I have spent the last year of my life investing love, enthusiasm, and passion into the places I have visited and the people who have become my life. My time as an ABQ YAV is over and I don’t know what’s next. Not knowing has its benefits because I will have some transition time to travel, relax, and reflect. Here are 4 things I do know I have learned about during my YAV year: Importance of Community Two incredible women who have been by my side through our whole ABQ YAV experience were my main community. If you have never lived in an intentional community then this is a concept you might not understand especially because I just spent the last year of my life living in a community and I didn’t always understand it. My experience living in a community provided me with a space to be loved even after I made mistakes, a space for fun and frustration at the same time, and a place to be authentically myself. The three of us together became invested in each others everything. We had hard times and happy times and through it all, we were resilient together. My intentional Christian living community impacted my experience and I will miss our times sitting on our front porch, the way we stuck together in new social situations, our trips to The Range for fries with ranch and desserts, our nightly walks, driving places windows down blasting a song on repeat until we reached our destinations, and many more experiences. The community I was placed into at work was one who provided me with so much support and an incredible amount of joy. Heading Home allowed me the opportunity to grow their volunteer program while learning about the organization as a whole and taking a hard look at the social justice issue that is homelessness in Albuquerque. Many people at work invested in me and made me feel loved and valued. My community of coworkers positively influenced me and I will miss walking around the office to bounce ideas off different people, having people stop by my desk to discuss a wide variety of topics, and many more situations. Putting Faith into Action This year has provided me with many opportunities to subtly put my faith into action. I have learned to value and put into practice walking humbly and loving genuinely and to read more about that please click here. The two Bible verses I have consistently used to guide me through my YAV year were Matthew 25:31-46 and Micah 6:8. Click here for a previous reflection on Micah 6:8. These verses are important to me because both call us to boldly and compassionately engage in the spaces and places we are. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” -Matthew 25:31-37 My work placement has no religious affiliations but that never stopped me from interacting with clients in the office or residents at the shelters in a compassionate manner. Kindness and compassion matter to me please click here to read more about that. I will miss the work I did because being the volunteer coordinator at Heading Home because I consistently had the opportunity to host all kinds of awesome groups and individuals and to be an advocate and educator about homelessness in the community. To read more about being their volunteer coordinator click here. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” -Micah 6:8 Over the course of my YAV year, I had the opportunity to visit the United States-Mexico border two different times. Frontera de Cristo, a boarder ministry, does an excellent job of humanizing the experience of living on the border and providing multiple viewpoints by incorporating stories and organizations that fall on both sides of the immigration discussion. To read more about my border experiences click here and here. Honoring Native Land and Enjoying the Outdoors New Mexico is a truly beautiful state with a lot of different terrains to offer from mountains to forests. Being in New Mexico has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation for native lands and Native American culture and more of an appreciation for nature in general. I had the opportunity to worship at a Presbyterian church in Laguna Pueblo, to visit a few other pueblos around the state as well as visit several National Monuments. There is something powerful about the way the land is appreciated in New Mexico whither its native land or not. At the start of different public events I attended held on native land there was an acknowledgment of the traditional Native inhabitants of the land. That acknowledgement is an easy way of showing respect and making a step towards honoring the truth of the Indigenous people’s history. Taking a moment to struggle with the history of the incredible outdoor spaces before enjoying them and being invited to learn about different pueblo cultures and traditions has been a meaningful part of my YAV year. Vulnerability Throughout this year I have intentionally practiced vulnerability. I have been reflecting on being vulnerable from the start of this experience and to read a previous reflection click here. Vulnerability for me has been about letting go of the need to be in control and having the courage to continuously be authentic and to enthusiastically show up and be present no matter what. This has not been easy and I am blessed to have so many different individuals in my life who can have meaningful conversations with me and who continue to push me to maintain vulnerability even when it’s difficult. At this point, I will be seeking employment opportunities in Albuquerque and Minneapolis. I have fallen in love with the Southwest and I don’t know that my time there is done. Even if I return to Albuquerque things will be different because I will no longer be an ABQ YAV and the thought of continuing to work on other relationships I have built makes me happy. To read more about how important building relationships was click here. I have been truly fortunate to have built such a strong support system in Albuquerque and to have entered into my YAV year with such a strong support base in Minneapolis. I’m sure I will continue to learn from my YAV experience for years to come, those four things are just the start of my reflections and processing. Not everything about me has changed but during my time as an ABQ YAV, I have had so many different challenges, experiences, and opportunities that I am not the same person I was a year ago. Moving forward wherever I end up, I want to continue to challenge myself to grow, to take hard looks at social justice issues and systemic problems, to practice vulnerability, maintain my enthusiasm and optimism, and to continue to find meaningful ways to put my faith into action. To read more from Kim, click here.
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