Spring break has come and gone here, and with the arrival of spring came some new questions about my work here in Miami. I love my kids here, however I'm beginning to feel God calling me in another direction and so I've been discussing different areas in which I could become involved with my site coordinator. We've come up with some ideas but nothing is concrete yet, right now I'm really looking to move North, at the moment I live south of Miami near Homestead, and yet most of the activities I'm involved in such as the music ministry are in Miami itself, and the Main office of my agency (Family and Children Faith Coalition http://www.fcfcfl.org ) is also in the Miami metro area in the community of Little Havana so the commute is becoming very costly, I'm also wanting to live IN the community I work in, when I work in one place and live in another it leaves me feeling very disconnected with the community, and not to mention I simply don't feel as safe there if I have to commute in every day rather than being a neighbor.
Spring also brought a rise in gang activity, not only to the community I work in, but also to the communities in which my roommates work (they work in Homestead and Florida City to the south, I work in West Perrine to the North). Just before Spring break I was outside with the children when we saw a red truck speed by and turn onto the street one block away, we could still see it driving down that street through the gaps in the houses and all of a sudden we heard eight shots ring out. The children ran toward the church screaming, my coworker shot me a worried look, I yelled for the kids to pick up their book bags as they ran inside, folded my chair and walked it like it was the most routine thing in the world. My first drive by shooting, I thought I would have been scared. I'd really love to tell you that I was terrified, and my calm, rational response to the whole situation was just an act I put on to keep the children from seeing me panic. I wish I could tell you that I was just as scared, or more scared, than the children to go back outside when it was time to go home. The truth is though, that I felt nothing. Just a couple months before that I had to break up my first fight, and a few days later I had to break up another. My roommate Allison served here last year and the only real response she has had when I come home from these experiences is a sarcastic but empathetic "Welcome to South Florida." I feel very desensitized to this activity, and that scares me more than the activity itself.
In the last few months I've also been exposed to more racism, or at the very least I've made many more friends with varying racial and ethnic backgrounds being discriminated against. It's not just a Caucasian vs African-American or black. It's not Caucasian vs. all other races, it's not as simple as one group against the other, it's each race against every other race, nationality, and ethnicity. It's so hard to see friends caught in that, it is at times hard to be caught in that myself as well.
Last week I had the pleasure of a visit from my brother Travis, which was quite exciting, though brief. He is doing quite well in submarine school in Connecticut. As far as updates from the rest of the family Dad is still traveling the world for work and loving it, Mom and Hayden are doing well in their Kung-Fu class, Hayden just returned home from a spring break trip to Paris and London, though I haven't gotten on the phone to hear much of the details just yet, starting a few months ago he was placed in a higher work-out group on his local swim team, Mom and Dad are just excited that they got him back on a team so it's even better that he seems to be continuing to improve.
Prayer Requests
- Finances are getting tight for my family, and I'm sure for many others right now, so keep that in your prayers, and also pray that I can get the suburban sold soon and find something more gas efficient to alleviate some expenses in that area.
- The spring semester for Miami-Dade College is coming to an end (THIS WEEK!) and I'm stressing to get a LOT of work done, and trying not to procrastinate!
- A friend got himself into some trouble this week, it's mostly his fault, but there were also some circumstances outside his control.
- My roommates and I are entering a time of transition, in which I may need to move to a different location, and 2 other roommates will be moving out to work at summer camps.
- A friend of mine with our program recently left her work site as she no longer felt called to be there, however this puts her between placements because she doesn't feel called to be elsewhere either and she's struggling to find another ministry.
- Keep me in your prayers as I'm also looking to find other ministries to get involved with, though I am still working at my current site, and plan to keep connections even when/if I find a ministry further North.
- Also keep my transfer to FIU (Florida International University) in your prayers, I've been accepted and all that jazz, but there is quite a bit of paper work to get to. My housing arrangements for the fall are also still somewhat up in the air, I don't want to live on campus and I'm fairly confident I know where I'll be living but it's not completely nailed down yet.
Maggie
