Symposium

Today and yesterday the students of FLI have been giving ten minute presentations about what we've learned this semester. It was not without tears and laughter, as each of my brothers and sisters opened their hearts to us.
For my presentation, I decided to write two letters to myself. Letters have always had a huge impact on my life, especially since having been pen pals with Rachel for six years.
The first letter for my symposium was addressed to me at the beginning of the semester. In it I talk about all the things I learned over the course of the semester. The second is written to me now, as I'm leaving, in it I talk about the different things I hope to do upon returning to "the real world".
For me to truly talk about everything I learned and all the things I want to do with this knowledge, I would need at least 4 hours, but this is what I had for the ten minutes I was given:


September 2010

Dear Ashley,
What can I tell you, as you stand at the beginning of the semester in a room of 43 strangers in blue shirts, desperately trying to understand what's going on in your life. You’re finally here! But now what?
Something I know you’ve already realized is that this year is an important one for your story. It’s been downright insane the way things have been happening, where your standing you're a totally different person than you were last December, God has been doing things in your life and you don’t know why. Take a deep breath, collect your thoughts, because now might be the most calm time of your semester.
God has been writing your story, and you’ve been confused as to why He’s writing all these different plots, where is He going with this? Well, don’t be surprised if everyday you're sitting in class and whatever is being talked about connects with one or more of the issues you’ve faced this past year. I can’t even explain to you how crazy it will connect. Just sit back and let Him keep writing.
As you're sitting there, eating pizza looking around that room wondering who in the world these people are, one of the first things you will be challenged with is the thought that your name may be changed over the time of this semester. At first you will think this is strange and, eh, probably wont happen. Well, be ready, because even though your physical name wont change, you will gain a deeper meaning and understanding of your name, which will be the first step to discovering who you are and who you want to become.
Do you remember that Brio article written several years ago about the meaning behind the name “Ashley”? You’re going to enter into a journey to rediscover that article and it will inspire you to dig deeper into what your name means, and what defines you.
The definition you have always been less than satisfied with is “beautiful meadow” which is lovely, but what does it mean? The definition given in the article, based on research of the ash tree is “she who rests in a place of sustenance, where she is spared from the famine, a place filled with resilient trees that produce manna and rain honey on God’s people”. Which is so much more meaningful, but still, it isn’t quite you. you will discover your own definition of your name as you discover what it is you are defined by, and how you want to grow and mature in that definition.
You're also going to learn so much about faith this semester. It’s something else God has been preparing you for all year. Think back to all the times you’ve had to just fall back on God, and have faith that He will catch you. how many times have you cried out this year “what's gonna happen!?” do you know yet? Well, don’t get too excited, because I don’t know too much more than you do, but I do know that God’s got some crazy plans for you, but you have to move. A verse God’s going to give you later on in the semester is Isaiah 30:21, “whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘this is the way, walk in it.’” pay attention the first time that verse comes up in morning devo’s, because it’s going to keep popping up the rest of the semester. This is a year of faith for you, more so than any before, don’t just sit around waiting for God to reveal His plan to you, because if you’re just sitting around, it’s going to be harder to hear His voice, but rather be walking, keep moving, and be ever listening for that still small whisper guiding you in the way you should go. Often the path is dark and you are blind, but just taking it one step at a time and keep listening, He’ll get ya there.
Oh the many other things I could tell you about that you're going to learn this semester! But alas, I cant give it all away! Just know that you're preconceived notions about people who struggle with addictions and homosexuality will be destroyed and you will learn to have a broken heart for these people and long to help them find refuge. Your heart will also be broken as you struggle through tears as you talk people who seem to have no value for the life of a human baby. You will also be challenged to understand what it means to be a biblical man or woman, and you will meet people who will challenge you with their own thoughts and convictions, learn from them.
Also, embrace spontaneity at this time of your life. Time is deceptive and minutes are fleeting, but memories last for a lifetime. So, take many memory photographs, live the semester with no regrets. Find every opportunity to be invested in by the people around you. Don’t worry, give it a week and these strangers will be your friends, and by the end of three months they will be your life long brothers and sisters.
Be who you are, and who you are becoming. You have no idea where this semester is taking you, just know, it is good.
Sincerely,
Ashley



December, 2010

Dear Ashley (or Shley as you have come to be known)
I think back to all those years as I dreamed of coming here. I hung the magazine page advertising the institute on my wall for five years, I taped the picture from the promotional cd on the cover of each of my school notebooks every semester of my two years at collage, as a constant reminder of my goal and aspiration. I’d be filled with so much excitement when I heard the radio spot for the institute that played during Odyssey, and the echoed question “what will you do with your life?...your life…your life…” ran through my mind again and again. well, here I am, my dreams have come true and have been so much better then I could have ever hoped. But now, with the semester over and I am going back, it’s time to answer that question, “what will you do with your life?”
If I had been returning to Michigan that answer would be easy, and probably something mundane like “go back to normal, and maybe something a little bit out of my comfort zone.” well, that’s not an option, and praise the Lord that He has moved me to a new place at a time when He knew my deepest fear is falling back into complacency, and my desire is to return to wherever it is that I’m going and make a difference and to be a difference.
This year has been a journey of leaving home to go home. I first left my house in Detroit, the home I’d grown up in, to go home to my camp, the place which was my home away from home. meanwhile, the house in Detroit was sold and my family moved, so when I left the home of camp, I was returning to the home of the Detroit area, even if I was deprived of the physical house. After a week at home in Detroit, I left to go home to a home I had never seen in Maryland, where I was for two weeks before leaving that home to come home here, the home that would become more home than any other. Now I am packing up for one last time and will leave this home and the family that has surrounded me for these months, to go back home to the most unknown of places. What will I do there? I don’t even know what there is to do!!
A verse that has continued to pop up in my life is Isaiah 43:18-19 “forget the former things, do not dwell on the past, see, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?” well, it’d be pretty hard not to perceive it when it’s a blazing fire right in front of you all the time! But what is the new thing and how can I use all the things I’ve learned this semester in it?
Well, I don’t know any for sures, but I definitely have goals I will strive to accomplish. I want to grow, I want to commit to spending time reading God’s letter to me every day, and praying for my life and others.
I don’t know what the community in Maryland looks like, I didn’t really pay too much attention while I was there. but I want to get involved there, especially within my new home church there. I want to use the Truth Project as a way to start getting involved in the people’s lives there, and as a way to establish hospitality. Hospitality is also a long term goal, my dream is to be able to one day open my own home to students much in the same way the professors and staff have opened here have opened their homes and used them to minister to us in so many ways.
I also want to become a mentor to a younger believer. Having been a camp counselor for the past six years, I have been able to speak into younger girls lives and been blessed so much through that. But it’s so hard to continue that mentorship after the camp week ends. I don’t know when this will happen, since I don’t know anyone in Maryland I don’t think it will be right away, but it’s something I will be praying about.
For the long term goals we established for ourselves in our last gender and leadership class, I left the box empty. I haven’t the slightest clue how God will fill it, but as soon as I get back I want to start looking for ways to fill that empty space.
That first week, we were asked the question “what breaks your heart and baffles your mind?” and for weeks that question haunted me, and brought tears to my eyes. My immediate answer was simply “people”, not a certain aspect about people or something people do, just, people. They break my heart when they do and say things contrary to God’s design for them. And my heart breaks for people when their hearts break from confusion and difficulties. People baffle my mind with just how complex each one is! I LOVE to see how different people act and think, what makes them who they are and make the choices they do. There are 16 personality types, but there are billions and billons of personalities! I could go on forever about the topic of people. But the reason that question frustrated me so much is because I knew the answer, but I didn’t know what to do with it. How do I take that passion for people and apply it to my life and my goals? Those questions have been answered this semester, and that frustration and confusion have been replaced with excitement and zeal to go out and use the things I’ve learned.
My greatest fear about leaving this place is that I’ll fall back into the routine of who I was before, someone I didn’t understand nor did I particularly want to be. but then God reminded me of my chapter of the year (again) Romans 12. all the verses apply (no surprise there) but specifically verse eleven “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” I was joking the other day that when I go back to Maryland, since no one knows me there, I can be whoever I want to be. at the time I meant it as a joke, but in a way that fact makes it easier to go to a place where no one knows me. I have often committed to “being the real me” after times of great growth, but when I get back around my friends and family, people who are accustomed to the old me, I slid right back into that expectation. But now, since no one has any expectations of who I “should be”, I can more easily be the me I want to be, and keep that fervor.
In my first letter to you, Ashley, I wrote about you discovering your name, and who you are. I wrote a new definition for you, it includes the strengths you learned about yourself this semester as well as some of the Bible verses that have impacted you. “Ashley: one whose soul finds rest in God alone, she shall never be shaken. She is able to adapt with peace, and through ideation she finds faith that God will do immeasurably more than all she can imagine. She strategically creates adventure, and finds joy in gathering people around her and empathizing with both their joys and their sorrows, bringing them to be refreshed by God’s sweet rain.” That is who I want you to be, Ashley. That is what you have learned about yourself this semester and what I hope you will be to the people you meet in this new place God is taking you to.
This journey is over, and it’s time to begin the next. Don’t forget the words of your penpal in the last letter you received from her, this same week four years ago: “life is a journey, and I don’t know where it is taking me, but I know I want to remember it.”
Travel well,
Sincerely,
Ashley

This Is The Way...

“Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” ….. Isaiah 30:21

Have you ever had a time when God gave you a verse, and then for days (or weeks, or years…) after it keeps popping up in totally random ways? Maybe you’re having a conversation with someone and they start talking about something and suddenly you remember that verse and realize it applies perfectly to the conversation. Or maybe your sitting in church and the preacher says “turn to such and such” and low and behold, it’s that verse again. Or maybe your in Bible study and the teacher says “does anyone know any verses that go along with this topic?” um, yes teacher, in fact I do. Or maybe your friend calls you and needs some encouragement; no need to rack your brain long, because you just happen to have one in the forefront of your mind.
These “coincidences” are like getting a sticky note from God, a reminder. This week I’ve gotten sticky notes from God in each of the ways mentioned above about the verse Isaiah 30:21 and it’s been the best encouragement.
Something I’ve been learning and thinking about this semester (slash, the whole year) is faith. There have been countless times I've had to step out in faith into a dark place and just know that God’s going to lead me. And I know when I leave this place I’m going to be in another of those unknown times of my life…this journey of faith does not end with the Institute. There are so many uncertainties that will try to blow me down the moment I step off that stage after graduation, I’ll be going to an unknown place, full of unknown people, doing unknown things. And don’t worry, I’m not. In fact, I am filled with excited anticipation to discover the adventure God had mapped out for me. But what He has been showing me this whole year, especially this semester, this week in particular, is that, even when I’m uncertain where I should step, God wants me to move in prayer. If I’m in constant conversation with Him, He’ll shut me down if I’m going the wrong way, and He’ll take my hand to bring me the right way. This Isaiah verse reminds me (daily, no joke, it’s been absolutely a God thing the way this keeps showing up in my life) that He is always with me, and as long as I listen, He’ll be whispering directions to me…how's that for a GPS?

Look At The Stars, See How They Shine For You

The making of a memory is never a waste of time, and everyday brings about 1440 memorable minutes, they are moments I would never trade for anything. This past week has been one of those weeks so full of memories that I can’t even keep them all straight in my head. I want to start this post by apologizing to you, because these are truly “ya had to be there” moments of my life, and as much as I wish you could experience them as well, all I have are words with which to paint these pictures. So bear with me, you’ll have to use your imaginations to really have any understanding of just how good and rich and full of life these moments were. :-)

A few weeks ago, Meghan and Cierra told us about a park they found that would be ideal for stargazing, but with the cold weather coming in we weren’t sure if we’d ever make it. then, God blessed us with a warm snap this week so a group of us piled into our cars and headed out.
I don’t know if we ever got around to really stargazing…but we did everything else, and that’s all that matters.
As soon as we got there we made a dash for the swings. As I was swinging with Meghan she exclaimed “this is a mix of so many of my favorite things!” we began listing all the favorites that was that night, swings, friends, hair down, wind, night, starts, Colorado, laughter, fun, that church steeple all lit up in the distance, God, life…
After the swings we did a parkour style game on the jungle gym. One person would do a move, the next would do that move and add a move, the next those two moves and add another, ect, until the last person had to do all eight moves plus a move of his own. It was so good.
After all that someone suggested we finally go to the field to stargaze, so all nine of us linked hands and ran into the darkness, screaming and laughing. When we got to the middle of the field we did a whole lot of nothing and everything, just about everything except stargaze. We played games like Indian Leg Wrestling, Finger Fencing, and we played the HA game until the count was around 50 or so (the HA game is when you all lay in a circle with you heads on each others stomach and the first person says “HA!” the next “HAHA” then “HAHAHA” and so on. But we got tired of just HA-ing, so it turned into many other sounds.
Then we went star tripping, then you look at one star and spin around really, really fast and then it feels like the world is on hyper speed! Chris added a new level and when we stopped spinning he’d run up and flash his flashlight in our eyes, so suddenly we’re blind AND dizzy!
We also just frolicked and ran, Cierra and I ran to the edge of the field, to where the darkness of the field sloped into the darkness of the world, and in the distance were the lights of the city. “how far can we run until we run off the edge of the world!” Cierra asked as we frolicked.
After that we went back up to the jungle gym. To escape the wind, which was howling, we decided to build a fort with our assorted blankets. After many tied knots and fail attempts to secure the blankets, we all finally crowded in. it was story time with Chris. Chris had many stories of his adventures in Europe when he was backpacking with his brother, stories that make us legitly creeped out. Half way through his second story, just as there was a crazy European man walking around Chris and his brothers tent, all of a sudden we hear a voice from outside our tent. “Police” it said. We looked at each other in confusion, police? Is that what they said? “um, did you say ‘police’?” Chris asked calmly, we were more confused than scared that the police would be interested in us in any way. “yeah, this is the police.” The voice answered, “what are you doing in there?”
Chris answered mater of factly, “story time.”
“um, ok, how many people do you have in there?”
We all counted out loud “uh, one…two…three…four…five…we have eight.”
“ok, is everyone alright in there?”
“oh yeah, we’re all fine” we all answered.
“ok, well, you know the park closes at 11:00, thanks in about 15 minutes, just so you know.”
“alright, thank you.”
“have a good night.”
And they walked away, they never looked inside and we never saw them. It wasn’t until after they left that we started talking about just how sketchy this set up did look!
Fifteen minutes and about three stories later, we packed up our fort and headed back to the cars, another memory made, one to be cherished. <3

I'm Published!!! (Well, Sort'a)

So, one of my jobs with Adventures in Odyssey has been to write devotionals to go along with a few of the new episodes...and the first three are now (finally!) officially posted! so check it out! haha, i'm excited about it :-) these are the first two of the six i wrote:

http://whitsendblog.org/category/devotional/

This Is MY Life?? (Am I Who I Wanna Be?)

It’s pretty much guaranteed that at some point every day God whispers in my ear “look around at the life I have given you, you are so blessed.” Blessed nothin’, I’m spoiled rotten! Everyday I think “how could tomorrow be any better than today?” and everyday God takes that question and laughs and says “you think this is great? Just wait till tomorrow.” Everyday is a lifetime of it’s own….observe:

Typical day at FLI through the eyes of Ashley Padgett:

7:00 AM. Beep! Beep! Beep! Snooze till (hopefully) 7:20ish. Crawl outta bed, throw some waffles in the toaster, commence the morning regime.

7:45 AM. Christine announces she is leaving, if I’m on time I ride and/or drive with her. I make it my goal every morning to be ready when Christine is, since she is our most prompt roommate, because then I know I’m being productive. :-)

8:10 AM. Class begins. We always start the day with some kind of devotion, whether it’s reading and reflecting on a passage from the Bible or talking through a collection of verses.

8:30ish AM. Class officially starts. For the next four hours our professors pour their knowledge on us. I keep forgetting this is school, I get so caught up in the things we are being taught and am so interested and have such a desire to learn it all. Which, by the way, is not a bad thing by any means whatsoever. Anyways, so we have class for these four hours, during which we will learn enough to explode a mind. We also get to have small group discussions with our Life Groups most days. I LOVE these times more than I could tell you, because I LOVE the five other people in my Life Group #3 more than should even be possible! In my group I’ve got Sarah, be ready to vote for her for something huge someday :-) she’s very involved in D.C. and knows here stuff. Kensi, if you think cute, classy, confident and caring, you got Kensi :-) I appreciate Kensi’s focus and being sure to keep things going smoothly. Anne Marie is pretty much amazing. Standing at maybe just over five feet she’s the shortest in our class, she’s got a lot of surprises up her sleeve, when she thinks about something she really thinks about it, and she’s gonna figure out exactly where she stands. Cody is our musical man, he helps lead worship for us every Thursday, he’s also got a lot of silliness too him, but when it’s time to be serious he’s sure to think deeply about what we’re talking bout and give great insight. Chris is the jack-of-all-trades…seriously, he does everything! But most prominent is his art, his photography is beyond professional and creative, and he’s always doodling something. He also brings a lot of outside the box ideas to discussions and, just like everyone else, adds a whole new dynamic to our group.

11:30 AM. Schools out! (well actually it’s a little more like “aww, schools out already!?” collectively we head to the chapelteria for lunch. As we walk in to get our food we greet Pete at the cash register, then we grab a pink lunch tray and decide is we’re gonna have a hot meal, a salad, or a sandwich. After that decision it’s time to pick to have a cakey dessert, cookies, or ice cream (mmhm, they spoil us :-) then we check out with Pete. We tell him our student number and he checks us off the list. I’m convinced Pete was Wooton in another life :-)

Heres where my days differ depending on the day of the week….

Monday: most likely after lunch I’ll end up going home and studying, if it’s sunny out I’ll join the group that’s pretty standardly sitting out on the lawn outside our apartments, pretending to read (and we do get reading done, but it often ends up we just talk a lot). Then Monday nights a group of us head to Ryan and Rachel's (Ryan is one of the staff with FLI and Rachel works with Compassion International) they invite any of us who want to come hang out and study or play games or whatever (one guy painted while he was there). It’s a lot of fun and very chill.

Tuesday: about the same as Mondays, but instead of Ryan and Rachel's we either have dessert night at Kjersten’s (the RD) or was have koinonia dinner at one of the professor’s homes. These dinners are themed dinners planed by the life groups. So far we’ve had a thanksgiving theme, full thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and green bean casserole (turns out it’s next to impossible to find turkey when it’s not truly thanksgiving time, and as for the green bean casserole, Annalee made that and it was quite her pride and joy :-) we also had a study break hosted by a life group, tourist themed. I found a great outfit at the thrift store and we pretty much just hung out and played games and hoola hooped the night away. Next week is my life groups turn to host the koinonia, and our theme is superheros…so if you know any superhero themed-ish food, lemme know!

Wednesday: after class I have practicum at 1:00. mostly what I’ve been doing is sitting in a cubical and reading, writing and listening. Which has been amazing and I'm so blessed by it all, but I have a hard time sitting for four hours straight in a quiet office not talking to anyone! But it is a lot of fun despite the silence. So far me and Bethany (Bethany is the other intern with me in Odyssey) have been privileged to listen to not yet released episodes, read scripts for the currently being recorded episodes, and write discussion questions for the album and devotionals for the website! Also, the other day we got to sit in on foley, that’s when they go into a room FULL of every surface and sound effect imaginable and they act out the episode and capture the sounds. After that, we still had time to sit in on the podcast recording where (da dada DA!) they were recording the podcasts that WE (me and Bethany) WROTE the SCRIPTS!! I got to see them record all of the script I wrote and they even asked my opinion on how to deliver a line! Haha, I was quite happy, I think I find much more interest in the actual producing side of things.

