My Final Support Letter!

Here is the letter I sent out to all those following, praying for me, and supporting me me during the last year of my life.

The end of the year and Christmas season always seems to stir up feelings of nostalgia, reflection, and vision for me; and this year is no different. One year ago this Christmas the anticipation of what my near future held about put me over the edge with excitement. I was itching to quit my Corporate America job and start my internship at CCV; a journey that seemed very mysterious, was a bit risky, a giant leap of faith, and unclear on what my future held. I remember attending the Christmas service at CCV this exact time last year and standing outside the doors to the worship center as family's and loved ones walked up holding hands, exchanging hugs, and wishing each other "Merry Christmas". I stood there with no family or friends with me and not knowing more than two people in the entire church and my family being thousands of miles away, but filled with utter joy and the giddiness as if I were boarding a surprise first class flight where my Father was the pilot and all expenses were taken care of. The promise was clear; that I would be taken care of completely in the tender care and supervision of my Father, that it was going to be an adventure, but that the destination would remain unknown. The level of assurance I had in Christ that He would take care of me as I chose to step out and follow Him put me at peace about my unknown future. Combine His peace with His joy and there was nothing to hold me back.

Now here I am; one year later exactly. It is the week of our Christmas services at CCV once again and I find myself in a different, but yet very similar place. Different in the fact that this time I am on the inside of the doors to the worship center and part of the team that is in charge of planning the entire program for 30,000 people to come experience and hear the story of our Lord's birth. Similar in the fact that the same level of giddiness, excitement, anticipation, and joy continue to consume and flow out of me as well as the mystery of what the unknown future holds. Similar in the fact that the same peace remains in me as I continue to trust God with my life and my future. I will try recap this past year for you as best as I can but ultimately will focus on what my "next steps" are to update you on my life today and the near future.

This past year has been absolutely incredible and life changing to say the least. I've been stretched in ways I didn't realize I needed stretched and it has been the most enriching, fulfilling year of my life. That is not to say that there were not times of struggle, unclarity, sadness, and confusion, because there definitely were. But it was through those times that God goes to work in shaping, refining, and ultimately lifting me up. I also had the opportunity to spend the year learning from incredible Christian leaders who chose to pour into me and the other interns and help us grow in our leadership ability as well as help us grow in our own self-awareness (what we are good at, what we need help with, what our personalities best fit within ministry, etc). I've spent the year jumping from several different departments to get a well-rounded perspective of the options and opportunities within ministry. I started off with our Neighborhood Ministry, moved to Pastoral Care, then spent the summer with our First Impressions department, and ended my last 4 months with our Programming Department and absolutely fell in love with it!

What the programming team at CCV does is develop videos, stage sets, performances, events, lighting, cameras, audio, weekend services, music performances, etc. There is so much to learn in the production industry but I'm hoping to make a career out of it in ministry in the future as I continue to learn more over the course of the next year or so. I love the project management side of the production industry and get fired up just thinking about the possibilities within it. I love creating the moments within events or conferences that touch people's hearts and leave them changed forever.

As of one week ago, I have decided to accept an official job offer from CCV as their Groups Event Coordinator. I'll be in charge of all unique, large outside events that come to CCV such as Catalyst OneDay, Chris Tomlin, or Kurt Warner, as well as the more consistent internal events we put on such as Easter, Christmas, and Volunteer Appreciation. This is what I did before I started my internship (event coordinating) but now with a year of experience in developing relationships with the staff and growing in my knowledge of ministry in a church I'm much more tailored for the position. So I'm staying in Phoenix and coming on staff at CCV. I'm beyond excited to begin and have some sort of focused energy after jumping around from department to department so much this last year. I'll also have the opportunity to continue to learn from our programming team in the world of production to hopefully jump to that industry down the road.

On a different update in regards to my living situation: I'm also looking into an organization called Apartment Life where I would move into an apartment complex with another roommate and become "local missionaries". My role would be to provide 2-4 events a month for those living in the apartment complex and help bring people together and enrich the lives and relationships of those in the complex. I would basically be developing relationships with people in hopes to share the love of Christ with them and impact them on a deeper level. The management of the apartment complex waives our rent because we are helping them retain renters and enriching the lives of those living there. We are also given a budget each month to host the events we come up with, but there is still a small fee of $250 (split between two renters) that goes to Apartment Life for some overhead costs and also serves as a deposit that we get a percentage back if we are left in good standing at the end of our 2 year commitment. I am currently going through the application process but am very excited about it potentially becoming a possibility. Until then, my host family has offered (and by offered I mean asked) me to stay with them until I need to move out. I've been SO blessed with having the opportunity to live with the same family this past year who truly have become family to me. Their two daughters are 9 and 13 and feel like my little sisters. So it's looking like I'll be in Phoenix for the next year or two for sure working as an event coordinator and learning more about the production world! Pretty crazy to think that I've been in Phoenix for almost 2 years already.

I cannot even begin to thank you for your prayers and sacrificing on my behalf to allow me to participate in this internship program this last year. It means so much to me and I cannot thank you enough. I'll be coming home to Iowa for Christmas for 5 days to spend with friends and family before I come back and begin my new job the beginning of the year. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!