I have been thinking for a while about how to write this blog post. It has been difficult because lately a lot of thoughts and feelings have been circulating my brain but I haven't been able to express them on paper in an eloquent manner, so here is an attempt.
Last week we went on our second retreat for the year. When you think of retreats you think of relaxing, spending time thinking about whatever you are on retreat for, possibly some prayer, and maybe learning about something new. Well all those things did happen and the thinking forced me to think about my year and how great it has been thus far, but also about the future and and how I only have 6 months left of my YAV year and what I am going to do these next 6 months.
I started thinking about the people I currently work with and how much I enjoy working with them. The Gorbals community has taught me so much about love, acceptance, kindness, the struggles of life and addiction, and poverty. I have learned that poverty looks different in every community you step into. I have learned that for a lot of people in this community, getting from day to day is a struggle due to depression, addiction, or a multitude of other reasons. Many people have shared their stories with me and I am so grateful to have met all of them because it has allowed me to take what they are going through, listen to them, and see how I can help them, even in the little ways. Sometimes it is just having a conversation with someone about their day and their likes and dislikes. Other times it is talking to someone about prayer and faith and encouraging them that they are worthy and loved.
I have enjoyed these conversations so much and hearing people's stories helps me to write my own. I am so grateful that I have been able to be here this year. I am so grateful for everyone that has been praying for me, that donated to me, and that continues to support me both from home and here in Scotland.
During this retreat Lydia, one of the YAV staff members from the office in Louisville, came and visited us and spent some time hearing about our placements and our time here. It was amazing to have her here to see what we have been doing, to help us talk about future plans, and to calm all our worries and answer all our questions. She has heard every story in the book, heard most complaints, and is very aware about looking at your community and seeing the deeper systematic issues. She allowed me to see my community differently than I have been seeing it these last 6 months and got me excited all over again about what I can do to help and to learn more about the systematic issues and how they affect everyone everyday.
So all in all even though this retreat caused a lot of scratching of heads, it was a much needed pause in the normal hectic schedule, to think, reflect, and get excited about my placement and the possibilities of the future!
Friday, February 26, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Am I Doing Enough....
Two days ago I was walking back from Gorbals and I saw an ambulance pull up on the street. There are no buildings where the ambulance pulled up, there is only a park. I wondered who the ambulance was going to help since I didn't see any people but I continued walking and looked into the park. I saw a man face down on the dirt near a bench in the park. My stomach sunk and I had a sick feeling. I thought he was dead and I am still not sure if he is dead or alive but my heart ached for this man. There were no other people around. I am not sure how the ambulance even found him because no one was standing waiting or them to come and it was freezing out. I watched as the paramedics flipped the limp body onto a stretcher and took him back to the ambulance.
Then I continued walking home and saw another man lying on the street attempting to eat some hot chips (fries), but he was shaking and could barely eat them because it was so cold out. And I saw maybe three other homeless people begging for money on the street. That is five homeless cold people on my 40 min walk home. And I see people like this every day when I walk to work. It started to get me thinking about my value here in Glasgow.
It got me questioning if I am doing enough, am I helping the right people. I know I cannot help everyone and I love the community I work in. I love the mums and the toddlers and I see both the parents and kids grow each week in confidence and patience. I love all the volunteers I work with and I am so appreciative of Bridging the Gap and all the work they do. They change peoples lives and I am proud to be a part of that. But when I see the homeless on the street I feel like I am not doing enough.
In service today, Ian the minister talked about christian unity, but he also talked about unity in the world. He challenged us to think about how we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We should all be lights shining and filling up a room rather than lights hidden under a table. He explained that peace isn't easy and that we don't have to agree about everything but we do have to figure out how to disagree peacefully. We need to remember to be humans that love each other. Because when we are truly human, when we acknowledge our vulnerabilities, our discomforts, and our disagreements, we come into contact with the spirit of God.
So thinking about doing more I want to first start to be more human. I want to dive into my work and my community even more than I have and be human with all the people I work with. I want to be patient with the people that frustrate me, and I want to encourage the less confident to shine their lights. Each and every person I work with has strengths and they are all important people. They don't always see it in themselves so I hope I can help them to see it. I also want to strive to talk to more homeless people and find out more ways to help them, other than just giving them money.
