Traveling with Twenty Babies Part 1

I just got back from Young Lives camp in Arizona. We took five leaders, fifteen teen girls and twenty babies. As you might assume, it was pretty crazy. We flew from Houston to Phoenix. It was the first time on a plane for many of the girls. You should have seen the looks on people's faces as they discovered that they were flying on a plane accompanied by twenty plus babies. They were not excited. They asked dumb questions like if we were a baby convention or one lady thought we were a family. A family with fifteen teen girls and twenty babies? Yeah, right!

Before we left I had only had random short-term experience with babies. Some of my friends have them now and I babysat a lot as a child. But I had never been with so many babies for such an extended period. I guess most people haven't. When we got to Phoenix we boarded a charter bus and headed to a Pancho's restaurant. The place was not prepared for the large volume of babies. We used every high chair they had.

Then we picked up a group from Colorado Springs and headed to camp. The babies were pretty crazy and the ones who could walk, ran up and down the aisles. We got to camp after a few hours and made our way to the cabins. My cabin had three leaders, eight girls and eight babies. One of our girls was pregnant and one had two babies. I ended up helping the girl with two babies quite a bit. She definitely had her hands full with a 3 month old and a two-year old. I hung out with the two year old, Junior. We became good friends. He is a really funny little guy and he kept running on stage and dancing. He became pretty popular because of these antics.

Moving and leaving

I moved into my new place yesterday. It is awesome, if I do say so myself. Although, neither of my roommates were able to fit their beds up the stairs so they are sleeping on mattresses on the floor like many boys do when they are in college. I am on the first floor so I don't have to worry. I got a lot of help from my parents, Shella- my sister-in-law and even Shella's dad. We got a lot done and everyone was very nice to each other. I was even nice despite getting only two hours of sleep the night before after an extreme caffeine overdose. I couldn't have done it without their help. I am trying to get everything set up so I don't freak out when I get back from camp.

Speaking of camp, I leave tomorrow and I don't feel too prepared. I don't know how to feel prepared to take a group that contains about 15 girls and 20 babies. Luckily I am not the only leader, nor am I the one in charge of it all. It's going to be crazy. After camp in Arizona, we are going to the Grand Canyon. I hope the teen mothers are bringing those little child leashes for the babies. I can't wait to see the fellow passengers' faces when we get on the airplane. It will be simply priceless.

I better go continue to straighten and organize. I get back on July 30 and you guys will have to come visit my new party pad.

Unconventional Reunions

Yesterday I got to hang out with some of my favorite people- Josh and Ashley. For those of you who may not know, last year when I led the team to Bangladesh with Matt Laskey, there was another team that went to Nepal- led by the above mentioned Josh and Ashley. Our teams spent three months together before going to our separate countries. Too many crazy things happened in those three months and the four of us became very close. We call ourselves, "withness," which was a phrase our friend, Maria felt was going to apply to the school. Anyway, I will always have a deep love for my fellow leaders during that time and getting to see them was awesome. The funny thing is that we hung out at the airport for about two hours. They were on the mainland visiting various family members and had a layover in Houston. It was so good to catch up and not weird other than the fact that we were hanging out in the airport. I knew it would be good to see them but I was not expecting the sadness I felt after they left. I felt like crying. I really miss Maui sometimes and the amazing friendships I developed there. I am planning a trip there over Thanksgiving break. I don't know if I could handle not having something in the works.

I have been lucky to see several fun YWAM friends since I have been home. Here is the lowdown:
-I went on a roadtrip with fellow staffer, Rebekah Richoux to visit my now pregnant student, Kelli. I drove ten hours roundtrip to spend a couple of hours at Kelli's house but it was worth it.

-I get to see Dinah most Sundays because we go to the same church.

-Megan, a student from the Nepal team, came into town to meet a friend. We met up for coffee at Fry's the electronics store.

-Britany Chaney and Megan Labay surprised me at work but could only stay a few minutes. It was painfully short but it made my day.

-My student, Katrina, came in town to visit her cousin and we went out to eat at Chuy's.

I hope this trend continues. It is so good to be reunited even if it is random and brief.

Things to ponder

Lately I have been thinking about buying a house. I am really not in the financial position to buy the kind of house I would like. I have been watching too many of those tv shows where they buy old houses and fix them up and sell them for profit. They make it look so easy! I also think I just hear about so many of my friends buying houses that I think it is time for me to buy one too. I keep having to remind myself that most of my friends are about four years ahead of me in the normal support yourself adult world. Since college, I have traveled the world but I have not lived on my own and supported myself. I need to work and support myself before I try to buy a house.

There is a lot of good stuff happening in my life and the lives of people I love but there is also a lot of hard stuff. Here are some of the big prayer requests:

-Holly was attacked and sexually assaulted while she was running in Maui. A good samaritin stopped the guy before he could rape or abduct her. She is obviously pretty shook up.

-Amy's dad got fired without warning and now has to find a new job.

-Sarah has to have surgery to remove a lump in her breast.

-Maria and Dempsey are dealing with some really hard issues in their marriage.

