In my mind, today is just another day hanging out with my sister, Molly Wright [figuratively of course since she is about 18 hours away]. I smile to myself- at 19 years old, however many years ago, I remember thinking, "Will we ever be friends who are so close that I would tell her my secrets??" I have to laugh, because I would have never thought that at 22 she would step back into my life and play such an amazingly large part in the restoration of my life with God. Now at 24, I look back on a conversation we have had many times in our ever growing friendship-- "Does God have a sense of humor??" Why yes, He does!? No worries, I have a pretty serious explanation to back my argument up... Plus, I know at least she will get a kick out of his post...
Keep in mind while considering my experiences-- I prayed to God this week that in exchange of my voice toward idol speech & any escaping to my comfort of calling home to complain or talk things through, I would open my mind and heart to new ideas and concepts to get closer to Him.. It's about as humorous as praying for patience- if you ever have, you know exactly what I am talking about--
Example 1:: Monday morning first thing is always corporate worship held in the "ballroom" here on campus- as per usual there was singing, people praying, just like maybe a Sunday morning worship service in church. All sounds normal and completely INSIDE my box, right?? I am comfortable- God is setting the stage, He smiles down and suddenly flips the mystery card over and there it is- one of my biggest questions and follies in faith:: healing. The prayer warriors in the room claim they all feel as though there is healing that needs to be interceded and prayed for-- whaaaa..!? I am not comfortable any longer. They call up everyone who feels they need healing, whether it be physical, mental or emotional- just healing. Oh, Lord!! My heart laughs- literally!! All I could think and feel is my heart pulling, saying, "you cut me a deal-- you wanna hold your end or not??" Alright- here's the ledge, close my eyes and step off in great-- I mean huge-- faith.. The group goes around, they say, "if you know this cry of healing need, come intercede and pray for and with these brothers and sisters of yours.." My heart pulls, "you ready??" WHAT!? Um, God you're mistaken, I said I would be open minded, not act in the uncomfortable situation. --again, laughter & "you cut me a deal-- you wanna hold your end or not??" Dagnabbit - I do - ughhh.. A father from the campus stands in the gap for the children [theres a bug going around]- there's that silly pull again- how many times has it crossed my mind when I was holding a sick child in my arms to pray for healing?? What about when they handed me little 5 month old Webb when he was wheezing because his acid reflux had gotten so it had begun to erode his esophagus?? I broke before God and asked Him to heal that beautiful little person in my arms- now he's a beautiful little man of 3 years and 5 months!! So, I closed my eyes and stepped off the ledge.. God certainly has a sense of humor- be open minded, Jess 😉..
Example 2:: Again, corporate worship in the ballroom- only now the scene is set for this morning- a few short hours ago. After a whirlwind moment with God yesterday that left me feeling redeemed and whole, I was far more open to singing with truth in the songs. A member of the community came forward, you could see torment on his face. He and his family just arrived back in The Springs last week after 6 years in Sudan- because they and their intern were Americans, the Sudanese government gave them 48 hours to get out of the country [for safety, & the last thing the Sudanese wanted was to hurt an American missionary family, then of course greet the Navy Seals at their doorstep]. This father, informed us that the YWAM members left there now are all Sudanese or Egyptian- a number of them have now been taken in for interrogation- only God knows what that can entail. The correspondence has gone quiet to keep themselves safe from whatever could be listening. He was commissioning his community to stand in the gap- stand in the gap and pray for those who are part of his YWAM family and may be persecuted, maybe even murdered for their stance next to God. Wow, God- thank you that I can stand here in the western United States of America or back home in the Midwest, the South, and everywhere far in near within our boarders and sing to a Father I cannot see, but truly believe in. No persecution here can even stand up against that from the other side of the world. People prayed, people sang, I am still comfortable. Then, God came back in, grinned and flipped over the mystery card of uncomfort:: dancing!! What!?! Dancing!? First off God, was it not you that created me to white, and bore me into a baptist family of Bear & Sal!? A woman grabbed the mike and quoted scripture- we can dance on the head of evil.. There it is, scriptures that may be sound and righteous, but definitely on the outside of my box. God laughs and yet again squares my heart up in his sights and asks- "you cut me a deal-- you wanna hold your end or not??" Now was it like big, fancy or even noticeable?? I was not the ballerina at the front of the room [her name is Ella, I used to think she was too much and maybe crazy, now I love her because she's just enough and a little crazy enough to make my soul smile at God's creation]- but I can say with shy remark- I closed my eyes, stood on that ledge with God- took a deep breath and stepped off the ledge. --confession though:: I totally borrowed the directors' 15month old for parts of it [baby dancing is inside my box- ask Adelynn Kate, we dance to princess music all the time]. God most certainly has a sense of humor-- have an open mind Jessie Rae 😉!!
