Well, I made it. We went camping and made it back in one piece. We got there on Tuesday, set up camp, and went to the Nakusp hot springs. We came back and made smores (oh my gosh, so good) with chocolate covered graham crackers and of course perfectly golden brown marshmallows. The next day we woke up to grits and scrumptious Canadian juice boxes, and everyone took turns on the paddle boat. Oh yeah, did I mention that we were on a lake? I was beautiful. And the paddle boat was hilarious. Taylor called me his girlfriend/"love muffin" all week, so of course I had to take him a couple times out on the lake. Morganne and I just made it back in time for the storm that lasted all afternoon which had us in our tents for about 4 hours. We went into town to grab some warm, dry dinner and got turned away from two restaurants because there was no room for us. I kept thinking that they were turning us away because we looked so rough, but one restaurant finally took us in. A trip to the laundromat to dry out sleeping bags and it was back to the camp for more smores and giving Noah advice on girls.
Thursday, the interns and Jamie went with Kevin into town for some "exploring." If you didn't know, Kevin and Alicia are in the business of planting churches, so we went into town to sort of scout and prayer walk the community. Nakusp is a very hard town which desperately needs Jesus, so we went to the visitor's center to get info. After Nakusp we drove about an hour to New Denver to do the same. We prayer walked and got info on the town. The visitor's center told us about this really neat hiking trail that led to a cable car over the river, so we went for it. Just look at the pics. Really cool. And we met some really nice people on the trail (one lady was an elementary school teacher who reminded me of Liz (Luke's sister from Gilmore Girls). We had Hobo dinners that night (carrots, potatoes, and a hamburger patty wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in the fire) which were excellent, and of course more smores.
Friday we weren't supposed to get up until 8 to get ready to leave at 9, but for some reason I got up around 6:30. I laid there until 7 and thought that maybe God just wanted to spend some time with me. It was amazing. I sat in the chair looking out at the water and the mountains, and I realized how easy it is to see God there. There will be pictures, but I don't think they will do justice. You just had to be there. I was freezing, but I sat right in the sun and read my Bible and journaled. What a great way to end my camping experience.
We headed back, took a long needed shower, and the interns went to a Chinese Buffet. Yummy... and then we saw WALL-E!! Oh my goodness, PRECIOUS. Last night we had steaks (Eden is such a good griller), and went into Kelowna for Moo-Licks icecream.
Now we are in Vancouver with Evelin and Brittney. We left today after church and are staying with Evelin's parents who are German (that's what this title is all about... I'm sitting here at their computer and there is a sign to my right that says Ve Get Too Soon Oldt and Too Late Schmardt). They are soooooo cute! She grew up here, so she knows this city like the back of her hand. This is where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held, so it's pretty cool to say that I've been here. We already saw the Pacific Ocean tonight and went to the USA/Canadian border. I'm not going to lie, it made me homesick for the first time. Just seeing our flag. AND we saw a bald eagle sitting when we went to the pier tonight. How patriotic, right? So we will be here touring/shopping/vacationing until Wednesday. Then we will pack on Thursday and come home on Friday! I can't believe it's already over. But I am so excited to come back and see Mom, Dad, and Hershey. The Lord has been so good to me here. He has taught me so much about how He loves me and how He wants me to share that love with everyone else. I'm excited to see what He has planned for me this next year. And guess what. There's already been an offer to come back next year to Edmonton, Canada with Kevin and Alicia. We'll just have to wait and see where He wants me, but wouldn't that be awesome!? Another blog for next summer for sure. Haha. I miss you all.
Lurv in this clurb.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Student Week
This week was Student Week. Monday through today (Friday) we would go down to the Boys and Girls Club and the field behind it for a hang out time with the students on the Westside. Each night we played games outside like volleyball or basketball, messy games, ultimate frisbee, then the video and small group discussion. Of course we couldn't leave them without a little snack at the end of the night (like Snow Cones (nothing like SnoBiz though), popcorn, icecream, and pizza). The messy games were hilarious. They included "Bum" Charades, Banana Barf, and popping a balloon with your nose. The banana game was so funny because the kids put a banana in their mouth, had to put a pair of panty hose over their heads, and then push the banana through the hosiery. The balloon game was tricky too because we covered the balloons in straight up lard. The kids had greasy hair and faces for the rest of the night for sure.
We met some really cool people this week too. Some of the leaders from other churches were super cool and came with us to DQ for some after student week yummies. And we met some guys who were just passing through the playground one night and got them to come hang out the next night too. They showed us how to cript walk (not sure if that's how it's spelled) and have been coming every night since we met them on Tuesday. They tried to get midnight premiere tickets to Batman with us, but they were sold out and we were all pretty sad they couldn't come with us.
This week has been full of cool God stuff. You could definately tell that Satan was attacking this week because a lot of leaders ended up not being able to come or provide some things they had said they could (like skate ramps), but the Lord really provided with the leaders who could come and His presence has been evident at Student Week and in all our conversations. Just having the confidence to go up and start a conversation with kids I normally would think I have nothing in common with is proof enough that He is with me every day.
