The Amy Kirk Weight Loss Program

I have started trying to become more healthy/ get in better shape. Amy used to train for fitness shows with a personal trainer so she knows how to train me with weights at the gym. And lately I have decided to be more careful about what I eat. I try to make good eating decisions all week until Saturday, glorious Saturday when I get to eat whatever I want. How I love cheat day! No guilt. Yesterday I began my day with gummy bears and a doughnut.

People say I look like I have lost weight although the scale says the same thing it has for a while. That's why I hate scales. Anyway, I think the perceived change in my appearance is because I am exchanging fat for muscle. Either that or there is a base-wide conspiracy to butter me up for some reason.

Right now on base, there is a group of Amy followers. Amy is my best friend here so our relationship is different. But a bunch of people on base see her as this diet/ fitness guru. It's pretty funny. Currently Amy has gone back on her fitness show training meal plan in order to fit into an awkwardly styled blue bridesmaid dress she is wearing in her best friend's wedding. She believes losing weight will make the dress look less awkward. I happen to think the dress will look weird no matter what.

Anyway, several girls on base are following this meal plan now too. I personally can't handle it. It is a very planned and regimented diet with lots of cottage cheese, salads and tuna. I get slightly depressed when I have no say in what I eat. Anyone who has gone to a convience store with me on a road trip can attest to my unpredictable taste in snacks. For my own morale's sake, this strict choice-less plan is not for me. The other girls seem pretty into it and Amy is constantly fielding questions like "How many grapes can I have in my tuna?" or "Can I substitute oatmeal for the morning protein shake?" It is pretty amusing to me. Amy should start charging for the use of her diet consultation services. She could have her own line of pre-packaged mini-meals and create a line of lulu lemon workout gear. (A Canadian brand she constantly sports)

Bye bye Katie

So, my life is hectic! I know I say that a lot but it is. Katie H can attest to that! I am sad that I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked. When we scheduled her visit, I hadn't started DTS staffing so I didn't know what my time would be like. I got to spend a little time with her but a majority of her time was spent with "babysitters." I hooked her up (not that kind of hook-up) with various friends of mine with less crazy schedules. She went with Abbey to Hana, the beach with Bethany and to the gym several times with Amy. Katie was so good and didn't make me feel guilty for not having a lot of time for her. She was super-flexible and made some new friends.

I got really stressed out when I wasn't allowed to take her to the airport because we had a coffee night with the returning teams. I even started crying. Amy took her for me, which was nice. Almost every night I have had something I have to do. Next week is New Hearts week. This is the most intense week, as the students deal with emotional issues. And right after that, I get to see Andrew for about 48 hours. That's better than nothing.

I think this post may have sounded negative but I am really happy. I know this is where God wants me. I just have to stop trying to do things myself and surrender myself to God. It is easier said than done.

Weekend Adventures

I feel like life is just going non-stop these days. I have had an ear infection for a week and a half and I think that may be contributing to my moodiness. Tomorrow I am going to try to get a doctor's appt. Despite my busyness, I did have fun this weekend. I got to talk to some of my favorite people from the mainland, which is always a bonus.

On Friday afternoon, I decided to take Katie hiking since I had sort of neglected her because of my busy schedule. I took her to the Bamboo Forest. I was concerned that I would not be able to find it since my memory of it was that the entrance was just a random opening in the brush on the side of the road. Well, I found the entrance just fine but my memory definitely failed me when I got on the trail. Looking back, I think we probably spent about five minutes on the actual trail before we got hideously lost. We joked around for a bit about our free-style hiking. We climbed over and under "jungle gyms" made of giant gnarled tree limbs. We could not find the trail again and after several hours of being lost but okay about it, we were no longer feeling so good. We could hear cars through the brush and decided we should head towards that noise even though we could not really see where we would be ending up. I did not realize that we were basically setting ourselves up to scale a cliff. In an example of amazing fortitude, I managed to reach the top and I ended up on the road. Katie was not blessed in the height department and did not make it to the top. So, I was next to the car without keys wondering if Katie was going to make it out alive. I finally decided to head to the river to see if I could find her. Luckily I found her and we made it out alive. Katie came out alive but covered in mosquito bites. Her legs look like she has a severe case of chicken pox. Amazing!

I love baptisms!

Yesterday we had baptisms at the beach for the students who wanted to. Some had been baptized as children or infants and wanted to recommit. A few were being baptized for the first time. I have recently started becoming emotional about spiritual experiences. An example is when our student's dad became a Christian and we were supposed to cheer. All I could do was cry.

Matt and I were supposed to go out in the water with the students from our team who wanted to be baptized. Our speaker for the week, Waxer, is a pastor and he did the actual baptizing. It was cool because he had the students tell how they know they are a Christian and then say a short prayer. I felt lucky to be a part of it. One of our students can be pretty stubborn at times. I, too, can be very stubborn so I can relate. Anyway, his prayer was so sweet and sincere that it made me cry.

