Reflection

Well now that it’s been a couple days after project, it’s time for the last blog entry (sad day).  I thought it’d be good to do a little recap of what I actually learned this summer.  It might be a tad long, so stick around.  First, let’s do a fun list of 10 things that I learned from working at Disney:

1. It’s not wise to drink your weight in the free soda that you are allowed to have for working in food & beverage

2. Last year, on vacation, when my family ordered 8 root beer/pineapple floats, the cast member was dreading our order.

3. The best deal at Disney is a free cup of ice or ice water.  Granted, there are still hundreds of guests who go for the $2.50 bottle of water (or worse, the $3.25 Smart Water)

4. The lyrics to the Wishes nighttime fireworks spectacular

5. To make a big Dole Whip, you have to make a “bubble” at the bottom of the cup to give it support so that you can swirl higher.

6. Never will I ever be that guest that hands crinkled up dollar bills.  People, do you know that I have to straighten them out to put them in the register?  Nor will I be a guest that pays in all nickels and dimes…

7. People actually do order pineapple floats with chocolate ice cream on top…whether or not they actually enjoy it, who knows.

8. It gets hot in Florida in the summer.  And when it gets hot, ice cream melts.  Quickly.  Who knew?

9. People cannot read menus.  No, we don’t have chocolate ice cream at the Aloha Isle.  Nor do we have smoothies, milkshakes, cones, sandwiches, turkey legs, or anything else not mentioned on our menu.

10. Extra Magic Hours for guests (when the park is open for 3 hours after regular park closing a couple nights a week) = Extra Tragic Hours for Cast members

But on a serious note, God taught me a lot more than how to perfect the Dole Whip Soft Serve Swirl.  I could ramble on forever about what I learned, but here are 3 things that I can really take from this summer:

1. Vulnerability builds community instantaneously. 

This summer I’ve had the privilege to have lived with a group of 39 other awesome students who have come from all different lives and stories.  Being real with each other has brought the most growth in my relationships with others.  The second night when 4of us went to the Wilderness Lodge and shared our life stories (the good, the bad AND the ugly), it brought us together immediately.  There was so much grace and love, unlike I’ve experienced in any other community.  Also just confronting conflict with others helps the community grow.  But in order to do that you must approach the conflict with a humble, loving heart.  This is something that I definitely plan on taking back to campus.

2. We are links in a chain. 

This summer had a missional aspect too.  We talked with people about Jesus and spiritual things.  But as a very “results oriented” person, I can have an unrealistic approach to evangelism, expecting people to come to Christ instantly.  Obviously this doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to.  But there was one metaphor that stuck with me regarding this.  When someone accepts Christ into their life, it is the result of a chain link of people who introduce or talk to them about the gospel.  So when we go out sharing we don’t know if it is the very first time that someone has heard about Jesus (the first link in the chain) or we’re in the middle somewhere.  And if he blesses us, he can use us towards the end of someone’s chain link, even perhaps the final chain link.  Regardless of what chain we are in a long string, we don’t know how our actions or words will affect people in the long run even if they are hesitant in the immediate moment.  We can provide the good news, but after that, it’s in God’s hands and his timing…which brings me to number 3.

3. God’s timing is far superior to mine. 

I came into project with some expectations for my future.  God took those and threw them out the window for his perfect plan.  I am very much a planner.  Therefore, I LOVE picturing God as the Ultimate Planner!  He has an excellent plan for all of us, and he orchestrates them so that they all ultimately bring him glory.  One clear example of this during this summer is how I thought I would have to wait at least a year before becoming a discipler (or spiritual leader/mentor).  I felt like as a relatively new Christian I couldn’t be able to lead others.  But God was like “NOPE!” and placed me as a discipler of two amazing, spiritually sound men.  I learned a lot from both of them, and the whole process of being a leader was a very helpful time of growth in my relationship with God.  He has also put it on my heart to disciple an incoming freshman this upcoming fall.  Who that might be, who knows?  God knows.  But so much for waiting around for a year…

As I was crying my eyes out at the airport coming home, one of my roommates said to me (and I’ll never forget this), “Stephen, you did a lot of growing up this summer.”  It’s true.  I became a lot more independent as a human, but I became a whole lot more dependent on God.  I grew in my relationship with the Lord like crazy.  The whole summer was on hyperspeed, with no concepts of time or sleep or hunger, etc.  I’m really excited to continue living for Him as I return to USC and take what I learned from this summer and apply it to “regular life”.

Final group picture.  I love these guys a lot!  They helped me grow incredible amounts these past couple months.

Thanks everyone for reading this summer.  I hope I gave a small image to what life on project was like.  If you’d like to know more, I’d be more than happy to discuss life with anybody

Circle of Life

Well yesterday was the last day of project and boy has the time flown by like crazy!  I remember the first day when we all met each other and we moved into the Cabana.  But now I’m sitting in the Orlando International Airport ready to board a flight back to the west coast.  I haven’t slept in 20 something hours…

The past few days have been a flurry of emotions.  On Sunday after church I had a really great conversation with a coworker who had been coming to church with us but is not a Christian.  I went through the gospel message very clearly and slowly, making sure that he understood everything.  The part that I reinforced over and over was that our salvation in Christ is not about “doing good” but rather the faith in Jesus as a savior for all of the screwed up stuff that we do.  By the end I told him that if his heart was not 100% sure that he wanted to accept it as truth, he shouldn’t do it; it wouldn’t be real.  God knows where his heart is at.  I’m glad that God could use me present the gospel to this guy, probably for the first time.