On Wednesay Jamie told us to go out into the community and just talk with people. So me, Morganne, Mary, and Todd went to the Ferry Docks and the others went to a coffee shop in town. The day before was supposed to be our last day of handing out freezies, so we went to Peachland's Swim Bay, but for some reason I didn't grab the rest of the freezies. On Wednesday I asked the group if we should take freezies just to get rid of at the docks. So we grabbed the rest this time (there was probably like 15 left). When we got to the docks, there was a family with 4 kids and we just let them have as many halves as they wanted. We had a good convo with the mom and she was so interested in why we were up here from Georgia. After they left, another mom and her son talked with us for a while too. We kept giving out freezies the whole time we were there. Sometimes a random guy would come up and take a whole freezy, but we didn't care. The whole time we were there, there were 3 teenage guys on the other dock, and after we had been there about 45 minutes they decided to come over and get freezies. We told them only if they did a trick off the dock we would give them one. So they did, and we ended up having 3 left! We never checked to make sure we had enough either. How cool. I know that was a long story, but I thought it was so cool that we had just enough. Needless to say, I loved going to the docks and just hanging out and talking with people out in the community. That's what Potter's House wants to be known for, and even the second mom said that she knew all about the church because her son had done kid's club for 3 years.
Some extra fun stuff from this week: Emily taught me how to drive stick-shift!! She drives a black 2 door Honda Civic so it was like a little taste of home, but different. I miss my car sometimes. I only stalled a couple times trying to get into first, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. Also we went to the midnight premiere of Batman last night! So fun. Eden brought her Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS and Hanna brought her iPod speakers so we could watch Aladdin on Eden's iPod while we waited in line for 2 hours for the movie to start. It was all worth it. Awesome week. Next week we are going camping. Lord help me. No, really it should be fun. I think we have a lakeside campsite, so that should be amazing.
Thanks for reading, praying, and thinking about me while I'm up here. I only have 2 weeks left, and I'm getting pretty sad thinking about leaving. As much as I am excited about next year, I'm learning so much, and God feels so close here. Part of me doesn't want to go back to my comfortable everyday life, but I do know that that's part of the challenge... to take all the things God is teaching me here and bring them back with me.
Love you and miss you all.
We met some really cool people this week too. Some of the leaders from other churches were super cool and came with us to DQ for some after student week yummies. And we met some guys who were just passing through the playground one night and got them to come hang out the next night too. They showed us how to cript walk (not sure if that's how it's spelled) and have been coming every night since we met them on Tuesday. They tried to get midnight premiere tickets to Batman with us, but they were sold out and we were all pretty sad they couldn't come with us.
This week has been full of cool God stuff. You could definately tell that Satan was attacking this week because a lot of leaders ended up not being able to come or provide some things they had said they could (like skate ramps), but the Lord really provided with the leaders who could come and His presence has been evident at Student Week and in all our conversations. Just having the confidence to go up and start a conversation with kids I normally would think I have nothing in common with is proof enough that He is with me every day.
On Wednesay Jamie told us to go out into the community and just talk with people. So me, Morganne, Mary, and Todd went to the Ferry Docks and the others went to a coffee shop in town. The day before was supposed to be our last day of handing out freezies, so we went to Peachland's Swim Bay, but for some reason I didn't grab the rest of the freezies. On Wednesday I asked the group if we should take freezies just to get rid of at the docks. So we grabbed the rest this time (there was probably like 15 left). When we got to the docks, there was a family with 4 kids and we just let them have as many halves as they wanted. We had a good convo with the mom and she was so interested in why we were up here from Georgia. After they left, another mom and her son talked with us for a while too. We kept giving out freezies the whole time we were there. Sometimes a random guy would come up and take a whole freezy, but we didn't care. The whole time we were there, there were 3 teenage guys on the other dock, and after we had been there about 45 minutes they decided to come over and get freezies. We told them only if they did a trick off the dock we would give them one. So they did, and we ended up having 3 left! We never checked to make sure we had enough either. How cool. I know that was a long story, but I thought it was so cool that we had just enough. Needless to say, I loved going to the docks and just hanging out and talking with people out in the community. That's what Potter's House wants to be known for, and even the second mom said that she knew all about the church because her son had done kid's club for 3 years.
Some extra fun stuff from this week: Emily taught me how to drive stick-shift!! She drives a black 2 door Honda Civic so it was like a little taste of home, but different. I miss my car sometimes. I only stalled a couple times trying to get into first, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. Also we went to the midnight premiere of Batman last night! So fun. Eden brought her Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS and Hanna brought her iPod speakers so we could watch Aladdin on Eden's iPod while we waited in line for 2 hours for the movie to start. It was all worth it. Awesome week. Next week we are going camping. Lord help me. No, really it should be fun. I think we have a lakeside campsite, so that should be amazing.
Thanks for reading, praying, and thinking about me while I'm up here. I only have 2 weeks left, and I'm getting pretty sad thinking about leaving. As much as I am excited about next year, I'm learning so much, and God feels so close here. Part of me doesn't want to go back to my comfortable everyday life, but I do know that that's part of the challenge... to take all the things God is teaching me here and bring them back with me.
