Hey family and friends,
Well, we have had one long adventure filled week!
We worked last week at several different schools all the while going back to the school we have been at for the last two weeks. We visited tiny country schools that had never had foriegners/Christians visit there. We also visited an all girl school and another high school, and went back to the high school we visited last week (the one near the 100 year market). With every school came much dancing (they tried to get us white people to look elegant...interesting!) alot of food (Wow! They blessed our socks off with overwhelming hospitality and thoughtfulness for foreigners.) and most of all smiling children who spoke from wonderful English to just a smattering of shy attempts. With every school it seemed we left just a small piece of our heart with the sweet students,
The major event for the weekend was the English Camp that we helped run over Saturday and Sunday. We were divided up into ten teams. My team, called the Ninjas consisted of Panda (He reminded me a ton of my brother Christopher.), Setta (The class clown.) Nurse (The oldest ) Benz (The social butterfly.) Pond (The quiet one.) and finally Cake (who was an avid student and loved to read and take lots of notes!).
We were all headed about three hours north, but half way through the drive we stopped at the famous museum for the Thailand-Burma Death Railroad. This museum and the adjacent cemetery hold so much fascinating and yet revolting history from WW2. It was a bit overwhelming trying to explain as much history to the kids as possible. We then drove further north and found the resort we were staying at. Yep, Resort! It was beautiful! It was situated right on the River Kwai. It was so beautiful and jungly! We had classes that afternoon, game time, swimming time and then ate some of the best food ( Which included french fries!) since arriving in Thailand.
After supper we were watched the live show that the resort puts on called The Light and Sound of the River Kwai. The outdoors half an hour presentation told of the history of the area and the Death Railroad....it featured a miniature bridge which “blew up, actors, and finally fireworks! The Americans on the team were especially excited for the fireworks because it was July 3rd! After the show we got to meet the owner of the resort who we found out was a teacher for years and out of his love of history and in memory of personal friends who worked on the railroad bought the resort, which boasts of a 15 acre museum and the Light and Sound show.
Sunday brought more English classes and games and then after lunch and a broken down bus (the transmission went out as we were going down a hill) a long and sad goodbye to all the students and teachers which had opened their hearts and schools for us. We were so sad to say goodbye, but trust that God will tend the soil of such tender hearts.
After a short stop at the Bridge over the River Kwai, we headed with our local Thai contacts to a surprise for our team for the evening, We found our that they had rented a barge on the river. It was so delightful to spend the Fourth of July floating down a river, the night concluded with lots of food, meeting new friends a dance mash and finally worship on the river.
The next day we jumped on a night bus and headed ten hours north to Chaing Rai, which is only 45 minutes from the Burmese border.
We are working with the Chaing Rai YWAM base here for the next three week. We will be doing street evangelism, teaching English in schools, playing sports and helping in the YWAM ran smoothie shop. I am excited to see what God has in store. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue to adjust as a team and to the culture that we are serving in.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Week Two in Thailand
Greetings and salutations,
Well it is Monday here which means a start of another great week teaching English as well as some other exciting opportunities which I will indulge you in later.
We have been here at the school for a full week now and have had the joy of watching the kids open their hearts to us. The kids are very enthusiastic, welcoming and have generally overcome their shyness. We have had the opportunity to work from every age from kindergarten to eight grades.
I have been working with two Philippine sisters. The sisters teach most of the Basic English classes here. It has been such a blessing to work with sisters; we make each other laugh a lot! The fact that they teach all ages makes the day pretty interesting, but tiring by the end of the day. We have been doing quite a bit of testing which has been a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with many of the students.
On Wednesday we were blessed as a team to be invited over to one of the teachers’ houses for Supper. Michael, a transplanted Canadian, is one of the Advanced English teachers here. He just built a house a stone’s throw from the school and it is extremely westernized! He has a full kitchen, AC!, a big screen TV ect… he decided to double bless us and make mashed potatoes, fried chicken, carrots and gravy for supper…it was delicious! The girls made a confetti birthday cake for Laura to celebrate her birthday.
On Thursday our team split, half stayed behind to teach English, and the other half headed off for unknown adventures at a high school an hour away. Danni and I were among those that went to the high school. We were greeted with much ceremony and smiles. We were introduced by our guide amidst lots of laughter…so while we are not really sure what was said at least it was funny! We do know that our guide told them that we were with YWAM and that we were Christians. After the ceremony we walked with about 25 of the girls to the nearby market and museum called Suphan Buri. The market is very old and famous. They took us around to all their favorite vendors, explaining the many exotic looking items in giggly English. It was such a hot day the girls helped me buy a hat...a floppy pink hat with a big gold flower! By the time we left later that afternoon, amidst cries of ‘don’t forget us’, we had all become friends. So many things can be communicated without verbal language. Our team felt so blessed. We had gone there praying that in some way we could show the love of Christ through our actions and words, and we had all gone away feeling doubly blessed. Please pray that we will have another opportunity to go back and share with them.
On Saturday we helped with a kindergarten English morning. We had about 50-75 kids and their parents. We were mostly just there to help, as the entire morning had already been planned out. We did lead a nice rousing round of ‘If Your Happy and You Know It’…seriously between that song, Hokey Pokey and London Bridge I don’t think I have ever sang so much in my life. Thanks mom for all the kids songs you sang to us!
On Sunday we visited the local church, doubling the congregation, their pastor, Felix is spoke an encouraging message of God’s love. The worship time was especially fun because the congregation sang praise choruses simultaneously in Thai and English. After fellowshipping our team headed back to the hotel for some much needed down time.
Well, that’s about all folks. Please keep us in your prayers!
Well it is Monday here which means a start of another great week teaching English as well as some other exciting opportunities which I will indulge you in later.
We have been here at the school for a full week now and have had the joy of watching the kids open their hearts to us. The kids are very enthusiastic, welcoming and have generally overcome their shyness. We have had the opportunity to work from every age from kindergarten to eight grades.
I have been working with two Philippine sisters. The sisters teach most of the Basic English classes here. It has been such a blessing to work with sisters; we make each other laugh a lot! The fact that they teach all ages makes the day pretty interesting, but tiring by the end of the day. We have been doing quite a bit of testing which has been a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with many of the students.
On Wednesday we were blessed as a team to be invited over to one of the teachers’ houses for Supper. Michael, a transplanted Canadian, is one of the Advanced English teachers here. He just built a house a stone’s throw from the school and it is extremely westernized! He has a full kitchen, AC!, a big screen TV ect… he decided to double bless us and make mashed potatoes, fried chicken, carrots and gravy for supper…it was delicious! The girls made a confetti birthday cake for Laura to celebrate her birthday.
