Wild Weeks

It has been too long since I've been on here, this might be rather long :)

So much has happened since I was here last. I've had a few more memorable instances down by the marina I told you about in my last post, the one by the coast guard station. The one that pops into my mind is from last Thursday. Before going downtown to watch the free movies in the park that Caleb helps with, I was taking Honey for her walk. We came upon a family who was trying to take pictures with the car ferry behind them as it came in. I offered to take their picture but I don't think they heard me, but strangely no one else would talk to them even though there were about fifteen people there. I stood, just a few feet away, and noticed that what sounded like clear speech from a few feet away was actually half grunting and trying to form words; this family was all partially deaf and could only speak a little bit. So I thought a minute and got the father's attention, enunciated the best I could and held up three fingers as I asked if they'd like me to take a picture of them together. They eagerly agreed with the biggest smiles I've seen from tourists in a while. So I took the picture, stood around for a minute and continued on my way. It shocked me how happy they were, but it brightened my day.

Picture of everyone that my uncle photoshopped

To go back a little bit, a few weeks ago was our family reunion. Contrary to many people, I love family reunions, and attend every chance I get. I may vaguely recognize people, but I don't know who half of the people are :) isn't that how reunions are supposed to go? Thank goodness for name tags. This reunion was special to me. In the last few years I have realized just how precious family is. The reunion is from my great grandma's family, which was very large. However, now there are only four of the sisters left, and they're not doing very well healthwise. It really made me think though, how they are the basis of the reunions. Will these get togethers still carry on when they are no longer with us? I hope so. To see them all together talking, leaned in so they could hear each other, was so precious. They may live far away, but they just pick up where they left off and go from there. When their parents immigrated here from Hungary, they sought a different life, and they built up a family. It's crazy to think that there are only a few of that generation left.. and they live far away from each other. It seems everyone lives far away from each other now. Seeing all the other family is great too. It's usually the one time every two years that I get to see most of them. I was bummed Caleb couldn't go, he would've got a kick out of the "silent" auction, which was exactly the opposite of silent. But it was a fun day regardless, and I got to catch up with quite a few of the cousins. I also got to see my grandparents and a few girls from church. It was good to be in my hometown for a weekend.

As the weekend ended and I drove home with my sister as co-pilot, we talked about our upcoming trip with the youth group to the amusement park, Cedar Point. I hadn't realized we left the very next day, so I tried to gear up and mentally create a packing list. My sister had never been there before, but she had been looking up the roller coasters and watching videos filmed from the first cart, so she was pretty psyched to finally get to go. I was just glad I wasn't one of the people who had to drive the fifteen passenger vans there and back. So as Monday afternoon rolled around, we headed to the church and I got a phone call asking if I would drive one of the vans.. because no one else could. I nervously agreed to do so, and don't regret it. Besides being very tired from the weekend before, I made it through. A lot of prayer, caffeine, and music aided my consciousness though :) We arrived at the church we were staying the night at around 1am, and shortly after crashed for the night. We got up, had breakfast, and headed out to CP, which was only now a mile away. After splitting into groups and heading into the park, the first ride our group decided to go on was the Mantis (right).

Personally, it is one of my favorite rides. My sister had told me that she didn't want to go on some of the really big coasters because she
can't breathe and her stomach hurts, but we learned that she can defy breathing and a stomachache real quickly. She absolutely loved Mantis. The one neither of us felt like going on was the Top Thrill Dragster. It is 420 feet high and accelerates to 120mph in 4seconds. It's crazy. I had been on it before, and didn't think it was all that its cracked up to be. But halfway through the day as we were walking towards its, my sister said, "lets go on Dragster," so on we went.

Normally there's a wait that is a few hours long, but due to rain that morning the park was pretty clear. We were sitting on the cart in ten minutes, ready to go. There were some shaking knees, but as soon as it shoots you forward there is no turning back. So up we went... parallel to the ground, the only thing around us for a split second was the blue sky. Then we peaked, spiraled downward, and before we knew it our ride of less than 20 seconds was over. There was talk of going on Millennium Force next (right), because its the next smallest, and my sister had just been on the largest one, so we did. It was fun. As the afternoon became evening, those of us who were driving met up to talk, and were told to get some rest. I was told to get some sleep on a bench, but refused because a small young girl sleeping on a bench in the middle of a very large amusement park doesn't strike me as a good idea. So we found a grassy spot and I tried to nap while some friends sat around and talked. We headed for home around nine, and again with much prayer, caffeine, and music, made it home around 4am, and crashed for some much needed sleep.

