Holy Rollers & Couch Surfing

Good afternoon my lovelies! There is SO MUCH to cover in this blog...if you read through all of this, bless you!!! This blog may get kind of random and jump from one thing to the next, but that's just so like me. Random.



Let me just start by declaring that God is doing some AWESOME work in this city...and A WHOLE LOT of work in me!



My prayer life has grown significantly, and I do mean SIGNIFICANTLY since being here. I find myself praying more than normal. I'm not just praying in the morning, at night, and when people specifically ask for it. I'm praying ALL day long---whether it be silently, out loud, in public, at our house, or at others, on the streets, with my roommate's, wherever, whenever.



God is using prayer in my life in a powerful way. I feel that He is specifically showing me things and allowing me to see what others around me may not. It is incredible how many opportunities I have had to pray, and what's even more amazing, is that I have boldly prayed without hesitation or fear! It's as though I have truly reached FULL freedom in Christ and have more direction and clarity on why He has called me to this city.

I have seen a lot of things that I would most likely never see at home. For instance, I have witnessed a man overdose on the bus. I have seen a man get jumped over money right outside my door, and drug deals daily on the street. When I see these things, it hurts my heart, but then I'm quickly reminded that this is exactly what I prayed for...to be stretched, to be uncomfortable, and to be used. You would think that seeing all these things would scare me or make me feel icky and sad, but they actually make me love and want to serve God more.

God has really been convicting me recently how much I need to be praying for the world and it's people. When I see these things happen right before my eyes and when I hear about awful things on the news (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc...), it opens my eyes to how many lies and how much pain, hurt, loneliness, and suffering there is in the world.



I just can't seem to be stop praising Him enough for every little thing that He has done for me, is doing in me, and to all those around me. I feel so lucky to be chosen to be a part of His work here in the Chi. I am SO thankful for godly, passionate roommates who I can be real with and that I have totally connected with. We are truly learning a lot from one another and challenging each other in how we do life, yet we are walking diligently in the Spirit together through community, prayer, and worship.


So I just can't seem to say it enough, I love this city and I love these ladies that I live with. I am uber blessed!!! All we seem to do is laugh. I have belly laughed so much in the past couple of days that you would straight think I was drunk. We're goofy.


Heidi (over breakfast this morning): "I feel so irresponsible. It's 9:55 on a Tuesday. I'm 30 years old, I just woke up, I don't have a job, and I am eating banana pancakes with 6 others in the same boat."
Me ( I just laughed ridiculously): " Ummm...because we can! I love it!!!"



With all of that said, I feel like I am supposed to stay in this neighborhood. I really, really like it here. I mean, I have begun to build a community of friends here. I am learning this area very well. It has a lot of the amenities I enjoy like book and music stores, funky boutiques, wine bars, coffee shops, etc... I have easy access to downtown and almost anywhere I have interest in going in the city. You'll be happy to know that I am MASTERING public transportation. I've got the blue line, red line, and most of the important buses down! I'm fair proud of myself.



I'm really enjoying this time that I am getting to explore. It would be nice to begin to have some normalcy by having a job and my own place, but God will provide when the time is right. Therefore, I'm not too worried about it. I have applied for a lot of jobs, so now it's just the wait-and-see game. Thankfully, I am not in a place where I am TOTALLY broke yet :). I have been eating PB&J like it's going outta style!!! I'm going to be SO over it soon enough, but I have discovered Aldi's!!!


It's ridiculously cheap. Everything is pretty much ALL generic, but so far everything I have purchased has been good. I've also discovered Trader Joe's and when I'm feel saucy I splurge on some of their products. Thus far, my favorite finds: dark chocolate covered blueberries, tomato basil hummus, fat-free sea salt pita chips, and black bean salsa. Oh my lands!!!! Yum! All this talk of food is making me hungry...




*lunch break and run (it's still going good by the way~thank you Neshia Rudd for the Podcast interval recommendation. It really is worth checking out and has helped me tremendously!)




So what else has been going on...


OH! Let me preface this next story by saying that, NO...I have not lost my ever-lovin', cotton pickin' mind...so hold the sighs, the 'what was she thinking' thoughts, and breathe. My mum didn't raise no fool. I am here and I am OK.


There is this fairly new trend known as Couch Surfing. It's actually been around since 1999, but it's becoming more known in the states as of late. The concept of Couch Surfing is to provide accommodations (i.e: your couch) to complete strangers who need a place to stay while they are in town. It's kind of like hitch-hikers meets social media networking (facebook). Sounds a little scary, I know. My friend Jaimy convinced me that I really should get on that site and check out their meet up events because not all CS's are looking for a place to stay. They may just be visiting town for the day and looking for someone to go do things with. She encouraged me that it would be a great way to meet more people. I battled back and forth whether or not I even wanted to check out the site. 45 minutes later, I was on the site...


The only event that I could find was a CS Potluck that was being held on Sunday night from 5-10 p.m. at someones apartment on North Michigan Ave.After much deliberation, prayer, and getting over my fear that someone would rob me, stab me, poison me, and leave me for dead, I decided to check it out...by myself. *breathe*

It was absolutely one of the most BOLD, stretching, INCREDIBLE experiences of my life. I loved it. I got all the way downtown without any problem, found the apartment OK, walked in, and I met 8 awesome people who were in the same boat I was. It was really cool and crazy how God matched me with the right people. One girl that I connected with is a 25 year old nanny from South Carolina. She has been here for a little over a year, doesn't have a lot of girl friends, and lives in my neighborhood!!! Are you freaking kidding me? it was awesome. All the things I wanted to try and all the places I wanted to go, she loves or has wanted someone to go with her. *raises my hand* "Take me, take me!" Needless to say, we exchanged numbers and have plans to chill at Myopic books, rummage through records at Reckless, enjoy coffee at Ipsento, wine taste at Red+White and eat outside at Irazu's. I'm excited!!!
#confirmationyetagainthatgodwantsmeinthisneighborhood


This week Chicago is having their Improv Fest. I plan to check out some of the shows. One of the girls I met at the potluck, ironically produces her own Improv show, loves Texas, going out, laughing, and shares the name with my very best friend Jessica. We also exchanged numbers and plan to hangout. #superawesome

Adam our awesome host, is also new to the city and wants someone to explore the city with. He's in grad school studying Structural Engineering, so when school slows down I'm sure we will be getting together. #blownawaybythispoint

So all in all, my experience was very positive and broke every myth/judgement I had on the whole idea. I would totally recommend attending a Couch Surfing event to anyone who is looking to meet people. Just be smart, aware, and if you feel uncomfortable leave. To be totally honest, I didn't take my coat off, or put my purse down and I sure as heck didn't eat or drink anything until I felt OK (30 minutes in).

So this post is getting pretty long, so I better get busy doing other things. Besides my precious friend and roomate Brittney just walked in on this beautiful day with some "greenery" that she picked outside. As it turns out, the "greenery" she brought in, just so happens to be Poison Ivy! LOL...a genrous freak out is now happening, while the rest of us are laughing.

I love and miss you all!

xoxo

Heather