Heather Bouley
Why Am I Doing Mission Year?
For those of you who don’t know, my name is Heather Bouley. I just graduated in May from the University of Virginia and I am very happy that I’ll spend next year doing Mission Year. I first heard about Mission Year in 8th grade from the founder Bart Campolo; I wanted to quit middle school and go right then. Alas, they don’t accept 8th graders. But now it’s actually happening!
I am so excited about doing Mission Year because it captures my interests and passions. Since elementary school I’ve loved going on short term mission trips and serving the communities I’m in. In college I became interested in studying the historical and current causes of poverty in America. And throughout my life God has enraptured me with his love, his word and his redemptive kingdom. I think that God will teach me a ridiculous amount over this next year and will certainly use this year to guide me in whatever comes next. I don’t see Mission Year as something to put off “real life” for one more year, but something that is crucial to really living life right now.
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…
Heather Bouley's Blog
Brea's Praline Cake / Apr 8, 02:01 PM
On Sunday I hung out with my next door neighbor Brea. She had a cake mix that she really wanted to make so we baked together. We faced a slight problem, though. We didn’t have any icing. Thankfully, my resourceful roommate looked up some make icing from scratch recipes (I forgot you could do that) and we made this awesome glaze/icing from butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. It just so happens that these are basically the same ingredients you use to make pralines. It tasted like we dumped a batch of pralines overtop of the white cake and it was marvelous.
Praline Icing
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
a splash of vanilla
Cook in a sauce pan until it thickens and pour it over the cake while it’s still warm.
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Out of the Silent Planet / Mar 10, 01:57 PM
Last week I stole Bre’s book Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. It’s the first book in his space triology and it’s fantastic. I’m basically in love with C.S. Lewis. He takes all the details of life that are too hard for me to put into words and captures them perfectly. He also comforts me by his assurance that love and life are overwhelmingly bigger then hate and death. I love that after I read his books I feel a little closer to knowing God.
If you haven’t gone through the “I must read everything C.S. Lewis ever wrote” phase of life then I encourage you to go through it. And if you don’t have time for everything then just make sure you hit up Mere Christianity because it’s amazing.
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A kinda long personal essay / Feb 19, 11:37 AM
I realized it in high school. I was diseased just like everyone else – I had the “I Can’t Wait Until Friday” Syndrome. The syndrome gave me, my friends, and the rest of America permission to whine and complain about our present lives while we wished and hoped for Friday to show up like some knight in shining armor. Standing around our lockers the syndrome provoked such uplifting conversation as “I have too much homework” and “I don’t want to go to swim practice” and “my teacher is driving me crazy” and “I can’t wait until Friday”. They syndrome is an American gift to all citizens. I grew up watching TGIF every Friday night. Week after week “Thank God it’s Friday” flashed across the screen, burning the words into my brain. But at some point in high school I got tired of complaining (or maybe I just got tired of hearing other people complain). I suddenly understood it was a heinous lie that the only day of the week I could ever enjoy was Friday (and maybe Saturday too). How could we not realize that when we constantly wished for Friday that we were wishing our lives away? I was telling my life, “No life. You can’t be enjoyable today. Today is reserved for pouting. If you want to be happy, if you want to be fulfilled, wait until Friday.” Did you ever realize, though, that Friday isn’t ever THAT good? If anything, it’s kind of worse be cause there are such high expectations for the 24 hour period. Usually I sat at home in teenage misery wondering who I could call to go do something with me.
So I started a campaign with my friends. We were not allowed to wish for Friday. We had to live our lives in the now. Whenever we caught one another groaning in our desire for the end of the week we’d remind each other to appreciate and live for today. In this manner we battled our syndrome and beat it out of our lives.
I’d like to say the battle is over, but the syndrome takes on new forms in my life. At one point it was “I Can’t Wait Until I have a Boyfriend”, “I Can’t Wait Until Graduation”, “I Can’t Wait Until I Finish Final Exams”, “I Can’t Wait Until Summer”, “I Can’t Wait Until My Paycheck”, “I Can’t Wait Until Mission Year”, “I Can’t Wait Until Christmas Break”. It’s absolutely absurd. Can I ever live my life without wishing to be at a different point then where I am now? Why am I constantly looking towards events, people, experiences, achievements to fulfill me and finally make me satisfied? I learned a long time ago that God is the only one who can satisfy my restless soul and yet I keep forgetting that He is what I need. I mean, I came to Mission Year expecting some type of ultimate fulfillment, but sometimes it’s still so easy to feel empty. How can that be? Because it’s not Mission Year that is going to fill me up – it is God that must fill me up. I can not be filled by Friday, by marriage, by a career or by doing good. I can only be filled by the love of God. I can only be satisfied when I look towards Christ.
“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.”~The Apostle Paul
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February's Spring / Feb 14, 10:53 AM
It’s spring in New Orleans! After 2ish weeks of nastiness the weather became beautiful and warm again (just in time for Mardi Gras). I am completely thankful for this not just because I personally enjoy it, but because New Orleanseans are emerging from their homes once again. If the temperature is below 60 and/or there is a drop of rain no one comes outside. And that makes it difficult to hang out with our neighbors (Chicago teams, how do you do it?). When I came back from break I was kind of discouraged because some of our friends in the neighborhood had moved or were moving soon. I felt like I was back at knowing 3 people on my street. My team and I spent time praying about this. We made plans to get out in the neighborhood again. Saturday rolls around and it’s gorgeous which means neighbors are out and we force ourselves to go meet people. Theoretically, meeting people is great. Actually doing it requires supreme motivation. So yeah, we forced ourselves out the door and it was awesome. God answers prayers. We met a good number of people and even got invited to a BBQ at Karen and Peter’s house. Last night we went over to their place. They made us fantastic food and warmly welcomed us in to their lives. Awesome.
So y’all, keep praying for meaningful neighborhood relationships. Next week we are throwing a small Valentines Party for women from the church and neighborhood. You can pray for that too if you want.
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back at it / Jan 23, 03:58 PM
here we are. back in new orleans. has it really been three weeks? no. just 2 and a half. good.
mom, dad, alli and i drove the 16ish hours to new orleans from virginia. we spent a few days playing tourist and putting together a 1000 piece puzzle. mom and i ate a muffulatta. wow. quite the sandwich. i think they all enjoyed the 2 and a half hour church service. did i say service? i mean party. the 2 and a half hour party (cause “there ain’t no party like a holy ghost party cause the holy ghost party don’t stop”).
when they left i started back to my service sites. this trimester i’m working more in the preschool. my schedule….tues: admin and 2 year olds, wed: construction at st. roch, thurs: taxes (yes, i’m doing taxes for people…) and construction, fri: admin and 2 year olds. i’m like a little bouncy ball jumping from place to place. but it fits my style.
it’s cold and rainy in new orleans which means that people don’t come outside. this makes it particularly difficult to hang out with people that i don’t live with. no worries. it’ll be 70 in the next few days.
okay, time to play with tools.
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