You may be asking yourself how I am taking this... In laughter, of course. Why not?? It's funny... Dare I say hilarious?? I use this word based on my lecture from yesterday. The point of this week is Biblical Worldview- asking some of the crazy uncomfortable "don't rock the boat" questions [biggest one yesterday- do those who never hear the name of Jesus, go to heaven or hell?? --whoa, right??].. But yesterday in the final hour she brought about the beauty of redemption and that while there are many many questions that only God answers, we can still know truth- we are redeemed in Christ. She explained that the word used for sacrifice in Hebrew (or Greek maybe- either way you get my point) is "Hilastérion" [classroom reference: Romans 3:25] - this is the root of the word hilarious. When we take a step of redeeming faith, God is hilariously happy with us!! While sacrifice is by no means hilarious most of the time [Christ's crucifixion being one that is certainly not funny, but serious & life changing], I can't help but find my sacrifice of speech in order to seek open mindedness this week-- hilarious!!
All I can do is hold my head in the palm of my hand, shake my head, laugh out loud, and look up at Molly and state: "God most certainly has a sense of humor.."
--only 149 days left--
💛jrc
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
.actions speak louder than words.
Hello, friends, family, loved ones, all who have gathered here today-
I greatly apologize if any of you were hoping to call and chat over the next week. As crazy as it sounds, God has laid it on my heart to take a week off of "chatting" and instead to spend a week silent in Him. I spoke with a leader here about it to make sure that it would be okay and I was actually hearing from God (you never know in this crazy head of mine who might be talking). [[After discussions with her, she asked that I still participate in class, small group, and when I have to meet with my one-on-one guidance counselor lady/prayer partner/person I am supposed to vent to]]. But after finding the verse, Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent," then a week long lecture on hearing the voice of The Lord- I decided to spend time being silent, letting Him fight for me, and listening in hoping to find some peace. While I have tried my best to stay positive and open minded here, I realize that my own words get in my way of keeping those things true.
So, please bear with me. My phone is still on in case of emergencies- feel free to text encouraging messages or things going on in your life, just please do not get offended if I do no text or call back before next Sunday afternoon.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 "When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools: fulfill your vow."
Only 151 days left.
ps. I will also use this time to try and upload some more photos to share.
💛jrc
I greatly apologize if any of you were hoping to call and chat over the next week. As crazy as it sounds, God has laid it on my heart to take a week off of "chatting" and instead to spend a week silent in Him. I spoke with a leader here about it to make sure that it would be okay and I was actually hearing from God (you never know in this crazy head of mine who might be talking). [[After discussions with her, she asked that I still participate in class, small group, and when I have to meet with my one-on-one guidance counselor lady/prayer partner/person I am supposed to vent to]]. But after finding the verse, Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent," then a week long lecture on hearing the voice of The Lord- I decided to spend time being silent, letting Him fight for me, and listening in hoping to find some peace. While I have tried my best to stay positive and open minded here, I realize that my own words get in my way of keeping those things true.
So, please bear with me. My phone is still on in case of emergencies- feel free to text encouraging messages or things going on in your life, just please do not get offended if I do no text or call back before next Sunday afternoon.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 "When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools: fulfill your vow."
Only 151 days left.
ps. I will also use this time to try and upload some more photos to share.
💛jrc
Saturday, January 26, 2013
.better late than never.