The last days of work were sad.  Having to say good-bye has never been an easy thing for me.  We’ve gotten to know a lot of the fellow Adventureland workers pretty well, and they were very sad that we were leaving.  My last day of work I worked at Aloha Isle all day.  I worked right up until park closing at 11pm.  I made my last pineapple float quite large!  I will miss the swirling, the guests confused about our menu, and the busy atmosphere for the small, tropical soft-serve place.

For our last day we had a free morning/early afternoon.  I went and turned in the last of my costumes.  We started to clean up the Cabana.  I packed all my stuff…sad day.  At 4:30 we had one last project dinner.  It was a really good time and an awesome time of sharing stories about how God has worked in and through people’s lives.  After dinner we went back to our resort and watched a FANTASTIC slide show and video that one of the teams created.  It was a great collection of pics and clips that truly wrapped up the whole project.

We then rushed over to the Polynesian Resort (which is the hotel across the giant lake from Magic Kingdom) and, as a project, watched the fireworks (Wishes) from back there.  Then we boarded the monorail and went into the park for a little bit.  I purchased a Pineapple float, said good-bye to the Aloha Isle, and rode on the last Splash Mountain boat of the evening.  We all met up as a project at 12 (the park officially closed at 11) to watch the “Kiss Goodnight” where they have a little closing speech and they change the castle lighting.  It was the perfect ending of a wonderful day.  It would only be appropriate for us to end our project at the Magic Kingdom.

Getting back from Magic Kingdom a little after 1, it would have been a waste of time for me to sleep because I left for the airport at 5:30AM.  So I went around to all of the condos and said my good-byes.  I cried.  A lot.  I hate good-byes.  But one thing that gives me peace and that I love about Christian community is that it’s not good-bye forever.  It’s “See ya later”.  We have that hope.  Doesn’t mean it’s not sad, but it makes it a little bit better.  Said my last good-byes at the airport about an hour ago, and my flight should be boarding soon.

I’m going home.  Through despair and hope.  Through faith and love.  I experienced it all this summer.  It was a great experience.  I would not trade it for anything else.  Don’t worry I got 1 more blog on the way in a couple days after I reflect (hint hint) about what I’ve learned from this summer, so keep looking for another update.  Thanks again for everyone’s support and prayers.

P.S. I was writing this in the airport but couldn’t connect to the internet to post it then.  Yes, I did sleep on the plane, so we’re all good.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Yo.  It's been entirely too long without an update.  We have a grand total of 4 1/2 days left here.  It's insane how quickly time flew by.

This past Wednesday was a fantastic day!  Well actually starting on Tuesday night at 9pm, all of us on project as a whole started a 24 hour fast.  I had never fasted before, so I was nervous, curious, and excited all at the same time.  It was a great experience overall, but we had so much else going on throughout the day that we didn't really focus on our hunger.  Plus, it was a great reminder of how much God provides for us on a daily basis.

In the morning we all met as a group and prayed together.  Then we all split up and had personal time with God.  I went to Animal Kingdom Lodge and chilled with God outside while looking out on the animals.  It was a fabulous time, especially when I was reading Matthew 6:25-27.  In there Jesus says "Is not life more important than food" and then he talks about how he feeds the birds of the air and says "Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  It just brought the fast and the animals together in such a neat way.

Then in the afternoon we divided into 3 groups to do community service projects.  One group went to help at the Salvation Army.  Another went to Habitat for Humanity.  My group went to the Osceola County Historical Society.  It was this little area with a bunch of old looking colonial buildings.  It honestly looked like nobody ever goes there.  We helped pick up trash around the property and the nature trail.  We cleaned a lot of the buildings and just tidied up all around.  The lady there was so thankful.  Just from looking around it didn't look like they get very many visitors let alone volunteers.  It was an enjoyable afternoon.

For the evening we all gathered in 2 separate condos.  1 place showed the Jesus Film, a full length movie produced by Cru about Jesus' life.  In our apartment we showed the Passion of the Christ.  I had never seen it all the way through.  It was a flurry of emotions and a great reflection on how much Christ actually suffered for us.  It was a very emotional evening where I definitely felt Jesus' love.  After the movies finished, we all gathered together and had a solid worship time.  You could feel the love being expressed in that room.

We broke the fast a little after 9 with a feast of Chick Fil A.  It was just an amazing day of service and giving back in gratefulness for the love that Jesus has shown us.

This'll be probably the last blog while on project, but I'll have a couple more wrap up ones after I get home.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summers!

You've Got a Friend in Me

As project is winding down, we're trying to make the most out of our time here.  We have a grand total of a week and a half left of work, and 13 more days total.  Oh, I'm starting to tear up...