If you are asking yourself the same questions about your life, try to be more human. Try to love your enemies, try to push yourself outside your comfort zones, try to be vulnerable and see where it takes you. See if you can see the spirit of God working in your life and in our world as a whole. I will be trying it too and would love to hear all your thoughts. And finally, I pray for the man in the park and all the homeless. If he is alive I pray that he finds help, and heals. If he has passed I pray for his family and friends, that they are comforted and know that God is with them. And I pray for the homeless as a whole, that they find refuge, shelter, love, and acceptance.
Blessings,
Julie
Then I continued walking home and saw another man lying on the street attempting to eat some hot chips (fries), but he was shaking and could barely eat them because it was so cold out. And I saw maybe three other homeless people begging for money on the street. That is five homeless cold people on my 40 min walk home. And I see people like this every day when I walk to work. It started to get me thinking about my value here in Glasgow.
It got me questioning if I am doing enough, am I helping the right people. I know I cannot help everyone and I love the community I work in. I love the mums and the toddlers and I see both the parents and kids grow each week in confidence and patience. I love all the volunteers I work with and I am so appreciative of Bridging the Gap and all the work they do. They change peoples lives and I am proud to be a part of that. But when I see the homeless on the street I feel like I am not doing enough.
In service today, Ian the minister talked about christian unity, but he also talked about unity in the world. He challenged us to think about how we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We should all be lights shining and filling up a room rather than lights hidden under a table. He explained that peace isn't easy and that we don't have to agree about everything but we do have to figure out how to disagree peacefully. We need to remember to be humans that love each other. Because when we are truly human, when we acknowledge our vulnerabilities, our discomforts, and our disagreements, we come into contact with the spirit of God.
So thinking about doing more I want to first start to be more human. I want to dive into my work and my community even more than I have and be human with all the people I work with. I want to be patient with the people that frustrate me, and I want to encourage the less confident to shine their lights. Each and every person I work with has strengths and they are all important people. They don't always see it in themselves so I hope I can help them to see it. I also want to strive to talk to more homeless people and find out more ways to help them, other than just giving them money.
If you are asking yourself the same questions about your life, try to be more human. Try to love your enemies, try to push yourself outside your comfort zones, try to be vulnerable and see where it takes you. See if you can see the spirit of God working in your life and in our world as a whole. I will be trying it too and would love to hear all your thoughts. And finally, I pray for the man in the park and all the homeless. If he is alive I pray that he finds help, and heals. If he has passed I pray for his family and friends, that they are comforted and know that God is with them. And I pray for the homeless as a whole, that they find refuge, shelter, love, and acceptance.
Blessings,
Julie
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Thoughts to Ponder about 2015...
That first day back to work or school everyone tends to ask how your christmas was or what exciting party did you attend for New Years and although I do not mind answering those questions, I sometimes wish folks would ask me what new thoughts I have in this new year. So I will be sharing some of the crazy thoughts that have been circulating my brain this past week.
My sister encouraged me to go through and reflect back on my first 4 months and the challenges I did have, no matter how small, and think how I did get through them. While doing this I realized that I do not give myself enough credit. Sometimes we need to appreciate ourselves and acknowledge just how great we are. So this will be the one post where I am congratulating myself for the amazing person I have come to be. I am proud of who I am and the growth I have seen in myself over the last 4 months even if I needed other people to help me see that growth in myself. I have learned that I am more independent than I thought I was. I am more resilient and can adapt to change extremely easily. I also know what I need to be happy and if I am not happy, I change whatever needs to be changed so that I will be happy.
The New Year is a time for new beginnings, a time to wipe a clean slate and start fresh, but it is also a very important time to reflect back on the past year and all we have been through. As a society we tend to be constantly looking forward, worrying about what the next hour, day, year will hold for us. We are constantly planning, or attempting to plan the next steps in our future. We want the future to be more successful than the past, we want to be better in whatever area of our life we are trying to plan for. Unfortunately because of this constant pressure of the future, we forget about the past. We forget about how far we may have come in the last year, how much we may have accomplished. We worry about the challenges ahead rather than patting ourselves on the back for the challenges we managed to overcome.