After driving one of the vans with thirteen high schoolers back and forth, I understand why the drivers of the vans when I was in youth group needed quiet, good behavior, etc. I always knew it was good, of course, but I didn't quite realize how nerve racking it actually is to drive a very large vehicle with other lives in your hands. Kudos to all the youth leaders who do that on a regular basis - you deserve some major props for sure!


(to be continued)

Splashes of Color

Tonight we got together with some of our high school girls for some ice cream and chit chat but decided to call it a night as a few rain drops started falling. They soon stopped, but as I turned the corner for home I couldn't help be drawn to the sight in front of me; as one side of the sky was being overcome by dark rain clouds, the other side was splashed hot pink and orange. I passed the corner that would take me home and headed straight down the avenue toward the beach. The white lighthouse stood out like a monument against the sky that was quickly changing colors. As the rain clouds got darker, the hot pink and orange became deep red mixed with orange, light pink, and a soft yellow. None of the pictures I took on my phone could do the sight justice. I stood there for a moment thinking how beautiful this place is. People travel from all over just to be here for a weekend, and I get to live here. My house is two miles from the beach.. I started wondering how I had not grown up with these sights, but I then remembered waking up to the most beautiful sunbursts, visible across the fields, and I didn't even have to get out of bed to enjoy them. Yes, I was spoiled, and I still am, there is beauty all around me. There is beauty all around you too, you just may have to look harder to see, feel, or know it.

As I walked to my car, I let the wind take my hair as it whipped up and around my face. My light loose shirt was blowing like a blanket left on a clothesline through a storm, and I could feel the rain coming. The air hung heavy around me, and may have felt suffocating had it been ten degrees warmer. It wrapped around my skin like a warm blanket and reminded me how much I love summer nights. Some days I wish we had more than three months of summer here.

So I sit here now listening to the thunder and thinking how today was a wonderful end to a wonderful month. So much has happened and there is so much ahead for next month. I just finished up my first week of training at my new job. Yes, God provided yet again! We knew He would, it was just in His time. I was offered a position, and jumped at the opportunity. I love to be around people, and love to see many of them a day. It was originally on my radar since I started looking in April, but nothing came about until about two weeks ago. It has been a great first few days and I'm excited to see how it will continue to go.

We currently have family here from out of state also. They come once a summer and we always enjoy their time here. We saw them in January for our godson's baptism, and were excited to welcome them back when they arrived early Sunday morning. It will be good to get to spend some time with them again. Also, this weekend my grandparents are hopefully going to be here. We really hope they can make the trip, and are super excited to welcome them back to town. They came for our wedding last summer, so we would love for them to come again. We even have a house to show them this time ;) and it would be great to be able to spend some time with them.

Next on the radar is a family reunion. My moms side of the family is Hungarian, and is it ever huge! Thankfully we wear name tags, because I don't know who half the people at the reunions are (but seriously, who does know all the people at family reunions?!) Then there's a trip to Cedar Point with the youth group. I grew up going to CP every summer with my youth group, and its exciting to get to go with my sister now. I always promised we'd get to go together sometime, and now is our chance, so we're grabbing it :)  It will be a blast.

As for the rest of the month, one of my best friends is celebrating her 21st Birthday, and we'll see whatever else gets thrown at us. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I usually do. I'll be back anyway.

Well I hope you have a great day/night, or whatever time it is where you are ;)

Life & Youth Group

This year is going by so fast! It seems like Christmas was just yesterday, and yet it's May already. Caleb and I have been married for 11 months and it doesn't seem like that long. So many things have happened in this last year, and I can't wait to see what else we're going to encounter. God has been so good to us!