On Thursday our team split, half stayed behind to teach English, and the other half headed off for unknown adventures at a high school an hour away. Danni and I were among those that went to the high school. We were greeted with much ceremony and smiles. We were introduced by our guide amidst lots of laughter…so while we are not really sure what was said at least it was funny! We do know that our guide told them that we were with YWAM and that we were Christians. After the ceremony we walked with about 25 of the girls to the nearby market and museum called Suphan Buri. The market is very old and famous. They took us around to all their favorite vendors, explaining the many exotic looking items in giggly English. It was such a hot day the girls helped me buy a hat...a floppy pink hat with a big gold flower! By the time we left later that afternoon, amidst cries of ‘don’t forget us’, we had all become friends. So many things can be communicated without verbal language. Our team felt so blessed. We had gone there praying that in some way we could show the love of Christ through our actions and words, and we had all gone away feeling doubly blessed. Please pray that we will have another opportunity to go back and share with them.
On Saturday we helped with a kindergarten English morning. We had about 50-75 kids and their parents. We were mostly just there to help, as the entire morning had already been planned out. We did lead a nice rousing round of ‘If Your Happy and You Know It’…seriously between that song, Hokey Pokey and London Bridge I don’t think I have ever sang so much in my life. Thanks mom for all the kids songs you sang to us!
On Sunday we visited the local church, doubling the congregation, their pastor, Felix is spoke an encouraging message of God’s love. The worship time was especially fun because the congregation sang praise choruses simultaneously in Thai and English. After fellowshipping our team headed back to the hotel for some much needed down time.
Well, that’s about all folks. Please keep us in your prayers!
Thailand Take Two!
Hi friends,
Well, we have been here in Thailand for about one week so I thought that I would fill you in on the happenings.
There are thirteen people on our team. We arrive here on the 18 of June and spent the first two days in Bangkok in orientation. After lecture, we went on a scavenger hunt around the YWAM base and surrounding neighborhoods. We visited a coffee stand (yay!), visited the open market and ate weird parts of chicken (EW!), met the locals and hung out in the 7-11 (the only place with AC), walked around the King’s University praying and then met up with the rest of the YWAM team for lunch at the Turtle…we went here five years ago and it was still just as good as I remembered!
The next day we arose early to head into downtown Bangkok…two hours away, to play tourists for the day. We were able to visit several temples I had been to before and also a few new ones. First we jumped on a bus, sky train and then a boat to visit Wat Pho…the largest lying down Buddha in the world! The temple complex is expansive and has courtyards full of rows and rows of Buddhas. It is the oldest Wat (temple) in Bangkok and so many of the idols are hundreds of years old. It is a little overwhelming and you can feel the spiritual oppression. Next we walked down to the river through some slums, got on another boat and went to the Golden Mount. The Golden Mount is one of the highest places in Bangkok. It has a lot of historical significance which I tried to understand but since most of the signs were in Thai…I didn’t have a lot of success. The view was expansive so we took the time to pray over the city. Oh my, it was soo hot by then that we decided on lunch by the river…we ate Moo Ping (Grilled Pork) with Peanut Sauce, a noodle dish which names escapes me…and Thai Milk Tea which is the yummy!
Afterwards, we went down the river to the palace. The admission for the actual palace courtyard is super expensive and so we satisfied our time by visiting the city guardians. There are five of them and all are housed in the most elaborate shrines I have ever seen. They are different idols which represent protection, wealth, health ect…There was lots of incense and people lying prostrate on the floor crying, singing…it was very surreal…and very sad. As we walked around the temples we prayed that God would open their eyes and that would learn to call out to the only one true living God.
On Sunday we headed two hours north. All we knew is that Sweete an English professor had set us up to work in a town called Supanburi with a private school and we would be staying two weeks.
We arrived to find that the owners of the school owned a hotel so we would be staying there in the Mind Hotel. The rooms were nice and clean and had an added blessing of AC! The only downfall is that we are in the same lot as a nightclub which likes to play their base so loud after midnight it shakes our windows. After we settled in, our local contact Dum, took us to meet the local pastor, Felix. Felix greeted us at his tiny church with such excitement and passion that we were caught unprepared. He and the rest of the locals made us very extremely welcomed…they took us to supper. The food was amazing…the majority of it was seafood so I ate squid for the first time!
On Monday we were taken to the school to meet the owner, teacher and of course students! The school is privately owned and so it is very different then the school we taught at before. It is fairly Western looking; they have a pool a library and AC in the teachers’ lounge. We are the first foreign volunteers and first Christians to ever visit the school. Because it is a private school they do have an intense English program and three Americans who teach it. We will be assisting the teachers in the both the basic and advanced classes with accents, conversations and generally encouraging the kids to engage in fun activity and practice their English. As before a lot of the English that they know is very robotic and doesn’t actually hold a lot of meaning to them.
The kids are generally very well behaved; welcoming and shy! We divided up and assist the different teachers in the morning and then at lunch try to play/talk with the kids and then head back to the classrooms after lunch. The English levels range from none to fairly understandable.
Will write later with more details…please pray for our team that we have grace for each other, that we will be prayer warriors, that we will be a Light. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
I love and miss each one of you!
Well, we have been here in Thailand for about one week so I thought that I would fill you in on the happenings.
There are thirteen people on our team. We arrive here on the 18 of June and spent the first two days in Bangkok in orientation. After lecture, we went on a scavenger hunt around the YWAM base and surrounding neighborhoods. We visited a coffee stand (yay!), visited the open market and ate weird parts of chicken (EW!), met the locals and hung out in the 7-11 (the only place with AC), walked around the King’s University praying and then met up with the rest of the YWAM team for lunch at the Turtle…we went here five years ago and it was still just as good as I remembered!
The next day we arose early to head into downtown Bangkok…two hours away, to play tourists for the day. We were able to visit several temples I had been to before and also a few new ones. First we jumped on a bus, sky train and then a boat to visit Wat Pho…the largest lying down Buddha in the world! The temple complex is expansive and has courtyards full of rows and rows of Buddhas. It is the oldest Wat (temple) in Bangkok and so many of the idols are hundreds of years old. It is a little overwhelming and you can feel the spiritual oppression. Next we walked down to the river through some slums, got on another boat and went to the Golden Mount. The Golden Mount is one of the highest places in Bangkok. It has a lot of historical significance which I tried to understand but since most of the signs were in Thai…I didn’t have a lot of success. The view was expansive so we took the time to pray over the city. Oh my, it was soo hot by then that we decided on lunch by the river…we ate Moo Ping (Grilled Pork) with Peanut Sauce, a noodle dish which names escapes me…and Thai Milk Tea which is the yummy!
