New Blog!

Hey Friends!
I'm starting a whole new blog. Basically it's the same as this one, I just wanted a new look/new start, etc. Check, check, check it out!

http://thepenguinonmyfridge.blogspot.com/

:)

Epitome of "Hope Time"

 6:53pm. I arrived early to the 7pm service. It's widely known at Hope that we have "Hope Time." This usually means that everyone is just a little late (usually myself included.) Sunday I wasn't sure if it was so empty because I was early, because it was third service, or just because it's summer and people are off having adventures. 

But check it out! At 7:07 the place was full. Love it. Love Hope. I'm definitely one of those "third service" types of people. 

Anyways, this is basically just me trying to figure out how to add pictures to my pseudo-blog. 

Success! 

Sin Epiphany

So I'm excited about the stage of life I'm in. I've been feeling the desire to grow and be refined in all areas of my life. It's really great and challenging and exhausting and wonderful.

One big thing I'm learning is about sin. I had always thought of sin being more of an action, an outward thing, a conscious decision. Lately I've been seeing how a lot of times my sinful actions can be traced back to a lie that I am believing either about God or myself. For example, my striving to be dependent on no one but myself may very well be traced back to a time when someone told me that I would always be weak and run to others with my problems. I can see how the rest of my life may have turned into some way of proving to him that isn't true; that I could handle problems and do things on my own. Independence in itself may not be a sin, but when it comes out of a root of determination to not need anything from anyone, even God, then I think it does become sinful.

I've used this strategy of discovering lies in other areas of my life, and what I've found is that there are a lot of other places that lies are inconspicuously hiding, motivating my thoughts and actions. This has been happening for so long, that these thoughts and actions happen basically naturally. This sin happens basically naturally. Sin is no longer an outward thing. It is a fight against the things I do naturally. (Woah.) This means that the fight against sin isn't really me against the world: it's me against me. It's me having the discernment to check my motivations and then the self control to train myself to replace lies with truth and then proceed from there.

It's hard.

But I like it.

But I'm not very good at it yet, but I'm guessing I'll get better with practice.

Btw, I picked up this way of thinking by taking Redemption Groups with Hope Community Church. So good. I highly recommend it. It'll change yo' life.

I have a lot more thoughts, but that's the end for now. There have been a lot of things brewing in my mind lately, but I want to steer clear of tl;dr. Besides.. one shouldn't blog much during the wee hours of the morning. Especially if one loses all types of filters around 11pm, and it is currently 2:30am.

More coming soon...

Committed

So I got the job. The job I have been working towards for months. I got it, and I am really excited about it :) For this job, they ask that you commit to two years. It's not a contract, so I can quit or be fired at anytime (not that I'm forseeing that..) but before I accepted, they really drilled into me what it means to commit. Now for one who has always had commitment issues, it's a big deal for me to commit to something for two whole years. I'm pumped for it.


Tomorrow...well really in exactly 12 hours from now, 3pm on Friday, I'm having my commitment ceremony. (Mom likes to say that I'm being committed.) I'm not really sure what's involved with this ceremony, but I know that there will be cake (a super chocolatey one that I got to pick out!) and that I will be reading the letter below in front of maybe a lot of different people (mainly bosses and higher ups. Eek!) So here I am, procrastinator to the core, finishing it at 3am the night before. Feel free to read on.


(Names have been omitted due to privacy laws.) 


January 1st, 2011
Dear ____, ___, ___, and ___, 
I grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota. During high school I spent most of my summers working at a camp up in Canada. Then I started college at Baylor University in Texas. My major started as business, but I quickly realized that I cared about people much more than numbers. With that realization, I switched my major to education. Over the next few years I discovered that I wanted to go into special ed.  In 2009, I transferred up to the University of Minnesota where I obtained my degree in elementary education and started on my masters in special ed.  When I moved to Minneapolis, a friend of mine from camp suggested that I work with her for ACR. I applied, got hired, and was placed here at Walnut. 
Now, a bit over two years later I have come to love and appreciate the ladies and staff here. I am very excited to spend the next phase of my life as the Residential Supervisor at Walnut. While I am here, I commit to doing the best job I can do.____, to you I commit to sitting down and drinking coffee with you often.____, I commit to tell you as soon as I find myself a man. I also commit that if we ever meet Justin Beiber, you can have first dibs. ____, I commit to listening to Kool108 every time you are in my car, or another station that plays good dance songs, so we can rock out all the way home. To ____ I commit to listening to country music so we can keep singing the lyrics together.  To all of you, I commit to learning more about your lives and the people in them so that you can live as happy, healthy, and as independent as possible.  
I’m excited for what I will learn in the next few years as I transition from a full-time student to a full-time adult. Already I have learned so much from you and know that by having worked with you, my life has been changed forever. You have blessed me and I hope my presence at Walnut will bless you as well. 
Thanks for letting me be a part of your lives, 


Annie Brock 
RS at the ACR Home on Walnut

Greyhound Ragamuffins

Traveling for over 24 hours on a greyhound is not for the faint of heart. One must be able to tolerate uncomfortable seats, very little leg room, and brakes so squeaky they wake you up from whatever short uncomfortable rest you got. One must not get upset over witnessing bad cellphone ettiqutte and bad parenting. One must not be bothered by gassy old men, the smell of weed, or talk of the best prostitutes in any given city. One must be okay with frequenting gas stations and sketchy bus stops with locks on the doors and bars on the windows where at any moment a fight may (and did!) break out.

