Adventures

Hello bloggers! Ifeel like it has been forever since I've written in here, yet it's only be about a week and a half. A full week and a half though :)  Since my last DC post, here are some of the things we've done:

• Started a new semester of college =/ (me)
• Taken some Middle School students on a retreat
• Met the candidate our church is interviewing for the position of senior pastor
• Got carpeting/linoleum in our house, AND ordered the applicances
• Been sick.. (oh wait.. thats just me. ha)

Well first off, I have mixed emotions about starting another semester of school. Along with the classes come tuition payments, book fees, students fees, gas money, and ...homework.. . But the good thing is that I have a job on campus that gives me seventeen hours a week. The classes I have will hopefully be helpful, and are interesting so far. But will be a lot harder than most of the others I've taken judging by the syllabus. So, we'll see how that goes. I'm just praying for strength and time to get everything done with the small amount of spare time I have.

Last weekend Caleb and I took twelve students on a retreat up at camp. It was a great weekend, to say the least. Good fun, good fellowship, good times, and a great speaker. The guy who spoke is Matt McCarty (http://2tim2two.com/page1, http://mattrmccarty.wordpress.com/) and he did a phenominal job. When he spoke, these students listened, and he didn't underestimate them. He spoke to them like they were equalls and told them that many people underestimate them, so they learn to underestimate themselves. He told them they can do big and hard things. And I'm glad to said that to them. When I was that age, I felt like people saw me as a baby and thought I couldn't do anything becuase I was young. I was discouraged and thought less of myself because of that. I'm so glad Matt told these students they can do so much more than anyone thinks they can. He understands that they really are aware of many things at their age, and are trying to grow up. He also told them they have some major decisions at their age regarding friends, actions, conduct, etc., and challenged them to live their faith. There were some great responses and feedback from the students, and we are thankful for that. I would recommend him to speak to any youth.

After we got home from the retreat on Sunday, we got to meet the candidate for senior pastor that night. I've been trying to be open minded about the whole search process, and I'll admit, it had been very hard. It adds a whole different aspect when one of the cadidates is the man who is currently the associate pastor, as is very much loved by a church body. But anyway, after listening to his sermons online and viewing his resume, I was curious to meet this man. We didn't get to meet or talk to him very long, but here are a few things I noticed: he made it a point to try and remember names he learned, he really seemed to be listening/observing when someone was speaking, he seemed genuine, he could relate to people. During a question and answer period, he answered questions to the best of his ability, and then asked if the person who had asked him the question understand his response. Another big thing was that his whole family was very personable. I wish I had gotten to talk to him a little bit more, a half hour worth of being only around someone is a very short time, and makes very hard to judge how they will lead a church body. It all comes down to prayer then. Please join me in praying for our church body as we vote to not bring or bring this family into ministry at our church. Pray that above all else, God's will be done, even if we don't understand, or agree fully with the conclusion at this time.

House update: flooring is in! I laid on the carpet yesterday, just because I could :) The carpet we chose is a chocolate brown color (aka "Beakskin") and I'm glad we chose that instead of a darker beige color we were thinking about. The brown looks great with the wood effects in the house, and the white paint makes the carpet pop. The linoleum we chose is like a beige color, and also looks great. We ordered stainless appliances, and Caleb tracked down a great deal on those! (I love deals and sales, did you know that?! Just saying.. ). So right now they're just working on getting the kitchen tile clean and free of all ground-in drywall dust, which is wayyy harder than it sounds. Hopefully this weekend will be even more productive in getting some of the plumbing finished so we can have running water! The simple joys in life...

Last but not least, I seem to have caught something, or its just allergies. My nose is runny and itchy and my eyes are watery and itchy (don't worry, it doesn't look like pink eye, I checked!). Last night at praise team practice a friend mentioned it might be allergies, which I hadn't yet thought of. So last night before bed I took some allergy medicine and slept like a champ - which I hadn't done the night before. Other than my nose and eyes, I'm a bit tired, but feel fine. I'm hoping hoping hoping its just allergies.

So what's on our plate for this weekend? Tonight we're having two other couples over for some dinner and a movie - the new movie Courageous, I'm super excited to see it! Saturday will be devoted to working at the house. Sunday we teach Jr. Church and I'm on praise team. Busy busy yet again! We'll see if I don't have time for a a nap sometime in the midst of all the stuff ;)

Well, that's all for now, I think. Have a good weekend!