Afterwards, we went down the river to the palace. The admission for the actual palace courtyard is super expensive and so we satisfied our time by visiting the city guardians. There are five of them and all are housed in the most elaborate shrines I have ever seen. They are different idols which represent protection, wealth, health ect…There was lots of incense and people lying prostrate on the floor crying, singing…it was very surreal…and very sad. As we walked around the temples we prayed that God would open their eyes and that would learn to call out to the only one true living God.
On Sunday we headed two hours north. All we knew is that Sweete an English professor had set us up to work in a town called Supanburi with a private school and we would be staying two weeks.
We arrived to find that the owners of the school owned a hotel so we would be staying there in the Mind Hotel. The rooms were nice and clean and had an added blessing of AC! The only downfall is that we are in the same lot as a nightclub which likes to play their base so loud after midnight it shakes our windows. After we settled in, our local contact Dum, took us to meet the local pastor, Felix. Felix greeted us at his tiny church with such excitement and passion that we were caught unprepared. He and the rest of the locals made us very extremely welcomed…they took us to supper. The food was amazing…the majority of it was seafood so I ate squid for the first time!
On Monday we were taken to the school to meet the owner, teacher and of course students! The school is privately owned and so it is very different then the school we taught at before. It is fairly Western looking; they have a pool a library and AC in the teachers’ lounge. We are the first foreign volunteers and first Christians to ever visit the school. Because it is a private school they do have an intense English program and three Americans who teach it. We will be assisting the teachers in the both the basic and advanced classes with accents, conversations and generally encouraging the kids to engage in fun activity and practice their English. As before a lot of the English that they know is very robotic and doesn’t actually hold a lot of meaning to them.
The kids are generally very well behaved; welcoming and shy! We divided up and assist the different teachers in the morning and then at lunch try to play/talk with the kids and then head back to the classrooms after lunch. The English levels range from none to fairly understandable.
Will write later with more details…please pray for our team that we have grace for each other, that we will be prayer warriors, that we will be a Light. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
I love and miss each one of you!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Hi!
Well we have been here for two weeks.
We have survived culture shock. We have learned what noise is again. What cafeteria food is…ew! That 300+ people on base means that you only have to do chores twice a week rather than several hours every day. That that there are lots of new people to meet…but that means you have to actually talk to them. That knocking is a rarity. But mostly that it is very weird to be here without my family. This is the same base that we were here on five years ago…I was in my last year of high school so I did not participate in the DTS…which is why I am here doing it now.
No, overall the other staff and students here have been extremely welcoming and gracious towards us. They have known that we were coming since the beginning of the school so that is a blessing that we are not too much of shock for people.
The first week were here was full of confusion, meeting our team that we are going to Thailand with along with the rest of the school…it is a smaller school which is a blessing…only 25 people. I am still learning names though...there is a library here so it really can’t be helped.
Our first week here, a pastor named Nick spoke on evangelism, wow he was overwhelming…in a GREAT way! He had a whole booklet of notes for us to go through… notes that I am still absorbing. God has used him a mighty way over the years. At first, because of his upfront personality I was actually a bit scared of him. But then he came up to me one day and started to tell me things, that there is no way he could know unless God had told him. He started praying over me, praying the exact same things that four of the previous speakers had prayed over me. I was soo amazed/blessed. On Friday all of the staff surrounded each student and prayed over each of us individually…I cried more then I have cried in years! God has been speaking a lot lately and I am excited for the future!
This week we had our first women speaker…Mrs. Reona. Mrs. Reona was originally from New Zealand and she has been with YWAM for 47 years! She is a legend of faith! She spoke of spiritual warfare. She knocked my socks off. She was very intense, detailed and organized. We spent hours on dissecting the Amour of God…she explained the significance of every piece in such detail, with scripture to enhance each idea. She quoted scripture like some people talk about the weather. Many of us found ourselves say...”When I grow up I want to be just like her!”
For horsemanship up here we are loving on some lonely horses that have been pastured all winter, some of them have never been broke and none of them had been groomed of months. So we have had our work cut out for us, fixing fences, tearing up deer eaten water lines, grooming, and Laura has been shoeing and breaking them.
I am adjusting well and am actually starting to like it here! It still feels weird being here without my family, but God is all over us being up here…so there is no place I would rather be! We only have two more weeks before we leave for Thailand so pray for our team that we will grow together in unity and preparation!
We have survived culture shock. We have learned what noise is again. What cafeteria food is…ew! That 300+ people on base means that you only have to do chores twice a week rather than several hours every day. That that there are lots of new people to meet…but that means you have to actually talk to them. That knocking is a rarity. But mostly that it is very weird to be here without my family. This is the same base that we were here on five years ago…I was in my last year of high school so I did not participate in the DTS…which is why I am here doing it now.
No, overall the other staff and students here have been extremely welcoming and gracious towards us. They have known that we were coming since the beginning of the school so that is a blessing that we are not too much of shock for people.
The first week were here was full of confusion, meeting our team that we are going to Thailand with along with the rest of the school…it is a smaller school which is a blessing…only 25 people. I am still learning names though...there is a library here so it really can’t be helped.
Our first week here, a pastor named Nick spoke on evangelism, wow he was overwhelming…in a GREAT way! He had a whole booklet of notes for us to go through… notes that I am still absorbing. God has used him a mighty way over the years. At first, because of his upfront personality I was actually a bit scared of him. But then he came up to me one day and started to tell me things, that there is no way he could know unless God had told him. He started praying over me, praying the exact same things that four of the previous speakers had prayed over me. I was soo amazed/blessed. On Friday all of the staff surrounded each student and prayed over each of us individually…I cried more then I have cried in years! God has been speaking a lot lately and I am excited for the future!
This week we had our first women speaker…Mrs. Reona. Mrs. Reona was originally from New Zealand and she has been with YWAM for 47 years! She is a legend of faith! She spoke of spiritual warfare. She knocked my socks off. She was very intense, detailed and organized. We spent hours on dissecting the Amour of God…she explained the significance of every piece in such detail, with scripture to enhance each idea. She quoted scripture like some people talk about the weather. Many of us found ourselves say...”When I grow up I want to be just like her!”
For horsemanship up here we are loving on some lonely horses that have been pastured all winter, some of them have never been broke and none of them had been groomed of months. So we have had our work cut out for us, fixing fences, tearing up deer eaten water lines, grooming, and Laura has been shoeing and breaking them.
I am adjusting well and am actually starting to like it here! It still feels weird being here without my family, but God is all over us being up here…so there is no place I would rather be! We only have two more weeks before we leave for Thailand so pray for our team that we will grow together in unity and preparation!
The Last of Wyoming
So I won’t even try to make excuses for not writing this last month, every excuse in the book would just sound lame. I am very sorry though and I do sincerely apologize. Here is a recap our last weeks in Wyoming.
