The near future

1 week worth of finals
2 weeks worth of normal undergrad classes
3 weeks left in Cedar Falls and until graduation
4 weeks until Christmas
5 weeks until Nicaragua
:) Senioritis kickin' in

Backpacking...a memory for sure

So this weekend I have the grand opportunity to go on a backpacking trip.  As some of you know I was super enthusiastic to join this backpacking class but as the trip approached and I learned of the forecast rain I quickly lost my grand ol' attitude.  The rain, however, was very least of my concerns.

Let's start at the beginning...

We go to the WRC and my group is riding in Shaggy's van.  Now Shaggy is in her late 50's early 60's, she has a tattoo under her right eye (which I found out this weekend she got a year ago to cover her gang tats), and when asked where she is from she will tell you no where, her family was traveling performers.  Ok so that just gives you a little taste of the driver of this vehicle. 

Well immediately our van of 5 got separated from the group....Shaggy forgot to get gas.  So we left late and we went about 20mph over the speed limit.  I thought Terrin was going to get car (or van in this case) sick.  The greatest part was that as we were speeding down the road another girl on the trip announced that she was not going to pay for a speeding ticket.  We were about 10 miles from the park when we watched as a state trooper did a Uturn and the lights went on.  He only gave us a warning but we were slowing down to stop so I think we just got really lucky...or I should say Shaggy got really lucky.

We got to the park finally and began hiking.  It was a good hike but we had to stop frequently.  Shaggy shared with us that she had 12 shots of Vodka the night before...made me feel even safer that I had just ridden in her car for two hours.  NOT.  It was also raining most of this time.  We only hiked for a few hours before setting up camp.  We quickly set up our tents and just had a waiting game.

We spent the afternoon attempting to play capture the flag in the forest.  Note to self: When there is a large present of thorns don't try running through them, it's usually not successful!  We also played some games, made lots of food, and asked some questions out of my professor's famous QUESTIONS BOOK.

Later that night...

We heard many ghost stories, some more believable than others, from some of the outdoor rec guys that worked at Camp Foster last summer.  Then Shaggy decided to tell her ghost stories....or stories in general...  [I know it seems like I may be picking on Shaggy, but really she is just such a character that if I were to ever write a book, she would be it's star] 

Shaggy story #1:
Shaggy moved into a house in Texas with her father.  She decided to take the attic room and that night saw a spirit of a man.  [this may be a good time to note that Shaggy is native American]  She told us that you can never see a face of a spirit but any way this man didn't like her much.  She tried to hold a seance but couldn't because he father kept falling asleep and therefore the whole circle never completed.  Her friends stopped wanting to come over so she moved out.

Shaggy story #2:
Her husband haunts her old house.  Her grandchildren have seen him.  She told us that she just ignores him, just like she did when he was alive.

Shaggy story #3:
[This is the one where began to think she was full of it or crazy] She can look into people's eyes and see things about them.  She told us about this time she was I think at the mall or something and looked into this man's eyes.  She saw he was going to be stabbed and told him he was going to stabbed on Halloween.  He said it was his birthday and he was going to a party.  She told him that he needed to take someone with him to save him.  Two weeks later...the man knocked on her door.  He wasn't wearing a shirt and had been stabbed.  He called her a witch...

Shaggy story #4:
[we were rolling by then end of this one...it was fun to see my professor's face...he was sitting behind her.]  She told us she can also make people do thing with her mind.  She used this power for bad things when she was younger.  [This next piece is my fav...]  She can also now tell what people are going to do.  Her example you ask?  She knew that the cop was going to pull her over.  At this point I just burst out laughing.  Terrin leaned over to me and whisper..."I could have told you that...she were going 85 in a 55!!!!"

After this we went to bed...or at least attempted to.

Sleeping didn't really happen: 1. We had built our tent on a curve...our heads were going down and so were out feet. BAD IDEA!  2. It was FREEZING!  3. Mummy sleeping bags are stupid.  When I was in high school I had a lot of trouble with my knees and now every time it rains they get really achy.  It's difficult to stretch that out when you are in a little mummy sleeping bag.