Thursday: Thursday’s look a lot like Wednesday’s, in the way I have practicum after class. But, after practicum is family dinner, when all the staff and students get together and eat! (and in agreement with the average college student, we learn never to say no to offered food!) after dinner we gather in the Ogden Lounge and have a time of worship. After all that I head to the home of one of the professors. About ten of us girls meet there and the topic is learning about the Proverbs 31 woman and how we can be like her. The thing I love bout this topic is that we are learning how we, as 20-somthings, can aspire to be a woman of virtue without falling into the cookie cutter expectations the proverbs 31 woman is often portrayed as. It’s an amazing group of girls and I love them so much and I love learning about them and this topic all together, and sharing the trials of waking up with the sun and everything else that comes with it.

Friday/Saturday: The weekend!! Adventure beckons! Ok, I have done more adventurous exciting things then ever before on there weekends, they are always packed to exploding! Here’s a list of a few of the things I’ve been doing…

Rock Climbing: reason number one for coming to FLI: work with Odyssey. Reason number two: learn amazing things and meet amazing-er people. Reason number three: climb a real life, legit, God-made ROCK! Check. Check. And, oh! CHECK! A few weeks ago a group of us went out and climbed a rock. We didn’t get to go very high, but it was God made and beautiful and thrilling! :-D

Baseball Game: one of the first weekends here we all went to a Rockies baseball game. It was so much fun and idk if I've ever laughed so much in my life! I don’t think I watched more that three seconds of the game, and I couldn’t tell you where the score was at any point. The only time I watched the screen was when Scott was trying desperately to get the camera’s attention and make it to the big screen (obviously the camera men thought that it wouldn't be fare to put Scott up there though, since it would just be too discouraging to all the rest of the people there since they could never add up to Scott’s amazingness…that’s what we told him anyways :-) we also tried to get the wave started…didn’t go too far. But the stands were full of dancing and candid cameras and laughing where we were.

Dancing – Barn and Swing: we decided to go to this barn dance club place. We drove in (barely survived that!) and when we arrived we 20 or us marched right in and quickly realized that besides us no one there was under 50! Little worries, we joined right in and had a blast and were perhaps a bit noisy, but we danced until they kicked us out (well, actually we just realized that everyone else had left so we figured it was time to skedaddle. The next week though, Dusten and Katie hosted a swing dance in the work out room at Focus, they taught us some moves and we tried to keep up. However the ratio of boy to girl was greatly outweighed by the girls, so we had many a girl/girl partnership, but we had fun anyways. :-)

Dance Partay!: the other night we got home from Family Dinner, and Christine put on a song that was in our heads…before you knew it me, Joy and Christine were dancing the building down to whatever songs we could find with a strong beat…soon there was a knock on our door, “can we come dance with you?” asked Hannah, Ciera and Meghan, they had seen us through our window and couldn’t stay away. So that made six of us dancing like mad women on the third floor. Then we hear another knock on the door, this time it’s two of the guys from down stairs wondering what all the pounding was. They joined in for a few minutes before heading to a movie. The party ended with a ballet interpretive of “Only Hope”.

Climbing a Mountain: get up before sunrise. Go eat doughnuts. Drive to a mountain. Climb it. we hiked up Mount Princeton, it took about all day to do, but it was so worth it, every second. There's so much to say about this trip! Hiking too far and having to turn around, but because of that getting the chance to see a Chateau. Climbing through a foot of snow on the side of a steep mountain. Getting to the top and seeing that GLORY! (p.s. dear people of the world, if you ever have the chance to see this view, please DO NOT give it up, I wish that everyone on earth could have that chance). Booking it back down due to the snow filled clouds at the top. Sweet, refreshing sleep in the car ride home. And it was good.

Compassion International: my roommate, Christine and I went to tour Compassion the other day. It was very interesting, we got to see this insane machine that sorts the checks that come in. we also got to se a few rooms they had set up to show the living conditions of kids in the program, one was a hut like one they would live in, the other was set up to look like what the school building is like. It was so good to be able to see what is happening with that ministry and the way I’m being used to help those kids. It was truly a blessing.

Whit’s End!: after going to Compassion we still had a lot of time left in the day, so we decided to FINALLY get to the one and only Whit’s End! We arrived in style, the only way it’s done…by sliding down the three story slide, A-Bend-A-Go! As we were standing in line on the stairs kids kept cutting in front of us! (I think they didn’t get that two college students would actually want to ride a slide :-) but finally one little boy caught on that this was Christine’s first time down and he started telling her everything about how it’s done “you have to have the socks on your arms and fold your arms like this and you have to put your feet in Michigan” (wait what!? Lol, as I was typing Christine asked how to spell Michigan and I got confused so I had to visualize it so I typed it, then I read her how the sentence read and she begged me to keep it :-) anyways, back to what the kid said…) “put your feet in this sack here’s one for you…” and so on, then when he got on the slide he made SURE we were watching so we’d know exactly how to do it. it was adorable! After the slide we did all the Whit’s End things, playing in the Little Theatre, running up and down the halls exploring every room, traveling to Narnia through the Wardrobe, scavenger hunt, ect. (p.s. apparently there's a geo cache in there under the plane from Last Chance Detectives…we just need to find it!)

Pikes Peak: well, I drove up to the top of Pikes Peak in my faithful Ruby (my car) and survived! We packed the car with five or us girls and took off. At the beginning of the road the woman at the toll booth told us it was snowman day or something, and as an extra challenge we could build a small snow man and prop him on our windshield and see how long he’ll stay up there on the drive down. We had also heard roomers that the doughnuts the make up there are special because of the altitude and if you bring it down the mountain it will deflate. So we had our challenges for coming down. Just before we left we built Clarence, a sweet little innocent snowman about a foot tall and laid him on our windshield, we also got a doughnut, named Dunkin, and placed him on the dashboard. Well, Dunkin never deflated and Clarence was destroyed by some passing kids when we stopped halfway down, so we had to build George for the rest of the ride, and he survived all the way down the mountain and halfway home.

Sunday: I’ve been going to different churches every week, most of them have been so big I just feel overwhelmed, personally, I don’t like churches that are so big that no one knows anyone and you could go for weeks before anyone so much as greets you, and there's more lights and bling then not. But, my roommates found one they like and I’ve been going to that one with them for now, it’s still too big for me, but it’s smaller then most of the others and the music is good (though a bit loud for me sometimes) and the preaching is legit.

So, that is my week in a nutshell (I know, if THAT’S a nutshell imagine what the whole nut TREE looks like it (except peanuts, for as my roommate Emily just informed me they grow underground) all I can say is, I love life and life is good!

P.S. so I also wanted to talk about my Strengths, we took a test called StrengthFinders and it identified our top five out of thirty-four…mine are:

Adaptability:
People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Ideation:
People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Strategic:
People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Woo:
People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person. (or as I like to call it: Instant friendship…and apparently people with Woo get a lot of free stuff??)

Empathy:
People who are especially talented in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations. (or in other words “I know how you felt when that hammer hit your thumb because I’ve also had a hammer hit my thumb…I feel. Empathy. For. You…)

Tears Fall…Justice for All Training

I have seen the same dream
Many times, it haunts my mind
It starts with a light
But it ends every time
Oh, so many faces that the world
Will never see
A reason for your life
But your heart will never beat

May the tears fall down
Let them soften this ground
May our hearts be found
God forgive us now

Oh, what have we lost because we chose
We’ll never know
And loving you is better than feeling alone
And all our claims to freedom
Have become these heavy chains
And in the name of rights
We keep filling nameless graves

…..”Tears Fall” by BarlowGirl

What am I supposed to say to someone when I stand there next to him in the shadow of a twenty foot picture of an aborted baby, and he says in disgust, “why do we have to look at this? This is offensive. If a woman wants to have an abortion, that’s her choice, we have no right to stop her.”? How am I supposed to respond when a girl insists that “it’s not a human, it’s nothing more than a clump of cells.”? Or the people who ask “what about underage pregnancies? Or women who are too poor to raise the child? Or when a child is simply unwanted?”

Today an organization called Justice for All (JFA) came to FLI and we had an intense, daylong training on how to address these questions. All week we’ve been anticipating today, we were warned about the graphic pictures we’d be shown, and last night we read a whole book about the issues we would be addressing today. It was with nervous hearts we entered the classroom together, unsure how we would handle the information we were about to receive.
The pictures would break your heart; I pray they break the hearts of those who don’t understand the value of the human life destroyed. I just can’t fathom how someone can look at those pictures and say “yeah, that’s not a human.” Or worse, “it may be human, but it’s unwanted.”
It was an intense day, the longer it went on the more overwhelmed I felt. We did a lot of role playing, and whenever I was in the role of Pro-Choice I never knew how to respond after the points of the Pro-Lifer. I agreed with them! Knew where they were going because of my own beliefs, even after a full day of learning what to expect people to say didn’t prepare me for arguing against my own personal views. Plus, the more the day wore on, the thicker my emotions became, by the last hour of the day I was fighting tears and I couldn’t even think clearly due to the thoughts of the tragedy that is abortion. At one point, we were again split into pairs to role play, and I almost asked the guy I was paired with how he felt about crying girls, because there was a good chance he might have one on his hands in the next few minutes! (don’t worry, I didn’t actually tell him that, didn’t want to freak him out, :-) and I didn’t really cry, just inside). I feel so overwhelmed by the buckets of information given to us today, I praise the Lord we have the weekend to process it all. But it doesn’t stop here.
Next week, early Tuesday morning, we will be loading up a bus and heading to Colorado State University. Justice For All will have their twenty foot, four sided display set up in the center of campus and we will all be there to talk to the students about it. I’m very scared and very excited at the same time. I have no idea what to expect, they told us so much today, but even so the unknown is frightening. I don’t know exactly what kind of conversations I’ll be having; I can only pray that we’ll all know how to respond to each person in love and gentleness (something I struggle with due to my debating nature).
Today was a hard day, I came away feeling heavy hearted for the lives lost and changed because of abortion. Yet, however hard and draining today was, it’s nothing compared to how I expect Tuesday to be. Please be praying for us as we address this with those collage students. Pray that they will have open hearts and minds, and that we will be given the words to touch them and lead them to understand the tragedy of taking a human life through abortion. Also pray that we will have clear minds and that we may perceive how it is that God wants to use this exhibit and us on Tuesday.
Today, as we sat in the Ogden Lounge, facing the nine foot version of the exhibit, listening as the JFA people laid information on top of information of all the things we need to know before Tuesday, we were all blessed by a ray of sunshine through Lindy’s baby daughter Lorien. Lindy is one of the women who work here, and today she had Lorien with her, just crawling around and saying “hi” to whoever would listen to her. It was so precious and refreshing to look from the disfigured and bloodied pictures of aborted babies, to be able to turn to the joyful, healthy, smiling child there in the room with us. During one of the breaks I went up to Lindy and thanked her for bringing Lorien today, I needed to touch a baby after the weight of the things we were being shown and told. Lorien is a reminder to us of why it’s so important to do what we’re going to do on Tuesday, to protect the children of the future and allow them to have life.
The mission of Justice For All is to train thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time. If you want to know more about the exhibit of Justice For All, here’s their website http://www.jfaweb.org/