Andy Taylor spoke on the fatherheart of God. He is a sweet pastor from Oklahoma. He is on the forefront of being change to the 21st century Church. His approach on the subject was from a different angle then I had ever heard. Godly ideas just presented in a very different way. His whole message could be summed up with the saying: “God is what He is, Father is who He is.” He spoke a lot on the orphan mentality and a generation who is growing up without any concept of who or what a Father is and how this dysfunction skews our understanding of God.
Scott MaCleod came and spoke the week after. Scott has been in the Christian Music industry for decades. He had so many amazing stories to tell about his switch from the industry to the pastoral. He shared on Worship as the occupation of the heart. He leads a frontier movement of worship and arts in downtown Nashville. He really got us thinking about Worship and what that means in the reflection of our lives.
Well it feel like we just got settled in a adapted to life out here, but we only have one week left. Jim Anderson.
Jim Anderson is a speaker/father from Washington who spoke on Relationships. He travels around the world speaking on a women’s heart…which kinda sounds weird..until you learn he is a father of six daughters and has a enormous amount of compassion and wisdom granted from God. He challenged us to exam our hearts about our attitude towards men, relationship, motherhood, prolife and get to what the Bible has to say rather then what might have been adapted from the culture or world influences. It was an emotional week.
As this was our last week, it flew by so fast! We were busy in class, chasing cows, packing and cleaning. On Sunday the 16th of May we said goodbye to our new friends in Wyoming and Laura, Danielle and I headed to the Lakeside, Montana base to meet with the rest of the team that we will be going to Thailand with. It was sad to leave Wyoming, but we know that God’s hand is in this plan and though we are worried about how large the base it 300+ people (compared to our base of 10 people)…we know we are headed to culture shock. …if you want the last pictures from Wyoming check out my facebook page.
Andy Taylor spoke on the fatherheart of God. He is a sweet pastor from Oklahoma. He is on the forefront of being change to the 21st century Church. His approach on the subject was from a different angle then I had ever heard. Godly ideas just presented in a very different way. His whole message could be summed up with the saying: “God is what He is, Father is who He is.” He spoke a lot on the orphan mentality and a generation who is growing up without any concept of who or what a Father is and how this dysfunction skews our understanding of God.
Scott MaCleod came and spoke the week after. Scott has been in the Christian Music industry for decades. He had so many amazing stories to tell about his switch from the industry to the pastoral. He shared on Worship as the occupation of the heart. He leads a frontier movement of worship and arts in downtown Nashville. He really got us thinking about Worship and what that means in the reflection of our lives.
Well it feel like we just got settled in a adapted to life out here, but we only have one week left. Jim Anderson.
Jim Anderson is a speaker/father from Washington who spoke on Relationships. He travels around the world speaking on a women’s heart…which kinda sounds weird..until you learn he is a father of six daughters and has a enormous amount of compassion and wisdom granted from God. He challenged us to exam our hearts about our attitude towards men, relationship, motherhood, prolife and get to what the Bible has to say rather then what might have been adapted from the culture or world influences. It was an emotional week.
As this was our last week, it flew by so fast! We were busy in class, chasing cows, packing and cleaning. On Sunday the 16th of May we said goodbye to our new friends in Wyoming and Laura, Danielle and I headed to the Lakeside, Montana base to meet with the rest of the team that we will be going to Thailand with. It was sad to leave Wyoming, but we know that God’s hand is in this plan and though we are worried about how large the base it 300+ people (compared to our base of 10 people)…we know we are headed to culture shock. …if you want the last pictures from Wyoming check out my facebook page.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thankful
Well my head hurts! I guess that is a good thing though... it just means that my head is getting crammed with lots of information...some new ideas...some thought provoking and some wonderful.
This week I realized just how incredible blessed I am to have this opportunity to just learn. Just learn more..more about Jesus. About my faith. About relationships. About trust. And on the occasion how NOT to make a peach cobbler.
But anyways back to being blessed. God has been faithful. He says if you ask He will show up! This week we had Steve who spoke on Identity in Christ as our speaker. He is the NW director of YWAM here in the USA. He is such a genuine and humble man with lots of wisdom. On a side note he was the base director in Salem, Or during the time that my family was involved at the base during my childhood. It was fun talking about people we both knew way back when...oh and also he has been to CRC (the camp I grew up at) in fact he was there only two weeks before he came here to Wyoming.Small world.
Cowboy Church on Thursday night is still going strong. This Thursday night we had an awesome time in prayer. There are some troubles in the small town next to the base...issues to do with the school and funding. Anyways, we spent sometime in prayer for the the town asking for some wisdom and unity in this issue.
I am tired. But I am incredible blessed. Blessed to be living in a free country. Blessed to be able to take this opportunity to learn. Blessed to have an AMAZING family who loves me. Blessed to have an amazing gang of friends that support me! So thank you so much! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. For your patience. For your love! Thank you so much!
This week I realized just how incredible blessed I am to have this opportunity to just learn. Just learn more..more about Jesus. About my faith. About relationships. About trust. And on the occasion how NOT to make a peach cobbler.
But anyways back to being blessed. God has been faithful. He says if you ask He will show up! This week we had Steve who spoke on Identity in Christ as our speaker. He is the NW director of YWAM here in the USA. He is such a genuine and humble man with lots of wisdom. On a side note he was the base director in Salem, Or during the time that my family was involved at the base during my childhood. It was fun talking about people we both knew way back when...oh and also he has been to CRC (the camp I grew up at) in fact he was there only two weeks before he came here to Wyoming.Small world.
Cowboy Church on Thursday night is still going strong. This Thursday night we had an awesome time in prayer. There are some troubles in the small town next to the base...issues to do with the school and funding. Anyways, we spent sometime in prayer for the the town asking for some wisdom and unity in this issue.
I am tired. But I am incredible blessed. Blessed to be living in a free country. Blessed to be able to take this opportunity to learn. Blessed to have an AMAZING family who loves me. Blessed to have an amazing gang of friends that support me! So thank you so much! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. For your patience. For your love! Thank you so much!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
What a lovely surprise! On Saturday I got to pick up three of my lovely sisters for a weekend visit, Kristin, Anna and Rachel. Danielle and I drove to Montana to pick them up …Danielle was quite the trooper driving miles (Thank you!) and then meeting all of my sisters! We have decided to adopt her into our sisterhood. It was a long drive...but thanks to Wyoming speed limit(75)it went by fast...and Jane even helped drive.
But our Mudd diffidently helped the most!
The weekend was filled with lots of good food, most of which Kristin made (Thanks sis!), but we did go to the Historical Irma on Sunday….had to get the touristy thing in.