I've been at this job at the college for two years now, and this is my last week. It has been a great experience. I've gotten to know so many great people here, and have had the opportunity to learn what working in an office includes. I have one more shift after today and I'll be done :( How sad is that?! As sad as it may be, it also marks the turning of a page in my life.. to a new chapter. I've been able to keep up with this blog because of this job as I don't always have enough to do to keep me busy while I wait for the phone to ring :) So I guess I'll see where it goes from here. I'll still be working at the church yet for a while, but I don't know where I'll be working after that, nor how much time I'll have to write in here. Enough, I hope, because I've enjoyed keeping this blog up.

Another update is that the man who came to candidate for the youth pastor position was found to not be the right fit for our church. We were bummed. His character and chemistry with everyone were great, but his teaching just didn't fit what our students needed. Like I said, we were all super bummed. He is a great man, they are a great family, but I guess God has different plans for both his family and our church family. So, we are back to square one of looking for a YP. Please keep praying!

While we're on the subject of youth group, this last Sunday went great. We had a guest speaker who led worship and spoke about our identity in Christ and how only He can make us whole. We also played a game called 'Tribal Wars.' It's a lot like capture the flag, except someone has to be in posession of the flag the whole time. We used cloth strips to hang out the students' side pockets (instead of them tagging each other), and used face paint. In my opinion, face paint just makes things more fun :) haha. It was a great night, and we had thirty eight students! We're hosting about ten to fifteen more students per night than we were about two months ago. It's so cool to see some of these new students come in. Some of the students who have been coming lately have never been to church before, and we're so glad to have them here!

Putting on our game face for Tribal Wars

He Giveth More Grace

I've heard it a thousand times, but just recently I've been learning so much more that our strength is renewed when we rest in God and trust Him for who He is and what we need. It hasn't been as much of a mentally exhausting week as last week, but there have been frustrations... some so large that I just sat there helplessly and cried. I was suddenly so homesick that I wanted to get up and drive the three and half hours to my hometown.. a town that offers familiarity and comfort, and places and faces that cause me to reminisce about days when I didn't have frustrations that were so harsh. But then I realized that as painful as it is, I can't do that. Yes, I can go visit, but just getting up on a whim and leaving is irresponsible. So what did I do? After being sick for two days, I threw myself into my work and let my passion for these students and their pain, help heal mine. And did it ever.

Today I was compiling answers from a suicide and depression questionnaire that we asked our students to fill out. Some didn't take it seriously, which was expected, but others took it very seriously. So seriously, that it felt like my heart stopped when I read a few responses to some of the answers. These students are hurting so bad, and we don't even realize it. The night we asked them to fill out the questionnaires, we had many students whose families are regular attendees and even members of the church. I was shocked at the answers these students wrote, and wonder if their parents have the slightest clue what their students are going through, and what they are thinking. Our staff had a suicide prevention training session last Wednesday, and I am thankful for that. Because of some of the things we went over during the session, I understand how serious these students actually are in their responses. The reality is, they will talk, but only if we ask them. Well, they talked, because we asked them, and now we're trying to help them. Pray for these students. We didn't have them put their names on the questionnaires, so its a guessing game, but the topic for this Sunday is the same as was on the questionnaire. I hope it helps, and I hope we can help any student that needs us.

I didn't realize throwing myself into my work would cause me to stumble upon such a great realization, but the fact is that today while I was sifting through questionnaires, I realized that God was giving me more strength because I was asking Him to help me through it all. How awesome is it that our God is a God who can do that? Can I get an amen?! Throughout the past few weeks, this song has been almost continually running through my head and both gently and sweetly reminds me of His grace.. because He does give more grace in all situations.. even when we don't see it.

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,


He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;


To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,


To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,


His power no boundary known unto men;


For out of His infinite riches in Jesus


He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,


When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,


When we reach the end of our hoarded resources


Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,


His power no boundary known unto men;


For out of His infinite riches in Jesus


He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,


Our God ever yearns His resources to share;


Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;


The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,


His power no boundary known unto men;


For out of His infinite riches in Jesus


He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Have a blessed night

A Joyful Heart..

With a joyful heart this morning, I come to write some more, to clue you in a little more on my life =) Reading other peoples' posts make my heart glad, and reminds me that we have such a great God. This morning I've read about adoption, ministry conferences in other countries, a friends filled life due to letting God take her where HE wanted, and a few others. Those kinds of stories remind me of the mercy, grace, and love we are constantly shown day by day, even though we are so undesrving of it.

