Wow, things have definitely been busy in the past few days! Monday and Tuesday I worked the AM shift at work (that's 6AM-2:30PM). We're still lacking hot water here in Halletts (it's been 6 days now). Tuesday night was really good, our first Tues. night service. Drage talked about running the race to win, in Romans, and it was really good. Today was DEFINITELY by far one of the best days as far as God things have been! Today was Project Group day, and we started the day at 8am with breakfast and then had Sonlife training with Drage all morning. For those of you not in the know, Sonlife training is basically an evangelism seminar/training session. That was REALLY good, it really excited me and the others that were there! Then... our Project Group (by the way, our Project Group name is... The Jesucisers... yeah, kind of like the Jazzicisers... haha) sat around for 3 hours sharing out testimonies. That was a big thing for me, because I've never actually shared with anyone my complete testimony... I don't like talking about my past. Ever. But, I got a lot of things out that I don't think I've ever vocalized to someone before. God definitely shoved me out there on that one... but I was received with open, loving arms. Then there was dinner, and Lifegroup time. Our Lifegroup girls are definitely sweet and amazing, and there was more open honesty and vulnerability.
Tonight was also our first BG crew meeting. It was awesome to finally see everyone together again (our whole group hasn't been together in over a week it seems!). There was definitely a lot more breaking down, as each of us shared how our first week out here in the Rockies has gone... a lot of breaking down and vulnerability. And then we prayed for a long time, praying for our group, and each other, and even those of you back home that aren't/couldn't be with us for this summer. It was definitely a sweet time of openness, support, and encouragement. This group has been more of a family than any other group of people I've been around other than my flesh and blood, I think. They're so open and genuine, and I can't tell you how thankful I am for the little encouraging notes I find on my door after work, the hugs I get as I see people throughout my day, the high-fives, waves... all of it. These people are so totally encouraging. And they've broken down my walls that I put up to keep people out, because I'm afraid of being left again, stabbed in the back again, etc. They've broken them down and shown me what true friendship, and love is. And for that I am most definitely thankful.
Goodness, I could totally go on for a lot longer on this, but it's way past my bedtime (I don't have to work tomorrow... but I'd definitely like to start my day with God early!).
PLEASE continue to keep us all in your prayers. Each of us is struggling and being attacked by Satan in some way, and you know what that means... GOD IS ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING BIG! Satan wouldn't be attacking us and trying to stop us if God wasn't about to do something ridiculously awesome! But yeah, keep all 22 (soon to be 23) of us in your prayers as we are struggling with different issues and insecurities, and for what God is doing and is going to do out here!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Dirty Dishes and Mountaintop Delights
As you can imagine, with working in Food Service, on the days where I only have work... the titles will be about that.
I worked in Dish all day yesterday, and it was much better than the day before. Things were a little more laid back, and there was much more to do that wasn't so tedious. Catching and cleaning, and getting dirty in the process we all had a great time, and of course, I met some more amazing LTers and worked with them throughout the day, and we kept each other's spirits light. I also got some time off to go to an audition for the LT Praise Band. I haven't played in praise bands for awhile, at school being there's a time commitment because of classes, and otherwise, because I'm afraid of the environment. Which is what I said when we were discussing playing in the band last night at the meeting. I enjoy playing for an Audience of One, and I think that that's what a Worship Band is, and should be about. Not who gets more solos, or who is louder. Last night I realized how much I missed playing in a band, too. Where there's no music on written pages, only chords, and what comes from my instrument comes straight from the heart.
After work, we piled into cars and went up Trail Ridge Rd., the highest paved road in the US. Up 12,000 ft. in the mountains we could see nearly EVERYTHING it seemed! Boulder and Denver, and Estes Park, and lots of other mountains. And stars! It was beautiful! But the most incredible thing happened! There was a storm off in the distance, miles, and we could see the lightning. I had missed the first few bolts that struck, and so had a few others, and I was standing there and I said "God could we please see another lightning bolt from that storm" and AMAZINGLY about 3 seconds later, we saw an indescribable bolt of lightning!!! It was freezing cold up there, and we passed huge banks of snow on the road up, but it was beautiful, and I can't wait to go during the day!