The Irma is a hotel restaurant that Buffalo Bill founded and named after his eldest daughter. I couldn’t get a lot of good pictures because the lightening was horrible or at least that's what I will blame it on...
Then we found the best little coffee shop in Wyoming...they actually get their coffee from a brewer in Seattle(not Starbucks). It was sooo cute! We are diffidently going back!
On Monday the girls got to meet the lambs...Wiley and Auto...
...then we meet some of the horses...these are the base's new additions. They are actually Jo's...the little one is just weeks old, her name is Tripp. The Momma doesn't have a name yet.
These are the Bobbsey Twin Brothers.
Finally the girls got to ride for a little while. I have to say they all did great...but Rachel had the most fun!
We had lots of fun we stayed up late and they attended lecture too. Thanks for visiting! I Love Ya!
Week Three
Week three featured Rob Meyers as our speaker, he is AMAZING. He is affiliated with Idaho YWAM and has been coming here to CWAM for years. He spoke to us on Hearing the Voice of God. He is blessed with a wonderful gift in teaching and keeping your attention. We were warned ahead of time to make sure to keep all of our water glasses out of the way of his expressive arms and voice. Seriously though he had so much wisdom, and really made you think. I took 20 pages of notes in one week. We took some time to understand how we think of God and how that effects how we will talk to Him. We study Manassah and what God taught Him. We study David and how he communicated with God. We looked at our own prayer lives and asked do we only talk to God when we need him? Our ultimate goal should be we love Him, we want to know Him better and as a result we want to share everything in our lives. We were created for a relationship with Him and a healthy relationship should be a two way communication. When Rob finally had to leave, we tried to twist his arm and make him stay for the next eight weeks, but we were unsuccessful.
We are attending a small, ( I mean less than a hundred people…count ‘em.) small church in Cody. It is a nondenominational church, the pastor and his wife kinda tag team the service. It was good, but will take some getting used to, since it felt more like a bible study then an actual service. Good, but different. The pastor and his wife are super sweet though and staunch supports of CWAM.
All in all I am adjusting well and learning a ton. It is such a gift to spend lots of time studying the Word and growing in Him and relationship with other strong believers.
We are attending a small, ( I mean less than a hundred people…count ‘em.) small church in Cody. It is a nondenominational church, the pastor and his wife kinda tag team the service. It was good, but will take some getting used to, since it felt more like a bible study then an actual service. Good, but different. The pastor and his wife are super sweet though and staunch supports of CWAM.
All in all I am adjusting well and learning a ton. It is such a gift to spend lots of time studying the Word and growing in Him and relationship with other strong believers.
Pushin' Cattle
On the 5th of April we had the opportunity to head 18 miles up the road to help bring in 200 head of cattle down from their winter pasture. It was very exciting, but very nerve wracking. Since I was the only there who had NO idea what I was doing, my only goal was to stay out of every ones way. All of the base staff have at one time or another taken on ‘pushing jobs’ for the extra income and also to help build relationships with the community. Also many of them were raised on ranches or farms, so they have tons of experience and as a result take their job seriously.
It was a gorgeous day cold but not windy so it wasn’t freezing. We had to be up and out the door by 7am which was FUN as you know I am such a morning person. But it was a beautiful sunrise!
After unloading, Jo and Danielle took off after the strays and while the rest of us started to push the cattle down the pasture towards the road, it was slow going at first but once we got them moving they moved at a steady pace. Until we came to a bridge. Cows don’t like anything that makes weird noises, and since bridges make their hooves sound hollow they came to a complete standstill. We had to holler at the cows and then crack the reins on ground, normally this is a long process, but we cheated and had hay dropped in front of them to encourage them. It still took a long while, with the cattle pushing each other and then falling and skidding on the bridge. The trick is to get them to go across semi -calmly, so that they wouldn’t take off over the side of the bridge…which was a long ways down. It’s like making 200 three year olds go in the same direction for 18miles….they get distracted very easily. After we crossed the bridges it was easy going though and Laura said it was the most uneventful ride she had ever had. 
It was a beautiful ride; the biggest problem I had was my lack of experience. Gloria, my ride, is a cowhorse.
Since she is experienced with pushing cattle and cutting (that separating the younglings from the herd) she thought that the person riding her would know what she was doing….hahah. So we had a discussion the ENTIRE time. Every time she would see something wrong with the herd she would want to take off, literally galloping across the prairie, I would have to firmly rein her in, and then she would give me attitude because she was stuck with “an old lady”. I swear she rolled her eyes at me more than once. But we learned…I mean I learned, horses are much smarter then we give them credit for a lot of the time, and when in doubt, just hang on!
It was a gorgeous day cold but not windy so it wasn’t freezing. We had to be up and out the door by 7am which was FUN as you know I am such a morning person. But it was a beautiful sunrise!
After unloading, Jo and Danielle took off after the strays and while the rest of us started to push the cattle down the pasture towards the road, it was slow going at first but once we got them moving they moved at a steady pace. Until we came to a bridge. Cows don’t like anything that makes weird noises, and since bridges make their hooves sound hollow they came to a complete standstill. We had to holler at the cows and then crack the reins on ground, normally this is a long process, but we cheated and had hay dropped in front of them to encourage them. It still took a long while, with the cattle pushing each other and then falling and skidding on the bridge. The trick is to get them to go across semi -calmly, so that they wouldn’t take off over the side of the bridge…which was a long ways down. It’s like making 200 three year olds go in the same direction for 18miles….they get distracted very easily. After we crossed the bridges it was easy going though and Laura said it was the most uneventful ride she had ever had. 
It was a beautiful ride; the biggest problem I had was my lack of experience. Gloria, my ride, is a cowhorse.
Since she is experienced with pushing cattle and cutting (that separating the younglings from the herd) she thought that the person riding her would know what she was doing….hahah. So we had a discussion the ENTIRE time. Every time she would see something wrong with the herd she would want to take off, literally galloping across the prairie, I would have to firmly rein her in, and then she would give me attitude because she was stuck with “an old lady”. I swear she rolled her eyes at me more than once. But we learned…I mean I learned, horses are much smarter then we give them credit for a lot of the time, and when in doubt, just hang on! 
Friday, April 2, 2010
Pictures from my bedroom window.
On a nice day I can see for miles...the mountain in the distance is called Frank's. He was a guy who lived in the hills and died one day while hunting. He fell on his gun while crossing a fence...they think.
The amazing thing about living in a basin is you can see the storm rolling it.
It gets cold here...we might not have much snow, but the wind is evil which makes it bitterly cold.