[you may be asking yourself-- how many clichés can she use to title her posts with?-- we'll, I don't know but it's starting to sound like a fun challenge my literary heart can try out 😃]
I apologize for my further delay on this post- it has been more of an adjustment than I thought it would be [plus as I will explain, I am learning that it is okay to decline people's invitations to be social every time we have a free moment].
Where to start?? I refuse to give you a day-to-day update, mostly because the title of this blog is Something Worth the Read, and to drudge through the boring daily matters would definitely not be worth any read whatsoever. So, lets highlight the good, the bad, and the freaking nuts.
Good: I still actually like my roommates- and by gosh- I'm actually being serious! Ha. I can hear all my former roommates, saying, "Dear Heavens, why couldn't you have been that way with us!?" Okay, honest truth?? I'm not the biggest fan of people all up I my living space- in fact I have lived alone for 3.5 years after living with about 15 people within 2 short years ((lots of moving plus a tornado being the cause)), so I was mostly terrified I would want to commit a violent crime by now. However, I am finding them incredible. We are actually the only room that hasn't had a single problem with roommates. Everyone wishes they lived in here with us, but my favorite part is that we don't let other people in here for "fellowship"- not because we are exclusive, but to avoid that awkward moment when you really just want to be like, "okay, so I'm going to bed and you need to get out.." We live in a hotel for crying out loud, we can fellowship in about 2000 other places.
Good: Shockingly enough, and definitely to my surprise, girls are noticing me as older, a leader, and someone they want to talk with about heir problems. Most of these girls I haven't gotten to know too well, mostly because there are 22 of us, so it's kind of hard this early in to our time. But apparently I have fooled them into thinking I am wise enough to have an answer for them (no worries, I am very much learning to pray for all the words so that I am hopefully leading them in the general path of correct). But within the first week, I had a girl come to me and ask me about boy advice, because she knew the short version of my story before Jay, and she said she could just tell from the way that I speak of Jay and the things she had heard us say to one another, that she respects my advice on dating and takes it to heart. Wow- talk about pressure!? I keep starting off conversations with, I do not have all the answers, and many that I do have have a high rate of being wrong, but what I have learned up until now is... Ahh! I am just trying to figure out my own crazy life, I am hardly equipped to help anyone else figure out theirs.
Good: I am learning a lot about myself. A lot about myself the way God views me and wants relationship with me. While I have always known that was overall desire, these folks are super into making it an actual real life thing. First week lecture was based on the character and nature of God- I was slightly bored because it was mostly like freshmen year at Union again in Old & New Testament Survey. However, it left me with a hunger to read the Bible as a whole in historical order- good thing I have my hook up at LifeWay Bookstore!! 😄 I forgot that I was supposed to get a free new Chronological Life Application Study Bible after I had done my training on it at work just before I left- so I text my manager and asked if he would send one to me when my newly rebound Bible arrived. ((Side note:: my parents had my bible they gave me for Christmas in 2003, rebound/sewn back together as a Christmas present this year)). So my managers sent me my Bibles, but the huge blessing was that they chose to send me one of the really nice leather bound versions- typically store associates get a hardback copy for free for doing the training on new study bibles. I am so incredibly excited!! I have never read the whole bible all the way through and I am getting to do it in full historical order!! Ahh- how my life has changed, this would have never excited me when I was 19 and had just first left home.
Good: I'm working on being open minded to other people's concepts of worship and prayer-- we will cover this in "the freaking nuts"..
Good/Bad: Transitioning here into the iffy line between good and bad... We are pretty much as busy as they promised, but it's less because of classes and more because there is absolutely no time to be alone. So upside is that I have little time to remember that I am insanely homesick and could use a seriously awesome hug from one of my tiny humans. I am having a hard time learning to say no to people and I have felt so incredibly overwhelmed. So I am having to take time for myself and learning that its to say no when offered constant human contact in the form of even more constant talking. In the words of my lovely British roommate, "Let's be serious with ourselves here, no one is that happy all the time!." Haha. She's confused why Americans are so "bloody" nice all the time.
Bad/Good: I have no car, and there are way less opportunities to go places than we had originally been told. On the upside, I am renting a car as of tomorrow, for the next 9ish weeks. So I will be getting out there and hopefully will be able to take a picture of something for you to actually look at.