I worked in Dish all day yesterday, and it was much better than the day before. Things were a little more laid back, and there was much more to do that wasn't so tedious. Catching and cleaning, and getting dirty in the process we all had a great time, and of course, I met some more amazing LTers and worked with them throughout the day, and we kept each other's spirits light. I also got some time off to go to an audition for the LT Praise Band. I haven't played in praise bands for awhile, at school being there's a time commitment because of classes, and otherwise, because I'm afraid of the environment. Which is what I said when we were discussing playing in the band last night at the meeting. I enjoy playing for an Audience of One, and I think that that's what a Worship Band is, and should be about. Not who gets more solos, or who is louder. Last night I realized how much I missed playing in a band, too. Where there's no music on written pages, only chords, and what comes from my instrument comes straight from the heart.
After work, we piled into cars and went up Trail Ridge Rd., the highest paved road in the US. Up 12,000 ft. in the mountains we could see nearly EVERYTHING it seemed! Boulder and Denver, and Estes Park, and lots of other mountains. And stars! It was beautiful! But the most incredible thing happened! There was a storm off in the distance, miles, and we could see the lightning. I had missed the first few bolts that struck, and so had a few others, and I was standing there and I said "God could we please see another lightning bolt from that storm" and AMAZINGLY about 3 seconds later, we saw an indescribable bolt of lightning!!! It was freezing cold up there, and we passed huge banks of snow on the road up, but it was beautiful, and I can't wait to go during the day!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Mmm, tasty... not so much
Today started.
This is it! I got up early (that darn time change is still getting to me) and ate breakfast and spent a beautiul morning in the Admin. building reading, and praying, and reading some more. One of my "million" goals this summer is to read through all the New Testament (it's one of a few LT challenges actually... how cool, we think alike!). So, I am up to Matthew 10 now. I also read Part 1 of the book everyone at LT is reading for the summer and what they're teaching on. It's called Chazown.
Yes, I said Chazown (pronounced kha'zone).
It's Hebrew for "vision" or "revelation".
And it is an amazing book.
I'm also doing some major memorization and was working on writing that all down this morning too. I did all this sitting in front of a huge window with a beautiful view of the Rockies. It doesn't get much better.
Then... well... not so much. First day of work. In Food Service. Which, let's be honest, is a definite downgrade from working in the Games Department at KI. I survived, with patience, by the grace of God only. It was very trying on my patience and nerves... and I think I got through today much much better than I would have had I had similar stress at KI for a day. It was pretty slow throughout the day... but when you're new to working with Food and cleaning up after people all the time... it's a bit tedious. Plus, we were all still getting to know each other, and there were a lot of international workers too, mostly from Thailand and Ukraine. I worked from 12:30-9:00 today. I work the same tomorrow.
There are FINALLY some pictures up on the Photobucket site (click on the "My Photos" link under links on the right hand side of this site). They don't have titles or anything yet, and I have another day's worth (about 30) photos still to upload from yesterday.... but it seems the site has frozen on me currently, so I'm not going to deal with that right now. Enjoy. The Rockies are beautiul, and it's wonderful to wake up to.
Well, it's getting late, and I have another LOOOOOOONG day of work tomorrow. Good night everyone.
Please keep me in your prayers, and that I would continue to have patience and endurance throughout my days in the Food Service department.
This is it! I got up early (that darn time change is still getting to me) and ate breakfast and spent a beautiul morning in the Admin. building reading, and praying, and reading some more. One of my "million" goals this summer is to read through all the New Testament (it's one of a few LT challenges actually... how cool, we think alike!). So, I am up to Matthew 10 now. I also read Part 1 of the book everyone at LT is reading for the summer and what they're teaching on. It's called Chazown.
