JBU

Sometimes I feel like I am back in college.

But honestly, I am okay with that.

(watch Malpal, she may have gotten some bruises)

You tell me what you do to unwind after an 8-hour class!

Israel

I don’t know if I can sum up my trip to Israel in a few words.
I don’t know if I have ever experienced the peace of the Lord is such a powerful way.
I don’t know if I will ever view the Bible in the same way.
I don’t know if I will ever taste hummus as good as it did in Israel.
I don’t know if I will ever adopt the Kosher way of life, even though I understand the reasoning behind it.

I do know that my heart has been burdened for the nation of Israel.
I do know that I am blessed to be a Gentile and see the power of the New Testament.
I do know that I want to go back.
I do know that I want to study the Old and New covenants more in depth.
I do know that the Lord is sovereign.
I do know that I have turned the grace of the Lord into Law.
I do know that I am obsessed with Mediterranean food.
I do know that jet lag can cause panic attacks.

A few pictures until I can do a much better blog post.

Another list, another post.

You know how much I love my lists, so here you go:

1. On Friday my Aunt lost her 2 year long battle with cancer. Although in my opinion she was pretty victorious because she is forever in the presence of our sweet Lord, Jehovah-Rapha*. I'm actually jealous, forever in glory? Incredible.
*Jehovah-Rapha is the God who heals

2. I saw Justin Bieber's 'Never Say Never'. This embarrassing for multiple reasons: (1) I loved it, (2) I teared up, (3) I left inspired, (4) I am planning on seeing it again, (5) I am so happy the boy-band type music is coming back (6) I justified going because I went with a 14 year old, a 10 year old and a 17 year old (but let's be honest, I would have gone by myself anyway.)

3. My birthday. I have committed to being a 20-something. I am a 23 year old. This past birthday may have been one of my best (except my 21st that I stood 2 feet from Jon McLaughlin and he wished me happy birthday...can't really beat that) I woke up in one of the most comfortable beds ever that did not make noise because it was not made out of bamboo, went to coffee with a college roommate, had time by myself, went to dinner with friends (Thanks Kels who came in town!) and watched Baby Mama with a few friends from the Institute. Which may or not be one of my most quoted movies...ever (followed by Mean Girls, Dumb and Dumber, Heavyweights, Galaxy Quest, The Holiday and a mass of YouTube videos)

4. Adulthood. A few of us were talking the other day about when we feel that we have met adulthood. Granted none of us actually feel like adults because we live in Cabanas and work at summer kamp. But there ares ones in the group engaged, applying for real life jobs or pursuing more education and moving to new places. But nonetheless, most of us are adults. I think I have reached adulthood. I am becoming a member at my church in Branson and I have a phone with internet. I set up my own bank and have a grocery store. I am applying for jobs are are not just for the summer and after April, I will never sit in a classroom again (unless the Lord decides to be funny and call me to teaching...don't get any ideas) Even when I look at this, I don't feel like I am there. You know, at adulthood. I'm starting to think Meredith Grey is right:

“I've heard that it's possible to grow up - I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way, we whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark, we look for comfort where we can find it, and we hope - against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope...”

5. Israel. The Holy Land. The land milk and honey (hence blogspot tagline). But I leave in about a day. I am so excited. I seriously get to walk where Jesus walked. You know I love the story of Moses and the journey to the Promised Land, I am pumped to see the Promised Land in living color! I don't think it has hit me yet that I am going to the Middle East. I literally am pumped to go to the land that I have read so much about.

Peace out friends

Happy Valentine's Day to Me.

-Remember that time when my old kamp director was texting me and asked me ‘if a Jayhawk were to swoop down on a cat, who would win the battle?’ and I responded with ‘Considering a Jayhawk is a made up bird, clearly the cat would win’? Oh wait. That was last night.
-Remember that time KU was ranked #1 and K-State wasn't ranked at all, and then we played them and won by 18 points? Oh wait. That was last night.
-Remember how I will always be excited about a KU loss? And even more excited about a K-State win? And the best is when those tow things are tied together?

I found my favorite professor on Twitter yesterday. Her tweet was (some minor editing was done):
‘Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
K-State is beautiful,
but what happened to KU?’
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I bleed purple.
Fighting ever fighting for a wildcat victory! Go state!

Old Dreams Revived

The idea behind the Lord granting you the desires of your heart is a funny concept. It is all in His timing.

My freshman year of college I had my heart set on becoming a Fashion Mechandiser who specialized in Visual merchandising and had dreams of living in New York. A few months into my sophomore year I was at KSU (go state, I will ALWAYS bleed purple) and I took Intro to Human Development. After my first week of class I changed my major to Family Studies and Human Services and never looked back. I am qualified to do a lot but certified to do nothing. Oh and I have a women studies minor (don’t cringe, feminism is not all bad. Without a little bit of femisnism in our history women today would not be able to vote…) I loved my major and would not have changed it for anything.

Fast forward a few years later, I am almost done with my first year of grad school and I am working at Gap barely surviving my monthly bills in Branson. I have worked here since October and only about 10 hours a week. And took a week off and missed black Friday and took a week off at Christmas. So I don’t even think I can call myself a real employee.