Love you and miss you all.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Peachtree City Week
Here we go. Another catch-up day. The Peachtree City team just left today, and I am just now getting a chance to sit down and blog. Right now the interns, Hanna Weaver, me, Jamie, Eden, and some youth from church are watching Vantage Point. Tomorrow is our free day, so we actually get to sleep in and do nothing useful all day. I think we are going to Zellers (kinda like a Target/KMart) to check out the half-off Canada Day leftovers.
So this week went by super fast. The Peachtree City team came in on Saturday and helped out with Kid's Club this week. Outrigger Island was the theme this year, so lots of Hawaiian stuff including the song Wiki-Wiki and sweet motions to go with it. I was the Grade 1 leader. We were the Sea Turtles, and I'm telling you that almost everyday we had a crying boy. Don't get me wrong, I loved those kids, but man could they do some damage. One day there was a bloody nose, the next day we had a kid chip (and when I say "chip" it was seriously a chunk) his tooth on someone else's head, and then today one of my kids punched another kid. Not a day without some excitement that's for sure. But one thing I did love about Kid's Club is just watching the kids throughout the week. I remembered last night how awesome it is to have "faith like a child." Kids seem to have no worries. They love Jesus, they trust Him, and they don't care about what everyone else thinks of them. If they want to dance around crazy, then they do it. They don't care who's watching. I love that, and that's one reason I am so glad I'm going to be a teacher one day.
The team also wanted to volunteer with the Kelowna Gospel Mission, so we helped out with that too. The Mission is a men's hostel and a place for people to come get free meals. Some of the team had to clean bathrooms (and I couldn't help but think of Eryn McAlister the whole time I heard about it), others helped in the thrift store attached to it, and me and some others cooked in the kitchen. We would get there at 2:30 everyday and start cooking for dinner that was served at 4:30. And these were NICE meals too. The head chef Jason was a hoot. He is from Birmingham, England and went to culinary school there, so he knows how to make a mighty fine meal. One day we even cooked baby back ribs with mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, a salad, and a buttered "bun" (dinner roll). The meat was complements from an overturned Cosco truck :). They were fine, but I don't think Cosco could take it, so the homeless shelters and food banks really benefitted from it. Every night before dinner, someone led a 5 minute devotion and asked the blessing. The first night we went (Sunday), Mr. Kenneth shared the gospel and led a woman to Christ! Another night, Daddy did the devotion and a man stopped him and asked a bunch of questions about what God's purpose was for his life and such. And on Wednesday night, me and Garrett sang Be Near by Shane and Shane for the devotion time. We even came back on Thursday night to serve dinner even though we weren't signed up to help, but Jason just loved having us there so much that we couldn't not go again.
Oh yeah. And Wednesday, the kids (that's us) decided to go jump off the ferry docks again with the Peachtree City people. Garrett, Sadie, Amanda, and Eden all planned on jumping so we got the adults to come watch. When we got there I decided to jump off, but of course I didn't have my swimsuit so I just did like Eden normally does and went fully clothed. THEN the men decided to jump off too! Daddy, Mr. Weaver, and Mr. Kenneth all decided to jump... what boys. They loved it though, and we loved the entertainment.
So now the team is gone, but they left us Hanna, and I'm excited about that. Tonight we went to play mini golf with the youth. It had such an amazing view of the lake. Eden got a hole in one! She wanted me to make sure and blog about that. And this isn't putt putt... it was like putting greens, so that's a big deal. I wish I could have taken pictures of this mini golf course and its view of the lake, but my camera is broken so I haven't been able to take any new pictures.
Next week is student week. I am so excited, and I hope that yall can pray with us about it. Jamie has been working on this for a while now, and it's kind of like her baby. We have put up flyers all over town hoping that kids will come from the community to hang out. Jamie keeps stressing that this isn't supposed to be just another youth event for the Christians to hang out at, this is for the unbelieving students in the community. We will go hand out freezies at the docks and tell people about "The Thing at the Field" and hope that God will get them there. We aren't going to push anything on them, we just want them to know we care.
That's about it for now. Shout-outs go to Leslie for the precious gifts. The giraffe coloring picture is on my wall here, and I loved the goodies! Thank you Lesul. And to Jeannene who is always looking forward to reading my blogs! I love and miss you Beaner.
Love in this club (as Morganne would say).
So this week went by super fast. The Peachtree City team came in on Saturday and helped out with Kid's Club this week. Outrigger Island was the theme this year, so lots of Hawaiian stuff including the song Wiki-Wiki and sweet motions to go with it. I was the Grade 1 leader. We were the Sea Turtles, and I'm telling you that almost everyday we had a crying boy. Don't get me wrong, I loved those kids, but man could they do some damage. One day there was a bloody nose, the next day we had a kid chip (and when I say "chip" it was seriously a chunk) his tooth on someone else's head, and then today one of my kids punched another kid. Not a day without some excitement that's for sure. But one thing I did love about Kid's Club is just watching the kids throughout the week. I remembered last night how awesome it is to have "faith like a child." Kids seem to have no worries. They love Jesus, they trust Him, and they don't care about what everyone else thinks of them. If they want to dance around crazy, then they do it. They don't care who's watching. I love that, and that's one reason I am so glad I'm going to be a teacher one day.