-Kelli is eight months pregnant but starting to have contractions. She just found out that her dad was cheating on her mom and using drugs. Her parents are getting divorced.

-My brother is still in Iraq.

I am sure there are other things I forgot to mention. This just feels like one of those lots of change times- both good and bad. I don't like change to much. I hope to enter one of those peaceful, everything's boring times sometime soon. I hope it happens soon, I don't know if I can take much more bad news.

New Passion

I have a new passion. Many of you know that I am quite the mullet aficionado. I like to spy people with lovely mullets and take pictures of them. While I still enjoy a well-kept or unusual mullet, mullet hunting lost some of its allure when I lived in Maui. You see, Hawaii is mullet country and it is not at all difficult to spot a mullet. They became too commonplace. My new hunting subject is trucks with painted tail gates. I have not seen many of these outside of Texas but I wouldn't venture to say that they are common here.

The usual painting is done in airbrush. It is usually a depiction of lovely scenery and the best examples show the actual truck in the middle of the scenery. I have decided to start collecting pictures of these trucks. Below is an example and I hope there will be many more to follow.

This example, though without a depiction of the truck itself, really lets us know a lot about the truck's owner. He or she is clearly into cock fights as this is the center of the piece. I am assuming the person's last name is Contrares. These tailgates are found more often that not in the Hispanic community. This particular piece also shows cards and dice, showing the driver's love of gambling. He or she apparently also enjoys music. Keep your eyes open for your own specimins.

I'm not in YWAMland anymore

This week I really felt the contrast between working at the surf shop and working with a full-time ministry. In YWAM, if someone was having a hard time emotionally, it was okay for them to take off work and they were guaranteed to have several people pray for them. I was fairly emotional before I left and it was great to be in such a nurturing environment where it was okay to cry, be vulnerable and let others help you.

One of my co-workers at the surf shop was having a bit of an emotional breakdown this week. I am not going to give any details but she was having a really hard time not bursting into tears at work. As her manager, I tried to talk to her and see what was wrong. She confided in me a part of what was going on in her life. To me, it seemed the answer to all her problems is Jesus. He has brought joy, peace and hope into my life and I know He would do that for everyone if they would just surrender to His will. This is not something a manager can really communicate to an employee during work hours. It was also obvious that she wasn't really interested. I did ask if she wanted me to pray for her. I had hoped I could pray for her out loud but she wasn't comfortable with that so I prayed for her in my head for the rest of the night. At YWAM, I would have prayed for her and I am sure her mood would have improved.

My fellow co-workers, who are nice people, had no sympathy or grace for her. They cited their own difficult lives and basically wanted her to suck it up. Not the same attitude as my YWAM friends to say the least. I miss that loving and nurturing environment so much that it hurts sometimes. And yet I know I am where I am supposed to be.

Attending the Gay Pride Parade with dear old dad

As this title implies, I did attend a gay pride parade with my dad this weekend. I invited other people to go but my dad was the only one interested and available. This was actually my second time at the gay pride parade, though the first time with my dad.

I went once with friends after our Sunday night church service before my parents moved to this side of town. If memory serves me right, I was accompanied by Jocelyn, Neha, David Ray and a shy guy from our church named Matt Whitfill. The parade is pretty amusing. That year, Matt Whitfill just stood behind us and giggled. I think he was a bit nervous. David Ray, on the other hand, was very confident of his heterosexuality. He cheered and waved quite a bit in order to obtain some of the goodies being thrown from the floats. Inexplicably he had his eye on a larger than average strand of rainbow mardi gras beads and was determined to get them. He cheered and danced around. But the bearer of the beads told him he would have to do a lot more than that to get those beads. Eek!

A group of old lesbians came by and apparently one took a liking to Jocelyn. Jocelyn's arms were open wide as she was clapping. A grey haired lesbian mistook the open arms for a hug invitation and went in for the kill. Jocelyn was confused by the hug at first but then shrugged and went with it. It was good times and we came away with an assortment of free rainbow colored trinkets including a rainbow gallery furniture shirt, which my grandpa later wore.

This year's parade was good although there was sometimes too much down time between floats. I expected to see some people I know. A large number of my store's patrons are gay as well as current and former employees. Also I have learned from myspace that a disconcerting amount of girls I played with or against in basketball through the years are now playing for that team. Unfortunately I did not see anyone I knew. There were just too many people to be able to really see. My dad's favorite float- Lesbians over 70 was not in the parade this year. They did have lesbians over 50 but that wasn't good enough for my dad. There were some guys dressed like take-out Chinese food. They looked pretty cool.

I managed to snag a decent amount of free condoms. I don't have any use for them other than as water balloons. They do make some amazing water balloons. You should definitely give it a try. I also got something called a dental dam, which I had learned about in sex ed in high school. My dad didn't know what it was and wanted me to explain it to him. Eek! I refused. If you are wondering what it is, look it up on the internet, cuz I am not typing it.

