End of the Week Review: One

End of the Week Review:

This past weekend all the Link Year students and staff had a retreat off campus. It was great to get away from the cell phones and social media and focus on the important things. We got to do a “cleansing,” which was great to get some of my thoughts on paper. It helped open up conversation and also digging deeper into people’s lives. I thoroughly enjoyed this, because I usually push away my sins and try not to bring them back up, but this forced me to bring up my struggles and write them out. I also loved this retreat, because I got to know more of the Link Year kids! 

The week progressed to Monday, and it was time for my campus job. I have to work beautifying the campus for two hours with CJ and Brooklin. This opened up an opportunity to have conversations about our pasts and things that we are currently struggling with. I also learned more about why they were at the Link. I learned that even though we all come from different backgrounds, cities, and lifestyles, we can all relate to each other and help one another in our journeys. 

On Tuesday, Don Ford talked to us about goals. We were assigned to make goals for this year. I love having a plan, so this was great to give myself time to sit down and make goals for myself. Don asked, “Where am I going?” This made my head start turning. I started to think about where am I going? Who am I going to be? I’m not sure of the answer yet, but it started the wheel and began my prayers. 

Wednesday was an awesome day. Jay Holden spoke to us about strengths. We took a strength finders test and my top five were: belief, context, competition, positivity, and individualism. I think these describe me very well. I would say competition and individualism describe me best. I loved getting to see other people’s strengths so I could know who will be strong where I am weak. The great part about Wednesday is family dinner and The Fort. This Wednesday, I ate at Autumn and Brian Wang’s house. It was absolutely incredible! I loved hanging out with them and everyone in my group. After, we went to The Fort, and Donyes spoke. He preached on Proverbs 2, which I really enjoyed. The main thing I got from this is: 1. You will make time for things that are important to you, and 2. Girls should be valued as treasures. Not to seek out guys, because treasures never do the seeking. I loved this analogy! Donyes always knows how to bring the Word!

My week ended with Darrell Shemwell showing us tools on how to study the Bible and dive into the Word. He showed us websites and books to refer to while digging deeper into the Bible and learning the origins of words and their meanings. I looked this because I have been to Israel and seen/heard Hebrew first hand, so it was fun to look at the Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek translation of the Bible. 

This week in general has been great. It has been a learning experience for sure, but a fun one at that!

Family Dinner: The Wangs
The Fort: Adam Donyes 
The Fort (the week before): Adam Donyes