It's so cold here! It's snowing in June, how ridiculous is that? Last year at this time around here we were running around in shorts!!! How crazy is that?!? It's snowing here forthe past couple of hours, and now it's a cold rain, but it's still freezing! We were going to hike and snowshoe the Lakes today, but upon waking up and seeing the snow we decided to wait. Not much else has been going on around here except for the usual work, LT services, and hanging out. Yesterday our project group sat through the Sonlife seminar on evangelism, which was still pretty good, even for the second time around. We also sat around worshiping for two hours... which was a lot of fun since a few people in our group play instruments and sing. Actually, 6 of us play in the worship bands through the week, so that's pretty sweet. It was a good time. The LT services have been going well, and our number have been really high lately... which means a lot of students are inviting coworkers and friends that aren't in LT to come, which is really sweet. Last night we started workshops... there's about 8 different ones and they're each six weeks long. Chris convinced me that his was superiorly sweet, so I'm going to his workshop on "Active Listening and Spiritual Direction" on Wednesday nights. The only hard part is that they're also at 9pm at night, which is when I start feeling ridiculously tired from being up so early. But, it was still really good. Tonight I'm playing in the worship band, which should also be a sweet time.
I apologize if this is one of the more shallow updates, but I'm still a little tired from being up so early, and not a whole lot has been going on.
I just finished uploading around 120 pictures or so from the past couple of weeks, so if you scroll down to the right side of this page and click on "My Photos" that will take you to the site where I keep all my photos. Just look for the albums that have "LT08" on them, those are from this year. Hope everyone's enjoying the warm weather back in Ohio!!! It just started snowing again.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
getting there and breaking down
Well, we're here! We definitely had a crazy and fun trip out here to Estes Park, Colorado, but arrived safely. If you heard about any of the huge storm systems and tornadoes that hit southern Wyoming and Northern Colorado last week, we drove through some of that to get here. God definitely blessed us with traveling mercies there. To read more about that visit our group weblog "CO LT 08 Group Blog" listed under "Links" on the right-hand side of this site, or go to http://colt2008.blogspot.com.
When I got out here to get my schedule for my job, I found out that I was promoted to AM Supervisor of the Pondorosa Staff Dining Room (referred to as "the Pondo"). So far... it's been tough getting up at 5am to go to work, and a little crazy as I'm trying to remember the 58 billion things that need to be done before and after each meal (note: 58 billion may have been a slight exaggeration... but it feels that way sometimes!). It's been fun though, it's crazy how easily I remember where stuff is and what needs to be done. It's also awesome to work with old friends again, especially my friends from Colombia and Mexico (they're also determined to teach me Spanish this summer because they feel German is useless... we'll see how successful I am).
As far as LT goes... we met with our project groups once already and had dinner together. Ours is unusually larger than my group from last year, but from what I know (and from what I've heard from MANY other people)... we have the SWEETEST project group. One of my really good friends from LT last year is one of the project leaders and we have SEVEN BGSU people in it, one of which is Sarah, my roommate!!! I'm really excited to get to know these people and grow with them this summer.
If you remember from last summer, we read a book called "Chazown" by Craig Groeschel. This year's book that we are reading is "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey. I haven't started it yet, but I already know this is going to be a super-sweet book and that it really goes along with some of the stuff that God has revealed to me that He wants to teach me this summer. Feel free to read the book with us this summer!!