What a Night for a Frolic

Read, read, read…um, read. This was my evening, until Joy ran to the window and exclaimed “look at that wind!” unable to resist my favorite element, I tore my eyes from my computer screen (well, ok, it wasn’t so hard to leave the 20 some page article we’d been assigned) and followed her and my two other roommates to the balcony. The wind was indeed delicious as it whipped past us. Below I watched the trees dance and bend under its power, and they weren’t the only ones dancing; about six other FLI students were below, frolicking and running in the night wind. “Come play with us!” Hannah invited, and she didn’t have to ask twice!
The warm night was a blessing, refreshing and fulfilling. By the time we’d gotten down, 11 of us had assembled. The moon shone through the clouds, inspiring us to praise our Lord.
After a few moments of random running around and sporadic bursts of laughter, it was agreed upon to play a game. Ninja was suggested, and before we knew it we found ourselves bowing in a circle, then, with a ninja-esqu cry, jumping out into position. A few rounds of the usual version of this elimination game were played, and enjoyed by all. However, the simple hand-slapping was not enough for our energetic, activity deprived selves. Ere long (haha, I’ve always wanted to say that!) we decided to add a whole new element to the game, on top of hand-slapping to eliminate an appendage, feet were added into the mix. This now had us rolling around on the ground, our feet and/or arms “sliced” and out of play, trying desperately to attack each other. There was so much laughing and giggling going on that I’m sure many an apartment dweller peeked through their windows with a curious glance.
After many rounds of this nonsensical game, we finally came to the mutual agreement to return to our reading. Happier for the time of fellowship and adventure.



Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers…….Psalm 104:1-4

Umbrellas, Sunburns and Ice Cream

This morning I was very proud of myself, I got up early and went to a 9:00 church service with Annalee, Joy and Dusten. It was pretty interesting, the church was actually out of two campuses, so we were “welcomed” by the guy at the other campus as they filmed him and put it up on our screen (it felt odd to be welcomed by someone who wasn’t even there!) and both places had a worship band, and they would flip back and forth for who was leading up on the screen, but both were playing, I don’t even know how it worked. The worship service was great, all songs I knew and loved, but I just couldn’t get used to following a screen and a guy who wasn’t even there.
But, we did get the live preacher (the other campus had to watch him on the screen) which I’m glad of. The teaching was actually very interesting. They were going through the gospel of John, and today they talked about Jesus before Pilot. Interestingly enough, we have talked about that scene in class several times this past week. Oh the things that make you go “hmm” (except, should I really be surprised when God randomly does things like that anymore? Probably not, but He’s just so sneaky! Gets me every time). Anyways, so there was a lot of wink-winking going on between us students whenever the preacher mentioned yet another familiar point. P.S. the stage was decorated with about 10 red umbrellas which the Preacher used as a visual (he had a black umbrella with him to symbolize other gods we might put ourselves under in our lives, and a red one to symbolize being under God’s grace, but umbrellas are a personal favorite of mine, and red ones are definitely way up there in great umbrella colors)
After church we drove home to the sounds of Johnny Cash, and as we were pulling in, we saw Mallory heading to the pool to study. So, we hopped over there and from the time of 12:30 allllll the way to 6:30 we sat in the sunshine and “read”. Though, I must admit, there was a lot more than reading going on. Lots and lots of talking, joking, having a good ol’ time. But in the end, I got all but a few pages read, and acquired quite the burn :-) but it was very worth it.
Well, after the sun had sunk behind the buildings, a bunch of us headed over to Cold Stone for ice cream, after which I went with Anna Marie, Chris, Scott and A.K. to get groceries. I got junk food and cereal, Anne Marie got healthy food, and the guys just got food (aka, whatever was there and cheap) then it was home again home again jiggitt jig and off to finish the reading (fun fact, Christine (my roommate) may or may not have locked Emily (another roommate) out on the balcony :-)
So I feel like this was short (maybe that’s because it is!) haha, but it really was a full day, a good relaxing Sunday, but still very full of fun and people, I’d say it was a great day for ENFP types like myself :-) (oh! Also went to Panara for lunch with Annalee, Joy and Briana :-) good times!)
Ummm, but some random facts… my roommates have some great tastes in movies, which has resulted in some great movie nights this past week, and will continue. OH! I forgot bout last nights! So, we made pizza in our apartment, and Annalee (who got locked out of hers) was apartment hopping and getting fed, so she joined us, and we watched a movie, after which me, Annalee, and Anne Marie (who joined in) went to Focus to play some night Frisbee with a bunch of other people. Well, the Frisbee kept going out, so Matt and A.K. went to Wal-Mart to get a new one, meanwhile, the rest of us, Frisbeeless, just hung out and tried to keep our feet warm. Then we played some freeze tag (yeah, that helped!) haha, and by the time Matt and A.K. got back (frisbeeless, Wal-Mart didn’t have any) we’d decided to head back to one of the apartments and play a game called Signs. Well, around 1:00 am and about 20 rounds of Signs, we finally called it a night.
So yes, life is good, God is good, it’s all good. Cant wait to see what next week holds!!

A Mountain Weekend

This weekend, all the FLI students and staff took a retreat to a camp in the mountains about two hours away from the Springs. Of course, as with every camp I go to that’s not UPBC, I placed this one under a lot of scrutiny and comparison. My deduction was, it was a nice camp, but the food was defiantly wanting. :-) haha, but seriously, it was a great time to be together as a community and really get to know each other.
The fist day, we were split into our Life Groups (groups of about six that we’re gonna be doing things with throughout the semester) and did some team building activities. First we did what we call at UPBC “peanut butter river”, here it was ice burges. We had to try to get our whole team across a streach of ground, or “arctic water” without falling in or losing an “ice burge” (or, piece of wood) we lose the wood if we lost contact with it at any point. I knew how to do it, but I kept quiet so the others in my group could have a chance to figure it out, which they did eventally, and we did very well (or at least, we made it across before the other team :-).
Next, we did the spider web. There was a frame about six feet by six feet and all wrapped around it was string, making a web. The point was to try to help get our team through the holes without touching the string, and without reusing any of the holes. This one entailed a lot of trust, since many of us had to put our faith in out teammates as the lifted us up above their heads to slide us through the holes at the top. But, we did that one too, almost beating the other team. (they got us by about three seconds!)
Next and last, we played musical chairs (by the way, we were doing these skills with four teams combined). It was a lot of fun, basically a dance party going on, but we still got a good taste of the competitive side of our group members. After playing tradish musical chairs though, we played a version where, every time the music would stop we’d take away two chairs, BUT no one was out. So basically, as you can imagine what happened, by the end we had twenty people dancing around a single chair and then piling on top of each other on top of the chair. After that one, however, we still weren’t done! The chair was taken away, and confusedly, we danced around an empty space, wondering what we were to do when the music stopped. When it stopped, we kind of looked at each other for a minute, then we sprung into action, creating a human chair circle, where everyone sits on everyone else’s laps and we squat in a circle. It worked!
The next morning we were in our groups again, but this time we were challenged with a winter survival senerio in which we were given 12 items and together as a team we had to rank the items by order of importance. It was a good time of working out a problem and “surviving” together. After that we each told our stories of how we got to FLI (which are some pretty amazing stories) and how God has been working in our lives (again, amazing stories). Later that day we went on a hike up a mountain, where I learned the limits of what my lungs can take at the altitude :-). It was great though, I hiked most of the 4 ½ hours with Anne Marie and we got to talk about a lot of great things, really good conversation (that is, at least when we were taking breaks, it was harder to talk while we walked)
The rest of the weekend was full of good, good conversation and getting to know each other on a deeper level. I love being here where everyone is in love with God and love to talk about Him. Even the bus ride home was one with lots of good convos.
Then we were home again, and I have to say, it’s good to be sleeping in my own bed :-)

Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth.

Here...

The room was full of no more than 60 people, 44 of us students, the rest the faculty and staff. All of us wearing long sleeve t-shirts identifying us with Focus Leadership Institute. As the man speaking was welcoming us as the forty somethingest class, I kept looking around. “I’m here” I’d think to myself, and then it hit me I. Am. Here. I’m not sure how long I’ve been dreaming of this moment, but I can tell ya, it’s been a long time coming. This has been where I’ve wanted to be for years, my two years at college were merely a necessity to bide my time and rake up enough credits to be here. When people would ask that inevitable question that comes to my peers “so, where are you going to school?” my answer would be Focus On the Family’s Leadership Institute. Of course I would often be met with blank stares and I would have to explain further. But, this is where I have felt God leading my life for a long time, and after this? No idea, don’t care. I know to some people that may sound fool hearty and stupid, it may seem like that’s just my immaturity speaking, and I don’t really know anything about real life. That last part is true anyway, I don’t know anything about “real life”, in fact, I don’t think any of us do, we may pretend to, but truly, what makes “real life” so real? So, instead, I’m going to follow what God has asked me to do and “not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow can worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34) and instead I’m going to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to me as well” (Matthew 6:33)*** So basically, I want to follow God’s leading, even if His ways may seem unconventional. And right now, what I’m hearing from Him is to live in the moment, love the life I have right here and now, don’t let my mind be cluttered with the future, it’ll happen in time, I just need to trust Him. Sure, it’s hard, it’s scary, but, if He had told me what His plans are for after Focus, I know myself well enough to know that I would be constantly thinking about that, rather then getting everything I can out of the here and now. This is the dream, don’t waste it.

