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
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
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!!
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!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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! :-)
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! :-)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
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 )
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 )
Friday, August 20, 2010
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 :-)
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 :-)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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.
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