We also had our first LT meeting last night. It was really sweet, and I'm excited for these this summer. But something hasn't felt right, almost since I got here, and it didn't exactly feel right last night. I know things don't have to feel right to actually be right... but something feels out of place for me. And it may just be a period of adjustment, I don't know. The worship was really sweet... even though there's a lot going on for me right now, I felt SO FREE to just worship God and praise Him. Then Drage got up and brought the message, which was about having a "Focused Life" especially while we're out here, and the different LT Goals of the summer. So, if you don't know, I usually take notes during a message, even if I already have an outline, and the notes consist usually of a few different things, like: key important phrases the speaker makes that really stand out to me that aren't in the outline, points reiterated or reworded differently than in the outline that really stand out to me, questions that I need to look deeper into. But also during messages I can hear God speaking a lot of times so I also write down: questions God has for me, things God wants to say to me, questions I have for God or for myself, and any thoughts or prayers I have to God. I told you all this to tell you: God and I have a lot of questions for myself, most of them are pretty tough, and they all need to be answered. It was really good though. And then of course the LT vows and the chain links were given out... mine is again around my neck, but on my necklace this year instead of on a piece of a bandanna like last year. After that my roommates (Liz and Sarah) and I sat down and talked for awhile. I know now more than ever before that God has us out here together for a reason. I feel we are going to grow SO MUCH through experiencing this together, and learn how to be more open, honest, trusting, and loving toward each other as sisters. It's going to be sweet.
Well, that's all I have so far. Because of my busy schedule as a supervisor, and wanting to spend a lot of time with God, as well as hiking every mountain visible from the YMCA... and then some, I'm still hoping I can update as often as I'd like to. I have some pictures from the past week, but haven't had time to post them on the Photo Website. For those of you eagerly waiting, I apologize, I'll have some time soon this week.
When I got out here to get my schedule for my job, I found out that I was promoted to AM Supervisor of the Pondorosa Staff Dining Room (referred to as "the Pondo"). So far... it's been tough getting up at 5am to go to work, and a little crazy as I'm trying to remember the 58 billion things that need to be done before and after each meal (note: 58 billion may have been a slight exaggeration... but it feels that way sometimes!). It's been fun though, it's crazy how easily I remember where stuff is and what needs to be done. It's also awesome to work with old friends again, especially my friends from Colombia and Mexico (they're also determined to teach me Spanish this summer because they feel German is useless... we'll see how successful I am).
As far as LT goes... we met with our project groups once already and had dinner together. Ours is unusually larger than my group from last year, but from what I know (and from what I've heard from MANY other people)... we have the SWEETEST project group. One of my really good friends from LT last year is one of the project leaders and we have SEVEN BGSU people in it, one of which is Sarah, my roommate!!! I'm really excited to get to know these people and grow with them this summer.
If you remember from last summer, we read a book called "Chazown" by Craig Groeschel. This year's book that we are reading is "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey. I haven't started it yet, but I already know this is going to be a super-sweet book and that it really goes along with some of the stuff that God has revealed to me that He wants to teach me this summer. Feel free to read the book with us this summer!!
We also had our first LT meeting last night. It was really sweet, and I'm excited for these this summer. But something hasn't felt right, almost since I got here, and it didn't exactly feel right last night. I know things don't have to feel right to actually be right... but something feels out of place for me. And it may just be a period of adjustment, I don't know. The worship was really sweet... even though there's a lot going on for me right now, I felt SO FREE to just worship God and praise Him. Then Drage got up and brought the message, which was about having a "Focused Life" especially while we're out here, and the different LT Goals of the summer. So, if you don't know, I usually take notes during a message, even if I already have an outline, and the notes consist usually of a few different things, like: key important phrases the speaker makes that really stand out to me that aren't in the outline, points reiterated or reworded differently than in the outline that really stand out to me, questions that I need to look deeper into. But also during messages I can hear God speaking a lot of times so I also write down: questions God has for me, things God wants to say to me, questions I have for God or for myself, and any thoughts or prayers I have to God. I told you all this to tell you: God and I have a lot of questions for myself, most of them are pretty tough, and they all need to be answered. It was really good though. And then of course the LT vows and the chain links were given out... mine is again around my neck, but on my necklace this year instead of on a piece of a bandanna like last year. After that my roommates (Liz and Sarah) and I sat down and talked for awhile. I know now more than ever before that God has us out here together for a reason. I feel we are going to grow SO MUCH through experiencing this together, and learn how to be more open, honest, trusting, and loving toward each other as sisters. It's going to be sweet.