The team also wanted to volunteer with the Kelowna Gospel Mission, so we helped out with that too. The Mission is a men's hostel and a place for people to come get free meals. Some of the team had to clean bathrooms (and I couldn't help but think of Eryn McAlister the whole time I heard about it), others helped in the thrift store attached to it, and me and some others cooked in the kitchen. We would get there at 2:30 everyday and start cooking for dinner that was served at 4:30. And these were NICE meals too. The head chef Jason was a hoot. He is from Birmingham, England and went to culinary school there, so he knows how to make a mighty fine meal. One day we even cooked baby back ribs with mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, a salad, and a buttered "bun" (dinner roll). The meat was complements from an overturned Cosco truck :). They were fine, but I don't think Cosco could take it, so the homeless shelters and food banks really benefitted from it. Every night before dinner, someone led a 5 minute devotion and asked the blessing. The first night we went (Sunday), Mr. Kenneth shared the gospel and led a woman to Christ! Another night, Daddy did the devotion and a man stopped him and asked a bunch of questions about what God's purpose was for his life and such. And on Wednesday night, me and Garrett sang Be Near by Shane and Shane for the devotion time. We even came back on Thursday night to serve dinner even though we weren't signed up to help, but Jason just loved having us there so much that we couldn't not go again.
Oh yeah. And Wednesday, the kids (that's us) decided to go jump off the ferry docks again with the Peachtree City people. Garrett, Sadie, Amanda, and Eden all planned on jumping so we got the adults to come watch. When we got there I decided to jump off, but of course I didn't have my swimsuit so I just did like Eden normally does and went fully clothed. THEN the men decided to jump off too! Daddy, Mr. Weaver, and Mr. Kenneth all decided to jump... what boys. They loved it though, and we loved the entertainment.
So now the team is gone, but they left us Hanna, and I'm excited about that. Tonight we went to play mini golf with the youth. It had such an amazing view of the lake. Eden got a hole in one! She wanted me to make sure and blog about that. And this isn't putt putt... it was like putting greens, so that's a big deal. I wish I could have taken pictures of this mini golf course and its view of the lake, but my camera is broken so I haven't been able to take any new pictures.
Next week is student week. I am so excited, and I hope that yall can pray with us about it. Jamie has been working on this for a while now, and it's kind of like her baby. We have put up flyers all over town hoping that kids will come from the community to hang out. Jamie keeps stressing that this isn't supposed to be just another youth event for the Christians to hang out at, this is for the unbelieving students in the community. We will go hand out freezies at the docks and tell people about "The Thing at the Field" and hope that God will get them there. We aren't going to push anything on them, we just want them to know we care.
That's about it for now. Shout-outs go to Leslie for the precious gifts. The giraffe coloring picture is on my wall here, and I loved the goodies! Thank you Lesul. And to Jeannene who is always looking forward to reading my blogs! I love and miss you Beaner.
Love in this club (as Morganne would say).
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Just Another Day in Canada
So the fourth of July here is just the fourth day in July. Nothing too special, unless you were at Jamie and Eden's house last night! If you don't already know, the 4th is my all time favorite holiday, and I was quite bummed that I missed Peachtree City's awesome extravaganzas such as the parade with golfcarts, swimming/eating at Erin Spruell's house in the afternoon, BBQ at FBCPTC, then AMAZING fireworks with all of your closest friends. Oh, and not to mention, the fantabulous tasting homemade icecream my parents and the others make. But don't cry me a river yet, yesterday was actually pretty fun.
It started off with a sister trip to Costco to buy tons of food for the PTC team coming in TONIGHT! That and then a quick trip to Walmart and then to the camp where the team will be staying. Their camp has an amazing view btw. They are up on some crazy mountain, and they even have a 2-year-old bear that supposedly has made it's home there in one of the trees. (Hopefully we will see it :)). A little chill time in the afternoon, then preparations for the 4th of July party Jamie was throwing.
The party included: Emily and Steven, Megan and Stephanie, the Muellers (it was little Caitlin's bday... so of course we made her "the cake"), Todd and Jennifer, me, Robin, Morganne, Eden, and Jamie. Jamie cooked barbeque (the meat, not the grill) which was very tasty. The food was yummy, then a bunch of us went down to the field to play games. Some played Bocci Ball (don't ask me what that is because I don't know), and me and Eden played golf. We even slip the golfball in half with our strong muscles. Seriously, just wait for the picture. (P.S. Aunt Julie, all the pictures and videos are on my Facebook page. Just ask Megan or Will what to do).
Then dessert and cake with the Braves game on in the background (we won!). And we watched some Washington DC fireworks too. Then we played this game called "Things." Probably the best game ever. Someone asks a question like "Things you don't want to see in a public bathroom" and then everyone writes down an answer (like mine was "hair), and then you take turns trying to guess who wrote what. Morganne knew mine right away. So fun. We all started picking on Todd, which made it even more entertaining.
We ended the night by throwing sparklers up and down the street. Really fun. They looked like comets. And today we are finally taking brownies to Christine (the lady we helped move her stuff into a storage unit), and then getting everything ready for the PTC peeps to get here! I can't wait! Happy 5th of July everyone.