But actually, I'm so thankful for the friends that I've made on this project.  The 38 other students in this group will probably never completely understand how much each and every one of them has had an impact in my life.  Being able to grow in our relationships with God alongside each other is just so rewarding, and to see that progress in individual lives (including my own) is a great thing.

It's also not just the people on project that I've become good friends with.  Our coworkers are so much fun!  I will miss standing in Aloha Isle during the fireworks and singing the words to "Wishes".  I will miss the fun and joking around in Sunshine Tree Terrace.  These people have become close friends to us too, and it's sad that we have limited time with them.  But I don't like to dwell on the sad part.  I'm happy and grateful for the fun times that we had this summer with coworkers.

This past Wednesday we all went to Daytona Beach.  It was a PERFECT beach weather day.  The sand was so soft.  The waves were powerful and fun to play in.  Everyone was together and having a good time.  We grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone.  Had a couple of beach volleyball games thrown in there too.  The day could not have been any better.  There's something about looking out into the ocean and just being in awe of God's creation and his power.  Gives me goosebumps.  It was definitely the best of the 3 beaches that we've been to this summer.

Anyway, we ended the night with all of us praying on the beach after sunset.  What a glorious feeling of community.  We sang a couple of praise songs, but then booked it out of there because there were literally (no exaggeration) thousands of mosquitoes eating the living daylights out of us.  And if I'm covered in 50+ mosquito bites (and I got off easier than some other people) and that's my only complaint, I'm be perfectly satisfied.  It was a fantastic day.

Here's a group pic from that evening. 

Love these people!  Prayers for a strong last 2 weeks of project are encouraged.  And to all back at home, see ya in a few!

Whistle While You Work

Question:  What's the difference between the Dole Whip Soft Serve and the Dole Whip Soft Serve Swirl?

That's the most frequently asked question that we get at the Aloha Isle.  We also get asked if we have chocolate or cones, both of which we don't and they're clearly not on the menu.  Or you'll get the occasional guest who buys ice cream with dimes and pennies.  Or perhaps that day a certain pineapple/vanilla ice cream machine will be malfunctioning, yet even after telling guests, they don't believe you.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, it can get frustrating.  It is during these times when I really need to just take a step back and feel God's grace and love.  This reminder keeps my sense of joy going throughout the work day, even if I am tired or frustrated or whatever.  Honestly, though, looking past the small annoyances throughout the day, I love my job.  I love getting to sing 'Happy Birthday' to random guests wearing their little birthday buttons.  I love making giant pineapple floats and seeing a little kids' eyes widen as I hand it over the counter to them.  I love telling guests where Pirates of the Caribbean is.

I love the people that I work with.  We have so much fun together making ice cream.  We'll joke around and just have fun with it, even after an 8 or 9 hour shift.  Yesterday, at around 9/10PM, Sunshine Tree Terrace was empty!  No guests in sight.  So I just started singing Disney songs with my coworker.  We also got talking about life and stuff.  Got to slip in my testimony conversationally, which was super neat.  Also got to understand a bit more about her life background.  I love hearing people's stories.  I find them so interesting.  Especially since we work with a lot of international students.  We all have such different life experiences, but at the end of today, we make ice cream swirls right next to each other.

Also, I talked about being a Bible Study leader and Discipler.  That's been so much fun, but also a different type of work.  Our last B-stud was good.  It was about that taboo topic on purity, and it was in a coed setting...which never happens.  It was great though because that topic doesn't ever get talked about with both men and women together, so it was good to get the opinions of everyone.  We did split up part way through so that we could go deeper with our respective genders and small groups.  As for discipling, I met with both of my guys.  We went out "sharing" (talking to random people about spiritual things) and had a couple decent conversations.  Then we went through other material.  I love these two guys.  I'm so excited to learn from both of them.  I can relate to them in very different ways, which keeps things fresh.

I can't believe that I have exactly 2 weeks of work left.  The summer just flew right by.  But it's been so worth it.  The relationships that I've built with other people on project and with coworkers have been so rewarding.  I've grown so much closer to God by reading more of the Bible with purpose, talking to him a lot more, and just being here with 39 other peers who have the same intentions. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...it's off to work I go.  Literally.  I'm leaving in approximately 11 min.

P.S.  The Answer:  A Dole Whip Soft Serve Swirl is just two of our flavors swirled together, while the Dole Whip Soft Serve has one flavor only.

Go the Distance

I will find my way.  I can go the distance.

Sound words from Hercules.  Project has been going really well the past few days since last blogging.  Friday we worked and we are continuing to build friendships with coworkers.  It's so cool to be friends with people from all over, including Quebec, Mexico, and tons of other places.

Saturday we had off, and so did a few of our coworkers.  We decided that we would go to Magic Kingdom (as guests) with our new friends and give the day to God.  It is frustrating for me to go to the parks without a plan because that's my psycho Disney personality, so it was a lesson in patience and surrendering control.  We ended up with more people than expected, but it was a lot of fun.  Our coworkers had a blast, and we did too.  We all were praying on our way in that we would be given great opportunities to talk to them about Jesus and his love for them.  God provided.  2 of our coworkers came to church the next day, and 2 others showed interest also.

