DISCOVERING AND REDEFINING
THE MAINE MESSENGER
CHAPTER 1: DISCOVERING AND REDEFINING
AND SO STARTS A NEW CHAPTER WRITTEN AND DESIGNED BY VICTORIA DEROSIER (LCOB)
I am excited to introduce to you all the Maine messenger! Here I hope to share with you all a glimpse into the life of a BVS volunteer. I aim to use this newsletter to encourage and inform you eith the ways I see God moving in Maine and specifically my own volunteer life.
I’m Royalty?
Who am I? My official title of "Volunteer" is vague at best but that is not my only name in this VS life I've found myself in. I am "Teacher", "Miss Victoria", “Vicky" "Bit-toria", "Bicky", “Bic-a-tori-a”, "Tori", and "Leader". I am lots of things to lots of people. To some I am almost royalty with little children following me from when I get out of my car to when I get back in. To some I'm a nuisance, just another Leader to get on them about treating others with Love and how to behave properly. However the way others perceive me can not change who I actually am. So the question its not who do others think I am but who do I want to be? What do I want to be defined by? For my answer we have to go back to my official title, except I'd like to use a slightly different word, that word being "Servant". One thing I learned as a part of the internship I did at the beginning of this year was that "Servant leaders can risk serving other because they trust that God is in control of their lives." One of my goals, not just this year but for my whole life, is to be looked at and seen as a servant. This is not something that comes naturally to me and often I am not the servant I wish I was. My goal is not to be a perfect servant but more realistically an ordinary Christian that simple looks for opportunities to serve those around me in any way possible. A challenge for all of us: How are we serving those around us? In what ways could we make a difference in someone's life today, tomorrow and everyday?
The Glimmer
I look into their eyes
The wise windows of a child searching for hope
The glimmer is there in the corner
The cornea shimmers with a glimpse of a hope that they wish so badly to be fulfilled
Thrilled they light up as they walk in the doors and enter into this place, which is to them an oasis
The way this captivates them I can not even describe to you
Some hide their eyes to the ground
As if the truth in our eyes might pierce right through them
To then a place of needing to reconcile the confusion in their heart
But to start we just simply look for a smile
All the while we remember that hopeful glimmer
That simmers in the littlest corner of their eye
Retreating
I've been to six Maine youth retreats in my life. And not once did I think about what the word retreat really meant. How can I know if I am retreating properly if I don't know even know the definition of the word?
On October 11th I cruised down the long dirt road toward the new retreat building for Maine youth retreat 2019. The air was crisp and excitement was high as we started the weekend. As I saw the group trickle into the building I saw a small community forming almost instantly. Something about being in the middle of no where all in one big building makes you realize you are made to be there for each other. Even though that is always the truth for God's people we so often get distracted by the blinders of busyness.
I went into this weekend discouraged and came away uplifted, I came in missing pieces and came back whole, I came into this weekend sucked into the "news of the world" and came away looking ahead with hope instead of down in despair.
So what then is the true definition of retreat? Well the word retreat comes from the Latin verb “to pull back.” So, retreat, or a retreat, is a place where you pull back from the world... and that my friends is exactly what we did.
CHAPTER 1: DISCOVERING AND REDEFINING
AND SO STARTS A NEW CHAPTER WRITTEN AND DESIGNED BY VICTORIA DEROSIER (LCOB)
I am excited to introduce to you all the Maine messenger! Here I hope to share with you all a glimpse into the life of a BVS volunteer. I aim to use this newsletter to encourage and inform you eith the ways I see God moving in Maine and specifically my own volunteer life.
I’m Royalty?
Who am I? My official title of "Volunteer" is vague at best but that is not my only name in this VS life I've found myself in. I am "Teacher", "Miss Victoria", “Vicky" "Bit-toria", "Bicky", “Bic-a-tori-a”, "Tori", and "Leader". I am lots of things to lots of people. To some I am almost royalty with little children following me from when I get out of my car to when I get back in. To some I'm a nuisance, just another Leader to get on them about treating others with Love and how to behave properly. However the way others perceive me can not change who I actually am. So the question its not who do others think I am but who do I want to be? What do I want to be defined by? For my answer we have to go back to my official title, except I'd like to use a slightly different word, that word being "Servant". One thing I learned as a part of the internship I did at the beginning of this year was that "Servant leaders can risk serving other because they trust that God is in control of their lives." One of my goals, not just this year but for my whole life, is to be looked at and seen as a servant. This is not something that comes naturally to me and often I am not the servant I wish I was. My goal is not to be a perfect servant but more realistically an ordinary Christian that simple looks for opportunities to serve those around me in any way possible. A challenge for all of us: How are we serving those around us? In what ways could we make a difference in someone's life today, tomorrow and everyday?
The Glimmer
I look into their eyes
The wise windows of a child searching for hope
The glimmer is there in the corner
The cornea shimmers with a glimpse of a hope that they wish so badly to be fulfilled
Thrilled they light up as they walk in the doors and enter into this place, which is to them an oasis
The way this captivates them I can not even describe to you
Some hide their eyes to the ground
As if the truth in our eyes might pierce right through them
To then a place of needing to reconcile the confusion in their heart
But to start we just simply look for a smile
All the while we remember that hopeful glimmer
That simmers in the littlest corner of their eye
Retreating
I've been to six Maine youth retreats in my life. And not once did I think about what the word retreat really meant. How can I know if I am retreating properly if I don't know even know the definition of the word?
On October 11th I cruised down the long dirt road toward the new retreat building for Maine youth retreat 2019. The air was crisp and excitement was high as we started the weekend. As I saw the group trickle into the building I saw a small community forming almost instantly. Something about being in the middle of no where all in one big building makes you realize you are made to be there for each other. Even though that is always the truth for God's people we so often get distracted by the blinders of busyness.
I went into this weekend discouraged and came away uplifted, I came in missing pieces and came back whole, I came into this weekend sucked into the "news of the world" and came away looking ahead with hope instead of down in despair.
So what then is the true definition of retreat? Well the word retreat comes from the Latin verb “to pull back.” So, retreat, or a retreat, is a place where you pull back from the world... and that my friends is exactly what we did.
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