Hi friends,
I am happy to report to you all that I am feeling much better, and even though my appetite is about as existent as Amelia Earhart and her plane... I'm able to be up and about for the most part. I went back to work and was able to do the normal nightly activities. A lot of it was dressing to the occasion and getting up for it, hoping my body would rise to the occasion. I am also fortunate enough to have a sweet as can be boyfriend and very caring best friend here to care for me and make sure I felt better.
We have been embedding ourselves here in the community pretty well now. Been able to give people directions to places, and finally know my way around about half of K-Mart! I'm getting to know the members of the church I am attending. Getting to know the girls in my life group even better, they have been such a blessing to me and it's crazy how close we have been able to get in such a short amount of time. We have also had multiple opportunities to volunteer within the community, where we can not only fill a need here in Tahoe, but while we are doing that we can have really cool and easy spiritual conversations with people. Like yesterday we got to volunteer at the countries largest paddle board competition down at the lake. It was absolute chaos, but in the best way. There were tons of beach goers and boarders there to compete and have a good time. God used us in so many ways and brought about such positivity to the whole event. I'm continuously amazed how present God is in all this. He really does lead us to talk to people who we can just tell he's put in our path for a reason, whether it's just to make them think or whether it's to really rock their world with the good news. Though not every conversation is a success, and not everyone gets into a conversation, sometimes we just end up serving and showing God's message through our actions, every experience brings us closer to God and teaches us something.
Also looking forward to having the Taste of Tahoe kids joining us for the holiday weekend. These are kids like us who wanted to come on project but for one reason or another couldn't commit, so they just are coming for a small "taste."
Would love continued prayer for patience at work (especially with the 4th of July coming up), and for the other kids on this project that are starting to get sick, that they would have a quick turn around, and for the taste of Tahoe kids coming in on wednesday.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
LTSP Problem Child
Sometimes it's hard for me to be appreciative of all that God is doing for me in my life. I have this amazing opportunity to be in awesome christian community in a beautiful place in the world that has such a need for Jesus. Who wouldn't be excited right!?
Well, today I full on got the flu, it came in like a crashing wave at 4 am. in all of it's wrath . And continued throughout out the day. I have been held up in my cabin ever since and been told not to come to the group activities. I don't want to expose all the other kids to my illness. I finally just had to leave work early for fear of throwing up at the cash register… which I feel especially bad about because I was honestly kind of glad to get off the cash register. I'm not really enjoying working at Kmart, there are more problems than there are people who know how to solve them, leaving angry and impatient customers storming up to the register where little old me has no idea how to help them being so new. There is just a lot of confusion and unorganized leadership, which is hard to deal with sometimes. I'm learning you have to have tough skin to work in customer service, and sometimes even that isn't enough. Finding it hard to appreciate where I am and all these great people I'm with at the moment. Cause honestly, all I want is my own bed and my mom.
It's becoming a running joke that I am the "problem child" at work cause things seem to go wrong and my cash register can't work for longer than three transactions. And now I'm the sicky of the camp and am staying away from group activities.
Really trying to lean on the Lord and find the good in my days. I know this wave of sickness and frustration at work will pass.
Prayers for healing and patience is greatly appreciated.
Well, today I full on got the flu, it came in like a crashing wave at 4 am. in all of it's wrath . And continued throughout out the day. I have been held up in my cabin ever since and been told not to come to the group activities. I don't want to expose all the other kids to my illness. I finally just had to leave work early for fear of throwing up at the cash register… which I feel especially bad about because I was honestly kind of glad to get off the cash register. I'm not really enjoying working at Kmart, there are more problems than there are people who know how to solve them, leaving angry and impatient customers storming up to the register where little old me has no idea how to help them being so new. There is just a lot of confusion and unorganized leadership, which is hard to deal with sometimes. I'm learning you have to have tough skin to work in customer service, and sometimes even that isn't enough. Finding it hard to appreciate where I am and all these great people I'm with at the moment. Cause honestly, all I want is my own bed and my mom.
It's becoming a running joke that I am the "problem child" at work cause things seem to go wrong and my cash register can't work for longer than three transactions. And now I'm the sicky of the camp and am staying away from group activities.
Really trying to lean on the Lord and find the good in my days. I know this wave of sickness and frustration at work will pass.
Prayers for healing and patience is greatly appreciated.
Friday, June 20, 2014
LTSP Just Me, Jesus, and Kmart….