Bad/Good: This weeks lecture was about hearing the voice of God. The class was taught by a 72year-old woman who was just sweet as pie named, Sarah. I started this week off by being quite honestly insanely skeptical. Long story short, I mostly didn't believe that God spoke to everyone and I was near insanity at the fact that the only thing anyone does here is pray or sing- it's crazy. Sarah is apparently Jesus' best bud and she was claiming that she clearly hears God speak to her and that she had prayed over all of our pictures before the week began and had asked God what He wanted us to know. First thought?? This lady is about as sane as a loon. Her message for me ((btw, here they call it "getting a word" from God)), "follow Him." To my dislike, she had actually hit a mark on my heart. I did not realize she had hit that mark until we were doing an exercise a day later. The game went as follows: there were three people to a group- 1 person was blindfolded and was considered the follower, -1 person was to be the voice of Jesus [this was me], -1 person was to be the voice of the devil, -the objection was to not tell the follower who was Jesus and who was the devil, but to just speak to her and convince the follower to follow us through an obstacle course of sorts, -my job was to get the follower back to where we started and the devils job was to get her anywhere but back to that point, -all I had to do was talk to her about her problems she had previously come to me about, as I walked backwards in front of her and just told her to follow my voice and I would let her know when it was time to turn, but not a moment sooner than necessary... Suddenly what Sarah had told me sounded so true. All I need to do is follow Him because He is just talking to me about the stuff we talk about already, and I won't know when the next turn or bump in the road is until I get there. Ugh! My thoughts?. How cool!? Followed by: This is really messed up and annoying!! Hopefully reaching: Okay, I can handle this.
Freaking Nuts: Now to the part that I am trying to stay open minded about, but seriously- it's a bit much. Most people are normal, but there are a good chunk of people who are far more charismatic than I have ever experienced outside of movies. There's the crying out to God at the top of their lungs, every time!! I mean, I may have accepted every now and then, but every time is too much, and hardly believable. Then there is shouting out prayers- no- screaming them out!! It scares me, but screaming things always makes me nervous and uncomfortable. And they all are very big on laying hands on each other and huddling up everyone they can find to pray over one another. While I can, again, see this as an every now and then thing, every time?? Is that necessary?? It terrifies me to tell people my problems for fear they will all want to touch me and scream at Jesus in the process. There is flag dancing- which I guess falls into the category of "to each his own"- but my little baptist, non-clapping, certainly not dancing heart, it's strange. We have corporate worship with the entire base every Monday and Wednesday morning, which is typically far more than I can handle- then as far as my specific class, we have worship in Friday morning as well-- it's just a lot of church- a very different church than I am used to, as well.
Over all- my challenge to myself to stay positive and open minded is going well so far. Only time will tell.. But for the most part I am crazy homesick, counting down the days, and doing everything I can to use this time to learn more about myself, God and the scriptures, and spend more time with God in general.
There are only 153 days left.
I apologize for my further delay on this post- it has been more of an adjustment than I thought it would be [plus as I will explain, I am learning that it is okay to decline people's invitations to be social every time we have a free moment].
Where to start?? I refuse to give you a day-to-day update, mostly because the title of this blog is Something Worth the Read, and to drudge through the boring daily matters would definitely not be worth any read whatsoever. So, lets highlight the good, the bad, and the freaking nuts.
Good: I still actually like my roommates- and by gosh- I'm actually being serious! Ha. I can hear all my former roommates, saying, "Dear Heavens, why couldn't you have been that way with us!?" Okay, honest truth?? I'm not the biggest fan of people all up I my living space- in fact I have lived alone for 3.5 years after living with about 15 people within 2 short years ((lots of moving plus a tornado being the cause)), so I was mostly terrified I would want to commit a violent crime by now. However, I am finding them incredible. We are actually the only room that hasn't had a single problem with roommates. Everyone wishes they lived in here with us, but my favorite part is that we don't let other people in here for "fellowship"- not because we are exclusive, but to avoid that awkward moment when you really just want to be like, "okay, so I'm going to bed and you need to get out.." We live in a hotel for crying out loud, we can fellowship in about 2000 other places.
