Here's to me typing the fastest blog entry EVER.

A summary of my week during the Greatest Youth Camp Trip EVER?
Too much sugar, too little sleep!

I gained a new nickname. "Fruit Loop" from The Raven-Haired Girl. Because I yell "OCHO!" in a gravelly voice without warning, I don't like Skittles, cake or salty snacks, I break into song at random times and many other crazy reasons that make her think I'm a little loopy! It's all good. There are worse things to be. :)

Twenty-four hour drive to Texas. Midnight spiritual conversations in Missouri. The "headlines" joke that just killed me. One Southern cockroach scaring the heck outta me! Two words: Sock Puppets. "And this is Hillary!...pause..." "Oh my crackers!" The Green-Eyed Girl. Learning how to critique without being critical. Floor party for The Sparkly Girl's 16th birthday. The whole cafeteria singing "Happy Birthday" (starting a trend!). Face painting, arm painting and other skin painting for nation games. "C'mon, guys! UP is VERTICAL!" -Me waking up the girls. Eat, sleep and go to church-The Best Life Ever. Video confessionals and killing the digital camera. Standing in line again, and again, and again. Dust angels in the Texas "grass." Me returning to the place of God's transformation in my 16th year. Crying more in the presence of God in one week, than in the last six months. Finally getting a nap on Thursday-- "Oh, this is what it feels like to be awake!" Getting soaked because The Sparkly Girl got raptured (not really). The Witty Kid's unintentional hilarious jokes. The Little Bro now called, "Rolando!" Reading crazy-awesome China Gospel stories aloud in the van.

Best Moment:
In the darkened corner of a parking lot, The Youth Group and I gathered to give testimonies of what God was doing. The tears came. The sober spirit held us like a vice. We understood the greatness of God, His purposes for our lives, His Spirit's convicting power, the massive mission that has been entrusted to us, and the call on our lives as a young generation.

The lost sleep, the vacation time, the aggravation, the patience learned, the constant "herding," the hard executive decisions, the time in prayer, the worry of "is this the right thing?", the concern over their souls, the money spent, the love growing, and all else involved in the planning and execution of this youth camp road-trip.... It was all worth it.

God is being glorified through our lives.

The Campus Group. They shared the Word and partied with us on Wednesday night as we celebrated the "Movin' On Up" of The Little Bro and The Raven-haired Girl. As always, I wish I could see them more often!

Bookshelves! The last bookshelf is assembled and standing tall in my apartment. All the books are sorted, alphabetized and organized. And the books are so beautiful!!!!!

Giving Gifts. Especially ones that make people smile. Like the gift baskets we gave on Wednesday. The Little Bro and The Raven-Haired Girl have become adults, so we wanted to help them with all the adult responsibilities... Like health insurance (bandaids), getting a job (breath mints), time management (day planner), sleep (alarm clock), shelter (rain slicker) the pursuit of happiness (fruit smiles!) and much more!

Dishwasher. It's finally hooked up and useable, yet another piece of the puzzle that is our kitchen. This is the first time my family has owned a dishwasher. I love, love, love it! And this affection is the real deal because I unloaded the dishwaser at 5:14 a.m. today! :)

Preparing Food. Like meatballs and farfelle pasta for supper last night. It would've been better if I had known that half of the family doesn't really like meatballs. What?? Anyway, I also made the loveliest chai latte cupcakes. I wanna take a picture because they're so pretty.

TRAVELLING!!!!!!!!!! There is only 2 days until we leave for the youth trip. Just think-at least 48 hours travelling with the youth group! We're going to Texas (land of my birth), we're going to a youth camp that profoundly affected me as a teenager and we're travelling---my favorite thing!

Yup, I'm smiling! :)

Classic books like Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen and the Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery have got me thinking about love at first sight. These books have been made into movies (countless times). While I love the movies, I have a figurative bone to pick with all of them.