Yes, I said Chazown (pronounced kha'zone).
It's Hebrew for "vision" or "revelation".
And it is an amazing book.
I'm also doing some major memorization and was working on writing that all down this morning too. I did all this sitting in front of a huge window with a beautiful view of the Rockies. It doesn't get much better.
Then... well... not so much. First day of work. In Food Service. Which, let's be honest, is a definite downgrade from working in the Games Department at KI. I survived, with patience, by the grace of God only. It was very trying on my patience and nerves... and I think I got through today much much better than I would have had I had similar stress at KI for a day. It was pretty slow throughout the day... but when you're new to working with Food and cleaning up after people all the time... it's a bit tedious. Plus, we were all still getting to know each other, and there were a lot of international workers too, mostly from Thailand and Ukraine. I worked from 12:30-9:00 today. I work the same tomorrow.
There are FINALLY some pictures up on the Photobucket site (click on the "My Photos" link under links on the right hand side of this site). They don't have titles or anything yet, and I have another day's worth (about 30) photos still to upload from yesterday.... but it seems the site has frozen on me currently, so I'm not going to deal with that right now. Enjoy. The Rockies are beautiul, and it's wonderful to wake up to.
Well, it's getting late, and I have another LOOOOOOONG day of work tomorrow. Good night everyone.
Please keep me in your prayers, and that I would continue to have patience and endurance throughout my days in the Food Service department.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Day 1: We Begin Here
Hey everyone! We finally made it to Colorado! What a trip out here! 2 days driving out here, but it was definitely fun. The first night we stopped in York, Nebraska... and God did bless us! We got to meet some great people at the Applebee's we ate at, and to top it off, in the morning we found out that we got one of our rooms for FREE! The second night we stopped in Fort Collins, CO, and finally... today we got into Estes Park, CO! The mountains are beautiful, unlike anything I've ever seen before in my life, they're breathtaking! I'll have pictures up tomorrow when I get some time on the Photobucket site! I think I may even have a short video to post!
We ate lunch and got our IDs and moved in. And then we took our first hike up Bible Point! It was amazing, but since my lungs haven't totally adjusted to the higher altitudes, I was short of breath the whole way up, and it wasn't even a really strenuous hike! Estes Park is actually at 8010 ft. and Bible Point's HIGHER THAN THAT! It was beautiful when we got to the top! We could see all the white caps, and there was a cross at the top. We stopped and Rob talked to us about having mountains in our lives, obstacles, and how if we have the faith of even a mustard seed we can say "move" and they will move! Moving mountains in our lives! We also talked about when Joshua crossed the Jordan River and the stones of Ebaneezer. We each took a stone that represented the challenges we've had in our lives thus far before LT (even in the past semester, past school year) and we built a monument with those to represent our past struggles, and then we each brought a rock back with us to represent those struggles and challenges we have now, or have yet to come this summer.
Then from 6-9 a bunch of LTers and John Dragy and some of the other staffers and leaders all got together in the chapel and prayed and sang hymns. We prayed for everything for this summer: for us to impact the lives of others, for life-changing experiences, against complacency and comfort... EVERYTHING!
Well, that's about it thus far in the journey. Tomorrow I have to get up around 6:00am (that's 8am for those of you on the Eastern side of life, haha) because I have a Food Service meeting at 7:15am and a general Orientation at 7:30am.
Keep prayin' for us!
We ate lunch and got our IDs and moved in. And then we took our first hike up Bible Point! It was amazing, but since my lungs haven't totally adjusted to the higher altitudes, I was short of breath the whole way up, and it wasn't even a really strenuous hike! Estes Park is actually at 8010 ft. and Bible Point's HIGHER THAN THAT! It was beautiful when we got to the top! We could see all the white caps, and there was a cross at the top. We stopped and Rob talked to us about having mountains in our lives, obstacles, and how if we have the faith of even a mustard seed we can say "move" and they will move! Moving mountains in our lives! We also talked about when Joshua crossed the Jordan River and the stones of Ebaneezer. We each took a stone that represented the challenges we've had in our lives thus far before LT (even in the past semester, past school year) and we built a monument with those to represent our past struggles, and then we each brought a rock back with us to represent those struggles and challenges we have now, or have yet to come this summer.
