Well I made it! I have been in Chicago for almost exactly a week from now, and it has been a complete whirlwind. First of all the city of Chicago is beautiful. I am still staring at the skyscrapers as I walk by, and most likely will for a long time now. I have had many Chicago staple foods so far, such as Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Pizza and Portilo's Chicago-style hot dogs. I am definitely going to eat well here, which hopefully offset with all the walking I will be doing.
I have been constantly meeting people from all over the country who are on this mission with me, mostly from the Great Lakes area but some from much farther away, like San Francisco State University and Massachussets State (or something like that). There are 97 students here! Each day I meet someone I have never seen before and grow closer to those I have already met. I am pretty confident that I know the names of half of the students and maybe a quarter of the staff (they have at least 50 more people here as well). So far, bonding activities have been a scavenger hunt around the city, ping pong tournaments, late night games of catchphrase, watching the NBA finals, and eating the food I already mentioned.
This week has been spent looking for a job. I initially came into the mission wanting to work in a nursing position, as that is my major. I applied to multiple hospitals around the city, of which there are many, in the weeks leading up to arriving here. Monday I did a few follow-up calls, showing up at the hospitals I had applied to. I was consistently turned away, the receptionists saying that they couldn't help me, I would just have to wait for them to contact me, even though if you didn't meet the qualifications, they wouldn't necessarily always tell you. It was very discouraging, to say the least.
On Tuesday, I set out again, this time with two other Cru students who were also looking for jobs, but at retail and food locations. I decided that I might as well get my name out there if I didn't here for any nursing jobs, which I had asked God to have them get back to me by Thursday if they wanted to hire me. We had a great time running around the city applying to jobs anywhere that seemed interesting. By the day ended on Thursday, I had two job offers on Navy Pier, one at a souvenir store and one at the famous Garrett's popcorn.
My aunt has been even more enthusiastic than myself at times to find me a nursing job. She has many contacts in the area, and she all but exhausted every possibility she had. After multiple applications and even cold-calling private practices at her advice, I have decided to take one of the jobs at Navy Pier and see if one of the openings gets back to me, or if I can volunteer at some point in a hospital. The job that would give me the most opportunity to be flexible and maybe find a way to squeeze in some volunteer hours is with Garrett's Popcorn, so I will be working there for the rest of the summer!
I love all of my roommates, and I look forward to growing closer to them over the summer. I have really appreciated the opportunity to be open and vulnerable with them with my life and the things I have on my mind. Honestly, everyone here is so willing to hear your story, even if they just met you. I have been blown away from the kindness of people here, praying for me and my little things like this job search. I just hope I can be used by God to encourage them this summer.
I started meeting with my staff discipler, a guy who works with Cru in Central Illinois by the name of Pete. Just in our short meeting he was able to identify some things for me to work on, and ask God to change within my mindset and my attitude. We all have room to grow, and I am excited and scared when I ask God to show me the areas in which I need to grow, and to use this summer to grow me. I don't know what that will mean for me, but I am confident that he knows what is best for me.
Alright, I think that is enough for now. Plus there are some people at the beach that I want to meet up with.
Things to be praying for:
- My future coworkers at Garrett's Popcorn, that they would be in a place to be receptive to a new face, and eventually the magnificence and beauty of the gospel.
- The students I have already spoken to about Christ on the campus of the University of Chicago, that God would use it to soften their hearts and open themselves up to the possibility of God and Jesus Christ, as well as the students I have yet to talk to, that God would use me and the rest of our ministry to come into their lives in a big way.
- That God and the Holy Spirit would reveal to me times when I care too much what other people think of me
- Praise God for the two students I know of who have already accepted Christ into their hearts as their Lord and Savior. It's so exciting that God is already working in our summer mission
- That all of the students would grow closer together despite surface level differences like personality type, color of skin, and university affiliation to hold fast to our perfect God and each other.
- That God would show me the ways that I am not perfect and humble me so I can be fully used by him
-Austin
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