weekdate #18

I have enjoyed this past week so immensely.  There have been times of great worship through fellowship and coming together with the church, and times of laughter and fun.

One of the times of laughter was on Wednesday.  Every Wednesday morning I go to observe a class for my intro to teaching class.  This particular Wednesday, my dad was having a young man in our acquaintance assist him at his job.  The man had left his truck at our house and unintentionally blocked my car in the driveway.  But that wasn't going to stop me.  I just slammed on the gas and went backwards over this little hill, shattering some white pole sticking out of the ground in the process.  I hope it wasn't too important.  Anyway, I got out to make sure the car was alright, and didn't pay attention to what was behind me when I got back in.  I mowed our trashcan down before I'd even realized that I hit it.  So that was fun.

This weekend and into the next week, Mark, Luke, and Sara-Grace are visiting.  My family and I had such a good time with them this morning as we visited Heritage Christian Fellowship, where my dad was guest preaching, and Mark was speaking on how his parents and siblings are serving as missionaries in Cameroon.  This evening we had the Bible memorization meeting at the church and we were able to hear some of Mark, Luke, and Sara's songs.  It was such a wonderful time of fellowship.

All throughout this week, I have been filled with such immense joy in the Lord.  I have been struggling for several months now, ever since I got back from Glorieta, with having joy in the Lord.  My biggest regret of my time in Glorieta was my lack of persistence in attending church, and not actively trying to engage in godly fellowship with those around me.  I don't necessarily regret my decision in going to Glorieta.  I had a fantastic summer of meeting new people and experiencing new challenges and blessings.  But the damage to my faith was so great, I would never return to work there.  I feel that I fell so far back in my faith over the summer, and I'm only just now beginning to gain some ground forward again.

God has been so patient and good to me.  He is so kind.  Honestly, His mercy and grace have just been consuming me over the past weeks, and I am overwhelmed.

At the memorization meeting tonight, Mark shared a passage from Isaiah that I was really encouraged by.  For the discouraged, doubting believer:

Isaiah 43:1-7

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.  Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'  And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'  Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made."

weekdate #009

1. After over two months, I'll finally be starting these weekdates again!  I'm home from Glorieta as of yesterday.

2. On Wednesday night I went out to dinner at Rooftop Pizzeria with two girls I worked with, and I went again on Friday with a bigger group of people.  It was delicious!

3. I worked from last Saturday till Thursday, had Friday off, and had my final day on Saturday.  On Saturday I learned how to de-shell and de-vein shrimp!

4. On Saturday night we had our staff banquet.  Everyone dressed up and we had dinner together.  We watched a slideshow that one of the guys on staff had made.

5. After the banquet on Saturday we all learned to square dance!  It was a lot of fun, if a bit confusing.

6. Sunday morning I woke up early to help some of my friends pack their cars and then see them off.

7. Since Rachel and I had all day to leave and only an hour to drive, we decided to head to Santa Fe one last time with a friend of ours.  We got to explore some art galleries (so amazing!), and then we just kind of wandered around the plaza.

7. After our last meal with the staff that's staying, we went to the prayer garden one last time.  I only went two times over the entire summer; I wish I had gone a lot more!

8. It was hard to sleep last night!  My bed at Glorieta faced a different way than mine at home does, and it was a lot harder.

9. Today I unpacked and got re-settled here at home.  Then tonight we had dinner together.

10. It's really hard to adjust to being home!  But I'll be used to it in a couple of days. :)

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #40

I'm thankful for:

0781. seven great weeks of Fuge

0782. Regeneration next week!  I've been looking forward to this all summer; plus, the youth group from my church is coming, along with Ellie!

0783. "Jesus Paid It All"

0784. my natural hair color.  A bunch of people had a "group dye" party yesterday, and for some of them, it didn't turn out so well.  I'm so grateful I've never dyed my hair!

0785. only two more weeks till I'm done with my first education class!

0786. being able to spend 11 weeks with the people here

0787. a bunch of different cultures and ethnicities all coming together here; it's really showed me what the Body of Christ is like as it spans countries, races, and peoples

0788. a good, well paying job

0789. a car!!!!  Only by the grace of God.