That brings us to Sunday.  We also had Sunday off (2 days in a row, never happens, but that means we have work the rest of the week...oh well).  A big group of us (like 25-30 people) had the day off so we drove 2 hours to Clearwater Beach (which ironically did not have clear water) to hang out for the afternoon/evening.  It was a really fun time hanging out with people and coworkers and other people's coworkers and just enjoying a day off, relaxing.  Just in talking with coworkers, they have really appreciated the love and the inclusiveness that our group has demonstrated towards them, especially our international friends.  We have gotten into some great conversations with coworkers, and many of them are so very close to finding love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  We need prayers that we can go the distance, and continue to invest into these friends so that when we leave, they have a solid foundation to build upon.

We watched the sunset on the beach.  It was wonderful.  Here's a pic of me being all epic and such and basking in the amazingness of God's creation!

And then we ran into a man who was walking along the beach with a huge cross with him...and we're like uhhhhh let's go talk with him!  Turns out he goes to the beach a lot with his cross and uses it to tell others about Jesus ("witnessing" or "sharing").  It was so encouraging to see someone else going out on their own and doing God's work.  We prayed with him and he encouraged us to continue sharing the message about God's love.  It was the perfect ending of a great day (that's him in the back with the bandana)

If anyone has any prayer requests, shoot me a text or email or fb message.  I'd love to be praying for you.  Also happy 7/11!  Free Slurpee day!  I already got mine earlier today. Mmmmm

You Can Fly! You Can Fly!

It's been a long week.  So many things have happened.  We'll just go over a few highlights.

Last Saturday it was one of our coworker's birthday.  All of her roommates were working and she wasn't with her family because she's here with the Disney College Program.  My work group also had the day off, so we took her to get ice cream at a place called Beaches 'n Cream.  They have this thing called the "Kitchen Sink" which is basically many scoops of every type of ice cream that they have with all of the toppings that they have and a whole can of whipped cream on top.  Basically, the ultimate sundae.  4 of us BARELY finished it.  But she told us that it made her day.  It's so cool that we've made super awesome friends through work and we can celebrate and have fun like that.

Another amazing thing happened two days ago.  Every Tuesday we go out to random locations around the area and just start spiritual conversations with random people.  Awkward?  Sometimes, but it's really interesting to listen and see what other people believe.  Anyway, this past Tuesday we went to the local outlet mall and I started talking to a guy, but he didn't speak any English.  I immediately asked if he spoke Spanish and he said yes.  We started talking (me fumbling around with my limited Spanish), and he was legitimately interested in spiritual things like having a personal relationship with God.  I got to share about how God loves us all, how Jesus died in our place, and how we can experience his love even though we're broken people...all in Spanish.  It certainly was not of my own doing.  It was God working through me.  Do I know how that guy responded to what we talked about?  No.  But I trust that God will use my broken Spanish to even just plant a seed in his mind.  Crazy stuff.

Finally, the staff leaders on our project have left.  They left this morning.  So now, this project is all on us to do the leading.  It's a little scary, but really exciting at the same time.  I will be taking over as a Bible study leader and a Discipler (I get to learn and grow alongside 2 other guys, one on one).  Considering I'm relatively "new" in my Christian faith and real relationship with God, I was nervous and had all of these doubts.  "Do I really know enough about God that I can teach others about him?"  Stupid stuff like that.  But over the past few days, God has reassured me that he will use me no matter how much I know, and that I should just rely on him to provide the wisdom and everything for me.  He's telling me that with his help, I can fly...I can do crazy things with him.  It's a lesson in letting go of control.  So I'm pumped, but the project is going to look a little different now that everyone has different roles to play.

We had a final dinner celebration last night to send off the staff members and bring in the new student leaders.  It was a lot of fun.  Tears were shed, but that just means that the staff has made such a huge impact in our lives.  They've really put in a lot of time and effort to help us grow in our relationship with others and with God.  So thankful for them.

Also, a little side note.  I promised a picture of my costume a long time ago, but I never went through with it.  Well here's a pic, finally, of my work group and our snazzy Adventureland costumes (pajamas)!  Hope everyone is doing well!

I'll Make a Man Out of You

Alright, let's get down to business.

So every week on Thursdays our group has been splitting off and been doing separate men's and women's times.  This summer the men are exploring this idea of RACE:
R-Rejecting Passivity (not being idle, taking the initiative, when something needs to be done--do it!)
A-Accepting Responsibility (admitting your failures, following through with your word)
C-Courageously Leading (humbly leading others, being bold, stepping out of your comfort zone, relying on the Holy Spirit)
E-Expecting a Greater Reward (keeping an eternal perspective, not dwelling on Earthly matters)

So yesterday on our Wednesday off we had Men's and Women's time all day.  While the women were getting pedicures and eating ice cream sundaes (not a joke), the guys went to a state park about 30-45 min away.  The first thing we did was canoeing, which was a blast.  Unfortunately, I do have to admit that I was frustrated with one of my peers who could not get the paddling down.  But rather than create "conflict" and try and fix the problem, I was passive and let it happen.  As a result, we were the last canoe down the river and I was even more frustrated.  I failed at rejecting passivity.  Later on, though, I went up and apologized to him for being frustrated.  I accepted responsibility.  It's so neat to see how much grace and forgiveness there is in this group.