Well, that's all I have so far. Because of my busy schedule as a supervisor, and wanting to spend a lot of time with God, as well as hiking every mountain visible from the YMCA... and then some, I'm still hoping I can update as often as I'd like to. I have some pictures from the past week, but haven't had time to post them on the Photo Website. For those of you eagerly waiting, I apologize, I'll have some time soon this week.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Round 2- Colorado LT 2008: His Will
Another year, a new chapter.
So, after coming back from LT 07, I really thought that was it. I'd come home this summer, get a job, have a studio of students and work with a band, maybe take a class or two at UC, do a Collegiate Bible study at the church. But, after 90843 (that may be a slight overexaggeration) questions about whether or not I was going back... I felt like I should go back. So, I signed up, and began the journey again. This time I also volunteered to be a driver, to help out the group, and to serve others out in Colorado... which meant I was going to need a newer car, one that coul make it out there, handle the mountain terrain, and come back. But, over time, I really wasn't sure if I should, or even wanted to go back anymore. I went ahead and sent my support letters out and filled out all the necessary paperwork anyway, and continued praying about where God wanted me. Over a month into my support raising, I had no money, no support, and no car. I continued asking God if I was still supposed to go, or if this meant I needed to stay home. Then, one Friday one of my support envelopes came in the mail, and me, being the one that asks God for all sorts of outrageous signs... asked God for 10% (which would have been $100) and for it to be from some outrageous person. Well, least to say, God provided me with that $100 from a least likely source, and 2 hours later, my stepdad was calling me to tell me that he received a big bonus check at work and was giving me $300 of it toward the program. Talk about answered prayers!
To make a long story short, within the week I had a enough money to pay off the program ($700), and within a little over 2 weeks, I had 100% of the support I needed, and a new car.
God works in mysterious ways, and He works on His own time. Which is why worrying is useless... it only means we are lacking in faith. When we have faith in God and give it up to Him, there is no need to worry, because He is faithful to answer, and He WILL answer, in His own time, not ours. I'm learning this more and more every day.
I'm really interested and excited to see what God is going to do through my life this summer. I have a huge heart to go out there and evangelize to people. Evangelism I have learned comes in many different forms, but all comes down to the main point of sharing Christ's love and redemption. I personally want to go out to Colorado and just love on people, to show them a love they may have NEVER known before... that they would see the Light reflected in my life, and come to know our Savior.
I am also interested, excited, and maybe a little afraid even, to see what God is going to do in my life. To be honest, this past semester was a rough semester at school for me. Taking 20 credit hours and teaching was insane. I also felt a lot of pressure in areas of my life, and felt very weak in a few places. I learned several big lessons, one of which is that God is totally in control, and I forget that way too often. He has control and there is no need for me to worry and try to take care of things on my own without His help, because I will just stumble and fall, time after time (and believe me, I did). I felt like I had a lot thrown at me, without time to process everything. I feel like this summer will be a lot of processing, some grieving, and a lot of grace and love. It will also be time to take a deeper look into some of my past fears and hurts, that are affecting my present. God has already spoken to me about this, and yes, I'm a little apprehensive, but it will be a time to lean on Him and let Him hold me in His arms. A time of cleaning, emptying out, and huge time of restoration.
I thank all of you that have generously contributed gifts, time, encouragement, prayers, love and support to this summer. It will be life-changing!