I have been struggling lately with a lot of emotions; hurt, anger, frustration, annoyance, etc. Some ministry related, some not. One of the emotions associated with the ministry would be frustration. I've been involved with the youth group for over two years now, but I've been more involved in the past year than I realized. Within that year, we've lost a youth pastor and a senior pastor, and our church is going through a major transitioning time. We've also lost a number of students for numerous reasons. Out of ideas and desperate for a different point of view, I emailed my youth pastor from when I was a youth group student. Here are a few things he mentioned;
-If whats happening isn't what the student wants, they will leave. (Positive or negative)
-Those who stay, are staying for a reason
-Focus on the things God is doing in lives, not the behavioral, disruptive, and other issues
-Trust what the Spirit is doing even when we don't see anything happening
-Teach the Word and don't lose heart.

He gave some other great insight also. Some of the things he suggested are things that I've considered, but have been told no, or that they wouldn't work. I know personal experience is quite void sometimes, but some of the things he mentioned are some of the things that I was glad were enforced as a student, and things that made me grow. I would love to try to mesh them into the ministry I help with. They may help some of our students who are caught in a lull. I guess we'll see what happens. Needless to say, though, reading that email was very refreshing!

As I was writing, this verse came cycling to my mind from the back of my brain, and I couldn't think of a better way to end this post, so give it a read and have a good day!

"A joyfull (cheerful) heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" -Proverbs 17:22

Our Tree Is Up!

Today I finalized and sent out our December newsletter for youth group. Yesterday I made new attendance sheets, sign-up sheets for our three extra events next month, and hung posters advertising the Middle and High School retreats in January. And tonight, I get to be with a group of K-2nd graders at AWANA. Some things just make me grin.

Something else that made me grin was putting up our Christmas tree yesterday. I didn't decorate it, but it's prelit, so it still looks bright and cheery! I also wrapped Caleb's Christmas gifts, and put together a gift for my sister. We still have some shopping to do, but I am totally loving the start of this Christmas season. The only thing missing is snow. Yes, it is almost December, and we still don't have any snow here on the west side of Michigan. I'm not exactly complaining.. but it just doesn't seem as Christmas-y without it.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this wonderful season and having a great day! More to come soon!

Our tree (I don't have a tree skirt yet, but I'm sure I'll add one soon!) 

Once we transition houses we'll decorate the tree =) But as for now, I'm satisfied with simply having a lit tree gleaming in the living room. 

Recap

Scenario: I'm sitting at church working the homeless shelter, wide awake while my husband is sleeping on the couch, and watching an episode of Walker. I'm so tired, but I can't fall asleep. Besides, someone has to be awake. So I guess I'll fill you in on what happened since I posted last.

Wednesday we picked my sister up from school and headed to my sister and I's hometown. It was great to be home and see everyone again, it's been a while since I'd been there. Thursday dawned with the usual festivities; people stirring around the house, getting up and around, EARLY. Because we were in a different house we woke up early, in part due to the fact that our air mattress had deflated also =] But we got ready and went to my grandparents' house. After dinner, we went to my other grandparents' house. And then after that we went to Caleb's grandparents' house. It was a late night to say the least. We got back and went to bed, and got maybe two hours of sleep before we got up for the black Friday sales.

Saginaw was filled with all the hustle and bustle you'd expect it to have, but without the fights and other things commonly associated with black Friday sales. We got our treasures, spent wayyy too much time shopping, and then decided to grab some breakfast. A new Ihop opened last month, so we went to that (even thought it was packed!), and then headed home. It was good to be able to spend some time with family that I don't see often, and good to relax. We haven't done much of either lately. Around 4pm we started our trip home, and with two extra stops we got home later than usual. After we got everything put away we crashed. I was asleep less than a minute after my head hit the pillow.