On Thursday when it was frrreeezzying and windy we drove three miles away to check on some of the herd that Jo takes care of..I didn't get very many pictures because welll it was frrrreeezzzing. These are friendly yearlings.
But this one is Jo's favorite..oh yes, Jo is on staff here at CWAM, but she also trains colts.
This is Stud. He is a stud.
Danielle, Me and Jo
Sorry mom these were the only pictures I have from this week. I will do better next week!
The amazing thing about living in a basin is you can see the storm rolling it.
It gets cold here...we might not have much snow, but the wind is evil which makes it bitterly cold.
On Thursday when it was frrreeezzying and windy we drove three miles away to check on some of the herd that Jo takes care of..I didn't get very many pictures because welll it was frrrreeezzzing. These are friendly yearlings.
But this one is Jo's favorite..oh yes, Jo is on staff here at CWAM, but she also trains colts.
This is Stud. He is a stud.
Danielle, Me and Jo
Sorry mom these were the only pictures I have from this week. I will do better next week!
Week Two
Hi,
Sorry it has been a full week since I wrote last…it’s just been a busy one.
So I left you off last week with us girls headed to the horse sale. It was fun and enlightening. The girls had an amazing time getting to know each other better.
We were at the sale for at two days and I am sure I asked a million questions. Which they all graciously answered. I kept sitting there trying to act all cool and suave like I had been in that kind of environment before, but the truth was I was like, “Wow! This still happens in America?” Everybody knew everybody, (they stopped the sale to introduce newlyweds) people are respectful (boys gave girls their seats) and people were patriotic without being politically correct (don’t get me started). It was a sad though to hear ranchers talk about how much their way of life has changed so much in the last two years. Because of certain laws that were passed by congress the horse industry has been cut by 50 %. It was educational for sure.
On a funny note Danielle and I really wanted some good coffee since we were in the big city. So we went down to the front desk and asked the lady how far the closest shop was...she said, “Oh, less than a mile for sure.” So we set off with directions and headed down the road in our boots. An hour later..we found the coffee shop. We clocked it later in the car and it was closer to 2 ½- 3 miles! We got our workout for the day and our feet hurt…but we got our coffee!!
This week we had the privilege of having two speakers Red and Andy who tag teamed to speak. The subject this week was The Character of God. Both Red and Andy were on staff here a few years ago, so it was a very relaxed class room. We heard amazing stories of their journeys and they asked us to share some of our God-moment stories. We study the human heart and the human perceptions of God vs what the God of the Bible says about Himself and about us and our hearts. Then we examined giftings that God puts in us and took the spiritual gifting test, which was fun because some had never taken it before…it helps you understand a person so much better. Over all it was a fun, encouraging lecture week.
We are praying about our mission trip location…we have two places we could go, since we are joining the Montana base. Please pray that we will go where God wants us to go and not where (hmmm) we want to go.
Horsemanship is going well; Gloria and I are having fun. Although she seems to think that I am a better horsewoman then I really am. Danielle has been a great help, because well she IS a great horsewoman. So far though, we have been staying on the base and in the arena. But this Monday we will be heading up into the hills to push cattle…if the weather cooperates..otherwise just the men will go.
We had our first Cowboy Church last night; about 25 people were crammed into our shop. Red and Andy spoke, while the some men from town led worship. It was cool, because many different churches from the area were represented. It is the first church of the season, so we are hoping that word will spread.
Tonight, being Good Friday, we will be headed to Cody to watch the Passion.
I miss all of you! I think of all of you often! Texting me or facebooking me is probably the best way to get a hold of me.
Talk to ya later,
Sorry it has been a full week since I wrote last…it’s just been a busy one.
So I left you off last week with us girls headed to the horse sale. It was fun and enlightening. The girls had an amazing time getting to know each other better.
We were at the sale for at two days and I am sure I asked a million questions. Which they all graciously answered. I kept sitting there trying to act all cool and suave like I had been in that kind of environment before, but the truth was I was like, “Wow! This still happens in America?” Everybody knew everybody, (they stopped the sale to introduce newlyweds) people are respectful (boys gave girls their seats) and people were patriotic without being politically correct (don’t get me started). It was a sad though to hear ranchers talk about how much their way of life has changed so much in the last two years. Because of certain laws that were passed by congress the horse industry has been cut by 50 %. It was educational for sure.
On a funny note Danielle and I really wanted some good coffee since we were in the big city. So we went down to the front desk and asked the lady how far the closest shop was...she said, “Oh, less than a mile for sure.” So we set off with directions and headed down the road in our boots. An hour later..we found the coffee shop. We clocked it later in the car and it was closer to 2 ½- 3 miles! We got our workout for the day and our feet hurt…but we got our coffee!!
This week we had the privilege of having two speakers Red and Andy who tag teamed to speak. The subject this week was The Character of God. Both Red and Andy were on staff here a few years ago, so it was a very relaxed class room. We heard amazing stories of their journeys and they asked us to share some of our God-moment stories. We study the human heart and the human perceptions of God vs what the God of the Bible says about Himself and about us and our hearts. Then we examined giftings that God puts in us and took the spiritual gifting test, which was fun because some had never taken it before…it helps you understand a person so much better. Over all it was a fun, encouraging lecture week.
We are praying about our mission trip location…we have two places we could go, since we are joining the Montana base. Please pray that we will go where God wants us to go and not where (hmmm) we want to go.
Horsemanship is going well; Gloria and I are having fun. Although she seems to think that I am a better horsewoman then I really am. Danielle has been a great help, because well she IS a great horsewoman. So far though, we have been staying on the base and in the arena. But this Monday we will be heading up into the hills to push cattle…if the weather cooperates..otherwise just the men will go.
We had our first Cowboy Church last night; about 25 people were crammed into our shop. Red and Andy spoke, while the some men from town led worship. It was cool, because many different churches from the area were represented. It is the first church of the season, so we are hoping that word will spread.
Tonight, being Good Friday, we will be headed to Cody to watch the Passion.
I miss all of you! I think of all of you often! Texting me or facebooking me is probably the best way to get a hold of me.
Talk to ya later,
Friday, March 26, 2010
get 'er done!
Hi Family and Friends,
So here we are on the 5th day of DTS, and I have told you very little about the base and all we have been learning.
On Monday we went to the Cody museum as I mentioned in the previous entry, this one day consisted of our orientation week that the students usually have. Since we are such a small group and will be spending a lot of time together, we just jumped straight into lecture phase, with some fun mixed in.