For many single, 22 year old, white, Midwestern girls, traveling alone, this trip would probably make them super uncomfortable.

BUT I LOVED IT.

I could write about all the crazy stories I now have, but instead, I’ll let you know my main take away. Have you heard of the book The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning? So far, I’ve only read the first couple chapters, but I know the book is about God’s grace, and how it is for those who are lost, dirty, and messed up---otherwise for us all. It’s not only for the very hygienic, the church goers, those with the same values as I. It’s for the unshowered, the pot smokers, those who just got out of prison. God’s grace is for people. For all people. In the same way that He wants me to know the depth and power of His love; he wants everyone else to know that too.

“If you look down on anyone on the planet, you don’t understand the Gospel.”-Steve Treichler

On my ride, I met those who were dirty, drug dealers, pot smokers, nomads, migrants, homeless, young, old, veterans, and a few men recently released from prison. People who God wants to know His power, His character, His love. My goal at the beginning of this week was to talk to strangers more. We are called to love people, and how can we do that unless we talk to them first? On this trip, he gave me to opportunity to have great conversations multiple people. I got to learn about their life stories and how they ended up on a Greyhound. From that I got to ask about their dreams, their hopes in life, and their view of God and validity of the Bible. Mainly, I got to listen to people who needed someone to talk to; someone to care about them. I got to be that person, and I love being that person. I may never see any of them ever again, but I hope they will remember our conversations as I will. I hope I impacted them as much as they have impacted me.

And from this point on, I hope to start talking to strangers more. On the bus, on the street, in class, everywhere. I also hope to finish reading The Ragamuffin Gospel, but I’ll need to borrow someone’s copy. I had the opportunity to give it to a man who just got out of prison. He had asked me what I was reading and seemed very interested in the topic. Pray that he reads it and pray that I don’t forget what I learned and keep talking to strangers. 

Life Update :)

Oh hello my little blog!

                I’m sorry it’s been so long. I’ve missed you! I’ve been meaning to write, but sometimes life gets so dang busy, ya know? Oh, I’m not complaining. I’m loving this season that I’m in. Let me tell you about it:

                I’m still living in Minneapolis, but now I’ve joined the trendy/cool/hipster kids that live in Northeast. This is my first time living in a neighborhood…well, EVER. Born a country girl, and then four years in dorms and apartments, I’m finally in a house with a yard and neighbors all around. And TREES! Right now they are red, yellow, orange and beautiful. Em and I were on a pretty carpet of them on our walk this morning.

                I live with Emily, Jessica, Katie, and a lovebird named Sully. It has been wonderful. We all get along great (except Em and Sully…they’re working out their differences.) We live in a house that is very comfortable and inviting, and many nights people are there for small groups, pirate themed study parties, or dinner/brinner/coffee/tea. (Soon a Let’s-party-like-it’s-1999/Jessica’s-B-day party) So much silliness; I love it.

                Grad school has been fine. Honestly, its not much different than my undergrad, except I care less. Maybe five years is too long to be in school. Or maybe I’m just ready to start applying the things I’ve been learning about for years. I may actually get a chance to soon!

                This season of my life has been so busy mainly because on top of school, small group through Hope, volunteering with Navs, working, and having an awesome social life, I have been trying to get my boss’s job. Although that sounds conniving, I assure you it’s not; it was just time for her and her family to start a new chapter in their lives (great for them, sad for us, so, the group home I work at is now without a Residential Supervisor BUT we do have a Residential Supervisor Assistant (me) who would like to step into that role. My company is very particular about who they let do that job and has pretty intense training before the position is even offered. Currently, I am in that training. I keep getting the question, “So, did you get the job? When will you know?” My answer is always, “Kinda/Sorta/Not yet.” And “I don’t know.” Though this state of limbo isn’t exactly my most favorite state to be in, it’s good. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t know, and realized that I don’t need to know; what I need to do is do my job and do it well. What will be will be.

                So that’s what I’ve been up to, little blog. I am so blessed. Not every day seems fabulous…but in the middle of craziness I try to remind myself that a) tomorrow will be better and b) I really am living the dream. My dream at least. Life is good.  

Beautiful Life.

I love my silly, beautiful life. 


I love my jobs. I love my churches. I love that my family lives so close and that they are so awesome. I love that I've managed to switch my wardrobe to basically all solid color v-neck t-shirts. I love that I have a bookshelf full of half read books and books to be read. I love that Minnesota summers make up for the terrible winters. I love that even though I drink too much coffee, my favorite cups are during good conversation with good friends. I love that I am moved into a house in which I will live with three amazing girls. I love that I live in a city that has so many opportunities for me to try new things. I love that I have a passion to learn. I love that I'll be starting grad school in a subject I care a lot about. I love that this is a stage of life for me to figure out who I am and who I want to be. I love that I have a God who cares about the mundane details of my life and who knows my heart completely. I love conversations with friends about issues that actually matter. I love sweet potato tater tots. I love that I am growing and changing in so many different areas of my life. I love that I'm excited about my future; where I'll go, who I'll meet, and what will happen. 


My life certainly isn't perfect, but I don't want it to be. It's the challenges and the silliness of it all that have made me who I am. 


My cup overflows :)