It started off with a sister trip to Costco to buy tons of food for the PTC team coming in TONIGHT! That and then a quick trip to Walmart and then to the camp where the team will be staying. Their camp has an amazing view btw. They are up on some crazy mountain, and they even have a 2-year-old bear that supposedly has made it's home there in one of the trees. (Hopefully we will see it :)). A little chill time in the afternoon, then preparations for the 4th of July party Jamie was throwing.
The party included: Emily and Steven, Megan and Stephanie, the Muellers (it was little Caitlin's bday... so of course we made her "the cake"), Todd and Jennifer, me, Robin, Morganne, Eden, and Jamie. Jamie cooked barbeque (the meat, not the grill) which was very tasty. The food was yummy, then a bunch of us went down to the field to play games. Some played Bocci Ball (don't ask me what that is because I don't know), and me and Eden played golf. We even slip the golfball in half with our strong muscles. Seriously, just wait for the picture. (P.S. Aunt Julie, all the pictures and videos are on my Facebook page. Just ask Megan or Will what to do).
Then dessert and cake with the Braves game on in the background (we won!). And we watched some Washington DC fireworks too. Then we played this game called "Things." Probably the best game ever. Someone asks a question like "Things you don't want to see in a public bathroom" and then everyone writes down an answer (like mine was "hair), and then you take turns trying to guess who wrote what. Morganne knew mine right away. So fun. We all started picking on Todd, which made it even more entertaining.
We ended the night by throwing sparklers up and down the street. Really fun. They looked like comets. And today we are finally taking brownies to Christine (the lady we helped move her stuff into a storage unit), and then getting everything ready for the PTC peeps to get here! I can't wait! Happy 5th of July everyone.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Ketchup aka Catch Up
Wow. So I have a lot of catching up to do.
Let's start with Monday:
We previewed the videos for Student Week. They are amazing (to say the least). Miss Ontario is the producer, and she picked topics that most teens deal with and turned them into videos to "make them think." The website is www.makeyouthink.tv -- check it out if you get a chance. It will give you a taste of the awesomeness. After lunch we got a call from a lady who needed help unloading a UHaul for her daughter. She said it was an emergency situation and they needed to return the truck by the next day. Me, Morganne, Robin, Eden, Jennifer, and Todd went over to the storage unit and met the girl's parents (a couple probably in their 60s). They were so sweet and so grateful that we could help. It actually worked out perfectly because we didn't really have plans for the afternoon, so it was nice to be useful. We found out that their daughter was at the hospital with her 2 year old son because he had a nervous reaction. We also found out that their daughter was running away from her husband who had been abusing her. They were taking her in until she can get back on her feet. We've called Christine (the daughter) and are going to take her brownies tomorrow. I know the Lord is already at work in this situation, and I can't wait to see what He has in store for tomorrow. If anything, we are simply showing His love for their family, but I also pray that they could maybe find a church home that will welcome them and be there for the family.
Tuesday:
Happy Canada Day! Our wonderful boss allowed us the day off today. What a sweetheart. So we had a sleep over at Jamie and Eden's the night before. It was nice to have 3 fans on us since our house is SO hot, we normally wake up sweating. But Peter (the man upstairs) turned the AC on in their house, so that's nice. We went to the "beach," which is really just the lake. But this beach is actually a sandy one, most are rocky. The water is SUPER cold, but it actually makes your skin feel really clean... don't ask why, it just does. We even played a game of MASH, and evidentally I am going to marry Danny Devito and have my honeymoon at my parents house in PTC, Eden is going to be a preschool teacher and have 12 children all at one time, Robin is going to be a truck driver with her husband Napoleon Dynamite, Jamie is going to have a unicycle for her vehicle and have a plaid wedding dress, Morganne is going to marry Yow Ming (that tall Asian basketball player) and marry a gecko breeder, and Todd (oh Todd) is going to have 20 female children and shoot frozen chickens out at airplanes to see if they break? That's what he wanted! Anyways, you get the point. We had fun. Then we came back and took showers then went to Kelowna to play with the wild bunnies! Yes, you read it right. Watch the video. Then on to the grocery store with a little run in with a model agency, and then off to Peachland to watch more fireworks! These fireworks however, were the worst I think I've ever seen. I'm serious. I think I've seen better in my cul-de-sac on New Years Eve, but we had fun sitting on the docks and hanging out with each other laughing at the 5 minute wait period between each set of fireworks.
Wednesday:
Kids Club prep in the morning. I got to decorate all the signs for each age group. So fun... my elementary school teacher coming out of me. After lunch we went around to local businesses to put up flyers for student week. Me and Morganne even put a flyer in the woman's bathroom at the beach so they have to look at it while they are "taking care of business." A little reading in the afternoon for "Book Club" and then off to the food bank. Fun times again with the regulars like Vivian. Vivian kept telling me I need to take a trip to Europe while I'm young. You know, just work my way around by waitressing and living in hostels... we'll see about that :). I mentioned student week to Chelsea (she's going into grade 8), so let's pray that she'll come. She was so precious. She told me that she went home and looked up online where Georgia is. She wanted me to test her about her American geography knowledge (Garrett, you can help her out when you get here). After food bank we went over to Emily's house to help her eat her Dairy Queen birthday cake... yummy. Then we went to Peachland at like 9:30 to jump off the rope swing. Me, Morganne, and Eden were the only cool ones who got in. It was FREEZING! I really think that my body went numb. Even the inside of our ears were cold for the rest of the night. But it was still fun.