2015 was an amazing year! Looking back on my 2015 I started the year being a second semester senior. I applied to the YAV Program and was accepted and placed in Scotland, I visited my sister in Minnesota and got to see her life as a med student. I graduated University with a business degree, I had an amazing last few weeks in Oregon with my best friends. I had the amazing opportunity to travel around Europe for 3 weeks with one of my best friends Sophie, I spent time with my wonderful family, I moved to Scotland, started volunteering for the Church of Scotland and Gorbals Parish Church, I met many new people, struggled to understand a new accent, grew in my faith, learned about the Presbyterian domination of Christianity, made new friends, spent the holidays away from my family for the first time, and then rung in the New Year in London with my parents. It was a CRAZY year! And if I really think about it, it will probably be one of the best, most memorable, exciting years of my life.
Being a YAV now for 4 months I am reflecting back on the program and my progress. I was stuck thinking about how I can challenge myself these next 7 months and put myself in situations that are out of my comfort zone in order to push myself. I was struggling with the idea that I don't feel extremely challenged here in Glasgow and how I feel like I might be doing something wrong. I was focused on the negative and the criticisms we all tend to give to ourselves and others around us. What I didn't realize until talking with my flatmates and having my sister convince me is that maybe my challenges have been smaller ones and I am just better at overcoming them then I ever thought and I should relish these times.
My sister encouraged me to go through and reflect back on my first 4 months and the challenges I did have, no matter how small, and think how I did get through them. While doing this I realized that I do not give myself enough credit. Sometimes we need to appreciate ourselves and acknowledge just how great we are. So this will be the one post where I am congratulating myself for the amazing person I have come to be. I am proud of who I am and the growth I have seen in myself over the last 4 months even if I needed other people to help me see that growth in myself. I have learned that I am more independent than I thought I was. I am more resilient and can adapt to change extremely easily. I also know what I need to be happy and if I am not happy, I change whatever needs to be changed so that I will be happy.
I would encourage all of you to think back about your 2015, what challenges did you overcome? When you look back on 2015, rather than making a list for 2016 of what you can do better, write a list of the proud moments of 2015! Take a moment and pat yourself on the back, give yourself a round of applause, or take a moment and gloat to someone who cares about you. Tell them you are proud of yourself and then let them have the same moment about themselves with you!
Then after you have praised yourself and the people around you that you care about, make a list of hopes for 2016! Here are my hopes and resolutions for the New Year. I hope by writing them down, I can look back next January and have fulfilled all if not most of them.
My New Years Resolutions/Hopes:
- Visit 4 more countries this year
- Get a job I love
- Try praying a novena
- learn more about the Bible and the Catholic faith
- Run a 10k
Blessings,
Julie
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Preparing For Christmas
This blog post is inspired by my Grandma Weiner and the wonderful email she sent me yesterday. The email was just a friendly hello and her telling me she and my grandpa were thinking of me, as they always do, but she also asked about Christmas in Scotland and if there are different customs to prepare for Christmas. This got me thinking about all I have been doing this month and how it has been such a crazy three weeks. And how I can't believe Christmas is on Friday! I have been doing a lot to prepare for Christmas both at my placement and in our flat and at mass. So in this blog post I will be sharing how I have been preparing.
In traditional American customs our flat tried not to mention Christmas music or the holiday until December first, after Thanksgiving, but in Scotland Thanksgiving doesn't exist so Christmas festivals, lights, and all the stores had all their decorations up by November 20th, which we all thought was much too early. So on December 1st we decided it was time to put up a tree, play music, and of course take Christmas pictures in ugly Christmas sweaters!(which are actually really cute)
Although the decorations are all around town by November 20th Scottish people are very particular of when their tree is taken up or down. They have a tradition of keeping the tree up 12 days before and 12 days after Christmas. The Christmas carols are all very similar but they have a few of their own, for example, Fairytale of New York and Merry Christmas Everybody, and Mary's Boy Child, which I learned. But what I thought was more interesting was that some of the traditional church carols are sung with different tunes, such as Away in a Manger. Another interesting tradition which I thought was really nice is that everyone gives out Christmas cards to everyone, not necessarily the ones with pictures but just a nice card signed from the person.