Overall it was a fun experience, with VERY interesting people and I would do it again, maybe build my tent somewhere else but you get the idea. :)

My Dad

Last night as I was driving home from Hy-Vee I all of a sudden realized how much I was like my Dad.  One of the things that used to drive me insane when I was younger was that my father can never take the same route to and from a location.  He always has to take one way there and a different way back.  He would call it "the scenic route."  I used to tell him I would never learn my way around because he always took different routes so I could never learn them.  What really got me last night was when I realize I always take one route to Hy-Vee (leave my apartment, got N. on South Main, turn on to University and then turn in at Valley Park Dr.) but for some reason I ALWAYS take a different way home from Hy-Vee (go out toward Boulder and take the back roads around to Orchard then go back North to my apartment.)  I know it is silly to find this amusing but as I got home and was telling my roommates how I'm like my dad I realized something else that I got from my father, the purpose of my going to Hy-Vee in fact.

If you have every watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you know that the father in that movie thinks that Windex will cure all things: every alignment, every cut, etc.  Well my family finds this hilarious because this is how we grew up thinking about Vicks.  If you don't know what Vicks is then first of all shame on you, but it's a vapor rub.  I remember my father sticking this stuff in my nose as a child and telling him it smelled and I didn't like it!  He was always assure me that if i wore it, in the morning I would feel so much better.  And here I sit, with a cold and a nose and chest covered in Vicks, which was my purpose of going to Hy-Vee at nine o'clock last night. 

I am proud to say that there are more things than just my ADD driving and cold remedies that are just like my dad, but these are just my recent realizations.  Love you Dad!

Last First week of School...as an undergrad student I guess

It seems like I have been in school for forever but at the same time no time at all...how can this be?  Well I will give you the big ideas of how my first week has gone.

I LOVE my apartment! My bed is lofted, which isn't my fav but I have lots of room and a futon to take naps on :)  I also get my own sink and only share a bathroom with my immediate roommate.  This doesn't seem big but when you are living with 10 other people it is!  I love having lots of roommates.  Today four of us went on a walk around Cedar Falls.  It was fun to get to talk to Farren, a roommate I just met, but absolutely love already! 

Ministry has been hard getting started.  First of all I feel really disconnected to campus since I am only here for a semester.  On Tuesday I just decided to tell God: Lord, I don't want to serve you right now, I don't feel like this is where I want to be, etc etc.  But lets get real, God always knows just what to say to encourage me.  It came from 2 Timothy 1:7 "He has not given you the spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline."  Guess what the one who is in me is SWEET-power? Love? self-discipline? it is exactly what I need!  I am still struggling getting a bible study together but think my apartment is going to be a good starting place, today on our walk I talking to Farren about it and she is in.

Classes are going extremely well!  It's easily going to be my easiest semester since I was a freshman.  I love many of my classes, ok all but my Capstone and Methods of Science.  My Capstone is entertaining because my professor is a stick it to the man kinda guy, hilarious comments that are often inappropriate; The class however is about science terms that are way over my head and i can't pronounce.  Methods of Science is just plain boring.  I have decided to dedicate my time to working on my doodles and building relationships with the girls that sit at my table, possibly by writing notes.  Our professor reads off of a wordy PowerPoint that she posts online. 

My time with God has been awesome since coming to school!  I have these very awkward breaks in my school day that are like 2-3 hrs long so I just stay on campus, hemisphere lounge of the Union, and do my quiet times and some homework.  It's been awesome.  I am reading through Acts and I love it!  As I am about to embark on a new journey next semester it is really good for me to see how the first church is run and just their love and fellowship with each other.  It has also been sweet to see the faithfulness of God, in the end of Acts 2 it talks about how God gave them favor in the eyes of all people and was bring new believers into their group daily!  WOW! I am beginning to pray that for this not just of Navs but for this campus.  It makes me so excited to see what God has in store next!

Tuesday night was Nav night and it was flippin' AMAZING!  First of all we had to sit on the floor and stand in the back because there were so many people!!!!!!!  Worship was great with the packed house!  Kyle Nelsen did a great job of explaining what the Navigators is all about and laying out the gospel.  I am so excited to see how God is going to work through this ministry with him leading it!  Also as student leaders we are praying for over 100 students to sign up for Main Event this year.  We are going to take charter buses if we can get enough people to go!

Ok, last but not least I am reading a book/going through a bible study with the book Calm My Anxious Heart. It's so great!  I am learning so much from this amazingly wise woman!  I started reading it after I got really anxious about student teaching over the summer.  It has been so great to just let go and let God take over.  This weeks memory verse was Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  WOW!  I have had this memorized for a long time but I haven't really meditated on it.  I have learned that we have a choice when we are tempted to anxiety a.We can become anxious and nervous and just a mess or b. We can pray!  Pray specifically for what we are tempted to be anxious about and pray for peace, which is God's part.  Our part is to pray.  God's part is to give us peace.  This has changed not only the way I have been dealing with my anxiety but also my prayer life. 
One of the activities I did this week was right out the positive and negative parts of my circumstances at this time of my life.  So i did this.  Then it asked which one do you dwell on...ok I had a TON more in my positive side yet much of my time is spent on the negative part.  Dang!  Philippians 4:9 says "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you."  It takes practice to give our anxieties to God.  It takes practice to pray specifically.  It takes practice to be thankful.  It takes practice to dwell on the positive.

So here are my thoughts, lessons and processings for the week.  Hope you enjoy! :)

I am the worst blogger in the world! - Prayer (week 5)

I have decided I am most definetly the worst blogger in the world...pretty much because I don't do it AT ALL! I just forget about it. I love reading others and then after I am done reading theirs I don't do my own. So here is an attempt as writing about what has gone on over the past month and a half.

1. Faith, Prayer, and promises week! (July 5-10)

This was a sweet week for me! I was just able to really look at my prayer life and first see how little my view of God is. It's amazing how closely linked these three things are. A highlight this week were actually from our bible study:

a. Are you not? Who have you discovered God to be?

Over the course of my life God has proven to be many things. He is a provider (meeting all of my needs according to his glorious riches Philippians 4:19), He is sovereign even when it seems like things are out of control, His is powerful, He is faithful. I could go on and on. Who have YOU discovered God to be?

b. Did you not? What has God done for you?

He let me discover his love! I became a believer because God revealed his peace to me. He provided me with a family. He loves me unconditionally. He has given me amazing friends who encourage me in my walk with the Lord.

c.Will you not? What are you believing God to do in and through you?

So what am I praying? I believe God will provide give men in exchange for my life Isaiah 43:4. I believe He will grant me wisdom when I ask and when I'm in need Proverbs 31:36. I believe He will guide me when I am lost and confused on what to do next Proverbs 3:5-6. I believe He will also protect me Psalm 32:7. I believe God will make me into the woman He desires me to be- Phil 1:6 & Gal 5:22-23

I was asked this summer by a friend what is my biggest fear. I told her being alone was my biggest fear. Even thinking about it makes my heart hurt. Promise I am claiming: "...and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20 I hate being lonely, but Jesus promises us that He will be with us always, where ever we are: if we are in Jacksonville or Slater or Cedar Falls or Managua, Nicaragua; He is there with us! Praise God!

Ok I was going to do a summary of all the weeks but I'll do them in separate posts so it won't be overwhelming.

Fun things this week:

1. Group date with Troublemakers

The date ask is on facebook in two parts!  If you can take a look at the video-very creative

We went to a condo on the 18th floor, on the beach!  SO BEAUTIFUL!  Then the guys made us an amazing dinner and we played catch phrase.  My abs hurt so much from laughing after this 5 hour date!

Just ignore my blabbering about how awesome it is, just look for yourself and imagine you were actually there!

2. We dressed up as cows for "cow appreciation week"

This is my work groups: L to R-Me, Kayla, the cow, Jeff, and Emily!  Jeff was a little embaressed by us.  We stopped to get gas and Kayla was mooing out the window at other customers.  Jeff appoligized "Sorry for my friends."  Haha...too funny!

3. Sunrise Sunday morning before church!

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

July 4th weekend: Last E-training week

All I can says is wow! It was a challenging and exhausting weekend. We had so many people here with it being family weekend and 4th of July! But it was also very joyful too!

It was our last week of evangelism training. I went out with Laura Tyler(LT) this week. The first people we came up to wanted to listen to us but while we were sharing seemed really uninterested and told us they were already believers. We kept walking down the beach and prayed for the two girls we had talked to. As we were talking we passed a group of six girls. We usually only talk to groups of less than three...it's a lot less intimidating and much more personal. But I really felt like we should go talk to them. I told Laura this and she's like "I don't like talking to big groups" and I said "I don't either but they are all girls and they aren't doing anything." Before we approach we quickly prayed for boldness and courage because we were pretty scared.

