I love our church! This morning was SO GOOD!
My friend Ami led worship which was incredible. I always love when she leads worship! And then we had a guest speaker: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. I really liked him. He was very honest and funny. I'd like to check out his book To Baghdad and Beyond. When the U.S. started bombing Iraq he went over there with his wife and had great experiences. Oh, and his website says that he recently wrote a book with Shane Claiborne. Huh. (His website is here)
I still need to read The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne....
Well, I got to get to laundry and cleaning my room....I really don't want to though...
Hope you all have a great Sunday!! And, if you can, please say "Happy Birthday" to my little brother Isaac who's turning 12 today!!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Things I Love About JPUSA
I love coming home from just one or two weeks away and having so many people call my name, smile and give me excited hugs, as if they haven't seen me in months and telling me how much they've missed me
I love being able to go to friends down the hall or somewhere else in the building and vent and cry and pray when I'm having a bad time
I love going to church every Sunday with all the people I live with who have become friends and family to me and being able to worship together, listen to God's word, pray together about things that affect us, and laughing together at ourselves and at inside jokes
I love how parties/weddings/holidays/festivities are so important, fun, creative and colorful here
I love being surrounded by Christians who are completely different from me, but who still love me and understand me
I love realizing that when a group of us goes walking down the street together we look like a really odd mix and people know that we must be from Jesus People =)
I love getting to know so many different families and seeing how they interact with each other
I love all of our pastors, kids, and strange chracters
I guess the thing I love most about JPUSA is my feeling of belonging and of being home.
I sure will miss living here.
I love being able to go to friends down the hall or somewhere else in the building and vent and cry and pray when I'm having a bad time
I love going to church every Sunday with all the people I live with who have become friends and family to me and being able to worship together, listen to God's word, pray together about things that affect us, and laughing together at ourselves and at inside jokes
I love how parties/weddings/holidays/festivities are so important, fun, creative and colorful here
I love being surrounded by Christians who are completely different from me, but who still love me and understand me
I love realizing that when a group of us goes walking down the street together we look like a really odd mix and people know that we must be from Jesus People =)
I love getting to know so many different families and seeing how they interact with each other
I love all of our pastors, kids, and strange chracters
I guess the thing I love most about JPUSA is my feeling of belonging and of being home.
I sure will miss living here.
Friday, July 10, 2009
GOOD NEWS!!
I just found out that I did well on my ACT!!! YAY!!!! Thank God!!!!
I finally have this huge weight flying off of my shoulders!!! =)
I finally have this huge weight flying off of my shoulders!!! =)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Freak Out Moment
I just looked at my calendar and realized that I only have TWO AND A HALF MORE WEEKS HERE!!!! That is NOT a long time!!! I have SO MUCH TO DO!!!!
I have reports for the shelter this week, I need to get money and bank stuff sorted out, I need to figure out who's picking me up from the airport in PA and then bringing me to the airport 10 days later, I need to study for my GED, I need to go through my stuff and figure out what to get rid of and what to keep, I need to take my GED, I need to pack and then I'm leaving!!!
Oh boy
I have reports for the shelter this week, I need to get money and bank stuff sorted out, I need to figure out who's picking me up from the airport in PA and then bringing me to the airport 10 days later, I need to study for my GED, I need to go through my stuff and figure out what to get rid of and what to keep, I need to take my GED, I need to pack and then I'm leaving!!!
Oh boy
My "Dad" Was At Cornerstone
I forgot to mention that while I was at Cornerstone a guy was there that looked EXACTLY like my dad. It was REALLY CREEPY! My friends and I were shocked at how similar he was to my dad! I mean, he had the same profile, the same height, he stood the same way, acted the same way, dressed the same way....the only difference was that his goatee was bigger than my dad's and instead of having brown almond shaped eyes, he had round blue eyes. And he might have been a little older than my dad...I'm not sure. But other than that he was the same!!! We kept wanting to take a picture of him, but either we didn't have a camera on us or were too shocked to remember. I'm so glad that the guy never noticed me 'cause I probably would have weirded him out since every time I saw him I would just stop and stare.
This guy even knew the same people my dad knows and likes the same music my dad does!!
How freaky is that?!?
(By the way, I did not stalk this guy or anything, he just came in a lot to the tent I worked at)
This guy even knew the same people my dad knows and likes the same music my dad does!!
How freaky is that?!?
(By the way, I did not stalk this guy or anything, he just came in a lot to the tent I worked at)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Did Bushnell Follow Me Home?
I just woke up fifteen minutes ago to a strange sound. It sounded like a bird. It sounded like a bird in my bathroom!