Also this advent season the Gorbals Parish Church has been involved in Interfaith Scotland which means that the Church has been getting together with a Mosque and a Gurdwara nearby and have been doing different events. At one of the events I helped out with I got to show other people of other faiths how to make a Christingle. I had never heard of that before so when I signed up to volunteer I was sure to ask how do I make one of those and what does it mean. It is an old German Christian symbol and decoration for your house. It is made of an orange, a candle, some sweeties, a red ribbon, and cocktail sticks. Each piece symbolizes something different. The candle represents the world, the candle represents Christ's light and Christingle means Christ's light. The red ribbon goes around the orange and symbolizes Jesus' blood and how he died for us. The sweeties go on the cocktail sticks and are representative of the gifts God gives us and the cocktail sticks are then poked into the orange at 4 corners to represent either the four seasons or the four corners of the world. It was an interesting symbol to share and a lot of fun to make!
In traditional American customs our flat tried not to mention Christmas music or the holiday until December first, after Thanksgiving, but in Scotland Thanksgiving doesn't exist so Christmas festivals, lights, and all the stores had all their decorations up by November 20th, which we all thought was much too early. So on December 1st we decided it was time to put up a tree, play music, and of course take Christmas pictures in ugly Christmas sweaters!(which are actually really cute)
Lights in the city and some silly Christmas Pics!
More lights in George Square and they also put up a huge ice rink in this square.
Although the decorations are all around town by November 20th Scottish people are very particular of when their tree is taken up or down. They have a tradition of keeping the tree up 12 days before and 12 days after Christmas. The Christmas carols are all very similar but they have a few of their own, for example, Fairytale of New York and Merry Christmas Everybody, and Mary's Boy Child, which I learned. But what I thought was more interesting was that some of the traditional church carols are sung with different tunes, such as Away in a Manger. Another interesting tradition which I thought was really nice is that everyone gives out Christmas cards to everyone, not necessarily the ones with pictures but just a nice card signed from the person.
Also this advent season the Gorbals Parish Church has been involved in Interfaith Scotland which means that the Church has been getting together with a Mosque and a Gurdwara nearby and have been doing different events. At one of the events I helped out with I got to show other people of other faiths how to make a Christingle. I had never heard of that before so when I signed up to volunteer I was sure to ask how do I make one of those and what does it mean. It is an old German Christian symbol and decoration for your house. It is made of an orange, a candle, some sweeties, a red ribbon, and cocktail sticks. Each piece symbolizes something different. The candle represents the world, the candle represents Christ's light and Christingle means Christ's light. The red ribbon goes around the orange and symbolizes Jesus' blood and how he died for us. The sweeties go on the cocktail sticks and are representative of the gifts God gives us and the cocktail sticks are then poked into the orange at 4 corners to represent either the four seasons or the four corners of the world. It was an interesting symbol to share and a lot of fun to make!
Also this year working in a church I have been encouraged to think about the season of Advent more than I ever have in my life. Yesterday at mass we were told that the fourth week of advent is the week of Joy. The Homily talked about being joyful about Christmas and how happy and special a time it is. I think the priest was correct but since I work with marginalized communities and am living away from my home and family it is hard to always be joyful at this time of year.
Being on my own away from my family has made me much more aware of others that may be alone and how sad it is because everyone expects you to have all these grand plans and to be constantly surrounded by people. It is also really stressful living on a budget during Christmas. The culture is very heavily weighted towards spending money and buying presents and it can be stressful if you don't have money to spend. Another thing I have noticed that makes this season hard for people is for those suffering from addictions. Temptation is always around but during this time people are always offering you drinks at parties, bringing drinks or sweets as presents, and a lot of traditional Christmas drinks are alcoholic like eggnog and mulled wine. It can be hard for someone who constantly struggles each day to say no to that.
So I congratulate all those with addictions who are staying strong, I give comfort and love to the lonely, and I pray for peace and a worry free mind for those struggling with money issues. Although the holidays can be hard they are also a time to rejoice and prepare for Jesus and the love of Jesus and to remember to love our neighbors, communities, strangers, and to give as much as we can in this holiday season.