Good: Shockingly enough, and definitely to my surprise, girls are noticing me as older, a leader, and someone they want to talk with about heir problems. Most of these girls I haven't gotten to know too well, mostly because there are 22 of us, so it's kind of hard this early in to our time. But apparently I have fooled them into thinking I am wise enough to have an answer for them (no worries, I am very much learning to pray for all the words so that I am hopefully leading them in the general path of correct). But within the first week, I had a girl come to me and ask me about boy advice, because she knew the short version of my story before Jay, and she said she could just tell from the way that I speak of Jay and the things she had heard us say to one another, that she respects my advice on dating and takes it to heart. Wow- talk about pressure!? I keep starting off conversations with, I do not have all the answers, and many that I do have have a high rate of being wrong, but what I have learned up until now is... Ahh! I am just trying to figure out my own crazy life, I am hardly equipped to help anyone else figure out theirs.
Good: I am learning a lot about myself. A lot about myself the way God views me and wants relationship with me. While I have always known that was overall desire, these folks are super into making it an actual real life thing. First week lecture was based on the character and nature of God- I was slightly bored because it was mostly like freshmen year at Union again in Old & New Testament Survey. However, it left me with a hunger to read the Bible as a whole in historical order- good thing I have my hook up at LifeWay Bookstore!! 😄 I forgot that I was supposed to get a free new Chronological Life Application Study Bible after I had done my training on it at work just before I left- so I text my manager and asked if he would send one to me when my newly rebound Bible arrived. ((Side note:: my parents had my bible they gave me for Christmas in 2003, rebound/sewn back together as a Christmas present this year)). So my managers sent me my Bibles, but the huge blessing was that they chose to send me one of the really nice leather bound versions- typically store associates get a hardback copy for free for doing the training on new study bibles. I am so incredibly excited!! I have never read the whole bible all the way through and I am getting to do it in full historical order!! Ahh- how my life has changed, this would have never excited me when I was 19 and had just first left home.
Good: I'm working on being open minded to other people's concepts of worship and prayer-- we will cover this in "the freaking nuts"..
Good/Bad: Transitioning here into the iffy line between good and bad... We are pretty much as busy as they promised, but it's less because of classes and more because there is absolutely no time to be alone. So upside is that I have little time to remember that I am insanely homesick and could use a seriously awesome hug from one of my tiny humans. I am having a hard time learning to say no to people and I have felt so incredibly overwhelmed. So I am having to take time for myself and learning that its to say no when offered constant human contact in the form of even more constant talking. In the words of my lovely British roommate, "Let's be serious with ourselves here, no one is that happy all the time!." Haha. She's confused why Americans are so "bloody" nice all the time.
Bad/Good: I have no car, and there are way less opportunities to go places than we had originally been told. On the upside, I am renting a car as of tomorrow, for the next 9ish weeks. So I will be getting out there and hopefully will be able to take a picture of something for you to actually look at.
Bad/Good: This weeks lecture was about hearing the voice of God. The class was taught by a 72year-old woman who was just sweet as pie named, Sarah. I started this week off by being quite honestly insanely skeptical. Long story short, I mostly didn't believe that God spoke to everyone and I was near insanity at the fact that the only thing anyone does here is pray or sing- it's crazy. Sarah is apparently Jesus' best bud and she was claiming that she clearly hears God speak to her and that she had prayed over all of our pictures before the week began and had asked God what He wanted us to know. First thought?? This lady is about as sane as a loon. Her message for me ((btw, here they call it "getting a word" from God)), "follow Him." To my dislike, she had actually hit a mark on my heart. I did not realize she had hit that mark until we were doing an exercise a day later. The game went as follows: there were three people to a group- 1 person was blindfolded and was considered the follower, -1 person was to be the voice of Jesus [this was me], -1 person was to be the voice of the devil, -the objection was to not tell the follower who was Jesus and who was the devil, but to just speak to her and convince the follower to follow us through an obstacle course of sorts, -my job was to get the follower back to where we started and the devils job was to get her anywhere but back to that point, -all I had to do was talk to her about her problems she had previously come to me about, as I walked backwards in front of her and just told her to follow my voice and I would let her know when it was time to turn, but not a moment sooner than necessary... Suddenly what Sarah had told me sounded so true. All I need to do is follow Him because He is just talking to me about the stuff we talk about already, and I won't know when the next turn or bump in the road is until I get there. Ugh! My thoughts?. How cool!? Followed by: This is really messed up and annoying!! Hopefully reaching: Okay, I can handle this.