I got up and went in my bathroom and looked around. I thought I was just hearing things and was turning around when a bird flew from somewhere into a wall and then into the bathtub and then into the mirror and wouldn't stop flying all over the place into stuff! I was so worried that it would hurt itself and didn't know how the heck I would catch it so I left my room in my pajamas to look for someone. My first choice would have been Eric since he's a bird watcher...but he's still down in Bushnell with his family. So I went to the Hills and knocked on their door even though it had the "No Knocks Please" sign on it.
Don grabbed a towel, went into my REALLY messy room and closed the door. After a long time he finally got it and then let it go on the fire escape. He told me it was a Starling.
This is the second time in my life that this has happened to me. The first time was in Italy when my big window was wide open. This time, I find it funny that of all the windows that little bird could have come into he chose mine:
As you can see it's not the easiest to get through.
Anyways....yesterday I had a good day coming back home. I traveled back with the Helles and got to sit between their crazy twins which was fun most of the time. At one point I did feel a little desperate 'cause they obviously had way more energy than I had, but the fact that they're really cute helped me not go insane =)
Once I got back, the first thing I did was use my toilet (yay!! not more porta potties!) and the second thing was take a shower (I hadn't showered for a long time)! Then, I went down stairs and had a hot meal (almost all week I lived off of sandwiches)! And after that, Carolyn, Tyler and I watched some movies together. First we watched Romeo + Juliet 'cause it's one of Carolyn's favorite movies and I didn't remeber it since the only time I had seen it was when I was 11. It was really cute 'cause Tyler left the room for a bit and came back with a little tub of ice cream and spoons and said "with girls and a sad movie, I figured ice cream was important"! Then we watched Babe 'cause it's one of Tyler's favorite movies which I also hadn't seen since I was little and Carolyn hadn't seen at all. Oh, and Carolyn made me a pot of peppermint tea 'cause I hadn't had any tea for a week!! =)
So yeah, I'm back home. I'm not really looking forward to unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning my room and then going back to work tomorrow, but oh well, it's nice to be back to "normal". I think the thing I'm dreading most of all is trying to clean my shoes.
Hopefully, they'll be alright. Carolyn had to throw her shoes out!
I am so spoiled. I should be more thankful.
Have a great week everyone!
I got up and went in my bathroom and looked around. I thought I was just hearing things and was turning around when a bird flew from somewhere into a wall and then into the bathtub and then into the mirror and wouldn't stop flying all over the place into stuff! I was so worried that it would hurt itself and didn't know how the heck I would catch it so I left my room in my pajamas to look for someone. My first choice would have been Eric since he's a bird watcher...but he's still down in Bushnell with his family. So I went to the Hills and knocked on their door even though it had the "No Knocks Please" sign on it.
Don grabbed a towel, went into my REALLY messy room and closed the door. After a long time he finally got it and then let it go on the fire escape. He told me it was a Starling.
This is the second time in my life that this has happened to me. The first time was in Italy when my big window was wide open. This time, I find it funny that of all the windows that little bird could have come into he chose mine:
As you can see it's not the easiest to get through.Anyways....yesterday I had a good day coming back home. I traveled back with the Helles and got to sit between their crazy twins which was fun most of the time. At one point I did feel a little desperate 'cause they obviously had way more energy than I had, but the fact that they're really cute helped me not go insane =)
Once I got back, the first thing I did was use my toilet (yay!! not more porta potties!) and the second thing was take a shower (I hadn't showered for a long time)! Then, I went down stairs and had a hot meal (almost all week I lived off of sandwiches)! And after that, Carolyn, Tyler and I watched some movies together. First we watched Romeo + Juliet 'cause it's one of Carolyn's favorite movies and I didn't remeber it since the only time I had seen it was when I was 11. It was really cute 'cause Tyler left the room for a bit and came back with a little tub of ice cream and spoons and said "with girls and a sad movie, I figured ice cream was important"! Then we watched Babe 'cause it's one of Tyler's favorite movies which I also hadn't seen since I was little and Carolyn hadn't seen at all. Oh, and Carolyn made me a pot of peppermint tea 'cause I hadn't had any tea for a week!! =)
So yeah, I'm back home. I'm not really looking forward to unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning my room and then going back to work tomorrow, but oh well, it's nice to be back to "normal". I think the thing I'm dreading most of all is trying to clean my shoes.
Hopefully, they'll be alright. Carolyn had to throw her shoes out!
I am so spoiled. I should be more thankful.
Have a great week everyone!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Back From The Fest
Oh man! I am SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!! I'm so glad to have my bathroom and my bed and my room and walls that keep rain out and and well my normal life back!
Down at the Fest (Cornerstone) I was hardly able to enjoy the nature. As soon as I got down there I started to work and was pretty much busy most of the week!