0790. getting mail

0791. music majors

0792. computer plugs that work.  I've been having such horrendous problems with mine, but I'm getting a new one tomorrow!  Yay!

0793. a wedding to go to on Sunday!  Congratulations, Hope and Matt!

0794. my Fuge sweater.  So warm.

0795. fast Internet.  You never know what you had at home till you're away from it for 11 weeks.  I think I just waited half an hour so I could fully listen to one song on youtube.

0796. friendships that will last a lifetime

0797. getting up at 5:30 today to go watch the sunrise!

0798. a pretty easy week of work

0799. the opportunity Ellie's had over these past few weeks to go on mission trips with Samaritan's Purse

0800. getting to spend all day Sunday with my family!

make me a servant

At the very beginning of this summer, when I first arrived at Glorieta, I hated the idea of serving others.  When I began my training in the dining hall and realized that I was actually going to be serving food to people, I felt truly wronged.  I was above this kind of work!  I didn't want people to see me as inferior.

It took me a few days to struggle through the concept that I am here this summer so that I can learn to serve people.  I'm not here on vacation, or for fun, or anything like that; my foremost purpose here is to be like Jesus in all my service, whether I'm washing dishes or making food or mopping a floor or praying with someone.

During my time here at Glorieta I have been attending Blaze Christian Fellowship as often as I can, and this morning they began a new series on marriage.  I didn't know how applicable the sermon would be to me, but I actually really enjoyed it.  The pastor's main point was that, in any given marriage between two people of God, they are not the point of the marriage--the point is God, and His glory.  A man and wife are to be focused on how they can best honor God through their marriage, not how they can get as much from the other person as possible.  The point of a marriage is for each person to see how best they can serve the other.  That point really struck me, and I want to live that out in my life, though I'm obviously not married.  I want to serve my family, and my friends, and just be the light of Christ wherever I am.  I want to lose my life, and find it again in Jesus.

Sorry if this post is all over the place!  It's just something I wanted to share. :)

"He existed in the form of God...but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."

Philippians 2:6-7

five weeks

I can't believe that I've already been here at Glorieta for 5 1/2 weeks!  Time is just flying by; I love this place so much!

My time mainly consists of working five days a week, and then hanging out with people or doing laundry.  Last Saturday afternoon I played paintball for the first and last time. :) The first wound I received was to my temple, and I couldn't hear for a few moments.  After that I was shot another time in the head, four times on my back, twice on my arm, and once on my leg.  I finally bowed out halfway through because I just wasn't having a good time, but more power to all those paintball fanatics out there!  I certainly admire your courage. :)

This week is Christmas week for all the summer staff.  We each drew a name, and we give our person little gifts throughout the week, finally culminating this Sunday.  We each filled out a form that kind of described what each person was like.  I'm having a great time thinking up stuff for my person!

Today I received my first gifts from my secret Santa.  First was a box of corn Chex on my doorstep, since I'd said that that was one of my favorite foods.  The second gift came tonight when I was eating dinner.  I had finished my meal, and I noticed that one of my fellow staff members had his guitar with him.  It was definitely strange to have it with him in the dining hall, but I didn't give it more than a passing thought.  Suddenly, however, he came over to my table and starting yelling for everyone in the dining hall to quiet down--and I mean everyone: Fuge kids, Fuge staff, volunteers, and everyone in between.  I still didn't know what was going on, though, until he suddenly announced, "This is a Christmas present for my girl Sarah here."  I literally almost fell out of my chair.  It was such a surprise!  Then he played me a song, but I don't know what it was.  There were a lot of ooohs that everyone sang along with.  Halfway through another one of the guys on staff came up and gave me some flowers and a card, because on my form I'd written that I've never gotten flowers from anyone.  It was probably the best gift I've ever gotten!  I felt so loved. :)

Have a great week, everyone! :)

four weeks!

