Music Speaks

Everytime I hear this song it speaks to me. It has gotten me through some hard times this year. I hope you enjoy it. Comment below your favorite song.
God Bless

Laura

June Update!

Hello everyone again!! ( John, I am stealing your format. Thanks, bud!)
Good things/New Things
As you all know, I have been applying to jobs like crazy! I cannot officially announce anything yet, but let’s just say it is looking very good. Thanks for all the prayers. I actually have a school actively pursuing me right now, so we will see. Not sure if it is where I want to be.

(Amanda,Anna and I)

I talked to my best friend Anna the other day on the phone, thinking that she was going to tell me not to move certain places. Of course, I did not give her enough credit. She told me exactly what I needed to hear. God was really speaking through. “Laura, you like going and going; you just have not had the option not to.” so true! One of the many reasons I love this girl!
I have yet to blog about the Mexico trip. I am still amazed by all the opportunities I have had this year. I went to Mexico to study immigration issues. I thought my opinion was pretty solid about the subject. This trip totally made me think about things again. Some sort of reform needs to happen. I can’t tell you what kind. It is something I am praying about.   I would love to talk about it more.

James and I on one of the trails the immigrants take

In front of the wall the separates the borders

Tara and I at Disneyland

On a heavier note:
Part of my heart is now in North Carolina! My housemate Tara is needing to stay home to get some much needed medical treatment. It is not same without her. I miss my ally! She was the only other girl in the house. It was very hard to lose her, but I know this is what she needs right now.  She has a great listening ear and isn't afraid to give me some tough love. I know for a fact I could not have made it through this year without her. She has taught me so much! I don’t think I will ever be able to express my appreciation to her. Thank you for your friendship. Ok, well, I am going to stop writing, so I don’t start crying. The boys have been so amazing to talk to.  So thank you for being a great support system!
God Bless
Laura

Where Dreams Come True!

I know it has been way too long since I have posted a blog post. Everytime I start to write a blog the words just never seem to come out right. So now I am going to take a different approach and just give you an update.

Updates:

1.       Last Monday we went to Disneyland. It was an amazing day!  We spent part of the day all together and part of the day in small groups.  We all got along so well that day. I got to go to California Adventures. Brent, Freddie and I rode an amazing rollercoaster that launched us into the air. It was so thrilling. Tara and I found Pluto together. I was so glad that I could help her take a picture with him, since he is her favorite character. We stayed all day and watched a parade at the end of the day. The parade played music from most of the Disney classics. Or as I like to say, the GOOD Disney.

Groupie of the Dweller in the beehive!
(Winnie the Pooh ride)

Tara and I waiting for the Teacups ride

2.      I have been applying for jobs for next year. I could really use some prayers about what kind of teaching positions I should apply for. I recently found out that I could apply to be a Speech Implementer, which is the same as a Speech Pathologist, except that you just don’t have the degree and a licensed Speech Pathologist teaches how to teach the sounds. I have always been interested in this, but didn’t want to switch my major again. I have been applying for special education positions and elementary positions. I have even applied for kindergarten! I know you think I am crazy, but my favorite sub days were in kindergarten.

3.       I am so blessed to have the parents I have. They push me and encourage me. They go along with my wacky plans and even sometimes fund them. I am so lucky to have parents who let me explore who I am and find myself. Thank you, Mom and Dad for sacrificing so much for me. I will find you a great old folks’ home.

Lastly, I want to say thank you again for all your support. I could not have done this year without all of your encouragement. Thank you!

Please comment below about what you would like updates on. 

God Bless

Laura

Fundraising and Immigration

I apologize I have not blogged in awhile. First and foremost thank you everyone for helping me meet my fundraising goal. I was only suppose to raise $6,500 and I ended up raising 7,814.50. Love you all so much!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a CLUE LA luncheon. CLUE LA stands for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.  During this lunch, there were many presentations about how we needed to help the poor. I am all for that! Here is where my struggle began: I was raised in a middle-class family that valued education. The accepted norm in our house was that you went to college when you finished high school. I was also taught that you went to college to be able to find a job, so that you would be able to support your family. At the lunch yesterday, they talked about how the minimum wage is not enough for family to live on. I agree with this, but here is where I felt I differed from other people attending this lunch. I believe that minimum wage jobs are meant to be temporary or for teenagers. I felt the focus should have been on why we are not spending more money on our children to educate them so that they have a better future than we did. Why was the focus not on trying to help these people become legal, so that they had to be paid more and didn’t have to settle for job that don’t pay well?  I do not believe that a person should be paid 15 dollars an hour for flipping a burger. I do not feel that the amount of work being done is equal to that amount of pay.  My problem is that I am currently living in the inner-city, and I see these Mamas trying to provide for their families. They have to work these jobs in order to be able to make ends meet: they are on their own and they do not have education. Many of them do not speak enough English to be able to further their education. I wish that these people were able to make more money. I wish that English classes were more accessible to them. I had views about immigration before I came to LA. I wanted everyone to be able to become legal and now I can see that some people are not able to even begin that process. So before you make a decision about immigration, meet the women in my neighborhood. Thanks for listening.

Laura

New Year!

It is a new year what better way to start off the new year then through self-reflection.  Please excuse my poor grammar in this post. I am now actively trying to find an affordable gym here where I can work out. I am also reexamining my self care. Below I have provide a list of self care items that I everyone should think about. One of the YAVs serving in the Philippines posted it. Happy reading!

Turkey Day!

Hello, everyone!

It has been a while since I have written a post. This is because I wanted what I was writing to be meaningful and not just words on a piece of paper. So this post may not be meaningful, but it is an update on my life.

What’s going on in the house: Well, within the house, I argued with my housemates about when it was acceptable to play Christmas music. They wanted to start playing it right after Halloween, and I don’t think it should be played until after Thanksgiving. I am very thankful that discussion can now be over now that we have had Thanksgiving.  No, I am not a Grinch: my roommates will now be hearing Bing Crosby throughout the house.

The sound of Christmas music is not the only change that is about to happen in our house. One of our housemates lost her job with the agency she was placed with. Matthew and Marvin both worked very hard to try and find Chantel another placement.  No other agency had the money to take on a DOOR intern. Although we do not get paid a large amount, the agency is expected to pay DOOR thousands of dollars for an intern. Chantel will be leaving our DOOR family on December  14. Please keep Chantel and our house in your prayers during this time of transition. 

Chantel is the girl on the right

Community Day at the beach with all my housemates

                                                                     

Yesterday we cooked the full spread. I cooked my first turkey ever. Thanks, Mom, for the help! It turned out well, for the most part. Of course, everything was ready, and we were still waiting on the turkey. It reminded me though how God has a plan for each of us, and a lot of time we are the turkey. He has prepared everything for us, and he is just waiting for us to “finish cooking” or in our case, be finally ready to let God be in charge.

The BIG beautiful bird 22 lbs

 During this year so far I have already been worrying about next year. Seeing all this poverty and homelessness makes me want to have a plan and fight for a good job, because I see how hard life is when you are struggling. The thing I am torn with is that I am really trying to be interested in this year, but at the same time I want to be prepared for next year. This is something I could really use prayers for.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday

Love,

Laura

My First Vlog!

Below I have attached my very first vlog. My amazing roommate Brent filmed and edited my vlog. I hope you enjoy! Please leave comments below.