The week before I went down it had been more than a hundred degrees (close to 40 degrees C) every day. A big storm hit, however, the night before I came down and helped the temperature to drop to a better climate. So, the first two days I was down there it was about 80 degrees (26 C) and really nice! Unfortunately, the rest of the week was cloudy and in the 60s (15 degrees C), but hey, that's better than 100+, though I would have preferred to have been prepared and have brought warmer clothes. Then, on the last day it POURED and I was s
o mad at myself for deciding not to bring my boots! (As you can see in this picture, however, a lot of people had fun playing in the mud. Some of these kids are JPUSAs =) )
Other than the weather problems, I had a good time and got to see a lot of good bands and speakers.
My favorite speaker that I got to see was definitely Richard Twiss who is from
the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux tribe. He spoke about how so many people think that you are only Christian if you do it the "white way" and told us how, if you go on a reservation almost all the churches will be completely white, with no native culture in them. He told us that this is wrong, that people should be able to experience and live their faith in their own culture and how he is able to experience Jesus through tribal traditions. I would definitely love to see their ministry!
My job at the festival was helping Ami and Brian run the Project 12/Grr stage. Fortunately, almost all the bands I wanted to see played at our tent! I got to see Josh Garrels, our amazing friend Jonni Greth, my good friends Lasso the Salt (you can see a video here), I'm Not A Pilot (who I discovered at one of our coffee houses and who have Ami singing background vocals), beautiful Ami's band The Unfortunate (here you can hear some of her songs which now have a little bit of a different sound), my friend and old neighbor Max's band (here's a video), and The Crossing (another JPUSA band who are a lot of fun). The only band I really wanted to see that didn't play at our stage was mewithoutYou who played at main stage. I don't like going to main stage 'cause it's so huge and isn't personal at all since you just see little people on a big stage and whatever the camera people put on the screen. However, I still really enjoyed it. In fact, when I got back to work, my friend Betty who was also working with me, told me that I was glowing and that she could really see that I was pleased. =)
Oh yeah, and of course, I got to enjoy Maron at our stage. They're great to watch 'cause the whole time you can see how much fun they're having. And, well, my friend Scott is simply insane.
I live with SO MANY talented people!
It's weird to think that in less than a month this isn't going to be home for me anymore....
Here's a funny video you should check out where people went around asking festival attendants what JPUSA is. (Jesus People USA is where I live and we're the community that organize the festival)
(The pictures in this post are from the Cornerstone Festival website)
Down at the Fest (Cornerstone) I was hardly able to enjoy the nature. As soon as I got down there I started to work and was pretty much busy most of the week!
The week before I went down it had been more than a hundred degrees (close to 40 degrees C) every day. A big storm hit, however, the night before I came down and helped the temperature to drop to a better climate. So, the first two days I was down there it was about 80 degrees (26 C) and really nice! Unfortunately, the rest of the week was cloudy and in the 60s (15 degrees C), but hey, that's better than 100+, though I would have preferred to have been prepared and have brought warmer clothes. Then, on the last day it POURED and I was s
o mad at myself for deciding not to bring my boots! (As you can see in this picture, however, a lot of people had fun playing in the mud. Some of these kids are JPUSAs =) )Other than the weather problems, I had a good time and got to see a lot of good bands and speakers.
My favorite speaker that I got to see was definitely Richard Twiss who is from
the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux tribe. He spoke about how so many people think that you are only Christian if you do it the "white way" and told us how, if you go on a reservation almost all the churches will be completely white, with no native culture in them. He told us that this is wrong, that people should be able to experience and live their faith in their own culture and how he is able to experience Jesus through tribal traditions. I would definitely love to see their ministry!My job at the festival was helping Ami and Brian run the Project 12/Grr stage. Fortunately, almost all the bands I wanted to see played at our tent! I got to see Josh Garrels, our amazing friend Jonni Greth, my good friends Lasso the Salt (you can see a video here), I'm Not A Pilot (who I discovered at one of our coffee houses and who have Ami singing background vocals), beautiful Ami's band The Unfortunate (here you can hear some of her songs which now have a little bit of a different sound), my friend and old neighbor Max's band (here's a video), and The Crossing (another JPUSA band who are a lot of fun). The only band I really wanted to see that didn't play at our stage was mewithoutYou who played at main stage. I don't like going to main stage 'cause it's so huge and isn't personal at all since you just see little people on a big stage and whatever the camera people put on the screen. However, I still really enjoyed it. In fact, when I got back to work, my friend Betty who was also working with me, told me that I was glowing and that she could really see that I was pleased. =)
Oh yeah, and of course, I got to enjoy Maron at our stage. They're great to watch 'cause the whole time you can see how much fun they're having. And, well, my friend Scott is simply insane.
I live with SO MANY talented people!
It's weird to think that in less than a month this isn't going to be home for me anymore....
Here's a funny video you should check out where people went around asking festival attendants what JPUSA is. (Jesus People USA is where I live and we're the community that organize the festival)
(The pictures in this post are from the Cornerstone Festival website)
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