About a week ago, I got a promotion. I am the Woman’s Visual Specialist…basically I am in charge of the mannequins (and for the record I spelled that correctly the first time) and the displays on the women’s side of Gap. I am literally doing what I was so passionate about 5 years ago. I was able to pursue other things and still have this opportunity to accomplish this dream I had years ago. It was made so clear to me that I did the right thing of changing my major because I can do this job without a fashion degree with a little hard work, initive and loyalty to my job.

I am truly getting the best of both worlds, accomplishing one high school dream to work towards my vision statement: Know God, serve others and make God known. It is incredible to see how the Lord has taken this old dream of mine that I thought I would never be able to accomplish and have Him work it into my life at the perfect time.

Life in Pictures

Two of our own got married. Congrats Ben and Jenny!

(Left to right: Walter, Me and Mickey)
Hoedown, sometimes I feel like I am back in high school when we have themed parties...but I love it.

(Pictured: Thomas)
Powderpuff: I have since then discovered that I cannot play sports for fun. I play to win, not for fun.

Back Row, left to right: CT, Addie, Caroline, Kate (roommate) and Alex.

Front row, left to right: Kristen (suite-mate), Courtney, Andrea and me
This is a lot of the girls at the Insty at one of our first 'optional' events.

Left to right:Stef, Asha, Me, Kristen, Callae, Marissa, Addie, Denise M., Denise W., Liz, Jenny, Tanya, Brittany, Abigail, Autumn, Erin, Lindsey, Leesa Marie and Amy.
Liz and me. We met this summer since we both are both DHDL's at neighboring kamps. She is such a blessing to me.
Work Day: Lots of raking and laughter

Left to right: Denise (fellow k-stater), Mallory, Me, Liz and Abigail
Spirit week: The cast of Peter Pan

Back row, left to right: Me and Tanya

Front row, left to right: Kristen, Josh and Lee
Pumpkin baking party. Enough said. You know my love of pumpkin flavored things.

Left to right: Laura, Marissa, Mallory (also known as Malpal), Me and Courtney

Timothy Group. We have been through a lot together but I am so blessed to have these women in my life encouraging me towards the cross. Two of my best friends come from this group.

Left to right: Liz, Me, Emily, Karen, Mallory and Denise
My class. it amazing to know that when we took this picture we barely knew each other and now I have 54 people who are constantly encouraging me in my walk with the Lord and challenging me to live to a higher standard.
My class. Again. It takes a lot to get a serious class picture. This, was not one of the serious ones.

"And in the words of Glinda from my favorite musical Wicked:

I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow. If we let them and we hep them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you"

This is dedicated to Kelsey. Who told me to update.

So I have been missing from the blogging world for about 2 months. And my friend Kelsey is really into blogs right now, so I needed to give her something to read.

PS. SHE IS COMING BACK TO KAMP! AND COMING TO BRANSON FOR MY BIRTHDAY!

So the few of you that read this blog, my new goal is to blog once a week. We'll see how that works out.

I like lists.

1. It is impossible to write down all that I have learned in the past few months since the big move to Branson. I started the year of nervous because this is the farthest I have ever lived away from Kansas City, I didn’t realize that I was coming to a place that feels more like home everyday. Each day, Branson becomes a little more normal to me. And my second family is hilarious. For example, I took the two younger ones out to ice cream today. I get them from school and the 7 year old boy gets in the car and pulls out a spoon from his pocket and tell me that he has been ready all day.

2. Living life in the kamp community has been a huge dose of encouragement. I see how conistant the full-time staff is in their walk with the Lord. How their love for the Lord just pours out and into their everyday lives. I find myself desperately wanting that for myself. One of the biggest struggles I have had is making sure my time in the Word is not just school-related. It is so easy to get caught up in my assignments that I forget how much I long for that intimate relationship with Christ. I am constantly caught off guard with how my Lord loves me.

3. I have been blessed with a great friendships here, especially my friend Liz. Our friendship is hilarious. We met at leadership weekend this past year because we both were DHDLs at the kamps next door. Little did we know that our first meeting was the beginning our friendship. We both had hard summers being DHDL and we met a few times in the Bean to try and gain sanity over running a kitchen. Our friendship really picked up when I was switched into the same small group this year at the Institute. That in itself is a long hilarious story.

4. I am not going to lie, I LOVE BRANSON. It is such a hilarious place. I have to remind myself it is just a season and one day I will have a kitchen and a washer and dryer (or so I hope). But it is not everyday you see snow on palm trees or go to church in a castle. It's a funny little place that I currently call home.

5. There are 55 people in my class. We are all very different but we are learning how to navigate life together and keep our common goal of seeking Christ the main thing. Even though people are so different from each other, we have the bond of being the Institute class of 2011 with the foundations of Christ. So in the end, we are not all that different.

In other news, I will be returning to kamp as DHDL for theoretically my final summer. I use the term theoretically because, well, its is kamp and it is kinda a vortex and it sucks you in and you can't escape.

And my dodgeball came in second tonight.

I saw Patsy Cline at church last week...I mean the impersonator.

Next up? A picture blog. Get ready to rumble.