cincinnati bound

Over the past few months, I have been oppressed by feelings of apathy. As my own mother put it I had “lost the spark in my eyes.”

I am glad to announce that I have found something that made me excited once again. At the end of July I will be moving to Cincinnati to work with a non-profit organization called Cincinnati Urban Promise. This is a one to two year internship where I will also be obtaining my Master’s degree in Social/Civic Entrepreneurship.

“Cincinnati Urban Promise, Inc. (CUP) seeks to create holistic change in the lives of individuals, families, and neighborhoods by meeting their spiritual, physical, emotional, and academic needs through a Christ-centered approach to education, empowerment, and loving relationship.”

While there, I will be responsible for assisting in the day-to-day operation of the mentoring and summer programs. This also includes assisting with recruitment of youth, volunteers, parent involvement, and building relationships with the local schools and churches. The programs are there to encourage the youth to break the cycle of poverty in their families and help to instill wisdom to make good choices by building quality, supportive and loving relationships with these families.

I will also be aiding in being involved in the community and helping the organization to work towards better marketing and PR.

The MASCE degree will teach practical skills in leading organizations. It will teach me how to create my own non-profit and dig into the deeper issues of social justice and poverty.

The last couple of months I have been thinking about going into non-profit work but couldn’t find many positions available without experience or a degree. This opportunity will give me both so I am very excited for this new endeavor!

I was thinking about this next step as I was riding the train home from work last night and couldn’t help but listen to the conversation happening behind me. A girl was explaining to her friend why she never had any close friends. She said, “I’m always nice to my friends. I’m always there for them. But I keep a tally of all the things they do wrongful to me and then when they do one big thing, I’m done with them. You can’t let anybody too close…”

Honestly, that doesn’t seem like a way I want to live.

As I plan to leave town and move to a new place, it pains me to leave behind the people I love. I have enjoyed every second of being home this past year to spend with my family, my friends since elementary school and all of my new friends I’ve made at work and church. But it’s worth it.

We miss out on so much when we decide to not love too deeply and keep everyone at a distance. Sure, with great love can come great hurt—this is true. But what kind of life can you live without love?

Even though I only plan on being in Cincinnati for up to two years, I still desire to build relationships and to love the people I meet deeply—to share stories and experiences. Yes, I may one day have to say goodbye which will hurt once again, but what a joy it is to love that much.

How exhausting it must be to never be close to anyone and keep a tally of wrongs. How tiring it is to constantly have to watch your back and have nobody to rely on. Though love comes with many risks, the rewards outweigh them all.

When I look back on my life, it is the times of love that I remember most. The times of vulnerability that brought me closer to a person. The breakthroughs and tears, the laughter and genuine hugs… I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences to erase the times that brought me pain.

I thank everyone that I have shared life with in this past year. I thank you for letting me into your lives and sharing your stories with me. We are not meant to live at a distance with one another. We are meant to live in community and to love one another unconditionally—wherever we are.

then she appeared

Currently listening to "Then She Appeared" by XTC. It was in the background of a Gilmore Girls episode that I watched last night and has been stuck in my head ever since. It's a great slow song jam and I mean, Rori and Jess... 

I digress. (Like how I just rhymed there?) 

Multiple times in my life I have brought up ideas that I had or things that I’ve wanted to do and get the response, “Wow, that seems ambitious…” as if it’s a bad thing!

Why do we criticize ambition? We don’t think we do, but we do. For instance, if our ambitions are safe, then ambition is applauded. But if we’re thought of as too ambitious, then it becomes a problem.

We all love to say quotes like “nothing is impossible” but as soon as we want to do something that’s a little risky, suddenly things become impossible.

Yes, I have failed. I may have taken on more than I could handle in the past. But do I let these failures hold me back in the sense that I stop dreaming big? Do I let these failures tell me that I can only play it safe from now on?

I want to be “too ambitious.” I never want to stop dreaming big.

Failure isn’t a sign that we should dream smaller dreams. It just means something bigger is waiting for us.

But we have to find it.
Don’t settle.

It’s never too late to learn something new. Just because we've accomplished one dream doesn’t mean there isn’t another one to catch. And just because we’ve failed doesn’t mean we dreamed too big.