And finally, I also have been blessed to be able to attend/volunteer at Christmas parties and different Christmas events in the Gorbals community so here are some pictures of those.
Tea and carol singing with some of the elderly women at Gorbals
Pudsey the bear who is on TV in Scotland and the mascot for BBC Children in Need came to the Gorbals Children's Choir Christmas party! The man in the suit is my supervisor John. We had a good laugh struggling with the costume and not being knocked over by the children.
Pictures from Bridging The Gap's Christmas Party. The kids had a contest as to who could decorate the black paper and trees best. This is my teams great work. There is also a picture with one of the volunteers, John, in our awesome Christmas jumpers. And there is a picture of me sitting on Santa's lap, who is another volunteer, Mario, and all of Santa's helpers around him. And they are Kenny, Pamela, and Roz.
Blessings,
Julie
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
I'm Thankful For....
Happy belated Thanksgiving Everyone!! This Thanksgiving was very different than any Thanksgiving I've ever had. Instead of the normal traditional Thursday Thanksgiving with mom's side of the family and traditional crazy Saturday Thanksgiving at my Uncle B and Aunt P's house with my dad's side of the family, I had a working week and two of my own Thanksgiving celebrations. It is at times like these where the culture is so different that most people do not even know what Thanksgiving is and you have to explain about the pilgrims and the indians that you tend to be homesick.
I'm not going to lie, this week was really difficult. This week was the first time I truly felt homesick and couldn't be comforted. It was the first time I have missed a big holiday with my family and I don't know if I will want to do it again. But although it was a wee bit lonely I was able to talk and see everyone over skype. I got to see all my family together and was thankful that they are alive and well and safe and that they were all happy! Although Thanksgiving wasn't exactly how it always is, I am thankful for what I am doing here in Scotland and I am thankful for all the people here who were around to help me celebrate.
So here is a list with pictures of all the things I am thankful for this year so far!
1) My crazy wonderful friends from Oregon
3) My inspirational sister(Erica) and her goofy fiancé(Dave) 
I'm not going to lie, this week was really difficult. This week was the first time I truly felt homesick and couldn't be comforted. It was the first time I have missed a big holiday with my family and I don't know if I will want to do it again. But although it was a wee bit lonely I was able to talk and see everyone over skype. I got to see all my family together and was thankful that they are alive and well and safe and that they were all happy! Although Thanksgiving wasn't exactly how it always is, I am thankful for what I am doing here in Scotland and I am thankful for all the people here who were around to help me celebrate.
So here is a list with pictures of all the things I am thankful for this year so far!
1) My crazy wonderful friends from Oregon
2) My lovely and extremely supportive mom(Lisa) and dad(Chris)
3) My inspirational sister(Erica) and her goofy fiancé(Dave) 
4) My Flatmates here in Scotland: Laura Kate, Amanda, Sam, and Iona
5) Beautiful places to Hike and Scotland as a country in general
6) The opportunity to be a Young Adult Volunteer(YAV) this year
7) My fellow YAVs across the world, especially my fellow UK YAVs
8) The Watch Ashore Ladies who come into the cafe every other Wednesday. I thank these ladies for making me feel like I have a few extra moms around and for their kindness and hospitality they have given me over the last three months.
9) The opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving in a new country and the yummy American food we prepared for our guests. And the much needed advice from my mom on how to cook the dishes prepared.
10) My amazing supportive Site Coordinator Lynn and all the hard work she does
11) My extended Family on both sides
12) My good health and happiness
13) And last but definitely not least, God for all the amazing things he has done and will continue to do in my life.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Priority Areas Gathering- Family Matters
The last few days I was blessed with the opportunity to attend The Priority Areas Gathering which had a theme of "Family Matters." The Priority Areas committee is responsible for the support and development of the Church of Scotland's work within its poorest 68 communities. All the churches that the Young Adult Volunteers are placed in are priority area churches. They have this conference every year with a different theme. I am very happy to report that the conference was extremely beneficial.
I enjoyed hearing stories of many other priority area churches, their accomplishments and the aspects of their communities that still need development. It was the first time since I have been here in Glasgow where I have been able to reflect on what I have been doing and reflect on my community. Over the past three days I was able to look frankly at my community and my role as a volunteer and I was able to ask questions and think about ways to improve.