They completely skip the friendship part! There is no mention of the learning about someone's character and discovering that their first-impressions weren't accurate. I think Hollywood has an obsession with the concept of love at first sight. And so it irks me when movies completely skip the discovery phase of a relationship. They gloss over or ignore the foundation of friendship. As if love and friendship were completely incompatible?!

The ideal is this...
"Ten minutes ago, I met you... I have found her!" (reference to a song from Cinderella)

The reality is this...
"Ten minutes ago, I lusted after you!"
(thanks to The Sparkly Girl for that little bit of short'n'sweet honesty)

I don't believe in love at first sight. In case you hadn't noticed. Love at first sight just doesn't make sense. How can I meet someone, know nothing about him and then trust him with my life? Maybe I'm so anti-this-concept because in my mind, love = trust and love = marriage.

I do think there can be instant attraction. There definitely can be lust. Since that's sin, I don't wanna dwell on it. Maybe for some people, there can be an inner knowing from the Holy Spirit. 'Cause the Lord can lead however He wants.

It all comes down to this... let the Word (not Hollywood) be your guide. And things will turn out right.

Friday
Rushing through the raindrops... almost soaking wet... to a park pavilion. Kickball with the Youth Group... The Country Guy tackles The Crazy Kid mid-run onto the wet sand. The Sparkly Girl is oblivious to it all as she plays in the mud. (I suggested that we scratch the kickball game and all the girls do facial mud masks). :) The New Kid rolls in, dives into, falls on and otherwise becomes covered with sand without provocation. Chocolate chip cookies and charades. Connect 4 war in the (almost) darkness. Teaching The Enthusiastic Girl sign language. Watching Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye with The Sparkly Girl and eating popcorn.

Saturday
Devotions in "the tower." Hands, arms and feet covered in dark walnut stain, which was supposed to be on the bookshelves. Washing dishes the unconventional way. More staining of paneling. Confused when strange bruises appear on my body (they're actually stain marks). Baking shortcake and coconut pecan brownies. Grilling chicken and veggie kabobs. Burning my finger. Pain, lots of pain. Uploading many pics. Takes too much time on the Internet.

Sunday
I was GLAD when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" Father's Day pizza dinner. Sleeping on the way home. Reading. More sleeping at home. Watching some good, clean violence. :) Long ramble through the woods with the family. Ferns as high as my shoulders. Mountain laurel blooming like snow-drifts in the forest. Bare trees from evil, hungry gypsy moths. Beautiful evening shadows. Back home again. More good clean violence on TV. The good guys won.

The Raven-Haired Girl said that she wanted poetry... and so here's a little for ya.

Sweet fantasy
What a romantic dream
Like honey to the taste
But bitterness within me.

Harmless longings
But can they truly be
If they draw me from the Master
And take true life from me?

Sinful tendencies
What a thorn to me
How I struggle just to find
Illusive path to victory

Grace of God beyond degree
Makes this Christian now complete
I am hopeless when alone
But strong by the Christ in me.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit. Last night, The Sis and I spent 2 1/2 hours picking strawberries and having intense conversations. So intense that we didn't even hear The Bro drive up in his work truck (which is so loud that it sounds like a tank or a broken tractor) and didn't see him walk up and didn't notice him 'til he was 2 feet away and actually talked to us. We were discussing hypocrisy and marriage and adoption and modesty and vacation and preaching and rest and many other deep life issues that require concentration.




The problem is that I have a tendency to get loud in public when I'm passionate about something... Like at the bake sale on Saturday. I was ranting about the lack of holiness and discernment in media choices in Christians nowadays. After a few minutes of discussing this, I realized that I should quiet down--I was probably scaring the customers away! It's kinda like discussing hell in public (which I do sometimes). All people hear is "hummmm... low conversation... humm....HELL!" It just scares 'em. :)





Anyway, back to strawberry picking. I discovered that petting people's dogs makes them happy. Which in turn, makes them nice. Which in turn, causes them to tell you the best patch to find the biggest/nicest/most yummy strawberries! Rock'n awesome!




I came home and grilled pork chops for supper. And I didn't burn them! Third time is the charm! We ate supper at 9:00 p.m. Summer trend = eating supper at insane hours. Like after everybody is done working.