Then the metaphor became real.  We had a canoe race, but for you to win, both of your team’s canoes had to finish.  Our second canoe in our team happened to get a hole in it…needless to say, we didn’t come in first.  Oh well.  Then we did another relay race involving running and swimming.  When deciding what tasks each person would do in this race, I felt like I courageously led by figuring out who would be best at which leg, and organizing the positions for our team.  At the same time, it’s difficult to do this without being bossy or arrogant.

After a scrumptious dinner of hobo pies (look it up if you don’t know what it is) we were all blindfolded and taken to a remote location (so sketch right?).  We were instructed to take off our blindfolds one at a time and individually walk through the forest on a path only lit by 4 lanterns held by the staff members.  At each lantern we were read a Bible verse and asked if we promised to live a life that displays each of the 4 letters of RACE.  It was really neat walking through the forest at night and being encouraged like that.

At the end of those lanterns, we each received our own lanterns, so that we could be “lights” to the world and actually apply these ideas of RACE to our lives later on.  We were declared men.  Not as the world defines manhood, but how God wants to use us men for his purposes, whether or not we think we’re qualified or ready or equipped.  He is ready to send us out and spread his word.  We need to be ready and reliant on him.

Hakuna Matata

My crazy busy schedule has prevented me from updating as often as I would like but tonight we got off work at 10:15, so it was an early night...

Let's see.  What's been going on this past week?  Let's start with last Wednesday.  All of us on project have Wednesday off so that we can do group events.  This last one, we all went to Epcot for the day.  And no we didn't go to ride Test Track or Soarin.  We got there and were split into different groups.  Each group was taken to a different country pavilion at the World Showcase, and we did a simulation for a couple hours.  My group was France.  Other countries represented were Morocco, China, Mexico, and Italy.

Through the simulations, each group had to endure struggles (especially sitting in the sun during a Florida afternoon) that all had spiritual analogies.  Each country had “lunch” which represented the availability of the gospel in that country.  Our “lunch” was a stale piece of bread.  In France, we learned, most people call themselves Catholic, but it’s not the American Catholicism that we think of.  Also because the French are very private people (not rude…), it takes years for missionaries to develop relationships before the gospel can even be mentioned.  It was a very interesting learning experience.

Another interesting part of the day was that one of the groups was assigned to be U.S.A. but they were oblivious to how all of the other groups were doing tedious tasks in the burning sun.  They were given luxuries and plenty of food and were so arrogant.  It was humbling and revealing.

The rest of the week has been a lot of work.  Yesterday I worked for almost 10 hours.  It’s exhausting, but so much fun.  I love interacting with the guests, serving them ice cream and egg rolls.  It’s also been really interesting trying to see guests through the eyes of God.  I am constantly reminded throughout the day that each and every person that I serve is loved by God, so I try and keep that in mind in being courteous and loving towards them.  It’s been a lesson in patience, but it’s been so worth it.

I don’t get much sleep because I’m busy all the time, but God has been good in giving me rest.  Life couldn’t be better right now.  I’m so blessed and humbled by this whole summer.  I’m loving God and loving life right now.  Can’t believe how much grace God has showered upon me this summer.  No worries.  For the rest of your days.

Be Prepared

Hey everyone!  So for the past few days we've been completing our training, and as of today our group is fully trained and ready to work!  Woo!  Just got finished with an 8 hour shift serving up Dole whips like crazy, but it really went by so quickly.  It's such a blast getting to interact with the guests, wishing them happy birthday or asking them what their favorite rides are...pretty neat-o.

Well, we get this question a lot: "Are you in the college program?"  The answer is no.  We are not in the official 6 month (June-January) college program.  But this question is a great opportunity to say why we're here.  "No, actually we're just working here over the summer.  We're with a Christian organization called Campus Crusade, and we have about 40 of us working around the Magic Kingdom this summer and we have our own activities and ministry things at the same time!"

I had this conversation on Saturday early on in my shift, and one of our coworkers was like "Well that's neat.  What's your testimony?"  Like straight up.  And I'm like ok...let's do this!  And while I haven't had much practice with a solid (and concise) testimony, I fumbled around my words for a bit and hopefully got it out somehow about how my life has changed since following Jesus.

Later that day we were talking to another coworker and said our little shpeal (sp?) again, and he was like "Oh, so you guys talk about Jesus and stuff?" and I responded "Well, yeah that's part of it." and he said "Ok, go."  So in the stuffy back room of Aloha Isle (surrounded by Dole Whip mixtures), I got to share the gospel with a coworker.  When I got to the part where I explained how because of our sins we deserve death, but Jesus died in our place so we would never have to experience that, our coworker, who had gone to church his whole life but never really understood (yeah...been there, done that), was starting to put the pieces together.  He said that he still has deep issues with some religious stuff, but that he's down to talk about that later.

