Carrie Blanks
Why I'm Doing Mission Year
As of December 2008, I’m a College of William and Mary (in VA) graduate. I am blessed with a motley family and stepfamily, and unwavering friends who have helped teach me the meaning of friendship.
As a follower of Jesus, my biggest desire is to do what He did, and what he calls us to do.
During his life here on earth, Jesus demonstrated to us how life should look. He was a champion of equality. of justice. of mercy. When someone asked him what the most important commandment was, Jesus replied with the first two, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments”.
Jesus said love. Love wholeheartedly, wholemindedly, and with every fiber of your being.
I think life as a follower of Jesus is working out what that looks like.
I hope that this year with Mission Year, the people I meet, and the community I am blessed to be a part of and to serve, will help to teach me just that. I look forward to new relationships, new shared struggles, new injustices brought to an end, and learning to live day to day in love with my neighbors. We’ll see. Should be an adventure.
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Carrie Blanks's Blog
A LINK TO THE REST! / Aug 14, 11:04 PM
Ok… so I’m sort of cheating?
I started a blog that I’m attaching to this blog, because the other blog is easier to use.
It is located here:
http://carrieblanks.livejournal.com
:)
bloggity blog blog
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It's July / Jul 20, 02:31 PM
“Are you getting excited?”
I guess I always have been. From the moment I heard of Mission Year’s existence, I knew that I had to be a part of this. I nervously sweat my way through the phone interviews, even though they were by far the most comfortable interviewing experience I’ve ever had, and when I finally received the voicemail message announcing that I’d gotten in — that the next year of my life had been decided for me, that I was going to be a part of a community that sought to spread love in a tangible way — tears of relief and joy and all sorts of emotions of the heart that I couldn’t put words to rolled down my cheeks.
The closer we get, the more I have to nail down the logistics of the thing. Plane tickets. Finding a jacket and boots that will get me through the Chicagoan winter. Enduring all the “I’m going to come visit you!” comments without launching into an explanation of why that’s probably not the best idea. Wrapping my mind around the reality that I’m actually going — something that I don’t think will happen until I’m there.
A lot of this feels like the prep for South Africa. One would think it would be the prep for South Africa times twelve. But, I’m a skilled procrastinator and evader-of-reality, so it feels pretty much the same. Which is a shame, because I still have about $10,000 dollars to raise. …
Oh WOW!!!!
I just checked my support report!
THANK YOU to Mr and Ms Andersen, Natalia, Bleam, and my family at Peace Hill for your most recent donations!
I only have $8,685 to raise now, thanks to you!
….
That’s awesome to hear. I still have that nagging feeling that I’m not doing enough. I’ve been making jewelry like crazy, though, it’s just been tough finding places and opportunities to sell it. Thankfully, my Aunt Tootie has been awesome by running around her office with a big box, and that’s made about $300.
I hate money. And the fact that our bodies need food to survive. I guess the food thing helps to remind us that we’re human and dependent on a great Other for our livelihood…. which is also why I think that humanity was made to be subsistence farmers (easy for me to say, sitting here in my air conditioning, sharing my words via laptop and internet, all of which have years of technological advancement and scientific breakthroughs to thank for them — the heavy plow not being the least of them)… in THEORY at least. yeah, but money sucks. So does hierarchy and disparity and greed and all sorts of things that come along with it. I hear that there are websites now dedicated to swapping things… like a barter society. So there are a few good things coming out of our recession. I should check into the bartering thing about a winter coat!
My initial intent with getting back on the blog with a little update was to practice writing a bit and to get out some thoughts, but it seems that I have totally digressed into a ramble, and sincerely apologize.
I’m going to go and acquire a bit more sanity before my next update.
Much love,
C
PS. I took the picture last week, while visiting my stepbrother Forrest in Key West. The stenciled words on the wall in the background read: “BELIEVE IN SOMETHING”… which is vague, but tolerantly effective.
Sooo I Just HAVE to Share... / Apr 21, 08:59 AM
Ok. So I know this has NOTHING to do with Mission Year… but today, my fellow William and Mary students and I broke the Guinness World Record for most people dancing “Thriller” simultaneously: 242 people!!!
As one of the “trainers” (people in red shirts who were dispersed amongst the students turned dancers, teaching them what to do), I got there at noon, we recruited until 2:45, danced until 4:00, and cleaned up and did interviews until 4:30! It was QUITE a day!!!
You can see the awesomeness here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of9BArMKy14
Someone on the sidelines taped it. There’s an official video which should be on YouTube soon.
I’m the one in a red tank top and white shorts in front of the back group… if that makes sense. You’ll see me. haha.
SO MUCH FUN!!! I forgot how much I loved to teach dance. I love breaking something down and watching people learn bit by bit. It’s encouraging to go from nothing to knowing a full dance in a matter of minutes or hours, you know? It’s also really cool to see people learn something, and how their confidence builds the more they do it. I dunno… maybe there will be an arts program or something I can get involved with in my city. Whichever city that may be… oh patience! Lord, help me learn it.
:)
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