Long Week

Wow, I am SO glad it's Friday! This was a really long and busy week, especially considering it was only 4 days! I am exhausted! And I didn't even volunteer in Rachel's class like I usually do on Tuesdays because she had a sub. But, I ended up getting a lot of random stuff done that I really needed to do, so it was a busy day anyway. Thursday, I had work as usual, but we only had like 10 kids and 3 adults. So, not too bad. But, 2 days this week (Wednesday & today) were spent doing volunteer training for Hope Pregnancy Center.

Months ago (I think it was like October), my church talked about the center and my friend Alice decided it was somewhere she wanted to volunteer. But then, Alice went home for a few months, and we totally forgot about it. Well, about two weeks ago, during a sermon at church about finding your "ministry", I felt really called to get involved with Hope. So, I mentioned it to Alice & we found out on Sunday that they had training this week! It was obviously a pretty quick process. But, that sermon really convicted me that I haven't done a lot of "ministering" to people, or making disciples and that's obviously something the Bible talks about a lot (Matthew 28:16-20), and something we've been talking about in our Young Married's class at church recently.

I actually only was able to go to 2 out of the 4 days of training, but it was pretty amazing. Obviously, their primary goal is to educate women about their choices when they're faced with an unplanned pregnancy. But, they really just want to minister to these women and make sure they have the opportunity to get fully educated on their options. They obviously don't advocate abortion, but they are very loving in their approach and don't force anything. They're definitely not a politically driven pro-life organization. Obviously, it's a really good opportunity for me to get involved in the community and serve God locally.

As much as I loved the training, I was also a little bit apprehensive because it would be an experience that majorly takes me out of my comfort zone (the training was very focused on being an "opportunity counselor"). I had a lot of doubts about whether I should get really involved since we'll probably be moving this fall (they usually want people to stay on for about a year), and I don't want to overbook myself as it is. I realized today though, after meeting with the center director that I'd be working with that they're extremely flexible and understanding as far as scheduling and being in the position God wants you to be in (meaning you don't necessarily have to be an "opportunity counselor"). So, that made me a lot more comfortable. Also, they only ask for a commitment of 3-4 hours a week, and I realized I only have 3 more weeks of work until this round of bible study is over.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be an "opportunity counselor" (talking one on one with the women, ministering to them, etc), but there is a whole lot more training involved if I do feel called to do that. It's obviously pretty intimidating at this point, but they do a lot to prepare you for that job. And they have lots of other opportunities to serve too, whether it's helping with parenting classes or data entry, or whatever. The list goes on and on. So, I think it'll be a really cool opportunity, and obviously something that will help other people. And, by taking myself out of my comfort zone, it would force me to trust God more.

So, lots of prayer would be much appreciated as I go further with the center. I'm going to start doing some training next week, and I could really use God's guidance on where to go from there. I still have a little bit of apprehension, just because of the extreme nature of this ministry, but if I don't help these women, who will?