We also heard from a retired minister of a priority area community and his wife who shared their experience and what they learned. They talked about suffering being unavoidable and how even though we suffer, God is there suffering right next to us. They also talked about power and how the church tends to try and have power and people want power, even if they want that power to do good. What we need to realize is that power corrupts, and that in the priority areas there isn't a lot of power. The people in poor areas instead have love, acceptance, perseverance, and with all those things they can change their situations. And since there are 68 communities struggling with the same types of issues we can actually work together and unite as a family. We can share ideas and advice.
In groups we came up with values we thought were significant in the priority areas. Some of the ones in my group were support, trust, acceptance, status quo is a no go, hospitality, vulnerability, and outward looking. We spent the three days focusing on how these values are important in each of our communities and what we can do to make these values come to life.
It allowed me the time to realize that Gorbals has so much potential and that there are so many great things they are doing in the community but that there are also places for growth and change. I feel called to bring forward what I learned at the conference and to think of new ways to get more people from the community involved in Sunday Church but also to get the Sunday church people more involved in the day to day community programs that happen each day. In my group a lot of the other churches were noticing that there is a gap between the people that attend church each Sunday and the people that attend community events in the church during the week. We all wanted to bridge this gap and have more involvement from both groups.
It was an eye opening opportunity for me to realize an opportunity to jump in and make some changes in my community. The conference allowed me to network with other communities in the same situation, and it was a time for all the priority areas communities to share their accomplishments and their strengths. I am so glad I was able to attend and I hope to be able to take back all the things I learned and make some changes in Gorbals.
During the free time I was also able to go see a viewpoint of where the highlands start so I got some great pictures of the changing autumn leaves.
I enjoyed hearing stories of many other priority area churches, their accomplishments and the aspects of their communities that still need development. It was the first time since I have been here in Glasgow where I have been able to reflect on what I have been doing and reflect on my community. Over the past three days I was able to look frankly at my community and my role as a volunteer and I was able to ask questions and think about ways to improve.
We also heard from a retired minister of a priority area community and his wife who shared their experience and what they learned. They talked about suffering being unavoidable and how even though we suffer, God is there suffering right next to us. They also talked about power and how the church tends to try and have power and people want power, even if they want that power to do good. What we need to realize is that power corrupts, and that in the priority areas there isn't a lot of power. The people in poor areas instead have love, acceptance, perseverance, and with all those things they can change their situations. And since there are 68 communities struggling with the same types of issues we can actually work together and unite as a family. We can share ideas and advice.
In groups we came up with values we thought were significant in the priority areas. Some of the ones in my group were support, trust, acceptance, status quo is a no go, hospitality, vulnerability, and outward looking. We spent the three days focusing on how these values are important in each of our communities and what we can do to make these values come to life.
It allowed me the time to realize that Gorbals has so much potential and that there are so many great things they are doing in the community but that there are also places for growth and change. I feel called to bring forward what I learned at the conference and to think of new ways to get more people from the community involved in Sunday Church but also to get the Sunday church people more involved in the day to day community programs that happen each day. In my group a lot of the other churches were noticing that there is a gap between the people that attend church each Sunday and the people that attend community events in the church during the week. We all wanted to bridge this gap and have more involvement from both groups.
It was an eye opening opportunity for me to realize an opportunity to jump in and make some changes in my community. The conference allowed me to network with other communities in the same situation, and it was a time for all the priority areas communities to share their accomplishments and their strengths. I am so glad I was able to attend and I hope to be able to take back all the things I learned and make some changes in Gorbals.
During the free time I was also able to go see a viewpoint of where the highlands start so I got some great pictures of the changing autumn leaves.
These two pictures are taken outside of the house we stayed in. It was called Gartmore House.
A picture of a tree outside the house. The falling leaves were just too beautiful to not take a picture.
These next pictures are all of parts of Trossachs National Park which is where the line between the lowlands and the highlands of Scotland lies. We went to a viewpoint where you could look over the glen (valley) or look up to the rolling hills. I hope to go back and hike around next time. Today when we were leaving some of the mountains we passed already had snow on them!
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