I have now been at Glorieta for almost four entire weeks!  I honestly can't believe it's going by so fast.  I am having a blast.  The people here are amazing, and I love my job, even if it's hard a lot of the time.  The international people are still the ones that challenge me the most with their faith.  Even as I write this, a woman from Germany is praying over one of the girls who's having a hard day.  It's such a great thing when people aren't afraid to openly act on their beliefs.

Next week we're having 500 more students come than we've had previously, bringing our numbers up to about 1600.  It's really daunting, but I know God will provide for everything we need--strength, hands to work, grace and kindness, etc.

Tomorrow I have a day off!  I'm going to go do some laundry, maybe take a walk around campus, and hang out with some other people from work who have some time off.  I'm excited. :) Also, my dad is coming home this weekend!

I finished reading "Then Sings My Soul" about a week ago, and I've been working on writing a verse of a hymn to every person on staff here.  There's about 60 of them, so it's taking me awhile, but I'm almost done.  I hope it will be an encouragement to them.

I love this part of a verse in "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" by Horatius Bonar.

I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary and worn and sad;

I found in Him a resting place,

And He has made me glad.

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #39

photo credit

I'm thankful for:

0761. almost being done with my first full week of work.  I never worked fulltime at McDonalds, but after tomorrow I'll be done with my first week working fulltime!

0762. getting paid today!

0763. giant dish washing machines that are amazing

0764. getting the weekend off

0765. spending time with new friends

0766. reading a good book while I wash my clothes

0767. getting to know some of the Fuge staff

0768. getting to go to one of the Fuge worship sessions last night.  The music was awesome, and the speaker was pretty good too!

0769. staff worship

0770. covenant groups

0771. kayaking

0772. the "Encouraging Note Wall" here at Glorieta for all the staff.  It's so fun getting notes from everyone!

0773. places with wifi.  I was never thankful for that until there wasn't wifi where I lived.

0774. refrigerators

0775. clocks that chime the hours and every quarter hour

0776. sweaters with zebra prints

0777. Scrabble

0778. all the little kids here

0779. singing happy birthday

0780. comfy couches and chairs

from my point of view...

...this is what I'm seeing right now!  I'm facing a window, and there's a perfect reflection of the Holcomb chapel steeple behind me.

I hope nobody's getting sick of me blogging so much lately; if you are, leave me a comment to let me know, and I'll try to cut back on it!  I just feel like there's a lot of new stuff going on lately that I want to write about, and hopefully someone's interested in hearing about it.

This week I finished up my job training, and on Monday I'm starting full-time, full force!  I'll be working five days straight this next week, 8 hours a day, but that's just for this first week.  After that I'll only ever work four days straight.  My job training ended up well; the only thing is that, since we rotate through chefs, we're getting a new one this next week.  Not only will it be a whole new ballgame feeding thousands of people, rather than a few hundred, but we'll also have a new chef to work with.  It should be a learning experience!

On Tuesday night we had a lake competition where some people raced across the lake in canoes, kayaks, etc.  I didn't have a chance to participate, but it was fun to watch!

James and Shaylyn

Sarge.  I think he was the lifeguard.

This is Moose, aka Kurtis.

There was this huge ball thing that you filled with air and then tried to walk in it.  It looked like a lot of fun!

Kara and Heather

Megan and Danny Ray

Today we did some stuff with the CenterFuge staff by helping them practice their track times, which are their game times.  We able to choose two out of five activities to participate in.  I chose zumba and soccer.  It was a lot of fun!

My dad left for Cameroon yesterday; I can't wait to hear how it goes for him!

Have a great weekend!

seasons like these

Do you ever have those times in your life where you are just overcome by the continual surprising blessings and goodness of God?  It might be a specific day, or it could continue over weeks or months, but it's just one of those times where your eyes are continually opened to His greatness.

That's where I've been over this past week.  As I adjust to being here at Glorieta, living away from my family, God continually surprises me with blessings.  I wrote about how He led me to read the mercy chapter in "Attributes of God" here.

On Monday I was feeling pretty nervous about going back to job training the next day, and was just really having a hard time resting and being at peace in God.  Every morning I read a daily devotional from "Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, and am always so encouraged by it; it's like it's perfect for every day, no matter what's happening.  Anyway, it was the 4th, so I opened it up to that day and began to read.  Here's the excerpt:

*John 16:33:  That in Me ye might have peace.