Anyways, I’m super tired, the salad of no sleep, constant driving, stress from getting here, unpacking, meeting 50 new people, high altitude, little oxygen, time difference, and about a zillion other ingredients has me whipped! But just real quick, my apartment is on the third floor with the most fantastic view of Pikes Peak (also, where the sun sets) which I can view from our balcony. I’m on the top bunk (I figure the higher the better right? :-) and Emily is my roomie, and on the other side of the apartment are Joy and Christine. We have a full kitchen with everything you could want, and Emily even brought a TV and DVD player, so we are set for movie nights :-) classes don’t start till next week (and, much to my dismay, we don’t find out where our internships are till then either :-( but this week is all orienteering and getting to know people. Umm, I don’t think I have much else to say (and my newly made bed is calling my name! though, as I have already warned my roommate, this will probably be the last time it’s made the rest of the semester, oh well!) and my head is super fuzzy, so it’s a glass of water for me and then morning, please take your time in coming! :-)

p.s. guess what! I’m here! Haha, it just doesn’t get old :-)

***p.s.p.s. so just as I was about to post this, I jumped over to Facebook, and one of my friends had posted as her status Isaiah 55. ok, yup, this one applies too! Haha, God thing right there! “for My thoughts are not your thoughts” declares the Lord, “neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My way higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts….you will go out in joy and be lead forth in peace [aka, don’t worry! Be peaceful!] the mountains and hills [hey! That’s where I am!] will burst into song before you and the trees will clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:8-9 &12

Ok, NOW goodnight! :-)

Go West Young (Wo)Man!

Rewind to sometime in the middle of the summer when the staff had gathered to watch a movie. In the middle of the movie, one of the characters traveled to the wilds of western America, the scene cuts to a dusty sign hanging from a train station in a small town. “Colorado Springs CO” the sign declared. “That’s where I’m gonna be!” I proclaimed excitedly. Fast forward back to today, in just a few more hours, I too will be taking a journey to America’s west, though no longer quite as wild as in the days of cowboys, and not in a train, but in my own trusty steed, Ruby (for those of you who don’t already know, Ruby is my car :-). Right now I can hear the sound of Dad snoring in the room above me, as he and Mom get some much needed sleep for the journey ahead of us. (They keep feeling the need to remind me that I’ll be driving as well, and I fully intend to take my turn at the wheel of course! How else will I be able to choose the music!) It’s gonna be a long couple of days on this road trip, I’m sure one full of misturns and misadventure but, as my old friend Mr. Whittaker always says: “but that’s the exciting part because you never know what you’ll discover along the way! Oh, don’t take my word for it though. You’ll find out for yourself when you come along on today’s adventure [to] Odyssey!”



But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise You forever for what You have done; in Your name I will hope, for Your name is good. Psalm 52:8-9


“I am gonna move this mountain, then I’m gonna move you in…I am gonna show you what I mean, I am gonna love like you’ve never seen, you are gonna live like you used to dream, this is your new song!” - Don’t Get Comfortable by Brandon Heath
(listen….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXBY05jLwj8 )

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig??

And here I sit, in my new house and home, I’ve officially been here my first 24 hours (though most of it has been spent in blissful slumber or watching movies with my family :-) I did find time to check out the library, get ice cream from the local shop, scout out the Target…yup, this place is alright! I’ll only be here for about 2 weeks, then it’s off to Colorado!
Last night I spent the night in my sisters bed, we talked all night and it was good, but I’m ready to go see if I can find my “room” one of these days. My “room” is going to be a room in the basement, if you saw my room in MI, imagine cutting it into fourths, then take one of those fourths and put some tile on the floor and a light switch on the outside and fill it with a scattering of crickets…welcome to my new room! At the moment there is only about a foot and a half by three foot space in the middle, surrounded by all my belongings which fill up the perimeter. So my goal in life over the next few days is to clear that stuff out to the outside and sort through the things I’ll want with me in CO and what I want to leave here.
It’s kind of interesting to see all your belongings piled into one small space. After I saw the room, I asked my mom which of that stuff was mine and which I could take out. “that was all yours.” She informed me. I couldn’t believe that I had that much! I had though I had gone through it all before I left for camp, but apparently I might need to go through it again.
Seeing everything I have reminds me of something that one of the speakers had us do at camp. I think it was JV, but it may have been Varsity, but the speaker had us write down the three most important objects we own. I have so many things that are important to me, but when I have to think of what single three items I would choose to place in the position of “most important” I have a hard time remembering how most of my things hold any significance. In reality, what do I really NEED to survive? What can I not live without? If I had to give everything away, what would I have the hardest time letting go of?
My answers of the three things I chose were, first and foremost, my Bible. Most of the people I asked also said their Bibles, and some people were joking that “of course people will say their Bible!” but it’s 100% true that I could never live without my Bible. My Bible is what I go to in hard times, it’s my letters from God written to me, it reminds me of His love and plan for me. my Bible has all my favorite verses underlined and marked, so in time of need I can find comfort quickly. My Bible reminds me of my identity in Christ, who I am and who He made me to be. there are so many stories I hear of Christians in other countries who cant afford a Bible, and how churches in those countries own a single Bible for their whole body, even a page is enough to bring them comfort and joy. I am so blessed to have my Bible, I couldn’t live without it.
My second item I wrote down as most important to me was my pen pals letters. If you didn’t know, Rachel was one of my best friends, we wrote each other for six years and I saved all her letters. In December 2006 Rachel died of appendicitis. Her letters are precious to me and could never be replaced. I have found so many blessing through the things Rachel taught me.
My third item was my camera. I don’t love my camera for the piece of equipment it is, it’s just a black box. But I love it for the moments it captures. i have an awful memory, and without my camera to capture those moments when I’m happiest, I would forget so many sweet memories! I always find it a blessing to see the smiling faces caught forever on camera.
All that reminded me of the verses Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

p.s. mom, this doesn’t mean I’m throwing everything out! It just means that I’m thinking bout my priorities. So don’t get your hopes up that I’m gonna purge my belongings! Some of it is useful to have and I’m so thankful that, even though I don’t NEED it, I’m still blessed to have it :-)

Just Your Typical Family…

This morning as I was helping out in kids chapel, all the kids were asked to draw a picture of their family, the pictures would be used for tonight’s theme dinner, “Family Reunion”. I decided to draw one of my own, in one corner I drew a pic of my true family, in MD, then in the other corner I drew my staff family (all the kids kept saying “you have a big family!” which, turns out, is very true ;-) then, later back in the kitch, we were trying to figure out what we as a staff would dress up as for the theme dinner. We always try to get into the theme dinners as much as possible, the campers always like it, but today’s theme was “Family Reunion” and we were having a hard time trying to figure out what to dress up as. So while we were trying to come up with ideas, I showed everyone my picture, and someone suggested we create a stereotypical family! it wasn’t long before we had thirty some typical family roles planned out and assigned to each staff member. Our family tree is as follows…..

Staff Family:
Steve – Grandpa, had a cane, had pockets full of candy for everyone
Cora – Grandma, it was her day off so she didn’t have to get too much into her role, but she was very convincing for the moments that she was!
Mark – Grandpa, Vietnam war vet, full of nondescript stories and disappointment in the world today “you kids don’t even know” he’d mutter with a disappointed shake of the head.
Breezy – Grandma, knitting needles, gray hair, hard of hearing,

Steve and Cora’s family:
Janna – nurturing, single aunt, practically a second mother to Abigail’s children. Also a book worm
Abigail – typical 50’s style mother, patient with all, proud of her kids, wardrobe complete with pearl necklace.
Shelby – aka, Aunt Patsy. Cant even begin to describe this woman…she was the obnoxious, insane aunt, pinched everyone cheeks, talked loud and vulgar, chewed gum, wore the brightest, most obnoxious outfit, had us laughing harder than we have all summer.
Andy – aka Uncle Rico, husband of Aunt Patsy. Just about the same as the above description…they were a perfect match…these two did not have kids, this is a blessing to those unborn children as they would not have been able to handle such parents, but Patsy and Rico had plenty to say about the way Abigail and Michael were raising their children.

Mark and Breezy’s family:
Michael – your typical 50’s style father, wore a suit and tie, had plenty of time for his many kids, always a little too happy, albeit rather weary.
Jordan – aka Uncle Jesse, as in the guy on the show Full House…basically the same guy, slicked back hair, and really cool.
Lisa – married to Uncle Jesse
Anderson – Uncle Jesse and Lisa’s son, the cool cousin, basically a lot like his father, only cooler
Teirra – daughter of Jesse and Lisa, the family historian (aka, she drew up our family tree)

Michael and Abigail’s family:
Trevor – the oldest son, athletic, protective, a bit bossy, but a cool big brother, one we could all look up to.
Kara – the oldest daughter, a dramatic teen with a bad news boy friend. She was snotty to our parents and threatened to move in with Aunt Patsy, except Uncle Rico would hear nothing of it.
Drew – the nerdy teen, interested in anything electronic.
Katie – the moody teen, didn’t talk much, glared at everyone, threatened to beat us up. (actually she was having a hard time not laughing the whole time!)
Jessica M – the awkward teen, didn’t quite know here place in life, just turned 13 and thought she was an adult.
Tyler – tween boy, just entering puberty, voice has started cracking and he was very shy and sensitive.
Ashley (me!) – tween girl…I was 10 years old as I told everyone, and I was going to girls camp next year! And I just loved my family so, so much and I let them all know. And my friends had a lot of drama, (Sally wasn’t talking to Jessica again! ) and I was just extremely annoying and happy when my older sibs weren’t teasing me, and when they were I told on them, and, no offence, but I had the time of my life! I think I should just be ten forever!
Jeremy – 4th grade boy, played sports, tried to be cool like his big bro Trevor.
Elyse and Jessica H – our set of twins, they dressed alike and did everything together and were rather mischievous. They were eight years old.
Evan – he was four, and he acted it!
Brittany – the baby of the family, carried around her lamby and hugged everyone and told them all she loved them, and cried sometimes.