We went to the three girls on the far end and asked if they wanted to see an illustration of the main theme of the bible. The girl on the end pointed to the third girl in and said "I think she wants to see it." I asked all three girls if we could share it with all of them. They agreed. The girl who wanted to see it was named Nikki and then there was Elizabeth and Bri.

As I started the bridge illustration they were joking and Iw asn't sure how it was going to go. Once we got to our testimonies though they became much more serious. After I shared mine I asked LT to share hers and I saw on the face of one of the girls that she could really relate to the ways God had brought Laura to Himself. We continued on and were talking about how it's not just knowing that God has saved you from your sin but it has to be a heart thing, a relationship. Nikki asked "Yeah, how do you do that?" We told her she had to turn from her sins and trust God that He forgave her and let Him lead her life. She told us she had really been thinking about it a lot lately. I was so excited. God had really been speaking to her heart and a seed had already been planted but He used LT and I to really point her toward Christ.

None of the three girls accepted Christ that we know of but we did get to pray for them before we left. We asked them what we could pray for them about and Elizabeth, one who hadn't really said much said guidance. I ask if you are reading this to please pray for Nikk, Elizabeth and Bri. Pray God would be ministering to their hearts and they would accept the gift God is giving them. LT and I left really encouraged by what God had done and just the opportunity He gave us to share the truth with these girls. We literally couldn't stop smiling :) Even in our weakness God used us.

The fourth was wonderful. We went to the beach and the waves were absolutely crazy as well as the number of people there. They shot fireworks off the end of the pier. It was a great time of fellowship and I brought home enough sand in my stuff to make a sand castle in our room. :)

Today was the beginning of prayer week!

Who Am I Really?

Welcome to Identity in Christ week. I feel like this is a question I am constantly asking myself. Who am I? What is my purpose? The bible has a lot to say about this and I have been learning a bunch about the lies I have been believing about myself and the truth, the way God sees me.

As people in this society we are constantly are giving and receiving messages about who we are and who others are. This could be something someone told you or even an event in our lives. As I think about the times where God really broke down my identity to make me trust Him more, one in particular comes to mind. When I was a sophomore in high school I got a varsity suit. I was then devistated that as a Junior I was denied one at the beginning of the season. It felt like everything I ever knew about myself was untrue. One of the things that God really taught me during this time was that I was more than just basketball, infact I wasn't basketball at all. Basketball became something I enjoyed rather than something that defined me.

Basketball was something that had made me feel good about myself but I think the false identities that make us feel bad about ourselves are even worse. In high school I wasn't very well excepted. I had one good friend but was being left out of things often. These events allowed satan to tell me lies like: You're not lovable, you are pretty enough, you aren't someone people like to spend time with. Last fall at Main Event confrence in Kansas City I identified these as lies that I still have trouble combatting. I can see how they effect me and still wrestle with them in my friendships which can make me insecure at times.

One of the things I've really been learning this week is just how to look only at who God says I am. God doesn't want us to find pride or sadness in anything that people tell us but rely on what He says as truth. What is really cool is that we have been given the fullness of Christ's identity when we accepted His gift of salvation. For bible study this week we looked at Ephesians 2. We made a list of who we were before Christ and now after.

Before: dead in transgressions & sin, following the world, disobedient, objects of wrath (ouch!), separate from Christ, excluded, without hope, without God and LOVED.

After: alive, receivers of Grace, God's workmanship, citizens of God's people, members of God's household, dwelling in the Spirit of God, and LOVED.

It's sweet that this is how God sees us every day! I can't wait until Heaven and my experience of who I am is the same with the way God knows me.

I think a good way to show you what I've learned this week is for you to watch this video. A couple of the team leaders I work with were talking uabout it and so I showed it to my girls as part of our bible study last night. Please watch it. Oh and one last thing. I just found out today that one of our staff was diagnoised with breast cancer and is having surgery on the 14th. They found it extremely early and she is having a mastectomy and they don't even think she will need any other treatment so praise God for that, but just be praying for fast recovery for Patty would be wonderful!

Video: You are Special