About all I have time for these days is all the devotionals and sharing stuff I am doing with my bible study group in the mornings, my 8 hour shift at K-mart, and leaving just enough time for me to scrape up some personal time to you know… eat, sleep, and clean myself… All very important details that can be easily lost in a packed schedule. Don't even ask the last time I've done laundry… It's worse than college here as far as that goes!
We are finally settling into a routine here, Waking up at 5:30 am to go to devotionals before reporting to work at 7 am. Work has been chaotic to say the least, and I'm learning so much about the ins-and-outs of a department store! Definitely earning an appreciation for department store employees around the country. Didn't know how much of an army it took to run a store! I've been specializing in the "personal care" section of the store. And would now consider shelving deodorants a personal skill that I would be proud to put on a resume! :) It's much harder than it looks people!
Anyways, there are about 8 of us Cru kids working there and we are all being trained to do everything from cash register to storage room stuff. Keeps me busy all day, thats for sure. I'm looking forward to getting to know my co-workers better and gain some good relationships while I am here!
I have had some amazing adventures out to Emerald Bay, and to Heavenly shopping village, with my new friends here. There are tons of good places to get authentic ice cream here. So I have made it a personal goal to try each place once! Though this is kind of a vacation, obviously a beautiful place to be, it is also work. I have a purpose to my day, and that is ultimately to share the love of Jesus in any way I can with those around me. And that is such an honor, that is what keeps me from going insane at 5:30 when my alarm goes off, or at 3:30 in the afternoon when my legs are aching and I just want to go home and lay down. It is hard work here, but it's nothing I can't handle through Him, and I am gladly doing it for Him.
We are finally settling into a routine here, Waking up at 5:30 am to go to devotionals before reporting to work at 7 am. Work has been chaotic to say the least, and I'm learning so much about the ins-and-outs of a department store! Definitely earning an appreciation for department store employees around the country. Didn't know how much of an army it took to run a store! I've been specializing in the "personal care" section of the store. And would now consider shelving deodorants a personal skill that I would be proud to put on a resume! :) It's much harder than it looks people!
Anyways, there are about 8 of us Cru kids working there and we are all being trained to do everything from cash register to storage room stuff. Keeps me busy all day, thats for sure. I'm looking forward to getting to know my co-workers better and gain some good relationships while I am here!
I have had some amazing adventures out to Emerald Bay, and to Heavenly shopping village, with my new friends here. There are tons of good places to get authentic ice cream here. So I have made it a personal goal to try each place once! Though this is kind of a vacation, obviously a beautiful place to be, it is also work. I have a purpose to my day, and that is ultimately to share the love of Jesus in any way I can with those around me. And that is such an honor, that is what keeps me from going insane at 5:30 when my alarm goes off, or at 3:30 in the afternoon when my legs are aching and I just want to go home and lay down. It is hard work here, but it's nothing I can't handle through Him, and I am gladly doing it for Him.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
LTSP Is there a mouse heaven?
I have a funny story for you all.
We live in very basic cabins here in a camp ground called Tallac Village. We have running water and a tiny heater in the corner of our room, both of which make our cabins nicer than some I've stayed in before. But there are admittedly lots of ways God's creatures could find their way into our humble little cabin. And last night we had a tiny mouse find its way in. Of course a room full of girls, this caused quite the scene. We fled for high ground on the top bunks, squealing all the way up. And after coming to our senses, we were able to corral it back out of the hole where it came. We then plugged the hole. Keep in mind this is about 11:30 pm when this all happens. I wish the story ended there, but a few minutes later my cabin mate looks up from her bed and just calmly says "oh hi mousy" as he had come back! After finding it again, with the help of our leader who had by now come to help us having heard our screams, we got it out the front door, but discovered it could come underneath the door! So we plug up each door crack, and get back in bed… Only to discover the mouse again. To be honest we aren't sure if it was just one extremely persistent mouse or multiple mice. Either way it was unsettling.
We decided that the mouse won… we were not going to fight it anymore, but the two of us on the bottom bunk (they are 3 bed bunks) didn't feel comfortable so close to the ground. So we hauled all our stuff to the top bunk, and got very personal with the ceiling that was about 6 inches from our faces, but we preferred that over a mouse potentially being 6 inches from our face.
By 1 am. we were all settled, and I presume the mouse was comfortable and warm somewhere in there with us.
God sure had a sense of humor last night, praying this mouse finds a new home, cause our cabin CONNOT be his permanent place of residence, or hope he finds his way to mouse heaven cause we are for sure having the guys set traps for us!