It's just so cool how God has been providing situations like these so far, and the awesome thing is that our coworkers are doing the initiating of these conversations.  They want to know why we're here and what we're about.  And I've learned so much about how we always need to be prepared to share our own stories and the love of Jesus because you never know when a situation like this will pop up!  I'm super excited for what the Lord has in store for the rest of the summer.

On a different note, yesterday my work group had the day off.  We went to church and then Animal Kingdom in the afternoon.  Later in the evening, we stopped by Magic Kingdom to stalk our co-project people.  Here are just a couple creeper pics of our Project members working at the parks.  Here we have Kayla helping out a family.

Jordan slaving away in the kitchen

Ashton looking ready to help someone purchase some Disney gear from the Emporium

And Derek finishing up an important transaction!



And I'll leave everyone with a lovely picture of the sunset (so artsy, right?) that I took from the boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom.  Hope everyone is doing well!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

It’s been a crazy, hectic few days! (hence the chaotic title)  Where to start?

We’ve been doing a lot of Disney training.  Entirely too many “E-Learning” things (basically learning about safety, how to treat guests with disabilities, and the Disney Dining Plan via Disneyfied online programs).  But we finally got some real life, on-the-job training yesterday.  I’ll be working in Adventureland (in the next update, I’ll share a picture of our crazy awesome costumes!) swirling ice creams, serving egg rolls and corn dogs, and…creating the ultimate Disney treat---the Dole Whip.  Now, for those of your who have never had the privilege of consuming such a product, here is a lovely picture of one (from my trip last year).  It’s basically pineapple soft serve, and you can get it in a cup or on top of pineapple juice.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of this delectable dessert, that stand will be crazy busy all day, so I’m hoping that will help the time fly by.  I was trying to perfect the “swirl” of the ice cream yesterday (yeah, it did not look like the above pic...).  Let’s just say, it’s a work in progress, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to get it by the end of the summer.  Tonight I work from 4:30-12:45 (some of our project members work until 4AM!!!  Pray for them!).

On a completely different note, the other day we went to Cocoa Beach (about an hour away from us).  For the first half, we went around on the beach, talking to people about what they believe, and asking them if we could share with them a way to know God personally.  The first lady that me and my friend talked to was a solid Christian and she was so encouraging.  We prayed with her, and she told us that it made her day seeing us out sharing our faith.  Then we talked to another guy, who was very open with us, and seemed to be interested in knowing God, which was also encouraging.  One thing that I’ve learned is that when going out sharing our faith, we should not measure “success” based on how many people are interested in Christianity or sharing their lives with us, but rather the fact that we just had the boldness to go out and talk to people.  It can be intimidating, especially for me because I fear other people judging me, but in the end, I have nothing to be ashamed or fearful of.

We also went surfing at the beach.  Who would have thought that I would have to go to the other coast to surf for the first time?  The waves weren’t that big, but it was a really great experience.  Most people got up at least once, and it was just a great bonding time for our whole group.

One of the biggest things that I’ve been learning is about God’s will.  There have been a lot of things out of my control so far on project, but I have to rely on the fact that God knows what’s up when I can’t understand why things happen a certain way.  If anyone has been to Disney with me (or just know me) you know that I’m a major planner.  I plan out everything, and I get easily frustrated when those plans don’t go well.  I’m working on that.  But what I’m constantly amazed at is how God is THE ultimate planner.  He works all things out for his good will (not just some things or when he feels like it…ALL things), which can be hard to see in the moment, but taking a step back, it’s so true.  A lot of people will say it this way: “Everything happens for a reason”.

Sorry for the super long blog again, but I hope to have another update within the next few days!

A Whole New World

This one might be a long one, so let’s strap in and go for a magic carpet ride.  Two days ago, we went to Disney University and were enrolled in an 8 hour “Traditions” class (aka Disney orientation).  It was a lot of fun.  We learned about Disney’s history and procedures, had our class interrupted by a surprise visit from Mickey himself, and even went to the Magic Kingdom and the tunnels underneath the park.  If you didn’t know before, for efficiency, the Cast Members at Magic Kingdom use this set of underground passageways to get around the park without “ruining the story” (basically the reason why you don’t see Jungle Cruise skippers walking around Fantasyland or Tomorrowland).  It was SO cool!  I’ll be getting to use these tunnels all summer!

Also at Traditions we got our official nametags

as well as our Cast Member IDs.  We obviously use these IDs for identification purposes, but they also act as our admission to the theme parks.  So with a free afternoon/evening and a freshly printed ID, what else is there to do except go to the Magic Kingdom!  We were there from about 4:30 til 12:30 (the park was open until 1AM), and we all had a blast!  Rode some Space and Splash Mountain, met Mickey Mouse and 3 of the princesses, and saw the Electrical Parade and the Wishes fireworks spectacular.  It was the first time for one of the girls in my group, and it was just the coolest thing seeing her reactions to all of the rides, shows, and Disney magic.  It really was a whole new world for her.  Here’s a pic of all of us with Mickey and Minnie.