Today we had planned to get up early to start our work day on the house. Caleb wanted to be at Lowe's by 7am, but at 8:30, and half asleep, I heard him telling me to look at the clock. 7am wasn't a reality, but it did feel really good to get some sleep. I was worried he wouldn't get any sleep this weekend, so that solid nine hours eased my mind quite a bit. So he got up and got to the house in a hurry and the day started from there. My sister-in-law and I put in insulation while everyone else did their thing. The guys downstairs ended up finding two basketball size bee hives IN the walls of our house. They were neat to look at, but I'm glad no one was living in the house when the hives were active. Those bees would've been nasty to fight with. We had to leave the house early to get ready for the shelter tonight. We don't have many visitors, and there are more of us staying as volunteers than as visitors, but it was an ok night. As this day winds to an end (err, yesterday, I guess), I'm definitely ready to get some sleep.

Tomorrow will be filled with stuff also. We have church, and then I'm sitting at the table to sell tickets for our 33 Miles concert next month. After that I think Caleb is going to work at the house and I'm not sure what I'm doing. We have a leaders meeting and then we're taking the youth group bowling.

Crazy busy. One day, weekends like this will really catch up with us. One day =] As of now, I think we're going strong. We'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine was. Have a good Sunday and rest of the week!

Quite The Experience

As I drove to work this morning, I was watching the sky and wishing I wasn't running late so I could drive through the beach and see the lakefront and lighthouse. But, hitting the snooze button two too many times and feeling sluggish was making me run late. As I looked up, the sky was painted with bright colors and looked like cotton candy on one side of the avenue that divided town, and a vivid orange and yellow with streaks on the other. It was gorgeous. Definitely a morning that made me wish I had my camera in my purse and wasn't running late. Oh well. It was a good morning anyway.. I woke up to a kiss, a warm shower, stole a hug and was out the door. Now I can see the sunshine reflecting off the light green painted walls in the atrium outside of the office and it makes me smile.

Well, today we are going to our first (I'm sure of many) hockey game of the year. We promised my sister we would take her to at least one game this year, so I'm sure there will be more. Tonight we are doubling with another young couple from church, and I can't wait. Hockey is one of my favorite sports to watch, so I look forward to the season starting =) Our drive will be about an hour long, so as soon as I clock out and get home, we're going to pick them up. It'll be good to get away for the night. We've been stressing out about the house more than we'd like to, and working on it quite a bit the past two weeks. So having a night off will be good for us, and it'll be good to have a night out with another couple our age.

Other than that, this weekend promises to be busier than usual. Work and hockey tonight, and tomorrow Caleb is taking two guys to do all the fall clean-ups for the lawns he takes care of. I'm not sure what all I'm doing tomorrow, probably catch up of some housework, and maybe fun, we'll see. Then tomorrow night we're pulling an all-nighter at church to help with the homeless shelter. Its at our building for two weeks, and both weeks we'll be staying Saturday night. This weekend though, I'm curious to see how it'll go because I meet with the deacons after the service on Sunday about membership. I'm sure I'll be loopy and out of it, and nauseaus, so that'll be fun, ha. I'm not sure if we're helping, but Sunday afternoon some people are putting up decorations. Then we have a leaders meeting and a mystery event for youth group. This will be fun =) I can't say what we're doing until after Sunday night, but the staff is excited and we have some good plans for our students.

Sooo all that said, we're doing alright. A bit stressed here and there, and quite busy, but so goes life. We're learning a lot about remodeling a house, working with other staff, the known (but not fully believed) fact that life is expensive, and you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

Life is quite the experience =) Haha..  have a good day everyone.

With love,
Us.

Warriors and Soldiers

Youth Group back to school kickoff was last night, and I would call it a success. We had between thirty and forty middle and high schoolers come for some fun, food, and fellowship. We let them hang out a bit, then played three games. The first was a name game, the second a teamwork game, and the third a crazy game that was just for fun. The devotional was on spiritual warfare, and definitely gave our students a lot to think about. If you'd like something to chew on for the day, I wrote down something one of the leaders said when asked a question during the devotional. Here's what he said:

"We are not called warriors of Christ, because warriors stand alone. We are called soldiers of Christ, because soldiers stand together. As warriors we would die alone, but as soldiers we stand, fight, and live together."

 It hit me as completely true. As Christians, we can't live this life alone - we need others to help us, thus being called soldiers. Please pray that our students heard the message in their hearts and it will effect them in a positive way as they grow in Christ and in relationships in school. It looks like we're going to have a great group this year, and we (as staff) can't wait to see what's in store!