10 Things I Am Most Thankful For!

1. God - what do people do without knowing God? He's amazing!
2. Family - God knew exactly who we needed as family to help us become who are
3. Best Friends - Often, closer than family - they are always there through thick and thin; they still love you when they know the true you that no one else knows. Even though you may not see them for a long time...you just pick up where you left off, and have a blast. they are the ones who
4. Friends - bring cheer into daily life
5. Smiles - they turn the world right side up
6. Love - always patient, always kind, never jealous, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, never fails
7. Food - I could be starving :(
8. A warm place to sleep - I could be homeless :S
9. Childhood - a chance to grow up...to be little, to have had the chance to pet worms, play in the rain, have mudfights, chase cows and chickens, have lots of pets...so much more
10. Life itself - I am grateful that God gave ME the chance to live, when many more deserving people have died.

 

I found love in the sand....

 

 

A Few Happenings...

OUTREACH!!!!!
So, we learned reason #3 for outreach was that it was a “sure-fire cure for boredom”. I can’t say that I am bored very often, but outreach definitely keeps me from being bored long before I ever go! You may be thinking, “How does that work?” Well, let me tell you! There’s nothing like going to a door and wondering who is on the other side, and what they are going to say to you…. There’s all kinds of responses you may get, and you don’t know which one, is going to be at which door…. Talk about suspense!!!!! Here’s a quick story to put your mind in the right perspective….One of my classmates Logan goes to a door and the person answers rudely saying they don’t want to take the survey;

Logan kindly asks “Well, that’s ok, can I pray with you?”
“Sure, you can do whatever you WANT!”

Then slams the door in Logan’s face!
You may laugh…I did, but it’s true, people actually can be and are that rude.

Of course, there are the good stories too! Sometimes, they seem too far and wide between, but when you meet the people that are genuinely interested, it’s like finding treasure!!!!! There’s nothing more exciting when you’re going door-to-door after being rejected house after house, than finding someone who is searching for God. It’s just brings chills!
After walking around house - to – house it’s easy to wonder, “Is anyone interested? I can understand, people are busy…bla, bla, bla” You start rationalizing in your minds, well it’s a nice day outside, I wouldn’t be home either…etc. By the way, this is NOT the right attitude to have! We as Adventists have to remember that we have an important message, and those people’s eternal destinies may depend on what we tell them! We are to proclaim the Third Angel’s Messages, and remember if the people don’t listen, it’s their fault that they will be lost and you can have a clear conscience knowing that you tried.
An exciting experience for me one night was when my partner Tom and I had been walking around for what seemed like forever when we went this street of the “bible worker’s dreams”…people were home, interested, and signing up for Bible Studies! Within two blocks, we signed up 7 people! The most exciting of all was Danisha. As I knocked on this house, I thought well, who knows who we’ll meet here, but at least there are people home. A young black woman came to the door and I started my survey… “Do you believe in God?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, awesome, Why do you believe in God?”
“Umm…because that’s how I was raised?”
“Do you have a Bible in your home?”
“Yes, several actually…”
“Great! About how often do you read it?”
“Well actually I was reading in Revelation just a couple days ago, and I was SO confused! I called my mother-in-law and asked her to help me understand it!”

*My mouth about drops open, I am SO EXCITED, it’s all I can do to contain myself!*

“Really? Where in Revelation?”

*I pull out my bible and let her show me Revelation 2 talking about Jesus with the seven stars in His right hand*
Long story short, Danisha is searching for truth and I told her that our bible studies would cover her questions and since they were straight from the Bible, it was not just something that we were saying, but what God was saying! She eagerly signed up for Bible studies and seems excited to have us come back! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! :)

Life After Graduating!

It is so weird to think that exactly two months and two days ago, I finally reached a point in life that I had been waiting for as long as I could remember! Graduating from High School. It seemed so big...and now...it's just a speck in the past. The summer flew by WAY too fast... I guess that's how life is when you're having fun! :)

Graduation itself was full of mixed emotions ... panic....relief....terror (ok, not really), laughter, and grogginess from lack of sleep! I was happy when the actual ceremonies were actually over and I didn't have to worry any more about tripping as I walked to the front. Funny I know.... I shouldn't have been paranoid, but you never know what can happen when you're nervous. Lol.. I did march down the aisle wrong.... :) I can laugh now. I don't think anyone but me knew :P Oh, and then there was the evil urge I had to pour water down John's neck while Mr. Corrigan was talking. That would have been way too funny...but I decided that since this WAS my GRADUATION...I should probably act mature for once!


Finally, all the ceremonies were over and everything seemed like a dream. It almost seemed like a normal Sunday after I had changed clothes...taken pictures...and had to grab all the things for my parents to take with them. As I wandered around it was so weird to not have a places to be at, things to do....HOMEWORK! I was free to do whatever....at FOUNTAINVIEW! ok, not free.... I could always go pack some more.....but that was boring!

The day after Grad was awesome... my awesome remaining classmates and I went out to eat at the Greek restaurant in Lillooet. Mmmm....they have the best pizza. After we came back we chilled in the Hinds yard and ate cherries! They are SO good. Oh, and then the best part! I got to ride on a street bike! So much fun! I had been waiting to do that for a long time!

The next day....dark...and dark....at three in the morning we headed down to the airport. Thankfully, there wasn't too many people that were going down that day so I had the whole seat to myself! :) Cassie and I had so much stuff to carry around though....ugh....after two years at boarding school you accumulate a lot of junk! I even left a lot of it there...or threw it away! By the time I got to the airport... I realized I had not thrown enough away.

My parents, Cassie, and I finally got on the plane and before we even left the ground, we were sleeping! We arrived back home what seemed like hours and hours later around Midnight and crawled into comfy beds....ah...my own bed again.

The summer began with a week of rest and relaxation! Sleeping in....and plenty of cooking fun. Cooking with a friend who is open to new and fun ideas is awesome! Cassie and I definitely had a blast. I think homeade ravioli's are our new specialty when we cook together. :)

After a week I decided I should actually be ambitious and start working.... money adds up way too slowly. Housekeeping was the job of the summer... nice hours, not too stressful, and something I actually enjoyed. Good practice for when I have my own house I suppose.

Who ever knew that housekeeping could be so interesting... 24 loads of laundry in one day! I had never done that much laundry in one day in my ENTIRE LIFE! But with the help of six washing machines I was done before 1 o clock!

When the regular housekeeper came back I started working in the office doing random things that needed to be done...i was the Go-Fer, packaging assistant, researcher, organizer...among other things.

Oh yes...then finally! Tenessee! :) A weekend that had long been waited for! I was very unsure about driving all the way from home to Tenessee in a van that you can hear a mile away, the air conditioner works ...when it feels like it....and have to drive through Atlanta! Thankfully, by God's grace we made it there safe and sound... :) Unfortunately, I was cameraless so ..sorry...there's no pictures. But, trust me, we had fun! :) More late nights of course...and yay! A mini class reunion...there was seven of my classmates together! :)

ASI was the next big exciting adventure ...and it wasn't that exciting! Another mini class reunion...again...there was seven of us together. :) Btw...for anyone that hasn't been to Downtown Phoenix Arizona...it's not that exciting. Make sure you have a ride to somewhere that's more interesting! It was all over so fast and again... I was headed back home for just two days before leaving to go to Michigan. So much traveling! I love traveling!

Well, my ramblings of summer are finally over...and now, there's a new phase to life...
ta ta for now! :)