Leadership is hard

The first three weeks of camp have flown by. Ms. Guerrero is my homeowner who I have been so blessed to serve and be served in return by. She is a beautiful woman of God who is fiery, funny, sharp, and loves to put in her "two cents," as she always tells me. Not only have I been able to work on her house with our groups, but also really get to know her and form an incredible relationship with her. 

Carter, when tired of being on a hot roof, spent time
playing cards with Ms. Guerrero. So cool to see middle school students
take initiative to love her in more ways than just roofing. 

All the students on my teams have made such sweet connections with her. I tell each group that they are going to fall in love with her. Sure enough, they do. 

Our first week, we were able to put a new roof on Ms. Guerrero's home. She had many leaks into her house, which in turn, ruined much of her dry wall. Needless to say, the dry wall is now our newest project. My first group was a challenge to motivate some days, which truly was hard on me. I took it personally. Which looking back, is silly. I should not be leading these students for my own personal gain, but for the gain of advancing Christ in this world. The last work day of the week, San Antonio received a downpour of rain, such a surprise. You would think all work and motivation would completely cease, but instead, the group decided to work until 6:00! We got back to the building by 6:15, just enough time to shower and get to dinner by 6:30. The rain before we fixed the roof would have been the worst of all scenarios. However, with a new roof and a dry house, the rain was the biggest blessing we could have asked for. 

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

The second week, my group consisted of 7th grade girls, and our project was sheet rock. Of course I was concerned. Sheet rock is heavy, the wood in the house is old and extremely hard to drill into, maybe I can find another project to do this week. All my doubts and concerns were thrown out the window. Those girls are some of the hardest, most eager workers I have ever lead. Not only did they work with diligence and perseverance, but they worked from their desire to serve. They actually bought a bed and bedding for Ms. Guerrero which we were so thrilled to assemble this week for her!

St. Lukes United Methodist Church

 The weekend between week two and three, I flew up to Knoxville on Wednesday after the workday to lead at Ignite Summit, a program for incoming freshmen to help them learn how to get plugged in on campus, ask questions, ease nerves, make new friends, learn about values, diversity, and traditions, and really just become more excited about being a UT Volunteer! So that was a jam packed three days! 

I flew in from Knoxville just in time on Sunday to start work team meetings. If you can imagine, I was exhausted. Thankfully, my group this week was from Concordia Lutheran, a local church that I had the pleasure of working with last summer. The leaders and interns I view as some of my family here in San Antonio. After another hard week of work, our group accomplished so much. The group did everything from mudding/taping, to sanding, cutting and screwing in dry wall, pulling up linoleum, assembling a bed, putting in a new light fixture. Really these girls and Jeff (my partner for the week) were jacks-of-all-trades by the end of the week! They learned so much and were ready to learn, which is always such a blessing.

Concordia Lutheran

Although the past few weeks have been incredible, they have been hard. Not that I every thought it would be easy or that I would ever feel equipped, but it is tiring to juggle everything going on at the building, with the homeowner, at the worksite and continue leading in such a way that I can inspire a shared vision and empower others to lead and serve others. The desire to inspire a vision is one of my biggest challenges. I tend to be a "big picture" thinker in that I look down the road to what I want to accomplish. Sometimes it causes me to be too realistic, but other times it drives me to accomplish my dreams and my goals. I pray that my "big picture" thinking is one that transcends to those I am around, whether that be the work teams, the other interns, the staff, etc., so that we can all come together to create something greater than ourselves in the name of Jesus.

Yesterday DeeDee told me "Leadership is hard." Although it is a really simple phrase, it speaks so much truth. Despite the many leadership classes I have taken, nothing can truly prepare me for the situations that arise working with so many different individuals. No one can teach me what to say back to a middle school boy who says "No don't help me" or "No I don't want to do that." The amount of responses for every situation is endless and how to go about it eloquently and with authority is something that comes from having confidence in your leadership and what you stand for. So as I continue this summer I have to remember the lessons that I learned from last summer: I personally will never be equipped, that is something that comes from God, and that through confidence in my values and where my motivation lies, I can lead and be a vessel through which Christ is moving.