One with nature here in Lake Tahoe!
We live in very basic cabins here in a camp ground called Tallac Village. We have running water and a tiny heater in the corner of our room, both of which make our cabins nicer than some I've stayed in before. But there are admittedly lots of ways God's creatures could find their way into our humble little cabin. And last night we had a tiny mouse find its way in. Of course a room full of girls, this caused quite the scene. We fled for high ground on the top bunks, squealing all the way up. And after coming to our senses, we were able to corral it back out of the hole where it came. We then plugged the hole. Keep in mind this is about 11:30 pm when this all happens. I wish the story ended there, but a few minutes later my cabin mate looks up from her bed and just calmly says "oh hi mousy" as he had come back! After finding it again, with the help of our leader who had by now come to help us having heard our screams, we got it out the front door, but discovered it could come underneath the door! So we plug up each door crack, and get back in bed… Only to discover the mouse again. To be honest we aren't sure if it was just one extremely persistent mouse or multiple mice. Either way it was unsettling.
We decided that the mouse won… we were not going to fight it anymore, but the two of us on the bottom bunk (they are 3 bed bunks) didn't feel comfortable so close to the ground. So we hauled all our stuff to the top bunk, and got very personal with the ceiling that was about 6 inches from our faces, but we preferred that over a mouse potentially being 6 inches from our face.
By 1 am. we were all settled, and I presume the mouse was comfortable and warm somewhere in there with us.
God sure had a sense of humor last night, praying this mouse finds a new home, cause our cabin CONNOT be his permanent place of residence, or hope he finds his way to mouse heaven cause we are for sure having the guys set traps for us!
One with nature here in Lake Tahoe!
Monday, June 16, 2014
LTSP The Tahoe Routine
Good morning friends,
I've had a couple solid days now where we have had orientation, kind of learning what to expect and what is expected from us, and have had the opportunity to hang out and get to know a lot more people. We spent Sunday going to various churches in the community, I chose to attend a local Presbyterian church. It was very different than the Presbyterian church I attend at home... I can assure you that! But it will be an interesting change of pace to go there for the next 9 weeks. After church we got the opportunity to go sharing all throughout the community. Just going out in pairs to listen to what people had to say about spiritual things and see if we could help them along in their spiritual journey. I got paired with my friend Jake and we went to the local shopping center, and had multiple conversations with people from all walks of life. Going up to a complete stranger and asking to talk about spiritual things will never be comfortable, but will hopefuy get more natural. Though we never got as far as outright explaining the gospel to anyone like we are trained to do. It was just nice to know we planted some seeds and that's all God needs to take it from there. So I trust and know The Lord has a plan for each and every person we talked to.
We are still trying to get in a routine here, establish set times for morning devotionals, and get our work hours set. I'm a person who very much likes routine and likes to know what's happening when. Which is why Sunday was so good, cause that is what every Sunday will look like the entire time I'm here. I hope we get a routine down soon. All this guessing is starting to tire me out. I know it will all come together in good time!
Prayers for my patients and for the continued work here from this project here in South Lake Tahoe!
Friday, June 13, 2014
LTSP Check in and Orientation
Good afternoon friends,
I finally have a break to sit and write a little bit about my experience in the first two days here.
The trip down went without a hitch! We made it 11 hours to Reno, Nevada and spent a very comfortable night in a hotel before heading out to Lake Tahoe around noon yesterday.
We got to Tahoe and got registered, and from the get-go was swarmed by all these new people to meet. I'm so thankful everyone had name tags on, because the verbal introductions seemed to go in one ear and out the other in the chaos of it all. The afternoon yesterday was spent meeting all the kids from around the country that came to be on project with us. All of the staff seemed to already know me due to the fact that my lovely boyfriend, who is on staff here, may have mentioned me once or twice :) so that made introductions easy! We met our "life groups" that we will be spending time with doing bible studies and sharing life with every day over the next nine weeks. My group is very unique, we have me from Washington state, a girl from the state of Michigan, a girl from the state of Colorado, and a girl who came all the way from Sweden! I'm so excited to gain new perspective from all our different lives and grow closer in the word together with our life group leader who is from Montana.
After a night in the…. rustic and cozy (cramped and bare) cabins, we had a very informative orientation before heading out to job hunt around town. I already got hired by K-Mart before coming. So I and all the other 8 kids that got employed there had it easy this afternoon. Just had to go take a quick drug test.