Today:
Just learning those precious motions for Kid's Club. Jeff Slaughter, what a hottie. Today we are going to the ferry docks to hand out freezies and student week flyers.
Shout-outs go to: Kristen -- because I haven't told you that I love you lately. And Hanna Weaver and Garrett because I cannot WAIT for yall to get here in 2 days!
Let's start with Monday:
We previewed the videos for Student Week. They are amazing (to say the least). Miss Ontario is the producer, and she picked topics that most teens deal with and turned them into videos to "make them think." The website is www.makeyouthink.tv -- check it out if you get a chance. It will give you a taste of the awesomeness. After lunch we got a call from a lady who needed help unloading a UHaul for her daughter. She said it was an emergency situation and they needed to return the truck by the next day. Me, Morganne, Robin, Eden, Jennifer, and Todd went over to the storage unit and met the girl's parents (a couple probably in their 60s). They were so sweet and so grateful that we could help. It actually worked out perfectly because we didn't really have plans for the afternoon, so it was nice to be useful. We found out that their daughter was at the hospital with her 2 year old son because he had a nervous reaction. We also found out that their daughter was running away from her husband who had been abusing her. They were taking her in until she can get back on her feet. We've called Christine (the daughter) and are going to take her brownies tomorrow. I know the Lord is already at work in this situation, and I can't wait to see what He has in store for tomorrow. If anything, we are simply showing His love for their family, but I also pray that they could maybe find a church home that will welcome them and be there for the family.
Tuesday:
Happy Canada Day! Our wonderful boss allowed us the day off today. What a sweetheart. So we had a sleep over at Jamie and Eden's the night before. It was nice to have 3 fans on us since our house is SO hot, we normally wake up sweating. But Peter (the man upstairs) turned the AC on in their house, so that's nice. We went to the "beach," which is really just the lake. But this beach is actually a sandy one, most are rocky. The water is SUPER cold, but it actually makes your skin feel really clean... don't ask why, it just does. We even played a game of MASH, and evidentally I am going to marry Danny Devito and have my honeymoon at my parents house in PTC, Eden is going to be a preschool teacher and have 12 children all at one time, Robin is going to be a truck driver with her husband Napoleon Dynamite, Jamie is going to have a unicycle for her vehicle and have a plaid wedding dress, Morganne is going to marry Yow Ming (that tall Asian basketball player) and marry a gecko breeder, and Todd (oh Todd) is going to have 20 female children and shoot frozen chickens out at airplanes to see if they break? That's what he wanted! Anyways, you get the point. We had fun. Then we came back and took showers then went to Kelowna to play with the wild bunnies! Yes, you read it right. Watch the video. Then on to the grocery store with a little run in with a model agency, and then off to Peachland to watch more fireworks! These fireworks however, were the worst I think I've ever seen. I'm serious. I think I've seen better in my cul-de-sac on New Years Eve, but we had fun sitting on the docks and hanging out with each other laughing at the 5 minute wait period between each set of fireworks.
Wednesday:
Kids Club prep in the morning. I got to decorate all the signs for each age group. So fun... my elementary school teacher coming out of me. After lunch we went around to local businesses to put up flyers for student week. Me and Morganne even put a flyer in the woman's bathroom at the beach so they have to look at it while they are "taking care of business." A little reading in the afternoon for "Book Club" and then off to the food bank. Fun times again with the regulars like Vivian. Vivian kept telling me I need to take a trip to Europe while I'm young. You know, just work my way around by waitressing and living in hostels... we'll see about that :). I mentioned student week to Chelsea (she's going into grade 8), so let's pray that she'll come. She was so precious. She told me that she went home and looked up online where Georgia is. She wanted me to test her about her American geography knowledge (Garrett, you can help her out when you get here). After food bank we went over to Emily's house to help her eat her Dairy Queen birthday cake... yummy. Then we went to Peachland at like 9:30 to jump off the rope swing. Me, Morganne, and Eden were the only cool ones who got in. It was FREEZING! I really think that my body went numb. Even the inside of our ears were cold for the rest of the night. But it was still fun.
Today:
Just learning those precious motions for Kid's Club. Jeff Slaughter, what a hottie. Today we are going to the ferry docks to hand out freezies and student week flyers.
Shout-outs go to: Kristen -- because I haven't told you that I love you lately. And Hanna Weaver and Garrett because I cannot WAIT for yall to get here in 2 days!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Burning Up
That's the song I'm listening to right now. I love the Jonas Brothers (right Leslie?). And it goes along perfectly with the weather here because yesterday it got up to 93 degrees and today it broke 100! And remember that most houses around here do not have air conditioning (including the one we are staying at).
