. She has a relationship with Jesus, but the desire to really know what she believes and grow in it has been ignited in her. It was an incredible conversation to be a part of and, as a result, we're now reading through the New Testament with her. We're reading a chapter a day, and talking through it every day.... incredible. So essentially, Matt, her and I will be talking every single day for at least the next 3 years until she graduates high school, no matter what. God's goodness is unreal. 

It's conversations like that that make this worth it. It's moments with kids one-on-one that make you think... "If my only purpose in PR was this... right here... it's all worth it." God is slowly moving the relationships that we have with kids from the shallow, we're fun people stage to the we're consistent, have a voice, really know them and they trust us stage. It is so humbling and awe-inspiring to watch Him continue to give us opportunities like that over and over and over. 

These stories are so fun to tell, and I hope the give you a little insight in to what God is doing here in Puerto Rico... and encourage you in what God is doing wherever you are as well.... If you want to hear more stories please feel free to email me or give me a call! Thank you for continuing to pray for us.... 

We're having fun and things are rolling so I'll update again soon! 

Much love,

Linds  

YLPR... we're official.

Great news. YLPR is official... we now have an office! This has been very needed and very prayed for by us and many of you for a long time, and God has provided us an incredible place!! The office is located in the center of the city- walking distance from Sagrado Corazon, a large university and from the major business district of San Juan. Matt and I have had a great time in the past week shopping for furniture, getting moved in and starting to dream about how God will use this place. It will be great for committee meetings, for kids to come hang out and for us to have leadership training. But, the thing I'm most excited about is how I think God will use it to start creating a really compelling community here.

Community... REAL community... people who just live life together and care about each other is something that's hard to come by here. I have been really blessed to make great friends since I've moved here, but the desire for a community that can bring together all the people we know is growing stronger. I can not wait for God to use this place to bring people together... people that are in different life stages, have different levels of influence and different beliefs. I can't wait to really have a place where we can invite people in to be a part of our lives. I can't wait for this to be a safe place for any of our friends to come and hang out... a place where they know they are welcome and loved and accepted.

The thought of that makes me come alive inside... The potential of this place is almost overwhelming. The coolest part of it to me is that 3 months ago, I wouldn't have felt this way. God has started growing my heart for Puerto Rico and the people here in a beautiful way... in a way that only He can do.

So please join me in praying for that... in praying that people will know they are loved by us and we want them in our lives... without an agenda... we just want to know them and let them know us.

I will write more soon... thank you for supporting me so well in all of this, and for praying for me and with me!

Love,
Lindsay

It's 2011... and about time for an update

The new year started less than a month ago. Typically, one year merges in to the next and I don't notice the difference. Kind of like when you turn 20 after a year of being 19. But as January is nearing a close, I can say this year already has a different feel to it... more like I'm turning 16... or 21... or 50... though I'm not quite there yet. 

I went home for 3 weeks to the States over the holidays and it was a really sweet time. I spent time with family in Houston, got my fill of Philadelphia culture with my extended family and spent a week in Austin catching up with friends I haven't seen in way too long. It was great to be in a familiar place and see familiar people. As the time to head back to San Juan drew closer, a sweeter thing happened: I found myself missing the island. Missing my friends here... missing high school kids... missing warm weather... missing the crazy unique culture that makes this island what it is. I was excited to come back. It was an unexpected feeling... I was surprised at myself, but incredibly thankful. For the first time since moving here in September, I felt like I was going HOME. 

The first two weeks back have been wonderful; it wasn't long before I was thrown completely back in to Puerto Rican culture. The day after Matt and I returned to the island, Las Calles de San Sebastian happened. For those of you who might not be familiar with this... think Mardi Gras... then think bigger. All 4 million people living on the island of Puerto Rico, plus tourists, plus Puerto Ricans who live in the States that fly back just for this festival, cram themselves into the tiny streets of Old San Juan for one weekend and have a party. Anyone aged from high school up can be found there... and this year Matt, I and our friends joined in. It's one of those things you just have to experience in Puerto Rico, and it was great to begin reconnecting with our high school friends so soon after returning to the island. 

Our official work began this past week as we started planning out Young Life this semester. It's going to look a lot different than it did in the fall, but Matt and I are both incredibly excited about what it holds. I'll keep you updated on specifics as they happen, but we've basically shifted our focus from doing club every week to spending more time building into kids for the future and deepening relationships. A good chunk of my break in the States was spent praying for high school girls that I know well, kind of know, or don't know at all... and I'm really excited to see God continue moving and forming those relationships in ways that I don't expect and can't see right now. In the midst of planning, Matt and I have been asked several times to sub at one of the high schools we're working with, which is a huge blessing. It's such a great time with kids- we get to spend 8 hours with them and just hang out. God has been so faithful in continuing to open doors for us... please continue to pray for favor with schools and that He would begin opening doors in other high schools around San Juan! 