Ashley and I went out in the water for Tammy, one of our mission builders. We came along with her husband. She only recently became a Christian. Even when we were walking out there, Ashley and I both started tearing up. Her prayer was so beautiful and sincere.

The funny part of the whole thing was that the waves kept getting bigger as we were out there. People were getting kind of "pre-baptized" by the waves. Overall, it was a beautiful day!

Now the students know I am going to Bangladesh with Matt

My free moments feel like gifts these days. I never know when to expect these free times and sometimes they are taken away from me when I do expect them. Last night, I had a long talk with a student, which is a great thing but it makes me tired the next day. Being DTS staff is more intense than I thought. I feel such a burden for these girls and I know it will be very hard for me if they don't succeed. God has given me a heart for them.

Today we announced who is on what team. I am excited that they finally know. It took longer to figure out teams than I thought it would. We had already tried to figure out between ourselves who we wanted on our team and I think that screwed me over. There was one girl I felt a connection with that I didn't get on my team. That was a bit disappointing. I know that I can still talk to her here and be there for her. I am excited to get to know my six girls and let them get to know me.

My friend, Katie, comes tonight. I am excited but I am nervous about finding enough time to spend with her. She is pretty laidback and she's renting a car so it should be good. She likes to work-out and so does Amy so they can be buddies.

Back to Civilization

I think this may be the longest blog drought in my blogging history. Part of this was the fact that I spent four days in the woods away from civilization and my computer. I have become very busy lately but that's no excuse for blog slacking.

The camping trip went well. It was much easier to be the staff that knew what was going on than being a student who had no clue or control over what was going on. I managed to not poop in a hole though my body was ready the moment I stepped foot in a place with a real toilet. I didn't smell as bad as I thought I would. Using men's deodorant before we left and swimming in the river helped, I think. We were not as organized as I would have liked and as staff, frequently found ourselves scrambling to get water for our endless meals of Ramen noodles. It all turned out okay and the students were in the dark anyway.

My favorite time of the trip was testimony time. Most of the students' applications didn't include all the crazy stuff they had done or that had been done to them. Between just the 12 girls; three had been raped, one had an abortion, one had a miscarriage, one smoked crack, another was forced by her mother to prostitute herself for drugs, two have been arrested, one used to be a lesbian, several had suffered from depression and a few attempted suicide, one of their moms is in jail for a few years and her dad is in for life, one suffers from an anxiety disorder, many had overused drugs and alcohol, and several had sex in high school with the guy they mistakenly thought was "the one." It is crazy that they have been through so much considering that most of them are eighteen and right out of high school. It is cool to see how the Lord has brought them through all that and redeemed them.

I am at a real place of contentment right now. I still miss people from home but I don't think about it very much at all. I am focused on my task at hand- discipling these girls and watching them grow in their relationship with the Lord. I can't wait to find out which ones are on my team.

Goodbye Deodorant. You'll be sorely missed.

So, all the students are here and life is HECTIC! It is good but crazy. We have been to the airport SO MANY times! Yesterday was the second day of our airport marathon. The first day was not as bad but the second day was intense. We picked up 18 of our students at the airport in just a few days. At YWAM Maui, we like to play pranks on some of our students when they get here. They are already feeling awkward and insecure about who is going to pick her up at the airport and about coming out here. We didn't do pranks on all of them. At the end, we were just over it but here are the ones we did:

Josh got a inflatable shamu/ free willy type whale and pretended to be an incoming student. He "arrived" with the whale perched under his arm. We decided it would be the most funny if no one mentioned the whale. The poor student was just confused and never asked about it.

Josh also dressed as a eighties-esque ping pong champ student. I think he just liked wearing the short shorts. Ashley and I pulled off a pretty good prank. I dressed like a skater and acted depressed. Ashley dressed fancy and acted snobby. We pretended to be students and I just bashed Ashley the whole way, asking her if she was going to take her Louis Vitton bag on outreach and saying pretty much everything she did or said during the ride home was stupid. Our real student totally fell for it and kept opening her mouth in shock at my rude comments.

We also had Amy and Jess pretend to be work-out obsessed students who demanded to be taken to the gym upon "arrival to Maui." They started doing a work-out routine in the van on the way to the gym as well. The poor student in the van was very confused. Then Matt, Ashley and I became delirious from too many air port pick-ups and started acting almost drunk. It was pretty funny.

I am so over the airport right now. We did manage to make a little money by returning those airport carts for a quarter a piece. hey, we are missionaries. We've got to make any money we can.

Tonight is our big opening night where the students get leied, get snacks and are properly welcomed to the base. Then the students get a cruel surprise when they learn that they must wake up early and go on an unexpected camping trip. It is four days and three nights out in the woods. They can't bring much and will be wearing the same clothes for four days. This includes me. My biggest issue is no deodorant. I hate B.O. and I especially hate it when it is me and not some random hippie who has it. I am going to smear it all over my shirt in the morning so maybe it will last. Not likely, though. I am excited because Amy is going. I am also excited to see how the students handle this. I won't have my cell phone again until Wed, so don't think I hate you when I don't return your calls.