Yesterday was the Canada Day parade! The float was so cute, and we passed out 4,000 water bottles to Westbank. They acted like we were handed out 100 dollar bills because it was so hot. I loved the parade because it reminds me of 4th of July! I'm glad the two independence day's are so close. The 4th is my favorite holiday, but luckily they do very similar stuff up here... like fireworks (I'll tell you about that later). After the parade we had lunch at the Center with the other interns and Noah. Then we went back to our house to help Cindy get ready for Spencer's birthday party that was today. Morganne and I were in charge of filling water balloons. We were soaking wet by the end, but we had fun squirting Scooby and Winston (the cat) when they walked by. We probably filled up at least 50 balloons...
Boston Pizza was on the menu for dinner! Yummy... I had my pizza fix, but Eden says that next time I have to get something other than pizza. After dinner we came back to Jamie's and watched School of Rock (love it) and chilled until fireworks.
The fireworks were, well, the company was good. It was so fun just sitting around with some of the youth from the Potter's House. On the way to the fireworks, we walked alongside the lake and a BEAVER followed us! We named her Beatrice, and I even got a video of her (so go watch it on Facebook). Then we sat around and waited. They actually put the fireworks on a boat and floated out to shoot them off (like Epcot!). They were so good at first, but the end was a bummer. They ended with those "pfff" ones. That's it, no grand finale or anything... as Emily explained it, it was like when you have to sneeze and then you can't. O well.
Today we helped out with the kids ministry at church. Morganne, Robin, and Emily were in charge of Lil K (preschool) and I helped out Randy (a man in the church) with KidMo (grades 1-6). He was so awesome with the kids, and I loved the videos and stuff that they use. Next week I think they are handing over the kids ministry to us, so that's something yall can be praying about. After church we had Subway, and then headed over to the house for Spencer's birthday party.
The party was an Indiana Jones theme, and man does Cindy go all out on parties! She had a craft, an obstacle course in the backyard, a clip of the movie, then they had to eat things like rat terds (chocolate covered raisins), rhino snot (pink yogurt), and a snake (gummies). Then she had them battle the villian (her brother) with water balloons, then they had to find the missing statue (which was hidden in the garage). It was a pinata and they loved taking a swing at it. After 3 hours though, we (us interns, Jamie, and Eden) went upstairs and had to chill for a minute.
Next we went to the ferry docks. These things are at least 15 maybe 20 feet high, and they are just slits of wood. Me, Eden, and Morganne all jumped off... just watch the videos. :) Now we are at Jamie's recooperating. We had dinner and now Emily is over with the dog she is sitting (bah) this week.
This next week should be pretty chill, just getting registrations for Kid's Club and celebrating Canada Day on Tuesday and then 4th of July on Friday! That's about it for now. Shout-out for today goes to Sarah Wirgau because she is now 22! Love you and miss you all.
Yesterday was the Canada Day parade! The float was so cute, and we passed out 4,000 water bottles to Westbank. They acted like we were handed out 100 dollar bills because it was so hot. I loved the parade because it reminds me of 4th of July! I'm glad the two independence day's are so close. The 4th is my favorite holiday, but luckily they do very similar stuff up here... like fireworks (I'll tell you about that later). After the parade we had lunch at the Center with the other interns and Noah. Then we went back to our house to help Cindy get ready for Spencer's birthday party that was today. Morganne and I were in charge of filling water balloons. We were soaking wet by the end, but we had fun squirting Scooby and Winston (the cat) when they walked by. We probably filled up at least 50 balloons...
Boston Pizza was on the menu for dinner! Yummy... I had my pizza fix, but Eden says that next time I have to get something other than pizza. After dinner we came back to Jamie's and watched School of Rock (love it) and chilled until fireworks.
The fireworks were, well, the company was good. It was so fun just sitting around with some of the youth from the Potter's House. On the way to the fireworks, we walked alongside the lake and a BEAVER followed us! We named her Beatrice, and I even got a video of her (so go watch it on Facebook). Then we sat around and waited. They actually put the fireworks on a boat and floated out to shoot them off (like Epcot!). They were so good at first, but the end was a bummer. They ended with those "pfff" ones. That's it, no grand finale or anything... as Emily explained it, it was like when you have to sneeze and then you can't. O well.
Today we helped out with the kids ministry at church. Morganne, Robin, and Emily were in charge of Lil K (preschool) and I helped out Randy (a man in the church) with KidMo (grades 1-6). He was so awesome with the kids, and I loved the videos and stuff that they use. Next week I think they are handing over the kids ministry to us, so that's something yall can be praying about. After church we had Subway, and then headed over to the house for Spencer's birthday party.
The party was an Indiana Jones theme, and man does Cindy go all out on parties! She had a craft, an obstacle course in the backyard, a clip of the movie, then they had to eat things like rat terds (chocolate covered raisins), rhino snot (pink yogurt), and a snake (gummies). Then she had them battle the villian (her brother) with water balloons, then they had to find the missing statue (which was hidden in the garage). It was a pinata and they loved taking a swing at it. After 3 hours though, we (us interns, Jamie, and Eden) went upstairs and had to chill for a minute.
Next we went to the ferry docks. These things are at least 15 maybe 20 feet high, and they are just slits of wood. Me, Eden, and Morganne all jumped off... just watch the videos. :) Now we are at Jamie's recooperating. We had dinner and now Emily is over with the dog she is sitting (bah) this week.