And finally, Alana – our favorite babysitter!!!

This is our family, and everyone played their role perfectly! We entered our roles about an hour before dinner, while we were getting ready and all that. The kitch was chaos of all the kids “fighting” and Mother Abigail trying to keep the peace and Aunt Patsy just creating more noise. The cooks kept shaking their heads at our antics, “I hope my family is exactly like this!” I declared at one point, “I hope my family is NOTHING like this!” Lisa retorted vehemently.
Then the men showed up and it was everything you might imagine of a chaotic family reunion with Americas most obnoxious family. everyone would be in their role, then turn away laughing, it was the best ever!
I filmed a few videos, declaring that I was making a documentary of our family for school, I interviewed all the women as we ate in the kitch, then I went and interviewed the men at their table (but I had to go fast because Mommy came out and made me go back and leave them alone).
Then, Bruce, the Family Camp director, who had noticed that we had created a family, asked us to come out and introduce ourselves in character to the campers. So, we lined up and introduced our family (I filmed that too).
After dinner, we kept up the charade throughout clean up, after which we went outside for a family portrait. Which, of course, turned out to be your stereotypical bad family portrait, complete with teens glaring at the camera, baby’s crying, and grandpa blowing his nose.
I am very proud of my staff family, they may be a bit odd, and maybe they embarrass me sometimes, and perhaps not many, if any, people understand them, but I love them forever.

Heavenly Light Show

I ask a lot of questions, one of my favorite things to do it go up to people and just ask them questions about themselves. One of my most asked questions is “what are 5 things you want to do before you die.” For my own answers, the 5 I mention may very, but one of the top is to see the Northern Lights. Well sir, last night I was able to check that one off the list.
We were sitting in staff worship, last night we had a time of discussion where together as girls and guys we asked each other questions about the other, such as “what do girls do that guys don’t understand?” and “how can the guys improve as leaders?” it was a really good time of unifying and understanding each other.
After the questions had been answered, someone mentions going to the beach to see the Northern Lights. I got so excited, I heard of people seeing them up here, but I never had, and had always dreamed of it! they were supposed to come out after about a half hour, so we went to wait it out in the kitch. Then, we all headed out to the beach to see what we would see. when we got there we were disappointed, the whole sky was clear except right along the horizon where a stream of clouds had formed. The clouds were glowing though, creating a light green streak across the sky. We watched and watched, praying that God would part the clouds as He did the Red Sea. After about a half hour, Andy pointed out a break in the slowly moving clouds. I was holding my breath, straining my eyes so as not to miss a moment, when suddenly we saw a streak of green, hazy light pierce the sky! For a few short moments I saw the pale teal colors dance in the sky, the clouds still covered the majority of the light show, but several rays escaped and light up the starry sky.
I still hope to see the Northern Lights in all their glory one day, but now I can say that I have seen them, and I can praise God for His glory! :-)

Varsity….All Of It

Varsity started out the same as it has for me all three years I’ve staffed, with me, in the pink and green polka dotted Kitch Girl apron, washing dishes all morning, watching anxiously out the window above the Kitch Boy sinks (which have the perfect view of the drive the buses arrive on) talking with my kitch boy about how I wish they’d just get here already. And then, finally, they did! Varsity Camp 2010!
Since I was Kitch Girl on the first Saturday, that meant that I got the day off on the first full day of Varsity. I’ve always had mixed feelings bout that day off, since the staff are supposed to be 100% campers as well as 100% staff, on our days off we aren’t allowed to go out, but rather stay around camp and mingle with the campers. Half of me always wants to go out, because it’s pretty stressful to do nothing all day and watch your friends hard at work, and those you serve with serving you, but at the same time I like it, because I means that I can take as long a shower as I want, and sleep as much as I want, and sometimes do the things I don’t have time to do because I’m so busy working. Plus, my sister, Emmy, was here now, so that meant I could spend a lot of time catching up with her. Which we did (after I finally emerged around 4:00 after my sleeping in, showering, getting pretty, and computer time) we colored with Jozzy and Katelin. That was about the extent of my day off, but it was so relaxing and really good to spend time with Emmy.


TEAM: Reach for the Sky!
So the teams each get a t-shirt and they are named after the color of the shirts. This year I was on team Sky, and our cheer was “reach for the Sky!” we had a great team, a few people I knew and a few I didn’t, which was nice. Every game we played we won, but we weren’t super competitive, it was kinda just like “oh, hey, we won, cool.” Though we were a little worried when it came to the volley ball game at the end of the week. The team we were playing, Blue, was the only other team that was also undefeated, but, all was well, because guess what! We tied! Haha, I think I’m happier with that out come then one or the other of us winning, rather then lamenting the tie, we all high fived each other and proudly announced that the teams of blue could not be beat! :-)


OUTTING: Little Presque Isle
For the day trip this year we went to Little Presque Isle. I’d never been there but many of the staff had and I’ve heard so many great things bout it.
The staff drove in separate cars, and when we got to the place we were supposed to start our hike, there were no buses. We waited and waited, turns out the buses were stopping somewhere else to eat lunch first, also turns out that the buses had all of our lunches as well. So then the buses finally did arrive, we staff all gathered around the box of extras and leftovers and divied out what little there was. (actually it was quite a bit, but it’s more fun to pretend it wasn’t :-) I wasn’t too upset though that we had to wait so long, because during the wait a bunch of us talked about personality types, my absolute favorite, so I was content.
When we finally got started on the hike, me and Emmy walked with Katelin and Kayla. Me being me, of course took my time, stopping to take pictures of the cliffs to the right of the trail, exploring off to the side of the path, and making everyone stop to look at this or that amazing thing. hiking is my favorite thing and I cant wait to get to CO and hike every day!
Anyways, due to the slow pace I was setting, we kept getting caught by the adults at the back of the pack who were making sure no one got left behind, but it wasn’t a big deal, we’d just hurry ahead of them and let them catch up again.
After the hike (I think it was about 3 miles maybe?) we arrived at the beach, and from there we could walk through the water to the island. The island was pretty much the best place ever! I cant describe it properly. But if you imagine any part of Lord of the Rings when they are walking trails in the woods or over boulders and rocks, that’s what it reminded me of (ok, maybe not quite that intense, but it was great!) around the other side of the island, there were two cliffs we could jump off, one about 30 feet, the other about 15. I jumped the 30 footer twice, I loved that feeling of falling and plunging into the cold water! :-D
After the cliff jumping we ate and then had worship on the beach. After which we drove home and, in the middle of a missive rain storm with the most incredible lightning I’ve ever seen, we unloaded the buses and ended the day.

TEACHING: It All Points Back to Jesus
So basically, the best speaker I have ever heard in my life is officially Phil Warners. He has the most laid back, conversational way of speaking, the things he’d say were so interesting we couldn’t stop listening, and the points he made caused us to think of things in such a different way. he’s also got the funniest humor ever! The very first day, he got up in front and first thing he said was “my name is Phil and I get to do something none of the rest of you get to do…I sleep with the nurse.” (his wife, Connie, was the camp nurse that week) of course that got us all buzzing with shocked laughter and looks of “did he really just say that!?” but, it is true :-D Emmy, who was sitting next to me, leaned over and whispered “I like this guy already.”
Phil’s teachings focused on taking stories from the Old Testament, and showing us how they all point back to the life of Jesus. I learned so much, growing up we hear all of these stories so many times that we become desensitized to them and they become old news. But the way Phil brought these stories to us gave me a whole new appreciation for them and a desire to dig into them even deeper. One thing Phil had us do at the end of the week was write a letter to ourselves and he is going to send them to us some time in the winter. I put all my notes in that letter, because I loved the notes so much and I want to be reminded of what I learned, I know I’ll be encouraged by that and be able to use it then.
One thing we do after morning chapels is gather together in either our cabins or out teams and have a time of sharing and discussion. One day, Phil joined team Sky, that day we were talking bout what steps of faith we would have to take when we get home, so I was talking about going to MD for the first time. The next morning, before chapel I was in the back working the sound booth, when Phil came up to me and said “God is in Maryland too, that’s what I hear anyway.” That was very encouraging to me. then, that day he was talking about Joshua entering the Promised Land, and something he said really stuck with me, he said “God was asking Joshua to enter a new land, and it was called home.” I feel like that’s so much just what it feels like for me, that God is calling me to a new place, and that place is my home, even if it isn’t yet.


SKITS: Yooper Sound of Music?
So instead of team skits or a talent show, this year we played “Whose Line is it Anyway?” aka, improv skits. Each cabin was given something to act out, and the judges had to guess what they were acting out. The girls staff were given the assignment to “perform the Sound of Music yooper style”, we had 4 minutes to brainstorm, and 2 minutes to perform. We started out singing “lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When we hunt we begin with BANG! BANG! BANG! When we read we begin with ‘Da U.P. Da U.P.’ the first few words just happen to be, ‘Da U.P.’” after which Elyse sauntered out from the behind us singing in a fantastic yooper accent “I am sixteen going on seventeen” after which we sang “hunting and shooting and four wheeling and pasties, fishing and camping and snowshoeing and mineing…these are a few of my favorite things”. It was so much fun, but the guys staff was by far the funniest, and only because theirs was 100% truth. They were assigned to “perform a typical day on staff.” So they started out with Trevor yelling for everyone to get up! Time to go to prayer meeting! Mass chaos as everyone yelled and rushed to get up. “Tyler! Drew! Get up! You're always sleeping!” have prayer meeting, then to breakfast yelling “food! Food!” then, Steve (as Todd) sent everyone out on jobs (Steve performed an excellent mimicry of Todd too) then, “ding ding!” “lunch time! Food!” then back to the jobs (which they all acted out, mowing lawns, building the retreat center, life guarding, ropes) then the 2 minutes were over. But the way they acted it out was so right on how they do it every day, that we all, especially the girls staff, were in fits of laughter.