And then The Mom and I proceeded to cut up the afore-mentioned strawberries. For hours and hours. Or that's what it felt like. I kept getting distracted by other jobs-printing out directions for The Little Bro, writing down phone numbers, uploading pics, writing youth-camp lists, cutting up more strawberries, finding the phone, emailing youth announcements, etc. So I went to bed waaaaaaaaay too late for a week-night.





But hey, there are some beautiful strawberries at home waiting to become strawberry shortcake. :) It was worth the pain.

Insert Recommendation: http://www.boundless.org/. This is a GREAT website associated with Focus on the Family. Their target audience is young adults, "twenty-somethings", singles immersed in college and/or career. I like this website for its focus on Christ and family, and its diverse, yet balanced perspective on life issues. I don't agree with everything, of course, but they generally have great stuff to say!

Anyway, I recently read an article about "Non-Negotiables" in choosing a spouse from Boundless and I thought they had great lists.

Choosing a Husband:

• A man must be a believer.
• He must be able and willing to provide for his family. (1 Tim. 5:7-8)
• He must love sacrificially. (Eph. 5:25-33)
• He must be honest, have a good reputation and strive for the qualities of a spiritual leader. (See Acts 6:3, 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9)

Choosing a Wife:

• A woman must be a believer.
• She must respect unconditionally (Eph. 5:22-24)
• She must be willing to bear children and take primary responsibility for their physical care in the early years (Titus 2:3-5, Prov. 31:10-31).
• She should be developing the qualities that will make her a helpmeet to her husband. (Gen. 2:18), including being pure, self-controlled and being an effective home manager (Titus 2:5)

Link for Article: http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001766.cfm

My church is a pretty happy place. I'm serious! That's not to say that we are flippant or irreverent about the things of God. We take holiness and godliness very seriously, and unashamed hold up the standard of God's Word... But somehow that also translates into making us very happy people. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the joy of the Lord. Because we've been given so great a salvation and perfect peace in Christ, alot of things seem funny to us. And troubles pale in the sight of our Lord. So we're happy!

Sunday morning was a typical day in church. We had Sunday school, morning worship, testimonies, offering and the preaching of the Word. As I was taking my typical crazy amount of sermon notes, I also noted the things that the whole congregation laughed about. It went something like this... The Pastor said, "... clothes." Everyone laughs (related to an earlier joke from a testimony). The Pastor gets tripped up over the word, "sensory." Everybody laughs. I don't know why. Just weird pronunciation, I guess. During offering, The Pastor is talking about being "a little liberal" which made me giggle uncontrollably. Cause ya know, I'm conservative. He was talking about giving liberally, but it was still funny. The Pastor mentions, "... leprosy" and the worship team laughs, because of my jokes during worship practice about being a leper 'cause nobody sat by me recently. :)

And the winner-take-all was The Pastor skipping around and singing, "I'm going to the altar to be sa-aved. I'm going to the altar to be sa-aved!" Absolutely hilarious!! You gotta understand the point though. He's been preaching about The New Birth. And recently, about repentance and Godly sorrow - both of which are sorely lacking in modern 'conversions.' The Pastor was illustrating the general attitude of flippant and unrepentant people who are seeking salvation for selfish reasons. The illustration definitely brought the point across!

There was more fun and laughter afterwards as we welcomed our dear brother, Hudson, as he returned on a visit from Taiwan!

I was explaining to a youth recently that maturity means knowing when to be serious. You can have a good time and laugh and joke in its proper time, but also be serious and passionate and direct about the things of God. And I think that's illustrated plainly at church.

Yeah, I love my church!

Soooooooooo... it's all about you today! You, my wonderful blog-readers!


