Smitten as a Kitten

So last night I embarked on a journey that I am absolutely THRILLED about!! It's something I've wanted for quite some time, now, but things just didn't happen.

It's been about 2 or more years in the making and I just cannot believe it's actually HERE!!


I'll give you a minute to guess....




*whistling*





*twiddling thumbs*






*barely containing excitement*





*sitting on hands*








OHHHHKAYYY!!!! I can't hold it in anymore...

Last night was the 1st night. I am officially in training to be a counselor at the local Pregnancy Clinic!! I CANNOT wait!!!! You have NO idea how big of a passion this is for me. It's not something I've blogged about much, if at all, because I tend to keep things like-hearted and not-so-deep.

Wait.

That was a lie... an unintentional one, but one nonetheless. I do get deep on here, sometimes, but usually about deeply personal battles and things like my absurd obsession/passion with music. But not about this kind of stuff, I guess.


Hang on - this IS something deeply personal!! What's wrong with me?! Why haven't I talked about this sooner??


Am I blogging to myself again. Great. *sigh* I'm a looney! (what else is new?!)



ANYwho, I'm ecstatic! It's a 10 week training course. And by training course, I mean there's this ENORMOUS book we go through, and it's complete with homework and case studies and even.... *GASP* ROLE PLAYING!!! Oh who am I kidding, I'm eating it UP!


For the longest time I've had such a HUGE heart women and children. Mainly those that have been/are being abused and/or orphaned and/or abandoned. I mean the bible counts caring for these as true religion. How is that NOT a big deal?!


Well, I have had dreams, since at LEAST middle school, of one day opening my own clinic for women. It consists of 7 parts, and maybe I'll share it with you someday. But this is like the BIGGEST step toward any of that that I've ever ever taken.


Once the 10 weeks is up, and I've not only passed, but been evaluated and "invited" to come counsel (I don't know how else to say that they don't just take anyone in just because they went through the training...), then there's a while longer of actual training where I start sitting in with a senior counselor before I'm doing it on my own. All of this is SO stinking exciting to me!

Can you believe it?


So we started training last night. It was mostly administrative stuff and just barely dabbling into a few easy peasy case studies and such, but it's already got me so excited about the next 9 weeks (well, technically 10 since we skip Thanksgiving week, for obvious reasons).



There are 2 super cool parts of the training, to me:

1 - There is SUCH an amazingly diverse group of people that are a part of it. People from nearly every denominational church background you could possibly think of. (The clinic requires that you be active in a local church and that the Pastor of that church "backs" your volunteering there.) There's also a mix of different backgrounds, period. From Young to Old. From Experienced to Inexperienced. From those who have had an abortion at some point in there lives to those who have only heard about it, and even to those (like myself) who have watched as friends have made the decision and have seen how it has so immensely affected their lives, to this day. It's just so amazing to see all of that come together under one cause.

and

2 - Although this organization that runs this clinic is Faith-based, we do not shove the gospel down the throats of those that walk through the door. Now, don't get me wrong - I believe in Jesus Christ as my personal forgiving and loving Savior and I would LOVE for everyone to feel the same way. But UNfortunately, they don't. And these girls come to the clinic for guidance and counsel, not to be rebuked and preached to. Good grief - could you imagine if a girl walked through the door scared out of her mind thinking she was pregnant, and feeling alone, and the first thing someone said to her was more about her sin or about how she needed Jesus then about meting her where she is? Don't get me wrong, I believe she needs him, but even Jesus himself didn't throw that in people's faces as soon as he met them. He took the time to get to know people and "minister" to them where they needed it. People are individual beings. They are wired VERY differently, and God himself did the wiring (although some of it gets a little mixed up through the pitfalls of life, etc), so how can we treat them all the same and expect that they all need the same treatment?


I'm also very excited about some of the aspects of training that will be coming. Not only are we being trained to counsel others, but I know I'll be learning a CRUD-load about myself.

Get this: after talking, last night, about the difference between ministering and manipulating (would you be surprised by the gray area that exists there? Ask and I'll explain it. I never personally thought about it before last night.), in a few weeks we'll be discussing the masks that we put on as counselors, whether it be developing a camaraderie because we've been there, or a "mentor" type position because we know the answers they need, or maybe even judging them, internally, because of the situation they are in.

WOW!

Again, I didn't even THINK about this stuff until we started dealing with it last night, but we ALLLL do it! We take SOME sort of a stance and put our mask on and move forward.






Well, basically that's that. I'm SUPER stoked about it and cant' wait to start my homework for this week. Squeeaa!! :-D