   These words have brought peace to me this morning.  Sometimes our circumstances are so peaceful that without knowing it we slip into finding our peace in them.  Then something happens to disturb them and our peace is disturbed.  Sometimes those bout us are so dear that our hearts rest in them, and this is good, but it is not enough, for what if one in whose love we trust should disappoint us?
   Our Lord did not say, "These things [the things of John 16] I have spoken unto you that in your circumstances ye might have peace"; but He did say, "These things"--things of wonder, joy, sorrow, preparation--"I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace."  "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord;...if they have kept My saying they will keep yours also."  Is there any surprise of grief that our dear Lord has not foreseen?  Is there any wound to love that His love has not suffered?  "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace."

I was amazed at how perfect the devotional was for what I was feeling, especially since I had just prayed that God would bring me some encouraging word about having peace in Him.  I had a much better day because of this.

The thing I think is the coolest, though, is that yesterday when I came to read in "Edges of His Ways" I realized that it's not May anymore; it's June!  And it was then that I realized that I had actually read the excerpt for May 4 the previous day, rather than the one for June 4.  The one for June 4 was actually about patience, which was also a good devotional, but what I really needed for June 4th was the excerpt on peace from May 4th.  It was just amazing how God worked that out so that, even through a mistake like that, I was given the exact word I needed for the day.

    Now bid me run

And I will strive with things impossible,

Yea, get the better of them.

* excerpt taken from "The Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, page 89

weekdate #008

Like I said a few posts ago...these probably won't actually be weekly.  But I'm going to try!  We'll see how it goes.

1. Today marks one week of being in Glorieta!  To say it's been kind of overwhelming would be an understatement, but overall this change is good.  Praise God!

2. On Tuesday I started my job training, and did that for three days.  Next Tuesday through Thursday I'll have my final job training before a couple thousand students start arriving. :E

3. Yesterday my family came to visit us!  It was so great to see them.  It was our last time to see our dad before he goes to Cameroon (!!!).  So now we have a car for a few weeks, which is awesome.  Freedom!

4. Also yesterday most of the staff went to the challenge course here at Glorieta.  I went on the giant swing twice, and I actually went all the way to the top!  I've never done that before, and it was terrifying, but it was a lot of fun!  I also went on the zipline, which is always great.

5. Also yesterday, we had a campfire by the lake at night, except there's a ban on fires here, so we just gathered around a stack of wood. :) It was fun though; we sang a bunch of funny songs and danced around to some of them.

6. Today we had "Campus Beautification".  Rachel and I raked leaves for most of the day in the prayer garden, but I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful place to rake leaves at!

7. Tomorrow we have the morning off, so we're going to church in Santa Fe!

8. I started my first education class last week.  It's really fun so far!  The book is called "The Developing Child", so basically throughout the semester I'll just be learning about how kids grow up.  Right now I'm learning about prenatal development, birth, and early infancy.  I've never taken such a fun class!

9. We have to walk everywhere here, so it was kind of scary today to actually drive on the highway.  It felt like we were going so fast!

10. While raking leaves today, I saw more centipedes at once than I've ever seen in my life! Blegh.

attributes of God - mercy

Yesterday I was feeling really homesick and lonely.  Rachel goes to training at 9, but I don't go till 1 so I'm alone for quite awhile.  I was really missing my family and doubting my reasons for being here at Glorieta.  But then I decided to read the chapter assigned for the ladies' Bible study of "The Attributes of God" back home.

The topic for this month is mercy, and it honestly couldn't have come at a better time for me.  I was really wondering what my purpose for being here was, but throughout the chapter I was reminded of God's goodness and how His mercy is extravagant and never ending.  I liked this one section of Tozer's:

One fact about the mercy of God is that it never began to be.  I've heard of men who were hardhearted or careless, but they began to get stirred up and mercy blossomed forth.  It never was so of God.  God never lay in lethargy without His compassion. God's mercy is simply what God is--uncreated and eternal.  It never began to be; it always was.  Heaven and earth were yet unmade and the stars were yet unformed and all that space men are talking about now was only a thought in the mind of God.  God was as merciful as He is now.  And not only did it never begin to be, but the mercy of God also has never been any more than it is now.