Gretchen, Peggy, Taylor and I at the Indian Caves

I mentioned earlier that this year felt different. There are many reasons for this: Puerto Rico feeling like home... YL looking different... but one of the biggest changes is the commitment Matt and I have made to thoroughly enjoy this beautiful island we get to live on! Our adventures in this area began this weekend. There was a professional longboarding competition in Guajataka, a town on the western part of the island. Matt, I and our friends Peggy, Gretchen and Becca road tripped out there... stopped at some incredible Indian Caves on the way... made friends with professional longboarders... ran in to high schools kids... and watched a surfing competition at an incredible beach. It was so life-giving. We've gotten pretty good at working hard. The next couple months we're working on learning to balance work with play. Check out the pictures from our weekend! 

Taylor, Peggy, Matt and I inside the caves

Please continue to pray for Young Life in PR... for God to give us opportunities to hang out with high school kids... for favor with administrations, schools and parents... and for God to continue growing us in our love for him and that it would overflow to our love for the people here. 

Longboarding... some sweet drifting going on here

The gang at Guajataka Beach

More stories to come soon! Thanks for caring... reading... supporting... praying. 

Much love,

Lindsay 

One Semester In... and it's Christmas!

I'm sitting at my dear friend Peggy's house tonight for our weekly Glee watching party. It's something that she has been working to establish as a norm. As an event that will, without a doubt, happen every Tuesday night. It's a sweet time where our extremely varied group of friends get together, talk about our weeks, eat grilled cheese and eventually, watch Glee. As we're wrapping up our first semester of Young Life clubs and I'm thinking back on the past 3 months, that is my prayer for YL club here in Puerto Rico. That it will truly become part of the culture; an event that will, without a doubt, happen every Monday night at 7:27 p.m. An event where high school students from different backgrounds and different stories can come, have a blast and feel comfortable just being a kid. This past semester was a huge step in getting there, and the hope of what God is going to do through Young Life here is what drives me each day as we hang out with students or run campaigners and club.

Puerto Rico Young Life Club!!

Mario and Jaycob dressed as Christmas trees!

We had our final club of the semester last night, and I think it was my favorite so far. It was Christmas themed (obviously) and students had a blast getting high quality white elephant gifts (if by high quality you mean it cost 25 cents at Party City), dressing up their friends as Christmas trees and eating pizza!

The students also got to hear the story of Mary and Martha, and how Jesus just wants to be with them... no matter how many things they think they need to "clean up" first. I love that they heard that truth about Jesus last night. I love that I was reminded of it. And I love that my life is filled with opportunities to remind kids of that as well.

My reaction after Milton (our skit character) asks me on a date

Christmas season has finally started in Puerto Rico. Ok, that's a lie. Christmas season started before Halloween happened. Yes... hard to believe, but very true. Last year during this season, thoughts of how amazing and incredible it is that God actually put on human flesh and walked around, that he hung out with ordinary people, dominated my thoughts. Lately, those thoughts have resurfaced and I was reminded Monday at club how incredible it is that  after Jesus left earth and couldn't physically hang out with us anymore, he sent us as ambassadors in his place. We walk around with the Holy Spirit inside us; we get to go and be in the flesh with people, to share truth with them and be a physical picture of Christ's love for them. That is at the same time a huge responsibility and a huge honor. God loves us so deeply... so passionately that he didn't just stop with the incredible gift of his son Jesus, but gave us the ability to be his ambassadors because we are his beloved children. 

I'm going to be honest. The past couple of weeks it has been hard to live here. I miss my family. I miss my 1509 Enfield roommates. I miss Austin and the way the sunset looks on the city as you're crossing the bridge over Town Lake. I miss cold weather. I miss watching football all day on Saturday. I miss good barbeque and Mexican food. My life would be easier if I didn't have to worry about money, work at making new friends, or try to live life in another language. But, I get to walk in to high schools with the Holy Spirit in me and show students Christ's love in the flesh. I get to watch Glee with a mixed-up group of friends and learn how to live life with them. And knowing that I get to do that simply because I belong to the King... simply because I'm his beloved child... is enough to make all the hard things worth it. 

So as the first semester of Young Life is wrapping up, I just want to thank you for all your support and prayers. God has done and will continue to do incredible things here. So thank you for your love and prayers. 

And God... Daddy, thank you... for loving us enough to come in the flesh and be with us. 

Christmas Club!!!

Here is our event poster for our Christmas club happening this Monday! It's our last club of the semester... crazy!

Check back for a longer update next week- just wanted to let you guys know I was still alive and YL is still kickin' in PR! Thanks for your continued prayers.