Time Flies

Wow, in just a couple days I'll have been gone for a month. It's FLOWN by so quickly! I'm loving it though. Every single one of us was able to get a job. Totally God's doing considering the economy out here right now. I'm starting to get a better handle on work duties since I had to step into a receptionist role because the main one had to leave for a week or so. It's interesting and I'm kept on my toes all the time but my boss is awesome and very encouraging. He's always saying that everyone who works for him is his family. 

One humorous story, tonight I went to Walmart for the first time since coming here. I bought a kiwi strawberry sparkling water and while I was waiting for my friends to check out and absently opened up the bottle and was abruptly sprayed with carbonated water. So I played it off as cool and started walking away with echoes of my friends laughter following me. Then, back at Vanguard, I was talking to a group and absently opened the bottle again. I discovered that the carbonation in sparkling water is more powerful than pop because it sprayed again...silly me. Anyway, I hope I humored you a little. 

Tonight we had a role play followed by discussion on how to disciple someone. It was really cool and I learned tons more than what I had known before. I think I'm going to be processing this summer for a long time. 

Wonderful. 

CalPI '09 rocks!

and people here really do drink "wheat grass shots." Hmmm....

Everything Girl

So I don't have an official title at my job but if I did I think it would be "Everything Girl." This week I have sorted fabric in order to catalog it, answered the phone, made a curtain slash wall, cleaned slipcovers, ate tamales, touched up a big painted that had been sewn because of a tear, logged incoming fabric, swept, dusted, organized nail heads, and wrote a business letter. I'm sure I'll probably be doing even more by the end of my time here.

Oh, and, I revisited a bagel place that couldn't hire me because I am leaving so soon and got a hawaiian bagel, meaning it had pineapple baked into it. It was scrumptious but I fear I have spoiled my supper. Enchilada soup tonight. Yeeesss!

That's all, folks!

Now let me clarify this...(for all who have seen The Ghost and Mr. Chicken) 

So I realized that you may be confused as to the title of this blog. Or maybe not. Perhaps I'm not giving you enough credit. CalPI stands for California Project Impact. Get it? Cal P I - Kinda sounds like cow pie, but it's not, which is what makes it fun. 

Answered Prayers!!

Wow. God is amazing and provided me with a job today!

Let me tell you the story. I'll try to keep it short (for those of you who know how my stories usually go...) Anyway, this is how it went down. I explained some about job searching for the past two weeks. First of all, God has provided medicine that helps the pain in my feet and so I was able to wear dress shoes (mainly flats) to go job searching. That is basically a miracle in and of itself. (This is why my stories go so long. Tangents, haha). 

So. Last Wednesday my friend Vanessa and I were job "shopping" and I'd gone into a Carl's Jr. to submit an app. There were a couple people sitting in there as I talked to the manager and they held the door for me as I left. Vanessa was applying to Mickey D's so I was wandering around looking down the street for job opportunities when I heard someone ask if I was looking for a job. It was the same man from Carl's Jr. He explained that he needed a receptionist for his upholstery company in Costa Mesa. I took his number and set up an interview for Thursday morning. It went really well and I left with the impression that the job was mine. Apparently that was wrong because they called Friday evening and said that they'd reconsidered and needed someone more long-term. I was pretty disappointed because I'd enjoyed meeting the man's daughters (who work there). 

The weekend was kinda rough emotionally just missing home and knowing people with mutual past experiences. It's hard for me not to stress about jobs and to give my concern over to God. My fellow Project-ers were so supportive and we really do feel like a family here. 

Anyway, I called the man this morning and just wanted to see if he'd reconsider at all. He said he'd been thinking about it and that he had an idea that may work for me to work there. To cut to the chase, I'll be sorting fabrics and organizing fabrics with his two daughters who are my age and one year younger. I'm so exciting to get to spend time with them. God's provided an awesome opportunity here for me to form friendships with these girls. I'm so thankful. 

It's time for supper now but I wanted to thank all of you who have been in prayer for me. I'm learning a ton and stretching and growing and I'll have more to share later I'm sure. :) 

Thanks so much friends!!

Hello From Cali

Hey all!

I just wanted to let you all in on a little of what I'm doing here in sunny California. First of all, I didn't know that California had a "June Gloom." It's been chilly and sunny off and on these past two weeks. Very different weather than KS, I'm sure. :) But we have gone to the beach a couple times and I've even gone in the water! For those of you who know, I don't like water. But I made an exception for the ocean.

There's so much that's gone down that I hardly know where to begin. Um...Lola (my car) made it here just fine and I drove with 10 students from OU which was a blast. Walkie-Talkies made the ride so much more enjoyable and it was great getting to know people before I even got to Project. We had a weekend of orientation and then started job searching that first Monday morning. Job searching goes from 8:30am to 5 pm and then we come back to cook and have evening sessions. They go like this:  

Monday Night - Focusing on a Heart Attitude 

Tuesday Night - Small group night 

Wednesday Night - Real Life - last week we identified parts of our cars...haha Thursday Night - E3 Night - Evangelism, Establishing, Equipping - just like Challenge, but smaller. Friday and Saturday Night - various group activities Sunday Night - Family gathering  

So that's just a quick overview of that.  

I've made some really close friends here already. The girls are so welcoming and encouraging and the leaders are so Godly. I could go on and on for a while and if you have specific questions I'd be glad to answer.  

So far, about 6 of us, myself included, haven't found jobs. Well, kind of, I'll be a part-time parking attendant for the OC Fair in July but beyond that it's been pretty discouraging. However, I'm learning to trust God for strength and provision. It would be awesome, though, if you could pray that we would all find jobs by Tuesday. We'd appreciate all your prayer power. :D

Thanks so much friends!!

I'll try and keep this up a bit so if you want you can keep tabs on my summer and get to see all the cool things I know God is going to do here!

Love you all!!

Kimbo

And yeah, this blogging thing is new to me so bear with me as I figure out how to work it. i.e. the font size...