Freaking Nuts: Now to the part that I am trying to stay open minded about, but seriously- it's a bit much. Most people are normal, but there are a good chunk of people who are far more charismatic than I have ever experienced outside of movies. There's the crying out to God at the top of their lungs, every time!! I mean, I may have accepted every now and then, but every time is too much, and hardly believable. Then there is shouting out prayers- no- screaming them out!! It scares me, but screaming things always makes me nervous and uncomfortable. And they all are very big on laying hands on each other and huddling up everyone they can find to pray over one another. While I can, again, see this as an every now and then thing, every time?? Is that necessary?? It terrifies me to tell people my problems for fear they will all want to touch me and scream at Jesus in the process. There is flag dancing- which I guess falls into the category of "to each his own"- but my little baptist, non-clapping, certainly not dancing heart, it's strange. We have corporate worship with the entire base every Monday and Wednesday morning, which is typically far more than I can handle- then as far as my specific class, we have worship in Friday morning as well-- it's just a lot of church- a very different church than I am used to, as well.
Over all- my challenge to myself to stay positive and open minded is going well so far. Only time will tell.. But for the most part I am crazy homesick, counting down the days, and doing everything I can to use this time to learn more about myself, God and the scriptures, and spend more time with God in general.
There are only 153 days left.
Friday, January 11, 2013
.here goes nothin'.
[the Internet password given out to everyone was wrong, so I am just now able to post this]..
While there are many stories to be told as to how I got to this point in my life; there are even more people to thank-- I figured this first post really just needed to be a quick update. Bear and I (for those of you who don't know, Bear is my father) flew in Wednesday evening to Colorado Springs. Yesterday morning we checked me into the Youth with a Mission, Strategic Frontiers, location just a few short miles from he Garden of the gods. After checking me in, seeing my room, dropping off my luggage & picking my bunk, Bear and I headed out to run some errands for the few things I forgot. I got to spend some extra time with him thankfully since we checked me in around 10am and did not have to be back on base until 4pm. Then we went to a dinner where staff and students were introduced and I did my least favorite activity in the world-- spoke into a microphone in front of people. After the dinner, Bear headed out and I headed back to my room for some quick alone time and unpacking. If you know anything about me, you probably know that I am apt to live out of a suit case until I've worn everything into the laundry basket, so my being the only one in my room unpacked is nothing short of a miracle. But this is my new leaf, so not only did I unpack, but I made my bed!! That's right, my mother and my boyfriend just fainted in shock. :) After unpacking and chatting it up for a bit with my roommates, I hit the freshly made sack and slept pretty well in this tiny twin bunk. Though, lets be serious, I really missed my fuzzy old man puppy to sleep with me.
Then this morning I woke up before 6am so I could shower and dry my hair before the roommates woke up. Breakfast starts at 6:45, then we had a day filled with plenty of syllabus stuff- he who we are's, the why we are's, the do this, please don't do that's, the here's this & that's... Even the, don't let in strangers and what to do if we come across a stranger who most certainly does not belong here. I felt a little better when I realized they aren't completely anti self-protection of fire arms out here in hippie land. Then we had a break before dinner when I played a thrilling game of spoons and did what I cold to observe and learn about my fellow students. Then there was dinner, followed by a few big group games. I'm not a huge gamer outside of my family christmas games where we are all a bunch of dirty cheaters, so playing cheesy don't cheat games is hard for me. Ha. But I am pushing myself outside of my hermit shell and engaging in people and doing my best to not be the loner girl that I can so easily become.