So, after coming back from LT 07, I really thought that was it. I'd come home this summer, get a job, have a studio of students and work with a band, maybe take a class or two at UC, do a Collegiate Bible study at the church. But, after 90843 (that may be a slight overexaggeration) questions about whether or not I was going back... I felt like I should go back. So, I signed up, and began the journey again. This time I also volunteered to be a driver, to help out the group, and to serve others out in Colorado... which meant I was going to need a newer car, one that coul make it out there, handle the mountain terrain, and come back. But, over time, I really wasn't sure if I should, or even wanted to go back anymore. I went ahead and sent my support letters out and filled out all the necessary paperwork anyway, and continued praying about where God wanted me. Over a month into my support raising, I had no money, no support, and no car. I continued asking God if I was still supposed to go, or if this meant I needed to stay home. Then, one Friday one of my support envelopes came in the mail, and me, being the one that asks God for all sorts of outrageous signs... asked God for 10% (which would have been $100) and for it to be from some outrageous person. Well, least to say, God provided me with that $100 from a least likely source, and 2 hours later, my stepdad was calling me to tell me that he received a big bonus check at work and was giving me $300 of it toward the program. Talk about answered prayers!
To make a long story short, within the week I had a enough money to pay off the program ($700), and within a little over 2 weeks, I had 100% of the support I needed, and a new car.
God works in mysterious ways, and He works on His own time. Which is why worrying is useless... it only means we are lacking in faith. When we have faith in God and give it up to Him, there is no need to worry, because He is faithful to answer, and He WILL answer, in His own time, not ours. I'm learning this more and more every day.
I'm really interested and excited to see what God is going to do through my life this summer. I have a huge heart to go out there and evangelize to people. Evangelism I have learned comes in many different forms, but all comes down to the main point of sharing Christ's love and redemption. I personally want to go out to Colorado and just love on people, to show them a love they may have NEVER known before... that they would see the Light reflected in my life, and come to know our Savior.
I am also interested, excited, and maybe a little afraid even, to see what God is going to do in my life. To be honest, this past semester was a rough semester at school for me. Taking 20 credit hours and teaching was insane. I also felt a lot of pressure in areas of my life, and felt very weak in a few places. I learned several big lessons, one of which is that God is totally in control, and I forget that way too often. He has control and there is no need for me to worry and try to take care of things on my own without His help, because I will just stumble and fall, time after time (and believe me, I did). I felt like I had a lot thrown at me, without time to process everything. I feel like this summer will be a lot of processing, some grieving, and a lot of grace and love. It will also be time to take a deeper look into some of my past fears and hurts, that are affecting my present. God has already spoken to me about this, and yes, I'm a little apprehensive, but it will be a time to lean on Him and let Him hold me in His arms. A time of cleaning, emptying out, and huge time of restoration.
I thank all of you that have generously contributed gifts, time, encouragement, prayers, love and support to this summer. It will be life-changing!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
visions
NEW PICTURES UP!
Click on the "My Photos" link on the righthand side of this page, then once my photo albums come up click on the newest link "LT07 Trail Ridge Rd"
Wow! So everyone in the LT program is reading a book called "Chazown" by Craig Groeschel. This book has been amazing, and answered a huge prayer about what direction God is taking me and what He wants for my life. My vision. Over the past couple of weeks I've been reading and working with what the author calls these intertwining circles of my "Core Values," "Spiritual Gifts," and "Past Experiences." Today I only got about 5 pages in the book because I'm at the point where the author talks about putting these circles together and looking at how they all fit together to form God's vision for my life. That's why I only got 5 pages in today!!! It's ridiculously sweet and scary at the same time to see how everything fits together. It's even beginning to change my dreams for my life. Into God's dreams. I'm really nervous and hesitant and questioning God a lot because some of these dreams seem larger than life, and I'm scared of the failure, or that they won't come to life, and I'll be left lost and longing for more. This is just another step of trusting God more and letting go.
If you haven't already, I seriously encourage you to go get this book and read it for yourself. It's a really great book about God's vision (chazown) for our lives, and you'd be surprised at how well it relates to you INDIVIDUALLY.