After coming back really late, I crashed hard.  Yesterday, we got to do amazing things too!  We visited the national headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ.  Yup, it’s here in Orlando.  It was pretty sweet, nbd.  We got a tour and a presentation about the “Jesus film” project.  Basically, they made a 2 hour movie about the life of Jesus and have translated it into over 1000 different languages, and they have mission trips where people will go to different countries and show it in that native language.  I think that’s really neat.  Although maybe I’m just an ignorant American, but I had no idea that there were that many languages!  And it’s not even in all languages…yet.

Then for dinner/afternoon we went over to the national director of Campus Crusade’s house for socializing, a BBQ, and swimming.  Nbd again.  It was really fun, and they encouraged us and shared with us part of their life stories. 

First day of training tomorrow!  Prayers welcomed!

Be Our Guest

"Put our service to the test!"

The past few days have been a mix of relaxing and busyness.  Saturday morning we went out "evangelizing" in downtown Orlando.  Now, that's a big word, but basically what we did was go up to people, ask them a couple of questions about their life and their spiritual beliefs, and (after asking permission of course) asking them if they would be interested in hearing about the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.  This is a part of glorifying God, and adding to His kingdom.  One thing that I've been learning though, is that we need to do this out of love and compassion for others.  It's really not about being forced to share with others or trying to "convert" as many people as possible.  No. 

Christians can get a bad reputation for having an attitude of superiority.  The truth is that we're all broken and we screw up.  Nobody is perfect (bummer huh..).  That's why we need a savior.  So when talking to others about my beliefs I am learning to love them and understand things from a compassionate, tactful perspective.  I mean, in reality, it was not even that long ago that I wasn't really trying to live for Jesus.  I've been there.  Praise God that one lady at the park where we were was feeling so desperate and lost and found hope in Jesus because of a couple of the girls on our project.  Keep praying for those who we talked to who seemed interested but still have reservations that God would continue to work in their hearts and reveal himself to them.

God also put our service to the test this morning.  Berto, my roommate here, turns 20 today (Happy Birfday!!!), so the guys from the Cabana all woke up early and we made pancakes and french toast for everyone on the project (50 people?).  It's great being able to serve others even if it's as simple as cooking a little breakfast (well, it was a pretty big breakfast).  This morning, everyone was invited to be our guest here in the Cabana.  No smoke alarms went off, and we even have tons of extras for later, so it went better than expected.

Tomorrow we have our Disney orientation (called "Traditions") for 8 hours where we'll get our work IDs.  Our IDs will basically be our admission to the parks this summer!  Wooooo!  After Traditions, we all plan on going to one of the parks and just having fun!  Tomorrow is a very exciting day!

A couple prayer requests:
1. A smooth transition into our work schedule starting in a few days, and that God would bless the friendships and conversations that develop because of our work. 
2. Just a continued sense of unity amongst students here.  That we would be inclusive of everybody throughout the whole summer (I mean, we've only been here like a week...we still have a long time here).

If you have any prayer requests, shoot me an email or fb message or text.  I'd love to be praying for you (even if you don't send me anything!).

Hasta luego.

Just Around the Riverbend

So I've been on WDW Summer Project for about 48 hours (only? seems like more) and every minute has been a blast.  Our first afternoon, our rooms weren't ready on time which gave us an excuse to mingle and meet all of the other students.  There are about 40 of us students, and we're all from lots of different states and places.  I've met some really cool people so far and I'm stoked to form even deeper friendships as the summer progresses.  These are the guys in my apartment (which we've already designated as "The Cabana" and the unofficial hang out spot for the summer).  Just look at how cool we are.

Anyway, for our first night we had a scavenger hunt around Downtown Disney.  Then it hit me...we were at Walt Disney World!!!  Yes, it felt great running around the ginormous World of Disney store, taking the water taxi across the lake, and listening to the talented street performers.  Overall it was great bonding time and an excellent introduction to Disney!  Here's a pic of my group!

Yesterday we had a lot of training on what it will look like to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit.  The main metaphor that we'll be using all summer is: surfing = walking by faith in Jesus Christ.  Like how we might have fears and doubts about trying to surf a big wave (never surfed before...), we have similar reservations about putting our lives out there for God and trusting him with our lives.  Also we must have faith that when we "mess up" (sorry to break it to you, but we're not perfect), that we'll be ok just like how surfers recover from a wipeout and go right back out to catch another (gnarly) wave.

In other exciting news, I got my job position today!  Woo!!!  Well kinda.  I know I'll be working at the Magic Kingdom (which I said before), and I know I'll be working in the Quick Service Food department.  Where exactly?  I don't know.  We went to Disney Casting this morning and finished all of our paperwork.  This coming Tuesday we'll get our official Cast Member (aka Disney worker) IDs and find out our actual work location.  I'll be working so soon!  Can't wait.  Exciting stuff and tons more is waiting just around the riverbend.

P.S. Sorry about the overuse of parentheses (sp?).  I add them in as I go because I feel like it's more conversational and on the spur of the moment.

Almost There

"And I'm almost there!"-Princess Tiana.  Great movie.  Go see it if you haven't.

Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow (wow, already?) for 9 weeks.  Just finishing up packing and getting everything ready to go.  I'll keep this one short 'cause I wanna go say bye to my friends tonight.  I'm stoked to get going on this project, but I know that the work is gonna be hard, both physically and spiritually.  We'll be working in the afternoons, evenings, and late nights (also has anyone been to Florida in the summer?  Yeah, it's a bit toasty there), so I'm sure I'm gonna be exhausted.  If  there's one main prayer request I have it's that I would turn to God immediately if I start feeling spiritually exhausted---when I start to lose motivation or I just become cranky.  I'm really gonna have to rely on Him to get me through the long days of work and pesky Disney guests.

Other prayer requests:
-Safe travels for all of the students going to Walt Disney World (ok for future reference, I'm just using WDW) for our project.
-That God would put the right people in our situations who need encouragement, perhaps those who have lost hope and don't know where to turn.
-That we, as a group, would be bold and purposeful in our actions and conversations with co-workers and each other.
-For just a super awesome, fun trip!  Yeah, I said it.  Not that I'm worried that I won't have fun.

Wooo!  I get my official job location on June 2nd, so in a few days.  I'll either be running a ride or being a cashier at a food location.  We'll be working 4-5 days a week, and lots of hours.  The other days we'll have specific Project activities or we'll be out exploring the other Disney theme parks!  Working at Disney has its perks -> getting into the parks for FREE!  Yup.  It's the best, and I'll be taking advantage of that often.  Ok a bit of a tangent, but Star Tours 2 (yes they redid the original Star Tours ride, it's now in 3D and has a "different ride every time") is opening at both Disneyland and WDW this summer.  They've both been open the past few days, and I've seen pictures (yes, I'm a Disney nerd), and I really want to go ride it!  Even though I go to Disneyland all the time (living in LA), I'm going to ride Star Tours 2 for the first time in Florida, and I can't wait!

I also can't wait for this:

I took that picture on my trip last year.  I get to see it all the time this year!!!

Alright, thanks for reading along.  I'll come back with another update in a couple days when the Project begins!

The Bare Necessities

Welcome to my blog!  If you know me, you know that I love Disney.  If you've ever been to Disneyland with me, you REALLY know that I love Disney.  For fun, I've decided that all of my blog titles will be Disney song titles.  I thought that the classic Jungle Book one was a good one to start with.


So I want to blog about my amazing opportunity this summer to work at the world-famous Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL.  If you think that I'll be talking about my role as a cast member and all of the neat stuff that I'll be able to do while working for Disney...you're right.  But I'm going to Florida for a bigger purpose than a resume booster, and that's what I really want to talk about.  So yeah, we'll discuss Mickey, Space Mountain, and all of the deep, dark, behind-the-scenes Disney stuff, but that won't be all.


Let's do a little bit of background: This past year, my first year of college at USC in Los Angeles, was one of the most life-changing years of my life (granted, I've only been around for 18).  I have always been raised in a Christian family, which I'm very thankful for, but that really never affected my life.  I entered college almost on a figurative tightrope---I could have easily fallen either towards Christianity or towards a lifestyle very opposite of Christianity.  Long story short, I got involved in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru for short), a really sweet Christian organization on campus, and met a ton of really neat people that have helped me understand what it means to live a Christian lifestyle.  It has been the most rewarding year ever.  I've been exposed to all of the amazing things that God has done for me, and it's all given me a whole different perspective on life.


Anyway, so one day I'm sitting in one of our weekly Cru meetings and I hear about this thing that Cru does called "Summer Project".  Briefly, these are kinda like missions where members of different Cru's from colleges all over the country go to different locations to grow in their own faith as well as to share with others the crazy awesome stuff that God can do to change people's lives.  And the presentation that one of my fellow Cru members, Patreeya Prasertvit (Pat), gave was about a Summer Project at Walt Disney World, and I was like uhhhh...where do I sign up?

So for 9 weeks this summer, I (and about 40 other people from other Cru's) will be sweating in the sticky Florida summer as we work at The Happiest Place on Earth.  Not exactly sure what to expect, but I know that I'm really excited!  We will all be working in the Magic Kingdom; running rides, being cashiers or merchandise people, etc.  I just hope they don't stick me at It's a Small World! (just kidding, I'm excited for wherever I get assigned)  The vision is to build relationships with other co-workers who are there working in Disney's (elaborate) College Program.  Then we will hopefully get to a point where we can invite our co-workers to church, bible-study, or other activities that we do.  From just talking to Pat, who went on this trip last year, there is a sense of spiritual dissatisfaction beneath the happy facade that these workers put on every day.  I'm praying that we can intervene and provide the solution that brings a sense of hope and joy to these workers. 


Yeah, so it's like a mission trip to Disney World.  Sounds cushy?  Doubtful.  It's gonna be exhausting and difficult, I already know.  It'll also be interesting to see if or how my opinion about Disney changes after being on "the other side" of the magic.  But I'm really looking foward to the relationships that I will be making.  Jesus didn't just want his followers to go spread his word to places like the middle of Africa (although that is important too), but also to the places where we would least expect it.


Phew...that was pretty long.  But I hope to be updating this at least a couple times per week, so keep checking back, or you can follow by email at the bottom!  Wishing everyone a magical day!


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