After I took the time to read this chapter yesterday, my day was just so much better.  I was reminded that I need to trust God in this time, and He will reveal His purpose to me.

Glorieta!

Hi everyone!

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that weekdates might not be happening "weekly" while I'm here.  I can't get internet in my room, and it's kind of a hassle to bring my laptop and plug and everything to a wifi spot, at least on a set day every week.  So my weekdates might be all over the place for a few months.

I am really enjoying my time here so far.  I'm rooming with Rachel, which is awesome, and we both feel very comfortable in our room.  I haven't taken any pictures of the room as a whole so far, but I'll try to sometime this week.

Here's my bed.

The dresser on the left is mine, where I'm keeping most of my stuff.  I brought my guitar too, and I'm really glad I did; I was able to play a bunch of songs yesterday during some free time.

We have two closets, but we didn't bring enough clothes to fill even one, so the other one is mostly for storage.

Next to my bed I taped up my pictures of Djamsel and Majoie, a drawing Chloe made for me, and a card from my mom.

I love this picture of Chloe, so I attached it to my mirror, where I can see it every day.

And here's just some of the stuff on my dresser.

On our first day here, Sunday, we first had a worship service before playing a bunch of games all morning and afternoon.  They were team building games that helped us all get to know each other, and also helped us learn everyone's names.  It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, Monday, we mostly just went over camp rules, guidelines, stuff about our job positions, etc.  It was more of a boring day, but we were able to get outside and play some games in the afternoon, so that was fun.

Today I have my first job training at 1.  I'm going to be working in the dining hall, which is apparently one of the harder positions, but still good.

There are people from all over the world here: Poland, Portugal, China, Tanzania, Mexico, and Czechoslovakia, as well as all over the United States.  I've really enjoyed getting to know the people from China--Bart, Yia, and Alvin.  They're so passionate about their faith, and they're not afraid to show it.  I've had some great, encouraging conversations with them.

I'll probably try and post here once a week, but I might have some opportunity to do it more often; we'll just have to see.  Have a great day!

today's the day!

Today Rachel and I are moving to Glorieta!  It is so weird to actually be leaving for a few months, even if we will be able to visit.  It's amazing how much stuff I have to bring. :)

I wanted to kind of document this summer, so I bought myself a camera!  I only got it yesterday, and I got the memory card today, so I wanted to share some of the first pictures I've taken.

My lovely mother, who is sick today! :(, made Rachel and I each two quilts.  This first one of mine has a bunch of different squares with quotes about hope and rejoicing and singing.

This one is my graduation quilt.  My mom sent out squares of fabric to all my friends and family and they each wrote something encouraging on their square.  It's so awesome to be able to read all of them!

This one is from Elizabeth.

And this one is from Rachel, the lovely fiancee (!!!) of Jeremy!

I don't know about weekdates; this is, I'm going to try to do one every week, but I don't know if they'll be on Mondays anymore.  I definitely think this Monday isn't going to work, but we'll see!  I'll talk to you all as soon as I can!

weekdate #007

1. Monday I went to visit my grandparents with my mom and sisters.  We had such a great time!  It was absolutely beautiful up there.

2. This week I bought a camera!  I've never had my own camera before, and I'm really excited for it to get hear.

3. On Thursday Rachel and I, along with some friends, went to try out a new Bible study in town.  It wasn't really what I'm used to, but we had a good time, and are going to go again this week.

4. On Friday Rachel, Ellie, and I went into town to do some shopping and get hair cuts and stuff like that.

5. Then on Friday night was the ladies' Bible study, which was on justice this time.  I'm not sure if I'm going to do an attributes of God post on that; I can't seem to come up with much for it, but we'll see.

6. On Saturday we went to Chloe's soccer game, and then to a plant nursery nearby to get my mom her mother's day present (finally).  It was beautiful there!