Readers make me happy, happy, HAPPY (for some reason, I say "happy, happy, HAPPY!" almost every Sunday morning after worship practice. Odd.) Recently, I learned how to use my electronic blogger eyes and see that, wow, sometimes people actually read this blog! :) Sometimes I do wonder if the words just fade into the deep dark Internet oblivion... especially when the comments are few and far between. While blogging tends towards narcissism, I try to avoid that trap. I strive to be balanced. To sometimes edify, sometimes challenge, sometimes amuse and also update my real-life friends of the interesting things that happen in my life.


So I guess this is a chance for you blog-readers to say what you think of this blog, and what you would like to read more of or are curious about, what (if anything) has helped you or encouraged you, etc.


I await your voluminous comments. :)

I asked Him what He would say to us (the youth group).

He said, "Follow Me."

It seems so simple. Who knew it could be so difficult?

The disciples followed Him immediately. They left everything: homes, businesses, families, wives, children and even their own lives and followed Christ. No hesitation. Just instant obedience.

Other "disciples" wanted to follow, but couldn't and wouldn't make the sacrifice.
Luke 9:57-62 tells of three who attempted to follow and the Lord's discerning words pointed out the falseness of their devotion. He uncovered their true motives. He told them that comfort was not included in following Him and that following Him could not be put off until a more convenient time. Most forcefully, He declared that looking back longingly towards the world makes you unfit for the kingdom of God!

The classic example of a failed follower is the rich young ruler. He came to Christ seeking the right thing. He knew the need for eternal life and that he hadn't yet attained. He came to the right person to find the Truth. And yet, when the rubber met the road... he wouldn't follow Christ. The idol of his heart (possessions) was far too precious.

A curious thing about following the Master is that He didn't always require everyone to do the same thing. One man begged to accompany Jesus in His travels, and He told the man instead to stay home and preach to his own family. Don't be too literal and miss the point here. Yes, following Christ might mean you'll go to a foreign country. Or you might stay in the same place forever. But are you willing to do whatever is asked of you? Following Christ is about the heart's devotion first of all, and the practical obedience that follows.

Settle the question. Am I a follower of Christ?
Get close to the Master. Follow = to accompany, be with Christ!
Obey instantly and without reservation any command that He gives.

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.
Brother Lawrence

The holy man is not one who cannot sin. A holy man is one who will not sin.
A.W. Tozer

When there's something in the Bible that churches don't like, they call it: legalism.
Leonard Ravenhill

Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers.
J. Sidlow Baxter

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 43:5

Hope in God!

Not "hope in man," or "hope in circumstances," or "hope in chance" or anything else. I put my hope in God alone. He lifts up my head and helps my countenance.

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.
Psalm 62:5

I'm now the proud owner of a rock from a castle in England. It doesn't look like an English rock. It just looks like a piece of gravel. But I like it. Thanks, Mr. Darcy!

700 is the magic number. 700 books cataloged in my personal library. Don't you just wanna cry from happiness?

TWICE in 3 days, my hair got stuck in a car window. I guess it's getting longer... I can't keep track of it anymore!

The key to telling a joke over and over is to telling it to a new audience each time. Currently I'm using the "cactus" joke. It's been fun! (and I'm still amused by it, which helps).

Remember that little pinkie finger I jammed while playing basketball last weekend? I guess my forceful keyboard playing makes it hurt alot. And so I taped it up. Yes, literally taped with Scotch tape to make it through the worship service. Which worked surprisingly well.

Just when I thought we were done cancelling youth events because of weather, 'cause it's JUNE!, we had to postpone our amusement park trip on Saturday. The weatherman was forecasting doom and gloom. Three words: Thunderstorms. Hail. Tornado. Ugh!

What did I do on Saturday instead of amusement-park-ing? Work! The Bible says, "SIX days you shall labor." Technically, Saturday is a work-day. I know, that just squashes our lazy American tendencies. You can rest on Sunday though!... Anyway, I weeded gardens, planted more flowers & herbs, cataloged books, cleaned house, sanded bookshelves, stained bookshelves, and helped assemble a spiral staircase.

The return of my childhood catchphrase. This weekend, my mom actually said to me, "(insert my name here), Put down the book and help!" Ah, yes, sweet childhood memories. :)