We’re allowed to have new dreams and no matter how old we are, life doesn’t stop moving!

Keep dreaming.
It’s what makes us human.
It’s what keeps us alive.

We need to stop just talking about what we would love to do “someday” and do it.
Someday is today!

Even the small things. If we want to do trips or activities, we have to just do them. In the end, we’re not going to remember how much money was spent, we are going to remember the experience. It’s worth it to be a little risky and to actually do things rather than just talking about the things we wish we could do.

Ultimately, most of our wishes are within reach if we take the time to grasp them.

I honestly think we make failure out to be so much more than it has to be. Failure isn’t always a bad thing. It gives us a chance to start over, to find new direction. Failure is usually the start of a success. Everyone fails, it’s a part of life. We’re all failures. And it’s those failures that can re-inspire us and give us hope for something better.

We give failure too much power. It isn’t something we should be afraid of.

The fear of failure shouldn’t be the reason we don’t try something.

Sometimes we will fail, sometimes we will succeed. But it’s this process of trying that makes it all worthwhile and a beautiful experience. The process of trying is life. If we’re never trying anything, then what are we doing? 

this is my heartbeat song

Current song playing on repeat: My Heartbeat Song by Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly just gets it.

That has nothing to do with my blog post besides the fact that I am listening to that song on repeat as I type this. Don’t judge me, it’s a great song.

It’s been pretty much a full year since I graduated college. From the outside, it looks like my life is falling apart. I mean, what has happened in the past year? All my hopes and dreams fell apart, I am working “the dream job” where I dress up as an 18^th century colonial person every day and seat people at tables. I haven’t liked a guy in a super long time. Then I met someone that I actually really liked. And he lives all the way across the world. I had a mental breakdown because I couldn’t drop $3,000 to go see the tulips in Holland. As in, I literally went to my room and cried and then had to go drive around in my car and listen to music to calm me down. Because I couldn’t go see the tulips. It was pathetic. Oh, and I can’t make it to my best friend’s bridal shower (and I’m her maid of honor) because I’m too busy dressing up as a colonial person and seating people at tables.

Do you feel better about your life yet?

Yes, from the outside my life has fallen apart and been trampled on by dinosaurs. I’ve been depressed, I’ve felt selfish because I just want to do what I want to do but I can’t do anything I want.

But I’m happy.

I’m happy because I know in life it’s not about what I’m doing. It’s about how I’m doing it and who I’m doing it with. I’m happy because I am proud of where I am in life. No, I don’t know what I’m doing. My senior year of college and the many months after that was dedicated to a job that fell through and now I’m stuck wondering what exactly I want to do with my life. But that’s not what life is about.

To be honest with you, my ideal life wouldn’t be centered around a career. My ideal life would be traveling around, meeting new people and just working odd jobs. Once I get these loans paid off, that’s probably what I’ll end up doing.

A lot of people might think this is a waste of the four years I spent in college. But I don’t agree with that at all. Those four years in college made me who I am today and because of that it is worth every penny spent. I made friends that are priceless. My character was built and I feel that the education I received can be used in any path I choose. I learned how to write well and document life creatively. I learned about God and how to live life with purpose. Whatever path I choose from here, those skills and life lessons will be used.

I don’t base my choices on the fact that I got a college degree in Communications. My life does not center around that fact. I want to love people in any way I can. I want to get to know people and their stories. I want to work hard and be fine with being poor. Change the world in little ways. Work, but don’t center everything around my job. Travel the world and volunteer places and learn different cultures. Write as much as I can and talk to people in coffee shops. Mentor young adults and love the unloved. Cook meals for the entire neighborhood and listen to live music.

Life is not going as I planned it. I specifically remember thinking this after graduation last year. “Wow, I mean, everyone says they can’t plan life because it never goes as planned but so far, my plans have gone pretty well!”

Can someone say crash and burn?

Plans have never been my forte.

I figured I should write this post because

1.) I haven’t written in a while and I thought if I didn’t write something soon I would probably never write ever again. The last blog post I wrote was about going to South Africa and I just couldn’t bring myself to write another post talking about how I’m not going because I don’t know. But then I was like, hey. Bob Marley said not to worry about a thing because it’s going to be alright. So I took his advice. I think he’s right.