Click on the "My Photos" link on the righthand side of this page, then once my photo albums come up click on the newest link "LT07 Trail Ridge Rd"
Wow! So everyone in the LT program is reading a book called "Chazown" by Craig Groeschel. This book has been amazing, and answered a huge prayer about what direction God is taking me and what He wants for my life. My vision. Over the past couple of weeks I've been reading and working with what the author calls these intertwining circles of my "Core Values," "Spiritual Gifts," and "Past Experiences." Today I only got about 5 pages in the book because I'm at the point where the author talks about putting these circles together and looking at how they all fit together to form God's vision for my life. That's why I only got 5 pages in today!!! It's ridiculously sweet and scary at the same time to see how everything fits together. It's even beginning to change my dreams for my life. Into God's dreams. I'm really nervous and hesitant and questioning God a lot because some of these dreams seem larger than life, and I'm scared of the failure, or that they won't come to life, and I'll be left lost and longing for more. This is just another step of trusting God more and letting go.
If you haven't already, I seriously encourage you to go get this book and read it for yourself. It's a really great book about God's vision (chazown) for our lives, and you'd be surprised at how well it relates to you INDIVIDUALLY.
Friday, June 22, 2007
in the cocoon
Yes indeed it has been a long time. What happened to the "I'll update nearly everyday" promise? Haha. It's been a crazy week around here! I don't even know where to begin! The last post was from when I was struggling in a situation with another person, but God used that to break down some walls in my own life. God's been doing a work on me in different areas of my life just about every week. As we have previously seen, worship, music, and my music as a ministry was one of the areas worked on. This past week, with that last entry, God really wanted to work on a lot of my insecurities that I have and trust issues that I have with people. I tend to have a hard time trusting people and I like to joke around a lot with people to keep them at bay, so that I don't have to talk about anything serious. Another problem I have, which happened in this particular situation, is to retreat when someone else hurts me, drop them before they drop me. This was really a struggle for me, because I like my walls. My 'secure walls of insecurity' as I called them. I knew what to do in a given situation when I was hurt, I knew how to react to keep myself from getting hurt, those sorts of things. God said, "Hey we're going to work on this." And, again, I said, "No, I don't think so, this hurts, this is how I feel safe and comfortable, I don't think so." So I woke up Saturday morning, and couldn't breathe. I called off work, thinking I had a sinus infection. A visit to the nurse's station showed that it was really bad allergies to pollen. I've never had an allergy problem before in my life!!! So, knowing it was God, I slept all afternoon, and refused to open up. I went to The Rock that night, and Drage talked about none other than "Life Transformation." So Sunday morning through intense prayer with Jenn I finally allowed God to knock down my walls, and free me from the chains I had tried to put on myself. Galatians 5:1 definitely has a whole new meaning for me now!!! Since then I've been feeling a bit lighter, and a lot freer. And the situation I had been struggling with with my friend... I gave it to God, and He blessed, and my friend and I are doing just fine now.
Work's been going great too! On Monday Beth and I thought it would be a great idea to sculpt something out of leftover cream of wheat. We ended up making a cream-of-wheatman.... a snowman. Our manager thought it was hilarious, we left a note on it saying "Merry Wheatmas Rich" and left it in the pantry for him. Wednesday we had an amaaaaazing Project Day! We had Lifegroups in the morning then in the afternoon we went down and did the Low-Ropes course. The Low-Ropes course is a series of team-building activities mostly. It was very awesome, and very scary at the same time. It was definitely a test from God without the walls of insecurity that He had knocked down. One of the activities we had to do was to stand on these low cables with a partner and push on each others weight and see how far we could make it to the other side, while the ropes got further and further away from each other. The scariest one for me was we had to lie on the ground with 4 people on either side of us, and one person holding our heads, and they lifted us up to chest height, and then up above their heads and then back down to the ground. It was scary, but definitely rewarding, because it just shows how amazing God is, because He knocked down my walls! We also took a spiritual gifts test after that, ate dinner and went up Trail Ridge Road all the way to the top. Trail Ridge is the highest paved road in the country. It was absolutely beautiful! We watched the sun set there and came back down. There will be about 70 pictures from that excursion up under "My Photos" soon.
