Literally in the airport

Thanks so much for all the support and love! I'll do my best to have an update midway, but don't hold your breath. I wrote this the other morning, hopefully it sums up some big things I learned well, I'm too tired to tell right now

I was sitting in our weekly staff meeting. I put my hands on my head in disbelief as I looked at the calendar detailing the rest of the quarter.

Only 10 days?

I sat there, thinking to myself that in ten days I would be solely responsible for the well-being of nine students and my co-leader. The excitement and stress began to rise as the reality of outreach slowly began to sink in.

My mind (in typical Tim fashion) found a tangent to go down, specifically what I was learning this quarter.

I thought back to one of prayers earlier in the quarter: greater humility. Was I humbled this quarter? Whew, absolutely, and then some. When you don't make a whole lot of "wrong decisions", it's easy to think that you're a pretty good person. But God showed me this quarter (and honestly the couple of months prior as well) that instead of making bad decisions, I simply didn't make any decision at all.

God really showed me the depths of my sinful nature, and I saw my desperate need for a savior. And then He proceeded to humble me even more, by showing me another facet of my sinful nature. Ugh, not fun, but entirely necessary.

I thought back to my team, as the meeting continued in the background of my thoughts. Well, if I'm responsible for this team's physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, then we're in serious trouble.

Emmanuel, God with us, Matthew 28:20, and so on promise that God is, well... With us. Including me. Including my co-leader. Including my team. Including you. And including me.

The reality of outreach continued to sink in, but the stress was lifted off of me. My responsibility is to look after, and disciple the students, as well as to support my co-leader. But above that, my responsibility is to be obedient to God, and walk with Him.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." -Psalms 119:105 (ESV)

DTS stands for Dancing Tim Song (it actually doesn't, but I have your attention now, right?)

It's been a wild almost two months since my journey as staff with YWAM has started! I can hardly believe that my calling for this part of my life is to solely invest in and serve people, it's such a privilege and honor to be here.

So now that the school has officially kicked off and all of the team info is out there, I can give you the reader all of the details with what's been on the up and up. Loads has happened, so get comfortable, grab some hot cocoa (or ice-cold lemonade depending on the temperature), and maybe a snack too.

Alright, got your provisions? Here we go!

A New Leadership Perspective

It's been a very odd two weeks, but so the same I'll do my best to sum it up. For the first week and a half, I felt like I was back on the east coast, that Sadler was just around the corner (College of W&M reference). But the past couple of days have been incredibly strange. It's felt as if I've been here a long time, and have spent several months getting to know people. Feels almost as if I've never left. I guess that's what happens when you live in community and see people ten times as often as compared to in college.

Anyways (trying to do my best to stay on "topic"), I've learned so much in this short time already, but I think I've learned the most about leadership.

Changing (plans) with God

Just a week ago I was convinced that I would be returning to Williamsburg, living with some friends and navigating the "real world" (some might say, I would be 'starting at the bottom'). I had no reason to believe, or even consider otherwise.

But then, last Wednesday, I got a message.

It was from YWAM, inviting me to staff. Now, when I finished up the secondary school at the end of 2014 and getting ready to return to school, I thought that the YWAM chapter of my life had come to a close. Some people asked me if I thought about returning, and I usually responded with something like, "Anything's possible", but not seriously considering it.

Another day, another chapter

Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 
          -1 Timothy 6:6-8

It's with a heavy heart, that I let y'all know that I've been academically suspended from the College of William and Mary, and that I've decided to not appeal the decision. Which means that I won't be attending the College of William and Mary this fall, and probably not again for awhile, if ever. Although I am saddened that this has happened, I don't have any (major) regrets.

It's been pretty scary, knowing that I'm about to be thrust into the "real world". I don't know what the

Thankful

I was sitting in my Epidemiology class, just jotting down notes, minding my own business. The professor started telling a story (for reasons that escape me) about her first job after college. The first place she ended up working at was at a mental hospital, where she worked with severely autistic children. Her description of them was that they needed to wear helmets because they would bang their heads against the wall.

Story time: When I was a kid (think ages one, or two), I used to bang my head against things. And people around my mom told her to get me tested for autism. She said  that she wasn't willing to pay such a large amount of money to find out if I had a disease that couldn't even be cured.