 2.) I have a lot of friends graduating this year and l just wanted to say to those friends, don’t get too wound up in the “what” are you doing. Focus more on how you do it and who you are doing it with. Those are the important parts.

Culture may be telling me that I am a failure. A college graduate living at home and not working in the field that she majored in.

What I have to say to culture? You can’t hold me down. 

#joytoafrica2016

It's a rare exception when someone knows at 10 years old what she wants to do when she grows up and sticks with it. I was not one of those exceptions. If you had asked me at the beginning of last year what I wanted to do, I wouldn't have known. What I did know was that I wanted to help people in some way, shape or form. 

I always knew that I wanted to help people in some way, but my motivation has slowly changed. I was so obsessed with helping people because it made me feel good that I missed God in it.  But slowly, through meeting different people and having different experiences, I began to see what Christ actually looks like. I began to realize that it is not about me. When I look at other people, I see Jesus. I see Jesus in the homeless man freezing on the street. I see Jesus in my co-workers, friends and enemies. And that causes me to love each and every person in a way that is indescribable. Christ's love is so powerful that it causes me to strive to bring compassion and justice to the vulnerable, the weak, the hurting, the average joe, and the stingy. Everyone deserves to experience the love of Christ. 

I've always had the desire to combine the media with sharing people's stories. This passion was solidified after various international experiences and when I had the opportunity to intern at Trans World Radio (TWR) for a summer. Now I have decided to commit a period of my life to share joy and hope in Johannesburg, South Africa with TWR. 

TWR's ministry vision is to reach the world for Christ by mass media so that lasting fruit is produced. Project Hannah is a ministry of TWR that offers compassion, encouragement and hope to suffering women worldwide through prayer, awareness and radio programming. Their purpose is to raise awareness and empathy for the plight of women worldwide. 

According to a study on violence against women, South Africa has the highest rate ever reported in research anywhere in the world. "In South Africa, statistics say someone gets raped every four minutes... the rate of murders of women in South Africa is equally troubling" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/08/south-africa-violence-against-women_n_2837804.html).  

"...feminism is the radical notion that women are human- equal in value and dignity to men- and that vision has yet to be fully realized" (http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/we-need-feminism). 

My position will be the Project Hannah Regional Coordinator Assistant. I will be mentoring, coordinating the monthly prayer calendar, visiting and encouraging women, advocating and praying as well as updating the website and researching issues facing women in Africa. I will be responsible for writing, editing and proofreading different articles and publications. 

Some of these women just need to know that someone cares. My goal is to love these women and share with them the hope of Christ. That there is a God who cares for them, intricately created them and has an awe-surpassing love that we could never imagine. 

Thousands of letters are sent to Project Hannah each year sharing stories of changed lives. I could not be more excited to be a part of future stories. 

How you can help! 

I cannot leave for South Africa until I am fully funded. I am required to raise $3,000 a month (I will be in Johannesburg for three years) as well as a one time start-up amount of $20,000. (http://www.twr.org/global_staff/pearson/).

You can help by giving a monthly amount- a super quick and easy way to give is through this website where you can set up an automatic giving account ( 

You can also sign up for my e-newsletter as well! 

Can't give at this time? You can still help! 

One HUGE way that you could help is by spreading the word! Whether you live in New Jersey, Arkansas, California, or wherever, spreading the word is super easy. 

1. Get me connected to your church! I would love to be able to give a presentation at your church. It is a great way to spread the word to more people. If you could help set up a meeting with me and your pastor that would be incredible. 

2. Hold a small group. Whether it's a Sunday School class you attend, a Bible study, or if you'd like to invite some friends over to your house, I would absolutely love to be able to present and spread the word in a small group. 

3. Share on social media! Here is a link to a short 3 minute video that explains everything that this ministry involves. If you know anyone who would be interested in supporting this type of ministry, share this video with them and help get me connected! 
http://vimeo.com/105785126


These are three easy ways to help refer me to some new people. I would greatly appreciate your prayers and I hope you will join my team by giving and/or helping to spread the word! 

To contact me you can email me at rpearson@twr.org. 

My goal and vision would be to have all the money raised by the end of the year. That may seem impossible, but with your help I know it can happen. 

Happy New Year!