Okay so I don't know much about many people, but here's my basic run down:
-there are 28 students, 22 female and 6 male [most girls seem to be exactly like all females and stick to their own personal groups and types, while the guys seem to be mostly afraid of speaking near a female-- oh and I don't really remember anyone's name]
-the leaders are either married with children, or married with children on the way, or about to be married.. There are tiny humans everywhere, and Bear called it a beading ground. Haha!
-my roommates are as follows:
London- her name is Victoria and she rocks with her British accent. She when to University in London to study English Lit so I already like her- she is 25 and thinks she may want to become a women's prison Chaplin :)
Minnesota- her name is Angela. She is 23 and incredibly quiet. She likes photography and claims to come out of her shell once she gets comfortable, so I will be very interested to see who she really is, hopefully soon.
Texas- her name is Sierra and she's 18 and just graduated high school in November. She is incredibly outgoing and you can just see how excited she is to learn what on earth God wants from her.
This is all just a lot at moments, I often find myself overwhelmed. I hope to give you something worth reading soon, because I am praying I will be doing something worth writing even sooner.
.jrc.
While there are many stories to be told as to how I got to this point in my life; there are even more people to thank-- I figured this first post really just needed to be a quick update. Bear and I (for those of you who don't know, Bear is my father) flew in Wednesday evening to Colorado Springs. Yesterday morning we checked me into the Youth with a Mission, Strategic Frontiers, location just a few short miles from he Garden of the gods. After checking me in, seeing my room, dropping off my luggage & picking my bunk, Bear and I headed out to run some errands for the few things I forgot. I got to spend some extra time with him thankfully since we checked me in around 10am and did not have to be back on base until 4pm. Then we went to a dinner where staff and students were introduced and I did my least favorite activity in the world-- spoke into a microphone in front of people. After the dinner, Bear headed out and I headed back to my room for some quick alone time and unpacking. If you know anything about me, you probably know that I am apt to live out of a suit case until I've worn everything into the laundry basket, so my being the only one in my room unpacked is nothing short of a miracle. But this is my new leaf, so not only did I unpack, but I made my bed!! That's right, my mother and my boyfriend just fainted in shock. :) After unpacking and chatting it up for a bit with my roommates, I hit the freshly made sack and slept pretty well in this tiny twin bunk. Though, lets be serious, I really missed my fuzzy old man puppy to sleep with me.
Then this morning I woke up before 6am so I could shower and dry my hair before the roommates woke up. Breakfast starts at 6:45, then we had a day filled with plenty of syllabus stuff- he who we are's, the why we are's, the do this, please don't do that's, the here's this & that's... Even the, don't let in strangers and what to do if we come across a stranger who most certainly does not belong here. I felt a little better when I realized they aren't completely anti self-protection of fire arms out here in hippie land. Then we had a break before dinner when I played a thrilling game of spoons and did what I cold to observe and learn about my fellow students. Then there was dinner, followed by a few big group games. I'm not a huge gamer outside of my family christmas games where we are all a bunch of dirty cheaters, so playing cheesy don't cheat games is hard for me. Ha. But I am pushing myself outside of my hermit shell and engaging in people and doing my best to not be the loner girl that I can so easily become.
Okay so I don't know much about many people, but here's my basic run down:
-there are 28 students, 22 female and 6 male [most girls seem to be exactly like all females and stick to their own personal groups and types, while the guys seem to be mostly afraid of speaking near a female-- oh and I don't really remember anyone's name]
-the leaders are either married with children, or married with children on the way, or about to be married.. There are tiny humans everywhere, and Bear called it a beading ground. Haha!
-my roommates are as follows:
London- her name is Victoria and she rocks with her British accent. She when to University in London to study English Lit so I already like her- she is 25 and thinks she may want to become a women's prison Chaplin :)
Minnesota- her name is Angela. She is 23 and incredibly quiet. She likes photography and claims to come out of her shell once she gets comfortable, so I will be very interested to see who she really is, hopefully soon.
Texas- her name is Sierra and she's 18 and just graduated high school in November. She is incredibly outgoing and you can just see how excited she is to learn what on earth God wants from her.
This is all just a lot at moments, I often find myself overwhelmed. I hope to give you something worth reading soon, because I am praying I will be doing something worth writing even sooner.
.jrc.
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