It's official. I'm terrible with goodbyes. I mean seriously, you'd think it'd get easier...nope...
Last Thursday I had to say goodbye to Natalie and that was hard enough but then this morning we bid farewell to the Rohrers and wow, I just lost it! It's unbelievable how much they all have come to mean to me and it was so hard to see them go. The last three weeks have been a blast, a huge blessing from God and it was amazing. I'm so thankful for all the fun times we had from working in the kitchen to volleyball to late night card games in the classroom.
It felt so odd today not having them around. I kept thinking momentarily that they were still here and then I'd miss them more and everyone kept asking me if I was okay because I looked a little down and then I would get all emotional again...probably had something to do with staying up all night and therefore being incredibly tired...
As hard as it is to say goodbye, I know it's all in God's plan. I'm excited to continue working on the book and a few other projects for the school and just see how God works through the rest of the summer. It has already been so different than I ever imagined. My God is truly amazing. What a comfort to know that He has a plan, the ultimate plan and to rest in the assurance of His love. I have seen Him working in my own life so much and directing me so clearly; I feel inexpressibly blessed to be His child.
Tetons
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Slaphappy
As I drag my sleepy self around this morning I can't help but think back in appreciation for the reason for my drowsy-ness. After a long exhausting day of working on the AM book, I had an amazing fun-filled evening that has me still smiling this morning.
After dinner a bunch of us went out to the volleyball court and played several exciting games. I love how volleyball out here can be both competitive and hilariously ridiculous...at the same time! What with the pickles (yes pickles, this isn't a typo) in the grass, the ball getting stuck in the tree, the collection of unique sounds each person makes (okay not everyone makes unique sounds but I make up for those who don't), the nicknames that spring up, and the matrix-like acrobatics that have us landing on our faces, the game never gets old! So after playing until it was too dark to see the ball and hit it effectively, we headed in for a game of Fish Bowl (a lively combination of catch phrase and gestures). Shortly after that ended, Caela and I had a little laughter fit in which we lay on our backs and laughed for like 5 minutes straight, I'm not even kidding. my abbs were SO sore, I could barely breathe!
But the night doesn't end there! The whole group wasn't interested in playing another round of Fish Bowl so most of them left and headed to bed. But seriously, it was only 11! the night was still young! So the Rohrers and I headed to the lodge and after snagging the usual from the bread walk-in (chocolate-chip M&M cookies...and Tim grabbed some brownie cookies too...which we decided tasted an awfully lot like...squished, round brownies...surprise surprise), we sat down to play a game of Rage. Just one game mind you because SOME people wanted to sleep...cough cough...Missy and Micaela...
Well, what started with one quick game turned into two, plus a couple bind rage rounds. Not only that but the games stretched on and on as we constantly collapsed with laughter, unable to breathe or concentrate. It got the point where everything was hilarious. I mean, I was already at the point earlier as I lay gasping on the floor with Caela but now all four of us were barely able to sit straight. And so everything elicited uproarious laughter from "is there people in there?" (which scared Missy half to death) which turned into a ridiculous horror story about a lactose intolerant man wearing a day pack and talking on the phone (which scared Missy even more) to "why is there so many comfy chairs at this table" to "why is the coffee still on, we're gonna burn the place down". The climax was our two rounds of blind rage in which everything was just plain ridiculous and we ended the night with an amusing search for light switches (as they are NEVER where you expect in this place!). I don't know that I have EVER laughed so much, for so long in my life.
As I climbed into bed at 1am, I was still smiling. Oh the joys of slaphappyness!
After dinner a bunch of us went out to the volleyball court and played several exciting games. I love how volleyball out here can be both competitive and hilariously ridiculous...at the same time! What with the pickles (yes pickles, this isn't a typo) in the grass, the ball getting stuck in the tree, the collection of unique sounds each person makes (okay not everyone makes unique sounds but I make up for those who don't), the nicknames that spring up, and the matrix-like acrobatics that have us landing on our faces, the game never gets old! So after playing until it was too dark to see the ball and hit it effectively, we headed in for a game of Fish Bowl (a lively combination of catch phrase and gestures). Shortly after that ended, Caela and I had a little laughter fit in which we lay on our backs and laughed for like 5 minutes straight, I'm not even kidding. my abbs were SO sore, I could barely breathe!
But the night doesn't end there! The whole group wasn't interested in playing another round of Fish Bowl so most of them left and headed to bed. But seriously, it was only 11! the night was still young! So the Rohrers and I headed to the lodge and after snagging the usual from the bread walk-in (chocolate-chip M&M cookies...and Tim grabbed some brownie cookies too...which we decided tasted an awfully lot like...squished, round brownies...surprise surprise), we sat down to play a game of Rage. Just one game mind you because SOME people wanted to sleep...cough cough...Missy and Micaela...
Well, what started with one quick game turned into two, plus a couple bind rage rounds. Not only that but the games stretched on and on as we constantly collapsed with laughter, unable to breathe or concentrate. It got the point where everything was hilarious. I mean, I was already at the point earlier as I lay gasping on the floor with Caela but now all four of us were barely able to sit straight. And so everything elicited uproarious laughter from "is there people in there?" (which scared Missy half to death) which turned into a ridiculous horror story about a lactose intolerant man wearing a day pack and talking on the phone (which scared Missy even more) to "why is there so many comfy chairs at this table" to "why is the coffee still on, we're gonna burn the place down". The climax was our two rounds of blind rage in which everything was just plain ridiculous and we ended the night with an amusing search for light switches (as they are NEVER where you expect in this place!). I don't know that I have EVER laughed so much, for so long in my life.
As I climbed into bed at 1am, I was still smiling. Oh the joys of slaphappyness!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Drainage
Back to working on the book this week and currently quite exhausted. I haven't felt this mentally drained in awhile. It's getting to that point where I start making odd noises to release pent up brain swirlings...if that makes any sense...
"Brain swirlings" - the confused muddle of shifting thoughts in one's head which comes from intense mental exercise involving many facts and opinions and ideas which all want to escape. As they are released onto paper or a computer screen, the left over fragments build up and need to be expelled verballySo I've stopped working for the day and now just chillin, enjoying the sunlight filtering in the window, the wind in rustling through the trees, the birds singing and waving to the random people walking by. I decided today that I kind of wish we could go back in time and I was doing this project by hand because then I could sit outside in this beautiful weather and work. That would be just fantastic! ...except for the fact that it would take approximately 5312.64 times longer to complete this project and that just wouldn't do...
Saturday, July 9, 2011
You make me wanna SHOUT
Okay, so yesterday morning was one of the most, I hesitate to say dreadful, how about...interesting...of my life. I woke up with all these plans for my morning before breakfast but...plans changed.
I went over to brush my teeth in the kitchen sink because Kaitlyn was in the bathroom and I was just tidying it up a little and I suddenly I become aware of dozens of little black things crawling everywhere! UGH! Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE ants!!?!??! Well anyways, I couldn't exactly brush my teeth with disgustingness all over the place so I started cleaning up. There were a few dishes as well as a carton of grapes that had attracted the horde...grapes went into the garbage, dishes in the sink and out came the 'Shout'. (I have discovered that cleaners kill ants quickly right where they happen to be scurrying...halted said scurry.) So as the room fills with the slightly toxic smell of chemicals, I grab some toilet paper...didn't have paper towel and start wiping up the swarm. THEN I realize, not only are they all over the counter, they are harvesting a spill of oats off the floor! As I tried to keep myself from blowing up in frustration or throwing up in disgust, I get out the Shout again and spray away. (At least the floor is nice and clean there) So I finally got them all and was able to brush my teeth. Of course, it wasn't 3 minutes later that more showed up - apparently the message hadn't got back to the main base yet. After killing those ones (with Shout of course - this is turning into a commercial), I starting thinking maybe I should have just left them, they could have cleaned up the mess for me!
Anyways that was my fantastic morning, half an hour of killing ants and almost being late to breakfast!
I went over to brush my teeth in the kitchen sink because Kaitlyn was in the bathroom and I was just tidying it up a little and I suddenly I become aware of dozens of little black things crawling everywhere! UGH! Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE ants!!?!??! Well anyways, I couldn't exactly brush my teeth with disgustingness all over the place so I started cleaning up. There were a few dishes as well as a carton of grapes that had attracted the horde...grapes went into the garbage, dishes in the sink and out came the 'Shout'. (I have discovered that cleaners kill ants quickly right where they happen to be scurrying...halted said scurry.) So as the room fills with the slightly toxic smell of chemicals, I grab some toilet paper...didn't have paper towel and start wiping up the swarm. THEN I realize, not only are they all over the counter, they are harvesting a spill of oats off the floor! As I tried to keep myself from blowing up in frustration or throwing up in disgust, I get out the Shout again and spray away. (At least the floor is nice and clean there) So I finally got them all and was able to brush my teeth. Of course, it wasn't 3 minutes later that more showed up - apparently the message hadn't got back to the main base yet. After killing those ones (with Shout of course - this is turning into a commercial), I starting thinking maybe I should have just left them, they could have cleaned up the mess for me!
Anyways that was my fantastic morning, half an hour of killing ants and almost being late to breakfast!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Pastors, Moose and Wranglers
The past two mornings have been like a breath of fresh air. I hadn't realized how much I missed sitting in class! As part of the reunion Pastor Don, Rev. Brad Belcher and Dr. Paul Benware (3 of our profs) are here to share sessions with us each morning. It is such a blessing to sit under these wise teachers again. I just love the classroom setting. Somehow, hearing PD teach in class is different than at church, though both are amazing. I feel like I could just sit and learn forever...I probably could...
We also went on a hike yesterday up to hidden falls. Four miles total round trip, it was rather easy-going and though we got eaten alive by mosquitoes, we had a great time. There are so many beautiful sights around here, you could hike these hills for a life time and never see them all! We saw a moose which was cool, really close to the trail too.
And so many people out there enjoying the sunshine, kinda felt sorry for them as our group of FORTY people had to troop past. It was super warm in the sun on the way up but as soon as we hit the falls, the spray from the water quickly turned from relief to chill and we soon headed back out.
Last night we went to the Bar J Chuckwagon! Now, I knew it would be fun, but I had no idea exactly what it was so the whole event was a fabulous surprise for me. You see they try to make the whole experience seem like you were eating a meal on a cattle drive, at the 'chuckwagon'. You eat at long wooden tables in a barn-like room all decked out in western stuff from the boots hanging from the ceiling to the wagon wheels propped around the room. You all file through lines to receive the simple but delicious fare of beef, chicken, steak or ribs and then beans, applesauce, biscuits, spice cake, potatoes...all on a tin plate, with your silverware in your back pocket and a tin cup of coffee or lemonade at the end.
Then after the meal, the 'wranglers' get up and sing old western songs (not country - they explained that the difference between the two is this: in a country song, you're worried about someone kissing your wife or your daughter while in a western song, you just worried about someone kissing your horse!) with a hilarious running commentary and jokes. All in all, you could almost feel like you were part of that world and it was super fun. I advice all visitors to Jackson Hole to make sure they make it at the top of their list to visit (that is, if you come in the summer).
We also went on a hike yesterday up to hidden falls. Four miles total round trip, it was rather easy-going and though we got eaten alive by mosquitoes, we had a great time. There are so many beautiful sights around here, you could hike these hills for a life time and never see them all! We saw a moose which was cool, really close to the trail too.
And so many people out there enjoying the sunshine, kinda felt sorry for them as our group of FORTY people had to troop past. It was super warm in the sun on the way up but as soon as we hit the falls, the spray from the water quickly turned from relief to chill and we soon headed back out.
 |
| Becca and I starting out |
 |
| chillaxin at the end of the hike |
Then after the meal, the 'wranglers' get up and sing old western songs (not country - they explained that the difference between the two is this: in a country song, you're worried about someone kissing your wife or your daughter while in a western song, you just worried about someone kissing your horse!) with a hilarious running commentary and jokes. All in all, you could almost feel like you were part of that world and it was super fun. I advice all visitors to Jackson Hole to make sure they make it at the top of their list to visit (that is, if you come in the summer).
Monday, July 4, 2011
New favourite thing
Last night I had the awesome privilege of going to the 4th of July fireworks...on the 3rd...with a great group of friends (of course, we'll go tonight too!). The lights weren't the most spectacular I've ever seen but the event was probably one of my favourites.
I've discovered my new favourite way to watch fireworks! Usually I see them over the ocean and that's pretty amazing because you've got the reflection and stuff but these were against the mountains and it was WICKED AWESOME! The way the explosions echoed off the mountains was fantastic. Seriously it was like nothing I had ever heard. You hear the really big boom from the fireworks and then in a brief quiet moment you would hear it echo off the mountain not once or twice but in like waves as the sound bounced off all the different cliff faces and ahhhhh it was SO COOL!
Anyways, I have now decided that people should do fireworks shows over water, right near mountains. That would be the bomb.
I've discovered my new favourite way to watch fireworks! Usually I see them over the ocean and that's pretty amazing because you've got the reflection and stuff but these were against the mountains and it was WICKED AWESOME! The way the explosions echoed off the mountains was fantastic. Seriously it was like nothing I had ever heard. You hear the really big boom from the fireworks and then in a brief quiet moment you would hear it echo off the mountain not once or twice but in like waves as the sound bounced off all the different cliff faces and ahhhhh it was SO COOL!
Anyways, I have now decided that people should do fireworks shows over water, right near mountains. That would be the bomb.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Find your inner woman 15: the writer...editor...organizy person...
So, as it is my third day into my new occupation, I figured it's about time I wrote about it. That's write (hehe)...I have begun work on THE BOOK. (We were discussing last night, to our sudden dissatisfied realization, that the book has no title...I mean, we can't just call it THE ANCIENT MAN BOOK - THAT would be sure to draw readers! Unfortunately however, the whole project has been unofficially named just that: the Ancient Man Project, sometimes abbreviated AM - which I've always found confusing because that immediately makes me think we are working on a morning project... HEY we could call Pastor Don the AMPM...the ancient man project manager...okay, maybe not... Sooooo until further notice, I will continue to refer to the...project...as the ancient man book.)
ANYWAYS, as I said, it is my third day in and I am having a blast. I mean, it's not exactly the kind of summer day in the sun most people envision as a party (there's no warm sand squishing between my toes, no cool water to float around in, no beach balls or sunscreen or rock and roll or barbequed hot dogs or chips) but the joy of working on something I am passionate about keeps me high all day. (And I still get to relax with friends in the sun... when we all aren't working, and I've already been out to the rodeo...watching Annie's little ones, and up to the lake...where we all got eaten by monster hordes of mosquitoes, and my chillaxin music makes my working hours basically a party and a half.) Really, I suppose a lot of people would not find this type of summer exactly to their liking but it has so far been a huge blessing to me. I am praising God each day for bringing me out here, for surrounding me with so many great people and entrusting me with a project in which I can serve Him the best I can.
Back to the project, I have started off with Pastor Don's (PD) stuff, basically the first section of the book which explains the premise of our research and the biblical base that we are basing our study off of. I've had the enjoyable challenge of figuring out how to organize, rewrite, and edit ten pages of fascinating work. What is my job in this project exactly? Well, it's hard to explain. See, I'm not really a researcher (though I did have to do a little research before writing the preface as...neither I or PDknew what exactly one writes in a preface) and I'm not exactly a writer (as I'm really just taking other people's work and reorganizing or editing it) but I'm not really an editor (because I'm doing way too much additional writing and research)... Basically, I do whatever comes along. If the writing is already done by a member of the team, I just go through it so it flows with everything else; if the writing needs to be done, I write from scratch; if we need more research, I engage in some Googling. The team calls me "wordsmith" which is an shorter, easier title to explain I suppose but seems a bit exaggerated (it refers to an expert in the use of words or a person skilled in the use of words) but I suppose with God guiding me, I can embrace this job of wordsmithing, knowing He is the ultimate Wordsmith out there!
I'm finding it both exhausting and exhilarating and I've only just started! It is a little daunting...okay, let me be completely honest...a LOT daunting, rather terrifying actually, to think of all the stuff that's got to be done but I don't really let myself do that. I'm taking this one step at a time because that's all I can do. I've almost finished my first run through of PD's work and I think it's given me a really good understanding of what he wants this book to look like. I'm really excited to see the rest and get started working it all together. I really think God is going to use this book for His purposes and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
Please continue to pray for me and the whole team as the summer progresses and the book comes together. We really want this to reflect the truth of Scripture and to be a great resource (and wake-up call) for Christians. It is evident that God is doing most the work here and we are all just blessed to be tools in His hands.
Until next time, I remain yours,
Wordsmith, tool of the Master
ANYWAYS, as I said, it is my third day in and I am having a blast. I mean, it's not exactly the kind of summer day in the sun most people envision as a party (there's no warm sand squishing between my toes, no cool water to float around in, no beach balls or sunscreen or rock and roll or barbequed hot dogs or chips) but the joy of working on something I am passionate about keeps me high all day. (And I still get to relax with friends in the sun... when we all aren't working, and I've already been out to the rodeo...watching Annie's little ones, and up to the lake...where we all got eaten by monster hordes of mosquitoes, and my chillaxin music makes my working hours basically a party and a half.) Really, I suppose a lot of people would not find this type of summer exactly to their liking but it has so far been a huge blessing to me. I am praising God each day for bringing me out here, for surrounding me with so many great people and entrusting me with a project in which I can serve Him the best I can.
Back to the project, I have started off with Pastor Don's (PD) stuff, basically the first section of the book which explains the premise of our research and the biblical base that we are basing our study off of. I've had the enjoyable challenge of figuring out how to organize, rewrite, and edit ten pages of fascinating work. What is my job in this project exactly? Well, it's hard to explain. See, I'm not really a researcher (though I did have to do a little research before writing the preface as...neither I or PDknew what exactly one writes in a preface) and I'm not exactly a writer (as I'm really just taking other people's work and reorganizing or editing it) but I'm not really an editor (because I'm doing way too much additional writing and research)... Basically, I do whatever comes along. If the writing is already done by a member of the team, I just go through it so it flows with everything else; if the writing needs to be done, I write from scratch; if we need more research, I engage in some Googling. The team calls me "wordsmith" which is an shorter, easier title to explain I suppose but seems a bit exaggerated (it refers to an expert in the use of words or a person skilled in the use of words) but I suppose with God guiding me, I can embrace this job of wordsmithing, knowing He is the ultimate Wordsmith out there!
I'm finding it both exhausting and exhilarating and I've only just started! It is a little daunting...okay, let me be completely honest...a LOT daunting, rather terrifying actually, to think of all the stuff that's got to be done but I don't really let myself do that. I'm taking this one step at a time because that's all I can do. I've almost finished my first run through of PD's work and I think it's given me a really good understanding of what he wants this book to look like. I'm really excited to see the rest and get started working it all together. I really think God is going to use this book for His purposes and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
Please continue to pray for me and the whole team as the summer progresses and the book comes together. We really want this to reflect the truth of Scripture and to be a great resource (and wake-up call) for Christians. It is evident that God is doing most the work here and we are all just blessed to be tools in His hands.
Until next time, I remain yours,
Wordsmith, tool of the Master
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