This next week should be pretty chill, just getting registrations for Kid's Club and celebrating Canada Day on Tuesday and then 4th of July on Friday! That's about it for now. Shout-out for today goes to Sarah Wirgau because she is now 22! Love you and miss you all.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Seasons of Love
Hey hey. We are at Jamie's watching Rent (did you know that I love musicals?), and waiting for float prep tonight. Yesterday we had a good time in the morning just sharing with each other (Jamie and the interns) what we struggle with and learning what we can pray for each other about. Then we went to the center and sorted through all the kids' toys so we could bleach them. It was pretty funny because we literally filled up Jamie's bathtub with bleach (watered down of course) and dumped the toys in it. Then we laid them out on the sidewalk to dry. Props to Robin for actually keeping her hands in the bleach and washing all the toys.
We went to McDonalds for lunch yesterday and found out that they don't know what a Mighty Kids meal is. They only have Happy Meals, which meant that I only got 4 chicken nuggets instead of 6, and Morganne only got one patty on her burger instead of two. Oh well. We just saved room for a yummy ice cream treat :).
We helped out at the Food Bank yesterday afternoon/night. It was probably my favorite thing we've done so far. I loved all the people who help out. I got to work with Chelsea (a grade 8 girl from Westbank). I gave her a geography lesson (shout-out to Garrett!) about where Georgia was in the states. But I also had on my Auburn shirt, so I had to explain where Alabama was also. Then we got to talking about Hannah Montana (Leslie :))because they would call out corn niblets and it reminded me of when Billy Ray Cyrus says "sweet niblets" in the show, so I told her where Tennessee was too. I'm excited because we are going to work at the food bank every Wednesday while we are here, so it will be fun to get to know all the people even better.
Then we worked on the float for Canada Day! The parade is on Saturday, and we are promoting Kids Club and Student Week. We painted shells and starfish, and then some of the girls paper macheted balloons to be rocks. Eden even painted her shell orange and blue for Auburn. She is such a loyal fan. Then the interns went back to our house because we had to read for Jamie's book club as Eden calls it (In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day).
This morning was so good. We came and ate breakfast at Jamie's house like we normally do, and then we talked about the next two chapters in the book. These chapters were SO good. We talked about not letting fear hinder us from what God has in store for us (to say the least). The author used so many good analogies like how a doctor tests us for allergy tests. We can't just ignore our allergies (fears), He has to give us a little dose so that we can figure out what is wrong, and then He can treat it. "You've got to be exposed to small quantities of whatever you're afraid of. That's how you build up immunity." And He's never going to give you more than you can handle, right? Anyways. That was the gist of what we talked about.
Then we went to the Center and cleaned chords for Sunday. Since the church meets in a movie theater, the chords get sticky from being on the floor. Go figure. So that's what we've done lately. Tonight we have float prep again, and then we are watching Jane Austen Book Club tonight and making cookie dough. Yay for girl's night!
Thanks for all the lovin'. Yall are being so precious to me. I love and miss all of you!
Sarah
We went to McDonalds for lunch yesterday and found out that they don't know what a Mighty Kids meal is. They only have Happy Meals, which meant that I only got 4 chicken nuggets instead of 6, and Morganne only got one patty on her burger instead of two. Oh well. We just saved room for a yummy ice cream treat :).
We helped out at the Food Bank yesterday afternoon/night. It was probably my favorite thing we've done so far. I loved all the people who help out. I got to work with Chelsea (a grade 8 girl from Westbank). I gave her a geography lesson (shout-out to Garrett!) about where Georgia was in the states. But I also had on my Auburn shirt, so I had to explain where Alabama was also. Then we got to talking about Hannah Montana (Leslie :))because they would call out corn niblets and it reminded me of when Billy Ray Cyrus says "sweet niblets" in the show, so I told her where Tennessee was too. I'm excited because we are going to work at the food bank every Wednesday while we are here, so it will be fun to get to know all the people even better.
Then we worked on the float for Canada Day! The parade is on Saturday, and we are promoting Kids Club and Student Week. We painted shells and starfish, and then some of the girls paper macheted balloons to be rocks. Eden even painted her shell orange and blue for Auburn. She is such a loyal fan. Then the interns went back to our house because we had to read for Jamie's book club as Eden calls it (In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day).
This morning was so good. We came and ate breakfast at Jamie's house like we normally do, and then we talked about the next two chapters in the book. These chapters were SO good. We talked about not letting fear hinder us from what God has in store for us (to say the least). The author used so many good analogies like how a doctor tests us for allergy tests. We can't just ignore our allergies (fears), He has to give us a little dose so that we can figure out what is wrong, and then He can treat it. "You've got to be exposed to small quantities of whatever you're afraid of. That's how you build up immunity." And He's never going to give you more than you can handle, right? Anyways. That was the gist of what we talked about.
Then we went to the Center and cleaned chords for Sunday. Since the church meets in a movie theater, the chords get sticky from being on the floor. Go figure. So that's what we've done lately. Tonight we have float prep again, and then we are watching Jane Austen Book Club tonight and making cookie dough. Yay for girl's night!
Thanks for all the lovin'. Yall are being so precious to me. I love and miss all of you!
Sarah
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