A-MAZING!!

 that pretty adequately discribes the last hmm..30 hours for me.

Thursday, one of my friends from camp and I were having our weekly dinner and talking about how great it would be to just get away for a while and how much we missed camp..within five minutes she had called our camp and asked/told them we were coming up the next day. I love that about college. Everything is so last minute and it's okay. So immediately after my last class on Friday we headed up to Tyler. Everything is GORGEOUS up there right now. All of the trees are turning colors and the weather was beautiful so it totally made the almost 3 hour drive worth it. We showed up just in time to eat dinner and help clean up. After the bonfire we went back to Emily "click-it or ticket"'s house and watched movies before crashing on her floor. We woke up this morning and drove to camp to help serve breakfast (and eat it ) and then helped clean up. They then sent us back to Emily's house to take a "nap" before coming to help and serve lunch. After lunch we went to the ropes course where I harnessed and helmeted people for over 3 hours. Oh well. It was still fun. Then after dinner Malsi and I headed back for College Station. When we hit Jewett we finally picked up the A&M vs. Oklahoma St. game in the 3rd quarter! It was quite possibly the BIGGEST nail-bitter of my entire football watching career. We finally won in overtime by blocking the extra point making it a Fightin' Texas Aggie victory 34-33!! I can't say I've ever been prouder of our team and if you listened to the game than you'd know why. oh goodness. this weekend has been amazing! I got to see my cooks, Wheeler, Emily, Murphy, fun Bluffs families..hmm..I am a very happy person.

Well, the only other real news I have is an update on my back. I'm in my second month of physical therapy and they finally decided to do an MRI. They called on Friday to ask me to make an appointment to discuss some results. Normally they just tell me when there's nothing abnormal or nothing too important. So i'm a little worried. Especially since this weekend made me realize how NOT BETTER things have gotten. I was in a lot of pain after running the dragon for a very short amount of time . Anyways, I'll let you know after I talk to the dr. on Monday.

here is a pic or two from this weekend..maybe more to come later??

Malsi on the zip tower:

The beautiful sunset on Lake Palestine on our way toward Coffee City, TX.

I AM JONAH

So, I got to go to Breakaway tonight. It was the first time in FOREVER that I got to actually go instead of having to catch it on itunes or live off the website. pretty much the greatest thing ever! anyways, Ben was talking to us about Jonah. He was teaching on our tendency to run from God (sin) and then how God chases us (grace). BUT the thing that I really needed to hear is that God will chase us, and teach us lessons by using storms. Ben provided that the two main storms are:
       1) Him keeping us from the thing that we want, 
       2) Him giving us exactly what we want when it won't satisfy us.

God definitely has put me through both this week and tonight was a definite wake-up call for me. YIKES! I really don't know why I didn't see it but whatever. It has been brought to my attention and this is my committment to work on this issue.

In other news, after much prayer and consideration I believe I have figured out my plans for next summer. Right now, I'm planning on trying to work 1st half at Pine Cove Bluffs. Then, with second half, I'm going back to Spain to visit Perry and Noelle.. then hopefully go back to ukraine with them and from there either coming home or spending a little while longer in Barcelona. And in all of that I should be able to spend from the end part of July until school starts with mi familia. I'm really excited! I think I'm really okay not doing commission camping this year and waiting until the next year, I think it is best. okay, time to go do something more productive.

Currently Listening The Best of The Proclaimers By The Proclaimers I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) see related

eek!

In Africa:

• 1 Billion very important people lack access to clean water.
• Women and children walk 2 hours each way to fetch water
• Preventable water related diseases kill 4 children every minute
• 25,000 people lose their lives to water-related illnesses every single day.

okay, so some friends and I are starting a group to try and raise money/awareness for 1000 wells project (http://www.1000wells.org ) and blood:water mission (http://bloodwatermission.com ). It was founded by Jars of Clay who decided to write a song their experiences...

"Light Gives Heat" by Jars of Clay

Catch the rain empty hands Save the children from their lands Wash the darkness from their skin Heroes from the west We don't know you, we know best This is not a test You treat me like I'm blind Setting fires around houses on the hill But light gives heat You segregate my mind Burning crosses from your fears The light gives heat It's not the way to light their way Boys in holes in empty fields Oh, how good it feels Lower-class, and understate Empty promise, empty plate You treat me like I'm blind Setting fires around houses on the hill Light gives heat You segregate my mind Burning crosses from your fears, your fears But light gives heat, gives heat You treat me like I'm blind Setting fires around houses on the hill Light gives heat You segregate my mind Burning crosses from your fears But light gives heat Will you teach us how to love? To see the things you see Walk the road you walked Feel the pain that you feel At your feet I kneel, I want to see you shine See your light not mine 'Cause light gives heat Your light gives heat

If you wanna listen go to http://www.myspace.com/bloodwatermission

Currently Listening Good Monsters By Jars of Clay Light Gives Heat see related

yikes!

I am already so worn down. I think I'm more tired now than I was at the end of last semester. I really want to chalk it up to spending my summer emptying myself. I realized this yesterday just how un-restful the past couple of months have been. My back has been the most constant reminder.  I feel like I schedule every minute of every day and there just aren't enough to get everything done. Maybe it's worse because I'm living with someone who isn't a believer and can't encourage me spiritually; in fact, it's more draining because I feel like I'm constantly in spiritual warfare. I keep praying and hoping for some serious encouragement, and I'm still waiting. hmm..

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Currently Listening Pride & Prejudice see related

rediscovering childhood??

so since I decided to move on campus I thought "hey! why don't I bring a bike with me?!"

um, pretty much the most brilliant plan EVER!! I get really excited about it, granted I'm still figuring out that whole getting up the curbs thing but that's okay!

AND you can play really fun games like:

• "how fast can I go before I completely wipe someone out?"
• assign points to people/objects and get the points by hitting/almost hitting said object
• there's always the "look, no hands!" game
• is it really impossible to peddle with only one foot?

with all this fun to be had, who would ever take the bus??!

In other news, I have the most time-consuming, difficult Spanish class on the face of the planet. It's really stressing me out. I've been spending so much time doing homework and studying that my roommate acutally asked me to schedule a lunch date so she could get to know me. I felt like the biggest jerk in the world. : (  happier news: FIRST UPSTREAM TONIGHT!! I'm excited. you should be too! Back to crazy homework!

Currently Listening On the Radio By Regina Spektor Fidelity see related