First Few Days In The City

Hello from Chicago! Let me just start off by saying they have kept us busy ever since we got here. On Friday I flew into Midway airport around 11:30. The staff member that came to pick us up is not too fond of using busy highways so she decided to use "normal" roads to get us home. Lets just say by doing this we got to see a whole lot of the suburbs of Chicago. We finally arrived at the Lofts an hour later where we checked in and rushed off to target to get a few items. This target was HUGE (2 floors) and if you know me I love Target so I had a blast in there. When we got back I met two of my roommates: Kimmie and Katelyn. Both of these girls are awesome! Later that night we all went downstairs for pizza and to try and get to know every one. If you have ever had Chicago style pizza then you know that one slice will fill you up. That thing was huge! I wish i had taken a picture to share with you but I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities to do that!

This is the view from my window!

On Saturday we woke up for breakfast then had a devotional/prayer/ what to expect in Chicago meeting. During the devotion time we read through Acts 4:32-5:15. We looked at what it means to be a community of believers. After that we had a quick time for lunch then it was off to the Chicago Challenge. We were divided up into groups and were given a list of things to find in the city. My group went to Buckingham Fountain! It was absolutely beautiful. I can not wait and go back and spend more time there when we are not in such a hurry!

Isn't it beautiful?!?

Some of the ECU girls at church!

On Sunday we went to Willow Chicago. This church is AWESOME!!The pastor was talking about the importance of loving the people that we are talking and sharing with. This really helped open my eyes. There have been so many times where sharing and talking with people about God isn't something I really want to do that day. It helped me to see that if I do not love and care for these people then nothing could be accomplished. After church we jumped right into evangilism and sharing. We had a training on using the KGP (Knowing God Personally) booklet and then headed out the Millineum Park to meet with people. I was paired with Amy to go and share. We had three different encounter. All of the women seemed interested to talk with us but once we asked them if they would like to talk with us about God they all seemed to shy away and find other things they needed to do. I was feeling a little bit discouraged at that time. We ran into two other students of CSP who we talked with about our encounters and they made me change my views. I know that people will not come to know Christ because of me. It is all because of HIM. We are his servants and he is using us. I know that whether they shut us out or not that there was a seed planted and that God will take hold of their hearts and lives one days! To me that is SO encouraging! During this time my fourth and final roommate Emily showed up! It has been nice getting to know my roommates over these past few days. Later that night we went over to the UIC campus to go bowling which was a lot of fun!

The Bean in Millennium Park!

 Today was the day for everyone to go out and find jobs. Since I already have a job with Chick-fil-A I didn't have anything to do until 2 p.m.! That was a nice little blessing to be able to sleep in. I get a feeling I wont be sleeping much this summer. We left around 1p.m. today to get to work on time. We have not figured of the train "The L" yet so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get to work. We went trough training today that consisted of rules/security issues, a tour of the store, and going through the manual for the store. We will all be starting work this week, which I am sort of nervous about. They did not teach us how to bag, use the registers, or make any of the food items. That is apparently what we learn over the next few days at work. Every Monday night is Italian night here at CSP! After dinner we had training for evangelism. They used the analogy of baseball to talk about the different types of conversations that we will be having during this summer. Each "base" had a different type of conversation that could be had. We then heard from Nancy one of the project staff here who talked to us about the importance of the Gospel. And not just the basics but really challenged us to open our hearts to it this summer and let God show us the more in depth parts of it. I guess I have always known the basic story of the Gospel butt haven't really ever looked much into it. I am excited to see what God shows me throughout this summer.

The City (or at least part of it)

The L

So that has been my journey so far while in the city! I must admit I love the apartment we are staying at! I plan on putting photos of my loft up soon! We are in between Greek Town and Little Italy, meaning there is tons of delicious food around me! I have to be careful so that I do not try and go get a Gyro every day while I am here!

Last but not least....I have finally figured out what my address is so if you would like to send me letters I would love that!!

410 S. Morgan St. #427
Chicago, IL 60607

I hope you all have a blessed week!

until next time....