7. Saturday night was my last memorization meeting at the church before I go to Glorieta.  It was such a sweet time.

8. Sunday was my last time at church for who knows how long!  It's really sad to think about that, but I'll be back at the end of the summer.

9. Today we got together with some friends to have a sort of going away thing for Rachel and I.  It was so much fun, even if I did get sunburned. :)

10. Today's my first day for my online class--I'm taking my first education course.  It looks like it won't be too terrible.  We'll see. :)

weekdate #006

Funny story to come. :)

1. I missed my Monday weekdate this week because I went to visit my grandparents for a few days, and I couldn't connect to their internet while I was there.  Hopefully I'll get a post up with some pics of what we did while we were there sometime today!

2. My last day at McDs was Friday!

3. On Tuesday Rachel, Ellie, and I went to town and saw The Avengers.  It was really good!  I love movies like that, with lots of explosions and catastrophes. :)

4. Chloe lost her first top tooth!


5. Getting ready for Glorieta.  Soooooo soon!


6. Friday and Saturday was the Ongoing Reformation conference.  I only went to the Saturday part because I worked all day Friday, but going on Saturday was really fun.  My dad's sermon was my favorite, but I'm probably biased. :)


7. I've been going on a hymn-craze lately.  At the conference we sang one I hadn't heard before; it's called "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior".  I think it's based off of the story in the Bible where the blind man called out to Jesus as He was going by, and I thought it's a cool story behind the song because the song was written by Fanny Crosby, and she was blind too.


8. I'm slowly making my way through The Circle series by Ted Dekker.  Slowly, because I lost "Red" for a few months and finally found it on Sunday.  I like Ted Dekker's writing style--he really makes you think.


9. Getting ready for summer classes to start on Monday!

10. So thankful for my mom (happy late Mother's Day!).

weekdate #003

1. This past week I've been really busy with homework, especially getting ready for finals next week.  I was supposed to have a math exam last Thursday, but my teacher graciously allowed it to be a take home.  My math final is on Thursday, and over the weekend I've been preparing study sheets for my other three weeks that will be on the 1st and the 3rd.

2. On Wednesday my family and I went to the botanic gardens.  It was so beautiful!  We're going to try and go again next month when everything's blooming and before Rachel and I...

3. go to Glorieta!  In February, Rachel and I were both hired to work at Glorieta (this is where my youth group and I went for Regeneration last summer) for the summer, from the end of May to the second week of August.  We'll be living there all summer, but it's only about an hour away from home so hopefully we'll be able to visit occasionally.  I'm really nervous about moving out for the summer, but I'm also so excited to see what God will do!  Only one more month!

4. The weather has just been so beautiful lately.  Rachel and I are trying to walk a lot more than drive at school; there are a lot of places close enough that we can walk to.  It's a lot of fun!

5. Work on Friday was CRAZY.  It's spring break around here, and it's really obvious at McDs!  I only have two more full days before quitting before Glorieta!

6. Saturday night was my church's memorization group (Living Word Initiative) meeting.  It was so great!  I feel like I'm really treasuring my church family lately since I know I won't really be seeing them over the summer.  Saturday's meeting was a huge encouragement to me.

7. I rearranged my wall where I had Djamsel's picture hanging up so I could put Majoie's up too.  I put this quote in the middle because it reminds me of how God's going to provide for me so I can provide for them, however long He sees fit.

8. Speaking of Majoie, I'm going to try and write my first letter to her tonight!  I am still just so excited that I'm able to sponsor her.  I loved having a little boy to sponsor, and now I have a little girl too! :) God is so good!

9. This week I have discovered coffee!  I'm liking a walking advertisement. :)

10. Like I said in my last Everyday's Thanksgiving post, I've been going through "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  I really liked one of his tips in the book where it says that you should smile at people as genuinely as possible, really focusing on them and acting happy to see them.  So I've been trying to do that this week, and it's amazing what an effect it has on people!  I've really enjoyed seeing how, even with just a smile, you can really make someone's day better.