THE END: Final Jam Night (haha! j/k)
The last night of varsity, after a campfire (which got moved into the Lodge due to rain) we had a little bit of time to hang out. It was so much fun to just laugh with all our friends, me and Emmy told Matt and Mark Reed that they were as cute together as brothers and us two were together as sisters, we wrote a story for Mohawk Chris’s autograph book, we bugged people and hugged people, it was good.
Since the Trading Post (the snack shop) hadn’t opened that night due to rain, we opened it the next morning before the buses left. Even though it was early, I still had fun with Janna and Kara and all the campers who came for that last minute candy or t-shirt. Then, it came that sad, sad moment, when the Griz started to call names and campers began to load the buses. Emmy cried when she was getting on (aka, standing outside the bus when she was supposed to be on it) “why aren’t you crying!? I’m never gonna see you again! You’re only gonna be home for 3 weeks then your going to CO then your gonna get married!!” I calmly told her that there was no plans of marriage any time in my near future, that it’s slightly important to find the guy before deciding such things, and why doesn’t she try to find some nice MD guy for me then so I wont be far away. “ok,” she said, drying her eyes, “I will keep my eyes open. There were a few on our street, they got a rocket stuck in a tree and couldn’t get it out.” Wow, I have high hopes :-D
Anyways, after waving good bye, the buses made their final departure, Varsity Camp 2010 was over, we had grown much together, learned about God, made some memories and friends.


Anyways, that’s all I can think of right now, and it’s about time I head back into the kitch….but I’m sure I’ll remember more later :-D

Benjabean

Last year I told Ben (my brother) that for his birthday I would go tubing with him, while he was here at boys camp we tried to go, but there wasn’t time. He was disappointed but he told me that I would have to make sure we went the next year (which is now this year) then, at the beginning of the week for boys camp Ben asked if I was gonna be able to tube with him. I told him I wanted to but I wasn’t sure.
Then, on Wednesday, I went to the lake where the boys were having their camp out, I was one of the AO’s (aquatic observer) so Benj sat with me the whole time and we talked a lot.
The next day, I was being an AO on the beach, and Ben’s counselor came up to me and told me that Ben had gotten a little teary eyed at the camp out, he’d said he was homesick and sad because even though I was up here I was always so busy and couldn’t really hang out. I told his counselor about wanting to go tubing with Ben, and how upset I was also that we couldn’t do more together, I loved that Ben hung out with me the whole time and I knew he really wanted to go tubing. Lisa, the head lifeguard that day, over heard and said “we might be able to work something out”. Then, after my shift, I was just about to leave the beach when Ben comes up and said “are you busy this afternoon? Can we go tubing?” I told him I really wanted to, but we had to ask Lisa if it was ok, and Drew is he would drive us. They both said it was no problem so we quickly got suited up and went. Ben loved it, the whole time he kept yelling “this is awesome!” he told everyone that I’d finally given him his birthday present.
Turns out it was a good thing we got that tube ride in, because the next day, Lisa, Katie Cooper and I were just leaving the zip line, when Michael Dyer came driving up in a golf cart. “your brother is going to the hospital” he said. Michael Dyer being Michael Dyer, I of course didn’t believe him. “your lying.” I said, “I’m not,” he insisted, “he fell during the mountain biking class and hurt his arm, I came out here to get you.” so, we all piled into the golf cart and raced back to camp, where I found Benj sitting in the Suburban with his arm in a sling. Benjabean is such a cutie (even if he’ll hate me for saying that) and he didn’t show that he was in pain at all, rather he was just sitting there smiling away. After running around, checking with all the people in charge if it’d be ok if I went with them, Trevor, Ben and I all took off on the 45 minute drive into Marquette. On the way we had a great time, Trevor told us all about the times him and his brother and sister had broken something or had something stitched up, and Ben and I filled him in on a few stories from our own family.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the clinic in Marquette. We walked up to the desk and were met by a rather rude receptionist. I had never had to check someone in before, so of course I was a bit flustered, but I handed her the blue sheet with all of bens info, expecting that to be enough, but the woman kept acting all exasperated with us, like we were just silly children wasting her time. She got especially annoyed when she asked for my address just to find out that I didn’t know it. (sorry ma’am, I’ve never actually been there). anyways, I think she got a better attitude when I mentioned that I was Ben’s sister, and she realized that me and Trevor were NOT the parents. :-) I needed Ben’s Social Security number, and since I had jumped right in the car after coming back from ropes, (still stinky from sweat and in my tennis shoes, not my preferred footwear of flip flops) I of course didn’t have my cell phone. But, all was well, Trev let me use his to call Mom and get all the info I needed to sign Ben in.
After all of that, we were escorted into a room, where a nurse who looked just like a Veggie Tales character came in and took care of the basics. While we were waiting for the doctor, Ben kept stroking his swollen arm and commenting on the amount of “muscle” he had, and making plans for all of camp to sign his cast. Trevor said he’d sign it as “your personal ambulance driver”. After awhile the doctor came in and had a look, then the x-ray guy took Ben back, then the doctor came back and told us that Ben would most likely need surgery and that we should bring him in to Marquette General Hospital because he didn’t know everything about broken elbows, but it looked like a double fracture.
So, we hopped back in the car and drove to the hospital, where the doctor looked at the x-rays and said that the first doctor didn’t know what he was talking about, the elbow was fractured, but just once, and that Ben would need a cast, but not surgery (to this news Ben pumped his good arm in the air and happily said “yes!”). Since the arm was still swollen (or rather, as Ben would remind us “muscular”) they would send him home to MD in a splint.
By then it was about 8pm, we had left camp around 3:30, so we had missed dinner. But, all was well, after swinging by Walgreens to get some pain meds (thank goodness for Trevor again, I of course didn’t have any money and apparently the prescription was too low for insurance to cover, so Trev took care of it, I still have to pay him back come to think of it :-) we made a stop at the all wonderful Jilberts, the supplier of all camps dairy and (most importantly) ice cream!! After getting our “dinner” (a double scoop each) we headed back to camp in time for devos (aka, 10:30)
Even though it stinks that it happened to Benj that he broke his elbow, I’m still kinda glad, I got to spend a lot of time with him (and since both our love languages are Quality Time, I think we were both pretty happy) and we got to have a great memory together. I’m also so thankful for Trevor, he is going to school for nursing so whenever Ben had a question or I didn’t know what the doctors were talking bout, he would explain it to us. He also let us use up a lot of minutes on his phone to talk to both Mom and Dad, and he kept everything light, joking with the doctors and making sure Ben was having a fun time.
So far as I know now Ben is doing well, still doesn’t have the cast, but he says “soon”.
Anyways, fun times! :-)

Here There Be Pirates! / Dancing in the Rain

Ok, so it’s been about 2 weeks since I last posted…aka, about 2 weeks since I’ve sat down for more than 5 minutes to breathe!! It’s been intense and SO much has happened…so rather than one overwhelming post with ALL the stuff at once, I’m going to post several posts about each individual topic…hopefully I’ll be able to get through it all today, I feel like the longer I take the more I’ll forget. Just a few days ago I was working on the climbing tower with the boys campers and one of them was asking me if I knew his brother who was here at JV. I said I recognized the name but didn’t have a face since it’s been such a long time ago, “it was just last week!” the boy said, “I know” I said back, “but do you know just how long a week at camp really is!?” haha, so yes…here’s these last 2 weeks:

The last Wednesday of JV was my second day as kitch girl, which, as I’ve said before, means that I’m usually much busier than the rest of the girls, however, that day we had an unusually free afternoon, which meant that I was free at the same time as my Uncle Dave, which meant that we could finally go sailing!! So we hopped in a boat to took to the high seas of Farmers Lake.
It was a lovely day, the waters were calm, the sky was blue, a few other boats spotted the lake, both the brightly colored sailboats as well as a few scattered kayaks. Steve and Hilary were lounging in the P-boat (patrol boat), peacefully keeping an eye out for trouble.
It was a relaxing voyage, until we were met by two boys in kayaks, quickly paddling towards us. “hows it going?” Uncle Dave asked cheerfully of the boaters. “we just made Dan Martins kids cry because we told them we were pirates here to take over their ship.” They replied, “so we have to take over yours now.” Upon those words epic battle began.
This was no “splash, splash, haha you’re all wet” kind of battle, this was full out, tip over the boats, hitting and scratching fight with all you’ve got war! the boys names were Alex and Amos, Alex was a smart one, as captain of the pirate fleet he instructed Amos to assist him in stealing our rudder, attempting to cripple our ship as they tried to pull us off. At the same time Uncle Dave and I attempted and succeeded in tipping them out of their kayaks several times, as well as capture their paddles from them. However, they were always able to retip their boats and get back their paddles.
At one point, Amos had again taken hold of out rudder, but I grabbed for it to try to rescue it, I was clutching the actual rudder part, while he pulled the stick part used for steering. He was bracing himself against the side of our boat, I pulled and pulled, and finally let go when I felt the metal of the hinge dig into my pinky. Amos got away with our rudder and I examined my battle wound, it was a crescent shaped gouge with a large hunk of skin flapping off. As I was in the thick of battle, I couldn’t let it worry me right then, so I held the wound closed with my other fingers and continued to fight.
Meanwhile, Steve and Hilary had stayed within range, laughing at our antics. Steve radioed into the beach asking for permission to engage in battle, and it was granted. They motored over and Hilary grabbed the rudder back from Amos. Later she said she thinks she might have cut his finger in the process, but I told her it was ok, finger for a finger.
Finally, after about 15 minutes of intence battle, the pirates succeeded in pulling me and Uncle Dave out of our ship. I made a grab for the paddles and swam to the abandoned kayaks, while Uncle Dave worked on dropping the sail right on Alex’s head, after which he joined me in our escape, leaving the pirates with a crippled vessel.
Upon our return to land, we laughed and told all who would listen of our adventures on the highs seas of Farmers Lake, and warned all who ventured out to keep a wary eye out for the fierce pirates who patrol those waters.