Then from 6-9 a bunch of LTers and John Dragy and some of the other staffers and leaders all got together in the chapel and prayed and sang hymns. We prayed for everything for this summer: for us to impact the lives of others, for life-changing experiences, against complacency and comfort... EVERYTHING!
Well, that's about it thus far in the journey. Tomorrow I have to get up around 6:00am (that's 8am for those of you on the Eastern side of life, haha) because I have a Food Service meeting at 7:15am and a general Orientation at 7:30am.
Keep prayin' for us!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
We're Off!
I will be back in BG with the h2o crew in less than 18 hours!!! And then we'll eat, praise God and pray, sleep and LEAVE FOR THE SUMMER! I am so excited! I've been packing like crazy all day. I had to go through my boxes of stuff that I still had packed from school in order to find things I needed for this summer. At least my room looks a lot cleaner! It's so hard, trying to figure out what is ABSOLUTELY necessary (there are things that I consider necessary, but can live without) for the summer and what is not. Clothing is a big thing, because I own a lot of shirts, sweatshirts, etc. and I literally had to put different piles of clothes around the room today and then go through and figure out what I absolutely wanted to take, and what I could probably do without. Books were another problem (and I'm learning still is a problem!). There are a lot of books I want to read, and re-read, and I'm trying to decide which ones will be better over the others to take. Right now the biggest book I want to get through this summer is Captivating by John Eldredge. I'm pretty excited about it. I'd also like to get through the New Testament. Other than that, I have quite a few books that will keep me busy. And instruments! I was only going to take my violin and hardcore practice it over the summer, but I'm realizing that if I don't take my clarinet, I'm going to hardcore suck at it when I come back to it in the fall.
There are things I'd like to get accomplished this summer. I really need strength in being able to stay focused no matter what situation I'm in, or where I'm at. Sometimes I get really distracted by what's going on around me, especially when I'm going through some low points in my life. I'm praying God will show me how to focus on Him no matter where I'm at or what I'm going through. I'd like to read a few books, study the Bible more in-depth, get deep in prayer, and practice hardcore. I know there'll be lots of people to meet out there at LT, and lots of things to do and see, and I'm really looking forward to some of that, but it's definitely NOT my main focus, the people and new things. My main focus is to get a strong focus on Christ and keep it there no matter what, and to strengthen my faith, and learn what it is to really be a Godly leader and a strong spiritual leader.
Well, I'm almost done packing, just a few small things here and there to shove in a few open places in my duffle bag or bookbag. The big stuff's out of the way. I leave tomorrow! It's here! Keep us in your prayers as we make our way out there early Monday morning!
There are things I'd like to get accomplished this summer. I really need strength in being able to stay focused no matter what situation I'm in, or where I'm at. Sometimes I get really distracted by what's going on around me, especially when I'm going through some low points in my life. I'm praying God will show me how to focus on Him no matter where I'm at or what I'm going through. I'd like to read a few books, study the Bible more in-depth, get deep in prayer, and practice hardcore. I know there'll be lots of people to meet out there at LT, and lots of things to do and see, and I'm really looking forward to some of that, but it's definitely NOT my main focus, the people and new things. My main focus is to get a strong focus on Christ and keep it there no matter what, and to strengthen my faith, and learn what it is to really be a Godly leader and a strong spiritual leader.
Well, I'm almost done packing, just a few small things here and there to shove in a few open places in my duffle bag or bookbag. The big stuff's out of the way. I leave tomorrow! It's here! Keep us in your prayers as we make our way out there early Monday morning!
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