We are soaking up the sun for the afternoon, kids are filling out job applications, and awaiting a spaghetti feast for dinner! God is so good and I can't help but be optimistic about the days to come!
I finally have a break to sit and write a little bit about my experience in the first two days here.
The trip down went without a hitch! We made it 11 hours to Reno, Nevada and spent a very comfortable night in a hotel before heading out to Lake Tahoe around noon yesterday.
We got to Tahoe and got registered, and from the get-go was swarmed by all these new people to meet. I'm so thankful everyone had name tags on, because the verbal introductions seemed to go in one ear and out the other in the chaos of it all. The afternoon yesterday was spent meeting all the kids from around the country that came to be on project with us. All of the staff seemed to already know me due to the fact that my lovely boyfriend, who is on staff here, may have mentioned me once or twice :) so that made introductions easy! We met our "life groups" that we will be spending time with doing bible studies and sharing life with every day over the next nine weeks. My group is very unique, we have me from Washington state, a girl from the state of Michigan, a girl from the state of Colorado, and a girl who came all the way from Sweden! I'm so excited to gain new perspective from all our different lives and grow closer in the word together with our life group leader who is from Montana.
After a night in the…. rustic and cozy (cramped and bare) cabins, we had a very informative orientation before heading out to job hunt around town. I already got hired by K-Mart before coming. So I and all the other 8 kids that got employed there had it easy this afternoon. Just had to go take a quick drug test.
We are soaking up the sun for the afternoon, kids are filling out job applications, and awaiting a spaghetti feast for dinner! God is so good and I can't help but be optimistic about the days to come!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Lake Tahoe Summer Project
Hi Friends,
I know I usually use this blog to post about my random thoughts and happenings in my life, but as of today I will be on a nine week long summer project mission trip with this club called CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) which I attend and play a role in at WSU. I will be living in a cabin facility in Southern Lake Tahoe with somewhere around 60 other college kids from around the country. We will get summer jobs down there at various places in the city, learning to work and share our faith in all aspects of our life, as well as grow in our walk with God in an incredible setting such as Lake Tahoe. I was fortunate enough to get hired by Kmart down there! I'm so excited by this opportunity to experience what it's like to hold a customer service job such as this one, I have never held a job like this before.
Over the course of the next nine weeks I will be posting to this site as often as possible! I hope to reflect on my travel experience, my work experience, and my personal growth I experience with my faith. I'm excited and equally nervous to stretch out of my comfort zone this summer and see what the Lord has planned. I will also share the awesome beach fun experiences as well.
Today, me and my friend I've previously posted about, who's name I changed for security purposes, Maria, will driving with a guy, we'll call him Tim, 11 hours down to Reno and staying the night. Then making the rest of the journey on Thursday… Hoping everything will fit in the car and the bikes stay securely hooked-up to the bike rack that I just envision bouncing shakily up-and-down as we hurdle down I-5!
I've had to put an insane amount of faith into this trip, and will need to continue doing so every day that I am gone. Praying for all aspects of my summer project and everyone involved! More posts to come!
I know I usually use this blog to post about my random thoughts and happenings in my life, but as of today I will be on a nine week long summer project mission trip with this club called CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) which I attend and play a role in at WSU. I will be living in a cabin facility in Southern Lake Tahoe with somewhere around 60 other college kids from around the country. We will get summer jobs down there at various places in the city, learning to work and share our faith in all aspects of our life, as well as grow in our walk with God in an incredible setting such as Lake Tahoe. I was fortunate enough to get hired by Kmart down there! I'm so excited by this opportunity to experience what it's like to hold a customer service job such as this one, I have never held a job like this before.
Over the course of the next nine weeks I will be posting to this site as often as possible! I hope to reflect on my travel experience, my work experience, and my personal growth I experience with my faith. I'm excited and equally nervous to stretch out of my comfort zone this summer and see what the Lord has planned. I will also share the awesome beach fun experiences as well.
Today, me and my friend I've previously posted about, who's name I changed for security purposes, Maria, will driving with a guy, we'll call him Tim, 11 hours down to Reno and staying the night. Then making the rest of the journey on Thursday… Hoping everything will fit in the car and the bikes stay securely hooked-up to the bike rack that I just envision bouncing shakily up-and-down as we hurdle down I-5!
I've had to put an insane amount of faith into this trip, and will need to continue doing so every day that I am gone. Praying for all aspects of my summer project and everyone involved! More posts to come!
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