Pastor Ron was our guest speaker this week. He is a former PBR rider who got saved and did his DTS at the original CWAM base in Montana and is now the only full time pastor here in the small town of Meeteetse. He’s quite a character! He had some very solid Bible teaching to share along with some amazing stories and miracles. His main topic this week (we have one subject for a five day period) was the Holy Spirit. He taught on the character, controversy and giftings of the Holy Spirit. He is a very passionate speaker who diffidently keeps your attention. Every morning after he taught he would ask us questions about what we believed, our doctrine if you will, and “challenge” us (in a very nice way!) about what we believe and why and if we have scripture to back it up. It is very thought provoking to have to “defend” your faith, but also super beneficial, to be able to know the scriptures and principles that you base your beliefs on.
This week we started our journals, they are our form of homework. They include word studies on the different characteristics of God, what has challenged us that week, synopsis of our devotions, book reports and also the start of our sermon that we have to give at the end of lecture phase in June.
After lecture in the morning we have lunch together and then have horsemanship! We just met our horses yesterday, because we have been gone every other afternoon. Both Laura (our DTS leader) and Joe (she takes care of all the livestock) took us out to the round pen for our first ride. I will be riding a bay quarter horse named Gloria who has a lot of patience! She is a good horse. I could repeat a lot of skills that she has, but since I really don’t know what I am talking about, I will just say that she didn’t buck me off and swinging a saddle up on her hurts my wimpy arms or can I blame it on our height difference….
After horsemanship we have work duties, I got nominated to be the kitchen crew, they have a nice kitchen here, a little bigger then a home kitchen, but smaller then a professional kitchen. So far I haven’t burnt anything, but I am adjusting to the elevation here, it’s over 6000 feet.
After supper, we have free time. Which is when I read, read or write this blog and then read some more. We will we only go to town once a week (town being Cody 30miles away) on Sunday. It is very peacefully and quiet out here, it’s still too cold for crickets or frogs and stuff to be out.( I always remember the crickets being sooo loud at CRC in the spring and summer.) One thing we do have is a TON of deer and they are different than the ones at home, they are huge and a weird looking, and enjoying eating Joe’s hay way too much. Cash the cowdog is kinda lazy, but sometimes he gets the notion to chase them off which is fun to see.
Because we are such a small group we have had the opportunity to do things that other schools haven’t be able too. Such as the David Crowder/Mercy Me concert that we went to on Monday night. We joined Pastor Ron and some from his church and drove 3hrs to Billings. It was my first time at a huge concert, besides PlusOne when I was a preteen, but we WON’T go there, anyways it was large, crowded and very very LOUD! I am glad I went, Mercy Me was amazing! I couldn’t believe how many of their songs I knew that I didn’t know was them. So in conclusion, good experience, but I would never go again. Did I mention it was loud?
Let’s see so this weekend, we will be headed to Billings for a Horse Auction. The base has three horses that don’t suit their needs so we will be in Billings all weekend, praying that they sell for a good price.
Well, if you have any question or something doesn’t make sense, or if you just stop by make sure to leave a comment. Last but not least; the number one saying in Wyoming...
Get ‘er done!
So here we are on the 5th day of DTS, and I have told you very little about the base and all we have been learning.
On Monday we went to the Cody museum as I mentioned in the previous entry, this one day consisted of our orientation week that the students usually have. Since we are such a small group and will be spending a lot of time together, we just jumped straight into lecture phase, with some fun mixed in.
Pastor Ron was our guest speaker this week. He is a former PBR rider who got saved and did his DTS at the original CWAM base in Montana and is now the only full time pastor here in the small town of Meeteetse. He’s quite a character! He had some very solid Bible teaching to share along with some amazing stories and miracles. His main topic this week (we have one subject for a five day period) was the Holy Spirit. He taught on the character, controversy and giftings of the Holy Spirit. He is a very passionate speaker who diffidently keeps your attention. Every morning after he taught he would ask us questions about what we believed, our doctrine if you will, and “challenge” us (in a very nice way!) about what we believe and why and if we have scripture to back it up. It is very thought provoking to have to “defend” your faith, but also super beneficial, to be able to know the scriptures and principles that you base your beliefs on.
This week we started our journals, they are our form of homework. They include word studies on the different characteristics of God, what has challenged us that week, synopsis of our devotions, book reports and also the start of our sermon that we have to give at the end of lecture phase in June.
After lecture in the morning we have lunch together and then have horsemanship! We just met our horses yesterday, because we have been gone every other afternoon. Both Laura (our DTS leader) and Joe (she takes care of all the livestock) took us out to the round pen for our first ride. I will be riding a bay quarter horse named Gloria who has a lot of patience! She is a good horse. I could repeat a lot of skills that she has, but since I really don’t know what I am talking about, I will just say that she didn’t buck me off and swinging a saddle up on her hurts my wimpy arms or can I blame it on our height difference….
After horsemanship we have work duties, I got nominated to be the kitchen crew, they have a nice kitchen here, a little bigger then a home kitchen, but smaller then a professional kitchen. So far I haven’t burnt anything, but I am adjusting to the elevation here, it’s over 6000 feet.
After supper, we have free time. Which is when I read, read or write this blog and then read some more. We will we only go to town once a week (town being Cody 30miles away) on Sunday. It is very peacefully and quiet out here, it’s still too cold for crickets or frogs and stuff to be out.( I always remember the crickets being sooo loud at CRC in the spring and summer.) One thing we do have is a TON of deer and they are different than the ones at home, they are huge and a weird looking, and enjoying eating Joe’s hay way too much. Cash the cowdog is kinda lazy, but sometimes he gets the notion to chase them off which is fun to see.
Because we are such a small group we have had the opportunity to do things that other schools haven’t be able too. Such as the David Crowder/Mercy Me concert that we went to on Monday night. We joined Pastor Ron and some from his church and drove 3hrs to Billings. It was my first time at a huge concert, besides PlusOne when I was a preteen, but we WON’T go there, anyways it was large, crowded and very very LOUD! I am glad I went, Mercy Me was amazing! I couldn’t believe how many of their songs I knew that I didn’t know was them. So in conclusion, good experience, but I would never go again. Did I mention it was loud?
Let’s see so this weekend, we will be headed to Billings for a Horse Auction. The base has three horses that don’t suit their needs so we will be in Billings all weekend, praying that they sell for a good price.
Well, if you have any question or something doesn’t make sense, or if you just stop by make sure to leave a comment. Last but not least; the number one saying in Wyoming...
Get ‘er done!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Buffalo Bill Museum
Ok, so I wasn’t going to write an entire blog about one museum, but we had fun and I took alot of pictures to show my family.The picture above is looking out the front of the museum.
On Monday we, Laura the DTS leader, Danielle and I went to Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody.It is huge! Someone once called it the Smithsonian of the West, and no Mom it wasn't me.
The gun collection alone has 2000 firearms, many from famous showmen, movie stars and presidents.
This is the sweet little gun I want...cause it's pretty...
