Tuesday, March 31, 2009

New Adventures

I made it to Iowa safe and slightly sound! Hannah and I had a lot of fun making the drive out. We bonded like never before, had many laughs, and left or ultimate mark on Interstate 90. Some highlights from the trip included getting in a snowball fight with a van full of Hoover Vacuum Cleaner people on top of the Snoqualmie Pass (as we were waiting for an avalanche to be cleared off the road), staying the night at Micah and Michelle’s in Coeur D’Alene, and being able to visit Mt Rushmore in South Dakota.




Tomorrow I start my new job as Event Coordinator!! And by Friday I’m going to be attending a Middle School Retreat at Lake Okoboji. Talk about hitting the ground running… I’m going at’er with everything I’ve got. I’m excited to work with my new team and to work with leaders and their youth across various states. This is a new chapter for me and I’m looking forward to where it will take me.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Memories





Thank you to everyone who has made my time here in Lynden SO SPECIAL. These pictures only touch on a few of the things I've been able to do this past month. Picture or no picture know that you have not been forgotten!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Good Bye

It's finally here: the week of "lasts". Next Wednesday I will be en route to the Midwest. This past week I've been thinking about the process of letting go. Part of me wishes there was a special 3-step-process to making a goodbye successful. But I've also realized part of the beauty in letting go is enjoying all the different ways it comes about.

I decided to start my chain of goodbyes beginning with one of "my spots". I embraced the drive, took my journal and sat in "my special place". Just me, my pen, and God. I soaked in the beauty and took the time to remember all the times I've sat there. I cherished the moments. Some made me want to cry others made me laugh and smile.


Letting go isn't always easy for me but I know there are great things waiting for me in
Iowa. I know I will find new spots I like to go, I will make new friends who will love me and challenge me where I'm at. It will become home. All I can do I move forward and let the craziness begin:) And that is exactly what I am going to do!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Office Supplies

I don't know why or what sparked my love for it, but I love office supplies. Highlighters, cool paper clips, post-its (the super sticky ones of course)... if I walk into an office supply store I want to go crazy and start buying stuff. I may already own it but I will tell myself I need more. The more colors I have the more excited it makes me. I wonder if this is how guys feel when they walk into a hardware store and see tools?

I've also developed a habit of wanting to highlight, underline, star, make comments in the margins--you name it--when I read books. I don't go crazy and have more highlighter on the page than there is black ink. I like to think I take the important stuff (and I make sure I don't do it to books I'm borrowing... no need to freak out peeps:).

With all that being said I ran across a little someth'n-someth'n I noted beside a while back and it re-struck a note. So I decided to share:

"While some of us are headed in the wrong direction, others of us may be going in the right direction but we're not stopping and getting gas for the long haul. Are you living as if it's God's responsibility to make sure you have oil for your lamp? Maybe you're spiritualizing your lack of preparation: 'If God wants it to happen, it will happen,' or 'I'm just waiting on God.' ... When we fall short because we were unprepared for an opportunity, we blow it off and say, 'Well, that must have been the Lord's will.' That's a Christianized way of blaming God for our own problems. There are some opportunities you were intended to have that you may not even see, much less seize, because you didn't prepare yourself for the future opportunity. Sometimes the reward is in the effort."-McManus