One Month.
- Trevor
- Oct 30, 2024
- 4 min read
"The days are long but the weeks are short."
At just over a month in, I'm finally beginning to understand the full meaning of the phrase a staff member said at the beginning.
What has been filling my time?
Lectures from speakers of varying secondary doctrinal dispositions (which has been very spiritually stretching in a good way). Last week I was in class messaging the speaker from the week before to get his perspective on what the current speaker was saying.
Worship (Sunday and Monday mornings, some Thursday evenings, other days irregularly either out of spontaneity or during other activities like hikes),
Hikes every Friday, We've gone to Deception Pass state park, we did a hike to a glacier up near Mt. Baker, We hiked to a waterfall (and got in very briefly) and traipsed around Bagley Lakes. At the latter, located right by the parking lot of Mt. Baker Ski Area, there was surprisingly no snowpack. I did, however, find just enough snow on the ground to slip and fall in dog poo as soon as I got out of the car.
Doing laundry at the laundromat
Volunteering with 120ish K-3 boys and girls at a local church every Wednesday night
Rock climbing and rollerblading
Preparing for outreach with my team
Drinking Apple Juice at the small restaurant next door, they're part of the same mall building YWAM is and have graciously offered to let me store my own apple juice in the fridge for whenever I need to just go have a drink.
Being under the weather... A couple of colds have made their rounds through the campus, fortunately it hasn't been worse. They weren't horrible, but I'm still recovering from the second.
Wrenching on every car I can get my hands on that needs repair
Journaling when things come to mind
Walks
Eating
Rummikub, Euchre (more of that to come ideally) and other games.
Doing outreach and volunteering in Bellingham. Recently this has looked like going out and asking people if they're willing to do a survey. It has 7 questions on it, and ranges from asking about the greatest need of the city to what the individual's spirituality looks like and whether we can pray for them (I use the word spirituality here to generalize). We also have spent a lot of time sorting through donations for WeCare, a thrift store on the lower level of our warehouse in downtown Bellingham that has a big heart for the homeless population and provides for them through free clothes and connections to other resources.
The list goes on. We won a pumpkin carving contest (with an angle grinder), I turned a 55 gallon drum into a (so far untested) kayak, I sold my car, etc.
Also, I now know where I'm going on outreach.
Half of our team is going to Cambodia (not me)
Half of our team is going to Thailand (me)
We'll probably be in or near Bankgkok from the beginning of December to the beginning of February.
There's a lot more I could talk about. Someone or someones has/have been putting googly eyes all around the campus. Nobody knows who it is. It's most intriguing.
I miss my family, my car, the boys, and my room. Even with easygoing roommates it's difficult when our 5 unique sleep schedules don't perfectly align. I'm learning what not having a car to use as an emotional and physical escape (idol) is like, and it's definitely leading to growth.
Thank you for your continued support in prayer, If I could be very real for a moment, there are a few areas where I need specific prayer:
I generally don't like authority and struggle with submission, especially with coming from being an adult and dictating my own schedule and life to now having a curfew, rules, and what seems like less freedom. I know it's worth it to set aside being my own master and I have been submitting to God and the leadership here, it's just something that I need to continue to be intentional about while God uses this opportunity to mature my faith.
Health, health, health, and good rest. Everyone is struggling with this in one aspect or another, so please be in prayer for this.
I'm sorting out my identity apart from my cars (yikes), my family, my home, my friends, and my interests. God is good, and prayer that I would continue to lean on Him to learn who my identity is in Christ would be fantastic. I'm wrestling with my self-image and behavior and have come to realize that the more introspective I become, the more I don't like WHO I've become. Between my blue collar job and wonderful but not super Christian friend group at home, I realized I've become cynical, crass, frequently put others down in a way that's great and humorous with close friends but no way to interact with the world at large. I'm still dealing with emotional numbness/avoidance and apathy from dad's passing and other happenings. I have shame because of stupid mistakes I frequently made at work and frustration at myself for being trapped in the vicious cycle of occupational idiocy. I'm selfish, and somewhat lonely. All of these are behaviors and thought patterns that I'm more than ready to give up. Please pray that as the Lord works in my heart, I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind as Romans 12:2 says. I'm really looking forward to being the best, most submitted-to-God version of myself.
Just a fyi, this week my cell number isn't working, it should be again shortly. You can contact me in the meantime through pretty much any social media or 503-567-1852
I do have pictures and videos, however I think I'll upload them on Facebook and put the link here because this website is out of storage lol. The best way to keep up is Instagram, where every day there are current pictures and videos (stories that are from previous days can be viewed in the DTS and DTS Pt. 2 highlights on my account, that's where most of the stuff is.)
Instagram:
Facebook post with recent media:
Thank you again for your financial support (I have all of the money I need, you guys rock!)
Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you for reading.
I'll keep y'all posted!
Trevor
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