Yesterday consisted of some random hiking around, and playing/practicing of an Irish tin whistle I acquired (...or purchased...). I also went to Loveland, to Walmart, with Nick and Ashley, from Eau Claire. It was a little uncomfortable at first (I don't think they knew I was uncomfortable) because I wasn't with any BG people going somewhere outside the Y. I still had a pretty good time, and talked to Dad for a half hour while I got more allergy pills, and other assorted objects needed for my upkeep and comfort. Last night Drage talked to us about "Purity." If you haven't already guessed, this is the next thing God's working with me on. Sexually, I'm pure, but emotionally.... yeah, not so much. Emotionally, I'm a mess. And, I've heard a lot of people at BG talk about purity, saying, "Even if you've messed up to this point, you can still start over fresh." I've wanted to so bad, but I don't know how to heal from it. I'm meeting with Michelle Klunke, she's a staffer wife from ISU, and she talked to us girls last night about being an emotional mess earlier in her life. I just want to talk to someone, and heal, so that I can take that step to starting over again. Because in the past, every time I've tried, I've just fallen flat on my face again and again.
It's funny because God's been working on the things I'd least expected to work on this summer. But, I know that it is going to make me a lot stronger and build my faith and my focus on Christ. And so, as much as it hurts, I know that it is going to be amazing in the end. I'm ready for some more life transformation.
Work's been going great too! On Monday Beth and I thought it would be a great idea to sculpt something out of leftover cream of wheat. We ended up making a cream-of-wheatman.... a snowman. Our manager thought it was hilarious, we left a note on it saying "Merry Wheatmas Rich" and left it in the pantry for him. Wednesday we had an amaaaaazing Project Day! We had Lifegroups in the morning then in the afternoon we went down and did the Low-Ropes course. The Low-Ropes course is a series of team-building activities mostly. It was very awesome, and very scary at the same time. It was definitely a test from God without the walls of insecurity that He had knocked down. One of the activities we had to do was to stand on these low cables with a partner and push on each others weight and see how far we could make it to the other side, while the ropes got further and further away from each other. The scariest one for me was we had to lie on the ground with 4 people on either side of us, and one person holding our heads, and they lifted us up to chest height, and then up above their heads and then back down to the ground. It was scary, but definitely rewarding, because it just shows how amazing God is, because He knocked down my walls! We also took a spiritual gifts test after that, ate dinner and went up Trail Ridge Road all the way to the top. Trail Ridge is the highest paved road in the country. It was absolutely beautiful! We watched the sun set there and came back down. There will be about 70 pictures from that excursion up under "My Photos" soon.
Yesterday consisted of some random hiking around, and playing/practicing of an Irish tin whistle I acquired (...or purchased...). I also went to Loveland, to Walmart, with Nick and Ashley, from Eau Claire. It was a little uncomfortable at first (I don't think they knew I was uncomfortable) because I wasn't with any BG people going somewhere outside the Y. I still had a pretty good time, and talked to Dad for a half hour while I got more allergy pills, and other assorted objects needed for my upkeep and comfort. Last night Drage talked to us about "Purity." If you haven't already guessed, this is the next thing God's working with me on. Sexually, I'm pure, but emotionally.... yeah, not so much. Emotionally, I'm a mess. And, I've heard a lot of people at BG talk about purity, saying, "Even if you've messed up to this point, you can still start over fresh." I've wanted to so bad, but I don't know how to heal from it. I'm meeting with Michelle Klunke, she's a staffer wife from ISU, and she talked to us girls last night about being an emotional mess earlier in her life. I just want to talk to someone, and heal, so that I can take that step to starting over again. Because in the past, every time I've tried, I've just fallen flat on my face again and again.
It's funny because God's been working on the things I'd least expected to work on this summer. But, I know that it is going to make me a lot stronger and build my faith and my focus on Christ. And so, as much as it hurts, I know that it is going to be amazing in the end. I'm ready for some more life transformation.
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