Thursday, August 30, 2007

the field is plentiful and i'm sure doin' some workin'!

i met with my DCE fieldwork mentor today to discuss some details about the rest of the school year and what my requirements will be before going on internship. this is what happened:

my previous assumptions about the meeting were going over the yearly schedule and plugging me wherever possible. yes, we did get this accomplished, but we also picked a date for my rereat!

***side note*** for those of you in the dark, part of my fieldwork requirements are to plan and execute a major "project". so, i chose to do some kind of retreat, which is a lot of work. i previously had not planned on starting to even think about dates until at least october, but God had different plans!

we decided that i would help lead the high school leadership team and my project will consist of taking them on a discipleship retreat in april. it's set! i started! it may not seem like a huge deal, but this means that i'm really a senior. i'm really a fieldwork student. i'm ready for internship in less than a year!! AHHHH! real world!

it's not that i'm completely freaked out by this, it's just that my excitement and nervousness is beginning to overwhelm me and highten my stress a tad. i know that God will provide the relief and guidance i need, but please pray!

other than that, life's great! happy labor day!

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

summer extravaganza!

hello from afar!. . . well, from idaho!

let me tell you a bit about my summer up here in the northwest! i thought i would explain as much as i could in a top-ten list!


My Top-Ten List of Summer Camp Experiences!

10. day camps galore!! - i had a chance to go to coeur d'alene, ID, wenatchee, WA, kennowick, WA, bonner's ferry, ID, troy, ID, and on-site day camp! and, yes, i ate A LOT of potatoes! ;)

9. children are not my strong-suit - jr. and sr. high school is where it's at!!

8. almost making it to Canada - laura and i tried to drive to Canada for a saturday trip and not only was the traffic unreal, but there was a HUGE accident. needless to say, God did not want us to venture to another country during the summer.

7. kids say the craziest things! - "drunkies ran over my brother's cat", "can somebody get me down?!" (in reference to Jesus on the cross), "God moved to Alaska"

6. can you say, "conflict resolution"? - boy, did i not only have some of my own, but 3rd and 4th graders have so much more!

5. time management - when you only get one hour a day to yourself, showers tend to be more important than calling the family

4. the songs - i loved them so much, i hate them! if i hear "hey, listen up!" or "mercy is falling", i'm going to have a little chat with dustin ;)

3. high ropes is a NO-GO! - discovered that i'm still terrified of heights, especially when the entire staff had me go up "The Wall"!

2. hey-o, i receive your BFF! - made some amazing long-lasting friendships this summer!

1. BIG ROCKS! - focusing on the big stuff like Jesus loves us and has forgiven us is so much more important than politics or denominational differences! i need to continue to remember this, especially in my ministry!



so, i would definitely LOVE to chat about some of the mentioned items on this lovely list, so feel free to ask! i also loved camp! it was such an amazing experience that i'm glad i had a chance to have.

well, classes start a week from tomorrow... i am definitely NOT ready to be done with my summer! however, i am so ready to embark on my SR year, it's not even funny! i will be flying out to LAX on sunday morning and get to spend all day monday with the 'rents. i'm SO excited to see them all! oh, and since alyssa's coming to CUI now, watch out! the paulsens are routy kids!

blessings to everyone! can't wait to see you next week!

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