I have had several dreams in the past week about New Orleans, I'm missing it a lot.  My mom doesn't understand because all she can think about is how dangerous it was down there for me and having my car stolen.  It's hard to understand since we've lived in a place that is mostly safe all our lives.  I can't get used to the fact that it's optional for me to lock my car doors now.  I suddenly know what people meant when they said there was something about New Orleans that made a person love it and want to come back.  I miss riding on the street car, having coffee at Community Coffee, and browsing Magazine Street. I miss the beautiful buildings , the culture, and Audubon Park.  But above all I miss the people that I grew to love and who were my family for a year. Today I came to the realization that I will never be able to get people who didn't experience my time there to understand everything I went through while in New Orleans.  And I want to because it was so important to me.  Yet if I tried to tell everything people wouldn't want to listen to it all because they weren't there, something you truly had to be there for.  How do I pick out the most important moments and lessons learned to share with people? 

I had my first job interview since being back.  It's for a job doing day programming with people with disabilities.  Which means I would be responsible for coming up with lesiure activities to do with the residents, such as crafts, cards, reading, community activities, and volunteer projects.  It seems promising.  I actually enjoyed the interview (I had three different interview for it!) because I enjoyed just talking to the ladies doing the interviewing.  Plus I've been couped up by myself lately and I think I just enjoyed having some social interactions.  It also made me think about what I really want to do.  I was convinced I wanted to find an office job.  But going to this interview made me realize how much I want to do a job where I'm helping people by working directly with people.  A job needs to be more for me than just a way to make money, I will only be satisfied if my job is a way for me to do ministry helping people.  That's why I wanted to go into inner-city ministry because then my job would be a way for me to live out my faith.  That's what I'm called to and anything less would be wasting what God  has showed me for so long.  I'll let you know what happens. 

If I could do anything and be anywhere right now I'd:

Live in Portland Oregon or some other city surrounded by mountains for me to play in

Have a job that I love to go to everyday working to help people have better lives

Work part time making coffee drinks in a coffee shop not because I need the extra income but just because it is something I like to do

Have awesome Christian roommates and live in an affordable place

That would be life in perfect Lisa world.  But I'd take even a few of those options. Anyone have any ideas?

Hello friends,

  I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update this, I get really busy and forget about my internet world.  There is so much that I could write on this since so much has happened since my last post.  Yet if I gave you an entire play by play it would get rather long and boring for you all so I will stick to a specific topic.  One of things I like best about my job is when mission teams come.  We get groups from all over the U.S. and they add spice to my time here, since usually I work with the same people doing the same things. Right before Christmas break a group from my old college, Northwestern, came down and I had a great time with them.  It was neat to see familiar faces and some new ones as well.  Yet it was also strange because it was like my two worlds were colliding.  It had seemed like forever that I had been at Northwestern but I found it easy to pick up where I left off, hearing people talk about familiar people and events.  And it was weird to have my Northwestern friends be in New Orleans, with the new people and events in my life.  But I had a great time hanging out with them and seeing how good of a mission team that they were. 

         Another great thing about mission teams is it is neat to see what creative ways they come up with to go above and beyond what we expect them to do to help the neighborhood.  Each team seems to add their own unique impact on Hollygrove (the hood I live in).  One group bought Christmas presents for all the people's who houses they worked on and went caroling to each house.  Another group bought a welcome home house mat for the family.  A really great thing one of the teams did was after they left they were so impacted by the homeowner that they set up a website to help raise money to help her fix up her house.  They then came back about a month later and gave the money to the homeowner AND stayed another week to help us work on houses. If you would like a way to donate financially to help New Orleans then their website is worth checking out at http://web.mac.com/mackenziebudd/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html (and tell your friends).  Another team met a family who didn't have enough money for the bare essentials that they needed so the team went out and bought them things like socks and personal hygiene items.  It gives me hope to see all these people who come with such willing and loving servant hearts.  We hear so much each day about the bad things that people do but there are people out there who do good things that make a powerful impact for good causes.  Please pray for the volunteer groups that come to TCC, pray that they would continue to come and do good works.  Pray that they would be so impacted by their time here that they would continue to find ways to help New Orleans, be it by spreading the word about their time here so that others may come or find ways to keep giving even after they are gone.  And pray that they would leave the neighborhood a better place. 

"It's the beauty in the tales we tell , it's the pushing through and ending well and finding strength to give ourselves away.  Friend I know your heart is raw ,but love is still a worthy cause. Picking up and pressing on oh love is still a worthy cause. It's the touch that starts the thaw , love is still a worthy cause . Or the word that breaks the pause,
Love." -Sara Groves, Love is Still a Worthy Cause