In the picture below see how little it is?
They had a HUGE collection of stuffed animals...none of which I would object to hanging on my wall..don't worry I just included the fun ones...
Isn't he cute?
A Yak...I think....
Wally the Walrus (Clever name huh?)
Buffalo Bill's Gun named Lucretia Borgia
Ok so enough guns...the next part of the museum was dedicated to the preservation of Indian culture....
Can I have this Bear claw necklace, please?
I never realized how long the headdresses were.
The Native American Part of the Museum was amazing, but I was so busy looking at it all I didn't take many pictures..whew right?
The last part was all about Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show.
This original poster, which takes up the ENTIRE side a wall, cost a whopping 4 dollars to print back in the day.
Here is his original jacket...
Ok,I am tired. I was up til 2 this morning (more on THAT tomorrow) so a few last pictures to finish up.
Things you wouldn't find in Buffalo Bill's House, but were neat just the same.
Cool foosball table right boys?
Look at this house it open into a desk...hmmm if only I knew a painter...
Sorry that is post is long, but consider yourself lucky...if I didn't have to go to bed there is no telling how long it would be...
Night!
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Start of a Journey...
Well, it’s crazy to think that it is finally here. I am excited but it all seems a little surreal right now. So for a short recap….Saturday my sis, Kellie, my niece, Ella and I flew from Seattle to Billings, Montana. God blessed us with an empty plan and happy baby who flirted with everyone in sight. Let me take this moment to send a shout out to my sister who took time off work and braved traveling with a 4 month old baby…she is such an amazing support and encouragement to me…everyone should have a sister like her!
Once we were Billings we headed south but soon stopped when we saw the Crackerbarrel sign…seriously if you ever have a chance to eat there..do it! It is fantastic food and cool atmosphere too.
After a yummy lunch we drove (Well, Kellie actually drove, I just talked.)three hours south to Meeteesee, Wyoming a town of 351 people. It is 30 miles southeast from the Cody if that helps finding in on a map. The base is located 4miles outside of Meeteesee in the hills. On a funny note...we drove through a town called Belfry…who’s sports team is called the Bats! I wonder what their school chant is??
The West is diffidently alive here in Wyoming and I love it…so many towns look little and quaint. To put this in perspective the population of Seattle, as of 2009, had an estimated population of 602,000 while the entire state of Wyoming has 544,270. It is beautiful out here. In a very different way than Oregon or Washington, it more of an open rolling beauty, you can see for miles and there is lots of sagebrush, bits of snow and lots of deer, cattle and horse and a bear...if you count the dead one on the side of the road.
We did make it to the base right before supper where I met the other student…yup just one her name is from Danielle and she is from Texas. So yep, there is just one other student, there we a handful of others, but for some reason or another it ended just being the two of us. But I am actually very excited, what a change it will be. All the groups and school I have every been part of have always be large, instead this will a very personalized, restful DTS. In addition we will have the opportunity to join the Lakeside, Montana DTS for the mission trip..I will let you know the location when I know.
I want to take the time to say thank you to all the wonderful, supportive, gracious, loving and giving and patient friends and family who are gotten me out the door and on my way. I thank God for each of you!
On a funny note...even McDonalds in Wyoming is cowboy!
Monday, February 15, 2010
And to think…it happened at Applebe*s….
Two months ago, in the mist of worry and doubting about the DTS, YWAM, finances… I was encouraged by a friend to go to the Thursday night Prayer meeting at our church. The Thursday prayer meeting is a huge group of people who get together pray for each other and our nation, I had heard lots of wonderful things so I was excited but a little nervous. Since there were a lot of people I had to wait a long time, but it was WELL worth it! Pastor Frank and two others from the church prayed for me. They didn't know that much of my situation and God totally used them to confirm my path and also to encourage me. Pastor Frank in particular prayed that God would raise me up as a Deborah. I was greatly encouraged, but a little overwhelmed too and I confess about the whole Deborah thing a bit like…are you sure God?? Well, the weeks went by and I had been becoming more and more dissatisfied with my job…the cesspool of sin I work in ….or prison …which ever you prefer to call it. Anyways, I was very frustrated with the lack of God's presence at my work. Then last Sunday, during a particular annoying day, three motorcycle gentlemen came in. They were very sweet and all my grandpa age, somehow we got talking and we discovered that we all went to Northwest Church. After further discussion we started talking about how I was going on a mission trip this summer. Then one of the gentlemen just started praying for me. He asked that the Lord would give me wisdom and that I would be a light wherever I went and then he looks up at me and goes, "I feel like you should start studying Deborah, God wants you to know her backwards and forwards." I nearly dropped the coffee pot I was carrying and with a big smile on my face told him that he had just confirmed a prayer that had been prayed over me months ago! I was sooo blessed. God gently reminding me that it isn't where we are, but who we have in us (the Holy Spirit), that makes life a living heaven or hell. Also that promises that He has put in my life that I might not understand now, WILL someday come into fruition…. in His timing and even in the most unique places...like Applebe*s.
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Hunt for the Great White Whale and for good coffee and laughter and our sanity...
Well, this week brought about the 2nd Annual Crazy Beach Day with my gal pal from Oregon Bethie! Last year we had the crazy idea to go to the beach even though it was the middle of winter…in the end we didn’t even let snow stop us from going wave jumpin’.
This year though, we were blessed with a balmy 40 degree weather and most importantly no snow! We meet in Cannon Beach (since I was coming from Seattle) and then headed for lunch and sight shopping; Geppetto’s Toy Shoppe (isn’t that greatest name?) was closed but the candy store was open!!!
After dragging ourselves through ninety thousand art galleries, (and trying, really we TRIED) to understand modern art, we rewarded ourselves with a wonderful cup of coffee from Bella Espresso. Bella’s is one of the BEST coffee shops in Oregon.
After harassing the poor Barista into taking pictures for us, we decided to venture forth for the real reason of this journey….to freeze our bodies in ocean and of course search for our friends the Belugas. We did find one and he informed us that his name was Bubba..or at least that was Bethie interpretation…
Beth braved the inlet river, while I protected our belongings from the many people on the packed beach.
I did eventually make it down to the water where I tried to stay dry, but the sneaky ocean caught up with me….drenching me to the bone. I had thoughtfully brought extra shirts, socks and sweaters, but failed to bring pants….It was an ‘arcticly’ cold girl that made her back to the car.
But the day was diffidently revived when we found a Pirate Cove, our future husbands and deep-fried mac and cheese. 
What a blessing it was to hang out with one of my very missed-we-need-more-dates-like-this- galpal for some quality time before I leave. I love you, Bethie!
Speaking of leaving…I found out today that our Outreach will most likely be to South Africa this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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