Day 40: Wednesday be like

Pretty good day today. Though I'm posting late, so we'll see how in-depth we go. 

Lagos y Ana Raquel han regresado, which is dope. It's very nice to have them back! We still were "in charge" of H@ngout today, because they wanted to see how we did it. 

I woke up around 9:54, I think, and got out of bed eventually. Katie and Izzy made the pasta for H@ngout today; I went to find drinks, forks, napkins, and some bread to go with it. I did not find bread. As I walked, I practiced my testimony, because it was advocated for me to share mine today. 

We got to H@ngout late, which is kind of our norm. I was casually freaking out a little on our drive over. I really dislike getting places late naturally. I really, really dislike getting places late when I'm in charge of something or hosting it. I really, really, really dislike getting places late when I'm in charge of something and being observed in how I do it. Not that Lagos and Ana Raquel are, like, fixing to judge us for being 15 minutes late, but it matters to me. Also, H@ngout is 1 hour long, so I want to maximize that time with people.

It was totally fine though. No one minds, everyone here is super chill about time. Everyone loved the pasta, we got multiple compliments. I shared and I think it was fine. Nobody seemed bored, but also nobody said anything afterwards. I was able to share the gospel pretty clearly, so that's a definite win in my opinion. There's a picture of H@ngout today, but it's on instagram, if you really want it. I'm sitting next to Jose, Christopher is behind him in a red hat, Isaac is in the back beside Izzy. 

The thing about being perceived as competent and confident is that people don't feel the need to give you positive feedback when you do something. But, fun insight into my life: any time I share something in front of a group, I am desperate for feedback. Of course, now that I've said that, any feedback is automatically suspect. Like, I don't generally believe people when they say nice things to me, but if I express an insecurity or need for encouragement, then I 100% do not believe people when they give me the encouragement I need. What a fun cycle of unhelpfulness from my heart. 

Christopher y Jose are two new guys who have come to H@ngout. Christopher came last week and we got to connect, Jose came today and we got to connect. So many of these young men have so much potential and it makes me wish I could be in a homegroup with them and get to meet up with them regularly. But, the best we get is little fleeting opportunities to connect. But, they belong to God, not me.

We got coffee with Lagos y Ana Raquel despues de H@ngout. I had a slice of cake and some water. It was really nice getting to joke and catch up and spend time with them. They're just really cool people. We also got to brainstorm a bit about our new team next week and get more insight into how things will look the last week-and-a-half we are here (with teams from Alabama and Ft Collins). 

I need to do some admin work soon. Sheesh. I really do enjoy it, but it's so put-off-able right now. 

We came home, I took a mostly-maybe-not-exactly-but-kinda accidental nap, we had dinner, we watched some Ted Lasso, I made some macaroni and cheese (i don't think we'll have enough for the kids), I went for a run. I didn't get to talk to Alexis much today, but Lagos and Ana Raquel do a lot of cute things that sharpen the missing. 

O b v i o u s l y, my fitness goals are why you are reading this blog, so I'll tell you about my run. I've decided that I'm going to turn my remaining Wednesday 3 miles into 5ks (3.1 miles). That's because one of my goals is to get a <25 minute 5k before I leave. I couldn't run a 5k before I came, so there's not a lot of frame of reference, but my best 5k here has been about 31 minutes. Today, I decided to try to run faster. I burned out and chose to walk a few times (sadly), but I made it in 28:30, so that's promising. 

Again, because it's why you are here, my other goals are:

5 miles total / 50 pushups / 100 crunches / 5 chin-ups

For reference, here's where I started:

2 / 25 / 50 / 2

And here's where I am currently:

5 / 35 / 75 / 4

Stay tuned for more exciting updates on my running life. 

Tomorrow will be CDI x 2, prep for the weekend, and maybe admin work. I will be tired and I need to think of what to do for the devotional/discipleship time. It's loving your enemies. Hm...maybe David and Saul stories? Pray for us!

PRAYERS

-for us to walk in step with the Spirit

-for good team dynamics

-for our new team next week!!

-for our devotional time and language time at the CDI tomorrow

-for us to have enough macaroni and cheese (loaves and fishes, y'all)

-for more opportunities with H@ngout students

Sorry, no pictures today!