beginning my year of public service

unedited thoughts - I just completed my Americorps Pre-Service Orientation in Dallas, Texas and it got me fired up. Although I received a pretty good on-boarding at 826CHI, it was great to have almost a whole week focused on reflecting and articulating my goals for this year.

A list of what I enjoyed and why:
1) Diversity.
This group was 200+ bodies strong coming from Puerto Rico to Alaska from Washington D.C. to rural Kentucky with ages spanning as young as 19 to mid-60s and nearly every race represented.

2) Listen to listen, and don't listen to respond.
Although the training sessions were rather long, everyone participated in discussions and freely shared personal experiences and their relationship to poverty. It felt good simply to listen to people's stories. And when exchanges got too serious, nobody was afraid to crack a joke.

3) Network.
You were constantly meeting new people at meals, training sessions, or even at the hotel bar, so it forced me to get out of my comfort zone and introduce myself. I truly met a few folks I want to stay in touch with and hope we have the opportunity to meet again.

4) Have Fun
Although the state of poverty in the U.S., and the mission to eliminate it, seems insurmountable, we were constantly reminded never to forget to have fun.

Stray observations:
A couple of firsts. First time visiting Texas & eating In-N-Out.



Drowning my sorrows from Super Tuesday with The Socialist.



Weather was mid-70s all week.

reason for the season

Sharon gets what might be the ultimate Christmas surprise

T'was the night before Christmas, and the youngest child eagerly waits to open one gift, per Lee family tradition.

So patient and unaware, she waits for her turn.

When what, to her wondering eyes, Korean grains should appear!

Though this is not what she hoped,
she still brings it in for a smile.

Mom presents her with another similar gift, and Sharon tears it open, in spite of herself.

She knows in a moment she's been had.

Lol. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! To be continued...

I never heard this but it's hilarious

so it begins?

faithful

"Lift up the hands which hang down -- as if from weariness and exhaustion. Renew your courage; make a new effort to bear them. The hands fall by the side when we are exhausted with toil, or worn down. Courage and resolution may do much, however, to make them firm, make every effort to bear up under trials. The desire to reach home invigorates the frame of the weary traveler. The hands fall, and the knees tremble, and the heart sinks within us. But confidence in God, and the hope of heaven, and the assurance that all this is for our good, will reinvigorate the enfeebled frame, and enable us to bear what we once supposed would crush us to the dust. A courageous mind braces a feeble body, and hope makes it fresh for new conflicts." Amen, amen.

excerpt

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov