a happy place

Summer Memories: August 8-11

The excitement began under sapphire blue skies and the brightest sunshine I've ever seen. How does one describe in mere words the magic of "the Happiest Place on Earth"? From the pavement beneath your dancing feet, to the flag topped spires of the castle, with all the music, rides and shows encompassed between, Disneyland embodies the childlike, limitless fascination of imagination. Every detail is perfectly designed to draw you into the world of make-believe; every song tugs at the heartstrings of your memory, stirring up clips from favourite childhood movies; even the smells are cheery: sugary churros, roasting turkey legs, fresh coffee...

I can remember walking in with my family that first day, all of us like giddy little children. We were ready to be amazed, looking for the magic, embracing the colours, the sounds, the laughter and smiles of everyone around us. Every corner led us to something brand new and exciting. Each ride brought a thrill of discovery and exploration. Each beloved character elicited squeals of joyous exclamation. 

Disneyland is oddly...perfect. I mean, until you put all us humans in it. It's so spic and span, seriously you could probably eat off of the ground. You could get lost in that world of imagination, the unrealistic fantasy of storyland...if not for the occasional baby screeching or the overpowering heat or the growing impatience that comes from waiting in too many lines. 

a patriotic place too...

Kind of puts things into perspective don't it? The supposed "Happiest Place on Earth" is a far cry from true happiness and joy. Without a doubt, it IS a happy place but I think it also highlights how inept we really are at creating our own joy. 

You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11) 

Truly God blesses us with innumerable moments of joy here on earth. Imagine though, the "fullness of joy"; everlasting joy in His presence. One day we will be there forever, constantly praising and rejoicing in Him.

Disney magic all night long

Weddings and old friends and car accidents

I recently had the huge honour and blessing of not only attending another wedding but being a photographer for this amazing couple. I'm sure you've all heard Bible College often jokingly referred to as “bridal college” and in the case of the JHBC class of 2011, it seems to be true! This is the second couple that God brought together at JHBC during our year there and what a cool couple they are! Both with a heart for reaching people with the gospel and a desire to live for God's glory, Richard and Olivia have the potential to do great things for God's kingdom. How excited I am to watch them grow and learn and discover His plan for their lives! 

I was doubly blessed on this occasion because Richard and Olivia decided to have their wedding in the place that they met; a place that has had such a huge impact on their lives. Being back in Wyoming was so cool! I journeyed their with my dear friend Megan and we had quite the trip! Through Washington, Idaho and Montana we travelled along enjoying each other, good music and the beautiful sights. We got lost a few times in search of Starbucks and the campground we were to stay at but it was all part of the adventure! 

This trip was made even more interesting by a little car accident we found ourselves in. Completely my fault, we kinda made contact with a guardrail on the side of the road...thank God no one was hurt and no one else was involved. It was terrifying for me and I wonder that I had to drive hundreds of miles away from home to have my first car accident but I trust that God has a plan in it all. We were truly blessed to be in Jackson, surrounded by loving, caring people who took care of us and comforted us. God is too good to me. The poor wrecked car made the trip home even more adventurous. I don't think I have ever been so stressed out or tense in my entire life but God brought us home safely in time for my birthday the next day!

Suffice to say, the trip was pretty memorable. I am so glad I was able to go and so thankful for Megan for joining me, though I don't know how eager she will be to do so again...

I'll be home for Christmas

It's really over.

Over the last three days I have hugged, cried, and waved as I watched my dear friends drive away. It's hard, being the last to leave. I'm not going to lie, it's a lonely place tonight on this empty campus. I'm all packed up, ready to head out tomorrow afternoon, ready to start the next step.

The last week here was packed with such amazingly awesome times. We stayed up late, played games, chatted about anything and everything, went out to eat, played broomball (still sore, but SO worth it), and just ENJOYED each other. I also finished my work here, well obviously the book will be a continuing project but we are as complete as we can be on our draft, waiting to hear back from the editors now. It felt so bizarre to finish up everything. So fulfilling, yet it left me feeling all jittery and odd. I was rather hyper and giddy as well. As you can probably guess, it made for an exciting evening.  :)

And so now, I sit in my lonely, empty house. Looking around as memories flash by me. I hear echoes of laughter, can still feel the hugs of my friends, and see glimpses of their twinkling eyes. How I will miss living here and being a part of their lives in this way.

I still can't get over how I blessed I am. As I was packing I came across a picture of me from my very first day in Jackson Hole. I stared down at the girl in the photo, looked into her uncertain eyes and asked, "Would you ever have guessed? Could you ever imagine God would have given us this amazing year and a half?" I remember clearly that girl, I know her well, she's still very much a part of me but, well she's also practically a stranger. God has grown me so much over the last 18 months. I have experienced so much, learned so much, and I pray matured and grown wiser through it all. I have never before had such a great trust in God and His plan, a dependance on His faithfulness. Truly, even though I am uncertain about my future, I am sure that He is in control and so I rejoice at the uncertainty, for through it, God will prove faithful yet again.

And so Canada, watch out. I'm coming home.

Prepare to Believe

It's impossible to really describe a walk through the creation museum. All the emotions you feel as you take step after step through it...it's hard to describe. It's like walking through our world and yet not - more like standing helplessly watching it revolve around you. It's like being a part of our history but not - more just watching from the outside. The exhibits come alive and it feels like it's you that is frozen in one state. I don't know how I appeared on the outside but my heart was in turmoil as the minutes turned to hours and I was drawn through the different scenes. Slowly I began to see. Slowly I began to understand. Slowly I saw our world, our history, through different eyes.

This is one of the very first exhibits you see and when I looked up at it and read the two quotes, it really hit me hard how pathetic we are. Descartes' famous line looks so weak next to God. With all our knowledge, our stacks of books, our years of searching, mankind is still so far from understanding. We are helpless to explain our purpose, our very existence. And yet we have such a high opinion of ourselves. We think we have accomplished so much. "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (James 4:14 emphasis added). In contrast God says"...I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me" (Isaiah 44:6); "...I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone" (Isaiah 44:24); I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God...that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these" (Isaiah 45: 5-7)

The questions resonate deep inside because we've all asked at least on of them at some point in our lives. Taking the time to stand and take in the devastation that follows from the wrong starting point really helps you to appreciate the hope presented by the truth.

This exhibit displays some of the ways God brought His Word together

Satan has been attacking God's Word since the beginning, since the garden. He questions God's truthfulness, God's authority; he tries to get us to doubt and many times he succeeds. Just read through a few of the attacks on Scripture throughout history and you will be astounded at how the evil one has made this such a priority. After all, if we doubt God's Word, how can we trust the God who wrote it?

Reject God and our world falls apart. Walking through the hopelessness and destruction caused by a life in rebellion against God was depressing and humbling. We are truly, wandering in purposelessness without Christ.

After this dark room of sad reality, you leave our present world, walking through a dark tunnel filled with blinking stars and start right at the beginning...

Adam naming the animals in Eden

Pure innocent bliss. The garden is beautiful, the music is soothing. Everything is perfect, unique and good. I love this exhibit because it just shows the two amazing created beings, living in pure joy and yet above them the snake is watching, planning, waiting. Satan is never absent. He is ever ready to make a move and destroy.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

The contrast from this quiet place of happiness and peace into the dark, bleak rooms following is an amazing portrayal of the devastation caused by sin. You begin to walk in a subtle descent as the perfect world dissolves into one of terror and violence. I shuddered inside as I walked past angry animals, Abel's murder, a room accosting me with images and sounds of fighting,and  bombs,and  floods, sickness, anger, jealousy...black black sin. My heart ached and I felt tears welling up.

And then the ark. The beautiful yet tragic story floods my heart with sadness but also hope. Righteous judgement is placed alongside unwarranted grace. The contrast in this miniature display is clear. I stood studying the tiny desperate people, startled at the detail added to each one. They were real human beings who rejected God and faced His wrath. And I can't help but think how it is really no different today. Are you on the ark, safe from destruction? Or clinging to the rocks, facing impending doom? 

And then...the new start. A new, clean world. The jagged mountains, a testimony of the past destruction, all around them, Noah and his family praise God among the flowers. What a devastating truth must have hit them as they walked out of the ark. The only human beings alive on the whole earth, nothing familiar, starting over by themselves.

Yet, it's sad to think that it wasn't long before mankind again rebelled collectively at Babel. And then imagine the grief of separation; the fear in all the confusion, the anger, the resentment, as man is scattered around the globe.

Will we ever get it?

The walk-thru exhibits end with a short but convicting film of the life of Christ, the Lamb of God, the Last Adam. And I walked out quiet. Contemplating all I had seen and read and felt. It was overwhelming. Not only amazingly well put together and detailed and beautiful, but if you let it, a walk through the museum will touch your heart and teach you truths in a way you've never known them before.

I really can't tell you any thing more. I mean, I could go on and on but really, you must visit this place yourself to understand. Even if you've grown up in a Christian home and think you know all the answers, all stories, all the true history...go. You will be glad you did. You will be encouraged in your faith, strengthened in the truth, and emboldened to share.

And even if you have never touched Bible, never stepped inside a church...go. Just check it out. What can it hurt? I must warn you though, if you go, prepare...to believe.

Fork, knife or spoon?

Our trip was a one of new experiences for me and the world of food was no exception. As you can probably imagine, we ate out quite a lot being on the road for so long. Incredibly we stopped at only TWO places that I had ever been to before: Starbucks and Subway. The rest of the fast food places or restaurants were new to me, so I got quite a good sampling of American food. :) Those who know me, know that food is rather important to me and I can be quite passionate about it. I like a lot of different foods, LOVE to cook and try new things and just really enjoy eating good food. I'm particularly a fan of intelligence displayed in cooking and always look for creativity in making a dish go beyond your average chicken and potatoes. Of course, I wasn't expecting particularly awesome food on this trip as I knew it would be mostly fast food places, which are generally less than exceptional, but it was fun to try new places.

Early in the trip we went to a Steak and Shake which was pretty cute and quick with satisfactory food. The shake I had was a little disappointing as it was pretty much just ice cream which I had to spoon into my mouth or risk fainting from the exhausting task of sucking the sludge up a straw. (wow that makes it sound REALLY distasteful...it really wasn't that bad.) My favourite part of this place was just the setting. Little 50s diner-ish with happy music and lots of natural light. Arby's was also pretty good. I had a beef sandwich...kind of their big thing...with a beef dip. Nothing really to rant and rave about, oh except I REALLY liked their curly fries. Those were pretty fantastic. Mostly I was impressed that their food wasn't swimming in grease or flattened into a smushy mess. Also, there was quite a stack of sliced meat on the sandwich...which is important :)

I also went to my first Chick-fil-A! I had heard SO much about this restaurant and didn't realize it was only a fast food place. My expectations were pretty high as I walked in and I wasn't disappointed. I mean, not that the chicken sandwiches were anything really all THAT incredible but they were definitely good. They're fries were rather lovely tasting as well. Mostly I just had a lot of fun there with my friends.

doesn't it just look so yum!!

I must say, the giant fresh leaf of lettuce was pretty beautiful and the spicy cheese was delish. Oh and I must give them some points for having real LIVE flowers in those vases. That was nice to see in a fast food place.

bawk bawk bawk

ketchup, a must-have

cracking up because Cort was taking a million pictures

Our trip to Cincinnati for the express purpose of a meal at the Cheesecake Factory was pretty fun. Now THAT was a great restaurant. Jess and I shared a teriyaki chicken meal which was rather wonderful. The white chocolate raspberry cheesecake we shared was AMAZING. One bite and I pretty much melted. So creamy and silky and AWESOME. It was just a beautiful taste, exquisite...if that makes any sense. Suffice to say, I'm a fan.

Cincinnati as we were leaving. For some reason I like this shot even though it was taken rather spazztically out the window as we were flying over the bridge and is therefore just awesomely blurry. Just a happy memory I guess.

Drove the half hour back to the museum with Cort, Caela and I in the backseat. Pretty much my favourite part of the night as Caela and I spent the whole time giggling, while everyone took turns teasing, making ridiculous jokes and just having a blast.

The last place worth mentioning was actually at Silver Dollar City in Missouri. There were various little food places throughout the park that cooked their dishes in these HUGE skillets. Lots of great spices, flavourful meats and perfectly fried vegetables made this meal one of my very favourites on the whole trip! Simple yet impressively well put together and basically a party in your mouth. Loved seeing the chefs at work, hearing the sizzle of flaming hot skillets and the parade of happy smells delighting my nose. Eating under the shade of a million rainbow-coloured leaves added to the atmosphere making the experience sublime.

impressive right????

oh wow, I'm hungry just looking at this!

Oh and I have to mention Andy's, the fabulous ice cream place we ate at 3 nights in a row while we were in Branson. Pretty incredible soft serve there! Open late, made fresh every hour, tons of options, just basically a lot of fun to stop at. 

And so that concludes the food part of my journey. I encourage you all to head out to a new restaurant some time soon and try something out of your ordinary. Who knows, maybe you'll find a new favourite!

From the backseat

I spent EIGHT FULL DAYS in the backseat of the Buick and such an experience is definitely not one to be tossed away and forgotten without at least a small blog post commemorating it. Indeed the long hours of repositioning for comfort, teasing the guys in the front, rocking out with Jess in the back, digging around for lost phones or iPods or treats or what have you, cannot be treated as some lousy old bag of potato chips, crumpled up and thrown in the waste basket, considered useless and undeserving of further contemplation. Truly, they were important hours of my life full of laughter, sleep, music, and, yes, learning how to have patience and deal with people in such close quarters for so long.

Interestingly, the poor fellows up front were forced to be entertained by my iPod of Jess's most of the time as theirs were too new for our radio transmitter ma-bob.They were very well cultured in pop/rock from Jessica and everything else from me. :) As some of you may know, I like pretty much EVERY genre of music and so over two hours, shuffling my 1400 songs gives you quite the mix! Everything from a cappella groups to Skillet to unique French styles to Michael Buble to Switchfoot to country to Lecrae to Jack Johnson and more! We took great joy in driving them a little bonkers with our enthusiasm and obnoxious singing. Also, they were introduced to my random skipping through songs which I'm sure they appreciated.

I was also in charge of the cooler and snacks within as it resided quite happily at my feet all this time (which greatly limited my sitting/sleep positions). We had made almost 200 Oreo truffles (ended up with about 40 left over), a couple dozen Scotcheroos, a bucket of gingersnaps, and a bag of double chocolate cookies. We also had apples, carrots, chips and drinks to consume along the way. Me thinks we made far too much food for ourselves because we were quite sick of it all by the end and didn't even finish it!

We had some very amusing moments in the car. We all traded easy-going jabs at each other and spent many hours laughing hysterically. One hilarious instance was when we played a prank on Josh. We were sitting at a gas station and Jess is like, "we should totally prank him when he comes back!" so we decided to throw crackers on his sit just before he sat down. Derrick was armed with the three Ritz crackers and as Josh went to sit down, he casually chucked them onto the seat. At the CRRRRRRUNCH!!! we all burst into hysterics, Jess and I practically rolling around in the back seat. Another rather amusing ride included making up stories sentence by sentence as each person took a turn adding to it. Here's an example:

One day Prince Derrick went out fishing. He caught a 50 inch trout. It ate him. So he was swimming around in the stomach acid for awhile. Then he used his amazing physics skills to turn the chemicals into a bomb and blow himself out. He sat rather happily in the fish guts on the beach. Suddenly a beautiful princess named Analea came by. It was love at first sight... when Prince Derrick saw the cracker in her hand. Analea left Derrick and the cracker to be alone with each other and walked off down the beach.

The rest were equally ridiculous but occupied us for about 20 minutes. 

As the hours dragged on, I would alternate between trying to sleep and watching my surroundings. From my position in the backseat I would stare out at my surroundings, unimpressed for the most part by these flat states. Seriously, from the desolate wasteland of southern Wyoming to the dried cornfields of Indiana, to the dead, brown fields of Nebraska, this part of the country is really rather dull. Kentucky was rather beautiful as well as southern Missouri. The fall colours in the trees were stunning. Other than that though, the flat flat flatness of everything was just so bizarre to me and odd to my senses. How I missed seeing even a distant mountain range! I really don't know how people do it!

It was altogether a very interesting trip both in the car and out. I definitely had a blast chillin' in my seat but... if I ever see the inside of the Buick again...it'll be TOO soon!

...and now it's over

ya, um, sorry about that. So basically I was WAY too busy on this fantastic trip to have time to blog about the busy happenings. So I shall do my best to give you the highlights without boring you to death or giving my hands cramps from typing.

So, where to begin? Well I guess I already wrote that part...okay so...the rest of the trip..."let me splain...no, there is too much, let me sum up."

Fourteen days
Almost 4000 miles
9 states
4 very different people crammed in one vehicle for hours on end...

And there you have it. Use your imagination :)

Jess and I still cheery early on in the trip

the clan of us who were at the Creation Museum

Riding a camel, no big deal :)

Front of the Creation Museum

Yay for the fantastic four!

Always finding new positions to sleep in the car

Okay, so I have made a decision here. I shall turn this trip into a series of posts written over the next few days, so keep coming back if you want to hear more :)

In this post I would like to share with you one part of our trip that is ironically opposite to the post title: our visit to New Leaf Publishing Group where we met with the editors/publisher of our book! Truly, this project is really just beginning!

We drove out to their quaint location in the middle of the Arkansas countryside. (I didn't even know we were going to Arkansas, I thought New Leaf was in Branson this whole time so that was an interesting surprise.) We were given the grand tour of the offices by Tim Dudley, the publisher, and then had a 2 hour meeting with the editors, marketing people, and graphics people. It was a surreal moment, let me tell you. Put yourself in my shoes if you can:

Nineteen years old, walking into a meeting with a major publishing company, holding in my hands a short manuscript that I've slaved over for 3 months, passionate about what it says but worried to hear the diagnosis on how well I've done. No idea what to expect, smiling, shaking hands, mostly silently listening to Pastor Don present our book, watching people's expressions, trying not to appear like the child I feel like inside, inadequate and foolish for thinking I know what I'm doing. I alternate from nervous, stomach in knots, fiddling insecurity to a calm resting in Jesus, confident that I have been working for Him and He is in control of this book so it doesn't matter what this editor says.

So the moment comes when Laura, the main editor, speaks up. And her words blow us all away: "You have fulfilled your goals and purposes in this manuscript." She goes on to say there are no holes and no glaring errors that she can see right away, just little suggestions she has. She shares excitedly with the whole room how she thinks our book is valuable because it not only brings all different areas of ancient man together as one picture but it has relevancy in today's world. Our book has purpose and it accomplishes what we want it to get across. I am barely comprehending her words as I sit there, looking around the room. We did it? It's good? There aren't any holes? I'm sitting there smiling but I don't really know what I am feeling. Craig, the other editor is smiling his face off and can't say anything bad about it. The marketing people are excited to hear all about what we have to say. Laura wants to hear about our whole experience writing it. Pastor Don is saying that he wants Laura and me to stay in contact, for me to the go-to person between our team and theirs and I'm sitting there trying to remember that I'm only 19 and this is all actually happening. I've just had a meeting with an editor, soon to be OUR editor, who loves our book and hasn't criticized my writing and...I'm ready to jump out of my skin with excitement, bewilderment, awe.

Truly, God has brought me to this place and I am so humbled by how He has used me. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought this would be happening, never mind at this age, without any schooling! This was so not in my plan but God definitely had a different plan and it's only in His power that it was accomplished. That He is using little me and the gifts He gave me to write something, to get this message out to people, is just too much for me to comprehend. I'm doing what I've always dreamed of doing: writing something of value that will be read and will make a difference, Lord willing. I have dreamed of writing for Jesus for so long that I can barely digest the fact that it is actually happening and before I'm even twenty! I am SO blessed by this experience, so honoured to be a tool in His hand, so excited to see what He does with this book, with our team, with the rest of my life.

So, just as an encouragement to you all: Keep dreaming. Keep giving your hopes and dreams to God. Live each day for Him; don't be afraid to follow His leading even if it doesn't seem logical or practical (or financially wise). He will provide for you if you follow His plan for your life. He is in control and can accomplish what He wants to be done. Sometimes I think we have been so ingrained by our culture that we have to do everything a certain way, in a certain order, a sequence of events, a checklist that must be fulfilled before you success can be reached. But God doesn't work that way. He is beyond time and money and the world. Just read His Word, and listen to the testimonies of those around you. He is working.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" - Isaiah 55:8-9

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps - Proverbs 16:9

Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand - Proverbs 19:21