Dancing in the Rain
That same night of the pirate attack, God sent us a massive rain storm, we were in the lodge with the JV campers, it was the night of the talent show. After the show, we raced to get the snacks we had brought for the campers packed and back in the kitch. There was so much laughing going on, and we were all sopping, but no one cared. I had to do kitch girl clean up but I just couldn’t stay inside, the rain was calling my name. I ran back to the dorm, using the excuse that I had to get my ipod, but really just wanting to be washing in the rain. When I got to the dorm, Brittany was outside “Ashley!” she cried, grabbing my hand, “run with me! I love running in the rain more that anything!” so, hand in hand we frolicked down the driveway outside the dorms and onto the street. It was pitch black, we literally couldn’t see a thing, just the lights of the dorm reflecting through the trees, but in front of us the road was nothing but black. As we gasped and ran, we talked about how life was like running in the rain down a dark street, we cant see anything, but we trust that God will lead us and wash us clean. Brittany being Brittany of course burst into random song “stand in the rain, stand your ground, stand up when it’s all crashing down, stand through the pain, you wont drown, and know that what's lost will be found, stand in the rain”. “Brittany!” I yelled as I grabbed for her other hand, “that’s one of the songs that’s gotten me through all the junk of my year!” I told her, excitedly jumping up and down. “really!?” she yelled back over the sound of the rain, “same for me!!” laughing we again began to run as fast as we dared, singing at that top of our lungs. As we rounded to corner we came onto the baseball field, and what did we see but 5 other staff girls dancing and twirling without a care in the world. Laughing, we joined them. For about 15 minutes we all danced, and jumped and ran our hearts out in the pouring rain. Our clothes and hair was soaked through and through, we were muddy from those times our spinning got the best of our feet, but we never stopped laughing. At random, one of us would shout out in song, and the rest would join in, singing every sing we could think of that praised God for His glory. We’d run up to one another and grab each others hands and exclaim a prayer of praise for Gods beauty and His rain. We ended at midnight, standing in a circle, each praising God.
Ok, so I know this probably sounds like we’ve gone insane and I'm sure many of you are wondering if we haven’t finally cracked up here in the UP, this is just one of those things that I cant even explain why we do it, but by doing it I know that God is smiling and laughing and dancing right along with us.
After I got back to the kitch, I dried off as well as I could and put on praise music and began to clean. It wasn’t too long before my kitch boy, John, and a few of the other guys came romping in. I could tell that they’d had an equally amazing time in the rain, they also seems overjoyed and high on life. they told me that they guys had all taken a run around the lake, barefoot, with no flashlights. They said that around the other side they’d also had a time of prayer and praised God. “I cant even explain how great tonight was! It blows my mind!” Tyler kept saying. It was a great night…something we all needed…praise the Lord for rain!!

A Mosaic of Happenings

Here are a few mini posts of things going on that don’t necessarily need a full post of their own:

The Challenge Course:
The best part of being out there is getting to hang with the campers (haha, get it? “hang”? we’re on a ropes course? Get it huh? :-) lol, it’s so good to be able to interact with them and have fun with them.

The other day, while working on the ropes course, I dubbed a boy Mr. Darcy…he has no idea who that is or what Pride and Prejudice even is, but I told him that he’s have to live up to the name because Mr. Darcy is every girls ideal of a gentleman…he laughed :-P The reason I gave him that name is because his real name is Colin, and I told him I’d remember his name because of Colin Firth, who is THE Mr. Darcy…anyways, the name stuck for Colin. When your on the ropes course, in order to switch your sling lines from one element to the next, you have to ask an instructor (me) for permission, so the rest of the class Colin would ask me “Ashley this is Mr. Darcy, permission to transfer line one?” ect. :-D

I’m working on writing a song for when I’m out on the Challenge course. Whenever I hook someone up, I have to run through a list of checks (“give me a shake of the head, ok, your helmet is secure. Your harness is secure and fitted properly, your carabineer is [click bineer three times] 1 2 3 locked, loaded and oriented correctly. Your knot is tied and dressed correctly. The line is running cleanly through the system back down to my belay device which is [3 clicks] 1 2 3 locked loaded and oriented correctly. My harness is 1 2 3 double backed and secure. The slack is out of the system and you are on belay [camper asks “climbing?”] climb on!”) I think it’d be a fun one to sing!

Serving the tables:
My fav job! Even though serving tables means that I probably wont get to eat any more then I can scarf down in three seconds before rushing back out (my rule is, if I find myself enjoying my food, it probably means I have to go check tables) it’s still so much fun!

Since I know so many of the campers and just about all the counselors pretty well, it’s a lot of fun because we don’t mind taking a few minutes to joke around a bit.
My Uncle Daves cabin, Keweenaw, is the oldest boys cabin and they eat SOOOO MUCH!! Haha, but I don’t mind serving them, their a lot of fun and always call me Amazing Ashley when they see me coming.

The other day, I was serving Eliza Ferris’s table (she’s a camper, I call her Eliza Doolittle and she calls me Ashley Doolittle). My regular phrase for checking a table is “is there anything else I can get for you ladies?” and Eliza said “Ashley, I want everything” I answered her by saying my regular phrase for those impossible joking requests we staff girls get on a daily basis with an equally joking “I’ll get right on that for ya”. After that, every time I checked Eliza’s table, she’d ask me how that everything was coming. So, I went back to the kitch and grabbed a plastic cup and with a marker I wrote “everything” on it and brought it out to her. I explained that in order for the cup to work, she had to use her imagination that everything in the world was inside…she said it worked perfectly. :-D

The next day, I was serving Abigail’s table. Abigail is a staff girl who’s counseling during JV. I asked her table if they needed anything else and Ruby, one of her campers, solemnly requested that I bring them world peace. I tried to convince the table that only Jesus could bring that, but Abigail was adamant that I bring them some. So, I again grabbed a plastic cup, this time I wrote “world peace” and threw in a few slices of pineapple. I brought the cup back and explained to the girls that if they ate the pineapple from the world peace cup, they would feel so peaceful that they’d want to spread the peace to everyone around them, thus creating world peace!

The staff guys!
Only the best guys around! Nothing can beat them and this year their especially cool. A few days ago, all the staff girls took a day off together while the campers were on their day trip, we went to town and ate out and everything, it was great to be able to sit down while we ate and enjoy our meal. But, meanwhile, back at the camp, the guys were taking our jobs and serving the campers! (ho great is that!?) anxious to see our brothers at work, we made sure to get home in time to see the end of the meal (I was informed by a camper table that they were ready for scrapers at any time). It was so good seeing our staff fella’s fumble around the kitch yelling “where’s this!? Where’s that!? What is going on here!?” as they graciously refused to allow us girls to help them in any way. when clean up started, however, we decided to keep up the charade and the girls took the boys normal jobs of washing the dishes and picking up the leftovers from the tables, and the guys continued their roles of being us and dried dishes, scraped plates and ran dishes to their proper sinks. There was so much laughing and encouragement (and sarcasm) and pictures being take and shouts of “how do I do this!?” It was so good to be able to switch roles for awhile and get a taste of what the others do.

The other night, Jay, a former staff guy who was visiting and helping out on staff for a week, came in to do devos with us girls and share all the secrets of the guys staff. He kept saying “ask me anything, I’ll tell it all, this is my last night here so I got nothing to hide.” Anyways, he just told us some really encouraging things that we otherwise wouldn't have picked up or noticed from the guys. He told us about how much the guys staff loves and respects us girls and how much they talk about us and all the things we do. He also said that all the things the guys do, whether it be some kind of goofing around or doing their best at a job, it’s all to impress us. The campers rarely see them at work, and even though they do see them goofing around, they don’t always appreciate it, but we girls are the only ones who see them at work all the time, how hard they work and how they’re still able to do the work in joy, and we’re usually the only ones who love it when they goof around and understand their need to be crazy. Jay also said that the guys create a whole new love language (there are the 5: words, gifts, touch, time, acts) but the guys show us the “sixth” by “being mean” or, sarcasm. “when they prank you, or sauce you in the kitchen (“sauce” means dump some kind of food on you or throw bubbles from the sink at you) what they mean to say is ‘I love you’”. finally, Jay told us that, in speaking for all the guys, the qualities they look for in their future wives are those we as staff girls show, we are the models they hold other girls up to, and if a girl couldn’t make it as a staff girl then she wouldn't be the one for him. It was all a lot of encouragement, especially coming from one of our own staff guys, who we respect and love so much. It all goes right back at them too, everything that we do, we do to impress them, they are the ones we look at to. We talk about them all the time in our dorm, laughing at their silliness and the crazy things they do, and commenting on when they do an especially good job on something or just encourage us in some way. I’d say we do our own share of the 6th love language as well, by retaliating in full force when they prank us or lock us in the cooler. :-) and I cant tell you how many times the words “I’m gonna marry a staff guy!” have been said. We have so much respect for them and everything they do, both silly and serious, and the way they show their love for God in their actions and make everyday fun and exciting. Camp just wouldn't be camp without them!


so, thats just a few of the things going on here in the last few days...more every day though, lol, i get to the end of each day and ask someone "what was your favorite thing of your today?" and when they ask the question back at me, i always have to ask "what even happened today!?" each day is full and they're getting fuller!