My dad was almost flirting with the ladies next to us. I think not having my mom by his side meade my dad feel a little vulnerable. It didn't help when a guy in the parade who was around my dad's age instead of throwing a beaded necklace, handed it to my dad with a knowing look. My dad immediately gave the beads to the girls standing next to him.

Overall it was a lovely parade and you all missed out. I will be posting pics soon.

South Padre Summary

Last weekend my family went to South Padre and I haven't gotten a chance to write about it yet. Well, here I go.

My family has been going to South Padre almost every summer for the last 15 or so years. My dad is a lawyer and there is a law conference there every year. My favorite times there were when I was in high school and we rented a big 3 bedroom condo on the beach. I got to bring friends and along with Andrew, we had the time of our lives. We'd boogie board all day and hang out. I have so many great memories from then.

This time we stayed at the Raddison and had some nice beach and pool time. There is a shrimp boil every year with kareoke. Somehow I convinced Shella to get up and sing Gansta's Paradise with me. It was pretty hilarious. Two white girls rapping. The crowd was more into oldies like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Only the younger crowd seemed to understand the full humor of the situation. I still don't have my emotions turned on so it was no big deal for me but I was proud of Shella for having the guts to go for it.

This was my first family South Padre trip without my brother. It was a little weird. His wife came as his representative. I think we were all in a bit of a weird mood because we missed Andrew. I know his time in Iraq has made me want to make the most of our time together when he gets back. Family time just doesn't seem like family time wihout him.

We've decided that it would be too hard to do a traditional Christmas while Andrew is in Iraq. Last year was just really difficult. There is talk of going on a cruise or to Costa Rica. I think I could manage to have a good time in Costa Rica. I hope it works out.

Matt Laskey is engaged to a Kirk

I just found out that my dear friend, Matt Laskey asked our fellow YWAMer, Bethany Kirk to be his wife. Matt is one of my best guy friends. We were part of a team to New Zealand, served on staff in Maui together and then led a team to Bangladesh and Thailand. I am so excited for him. I think he and Bethany will be very happy together. This is another wedding I cannot miss. Matt is like a brother to me and I really enjoy Bethany as well. It looks like it will be in Toronto, so I will get to see my Ywam best friend, Amy. Yay!

I have to tell of the funny thing that happened when Matt proposed. When he told me the following story, I almost soiled myself. Here is a little background that is good to know in order to understand the full humor of the situation-
Amy and Bethany's dads are brothers and they have the same last name- Kirk. When Amy left Maui, Bethany took over her cell phone.

So, Matt borrows Bethany's phone and dials "Dad." He asks if he is speaking to Mr. Kirk. After confirming that he is, they participate in a little small talk. Matt can't wait any longer and asks Mr. Kirk if he can marry his daughter. Mr. Kirk says, "I do have a single daughter but I think you are looking for Bethany's dad." It turns out Matt had accidentally asked Amy's dad if he could marry her. So funny!! Finally Matt got the right Barry Kirk and permission was granted. This will make a great family story for years to come.

Camp- A little late

I just got back from my family vacation to South Padre but I never really wrote about my week at Young Life camp in North Carolina. So, I am going to write about that first and hopefully I will make time to write about Padre in the near future.

Camp was a great week for me. I had joked to several of my friends that I was going to meet the love of my life there. This did not happen. The funny thing is that I made the same claim when I went with fellow Maui staff members to a YWAM gathering on the big island. Right before we left for that, I got sick and lost my voice. I ended up only talking to people I knew so I wouldn't have to explain my weird puberty voice. Just like that time, I got sick and lost my voice before this trip. God continually reinforces my belief that He has a sense of humor.

I did, like the last time I went to camp, develop a mini-crush on the guys who did the program there. There is just something about guys who can be genuinely funny and make fools of themselves for the amusement of teenagers. I love guys who love Jesus and can make me laugh. Unfortunately for me, all the program guys were happily married. Young Life camp always puts on a great program. They even did a parody of the OK Go video with the guys treadmill dancing. It was very well done. My kids didn't fully appreciate it since it's not really the kind of music that they listen to.

Last time I went to camp, I knew I was going to Maui soon so I wouldn't get much more time with my girls after camp. This time I knew I would be able to be physically there for the next year. Camp is such a great time to get to know them better. I am excited about next year. There are lots of fun things to do at camp but my favorite part was hanging out with the girls. They are so much fun! I impressed them with my knowledge of rap music.

One night in the cabin, some of the girls who have incredible voices, were singing various soul tunes by Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, etc. When one of the songs ended, I asked if they could sing "Big Bootie Hoes." They died laughing. They definitely didn't expect that to come out of my mouth. It was awesome!

The week was great for my relationship with God. Before camp I was in the bad habit of spending too much time thinking about fun memories and people from my past or imagining fun events and milestones in my future. At camp, I was really in the moment. That's a much healthier way to live. I also made God my default setting. What that means is that I thought about Him when I had time to think instead of thinking about other random less important things. I want to continue to live like that.

Back from Camp

I spent the last week in North Carolina at Windy Gap, a Young Life camp there. It was fun, relaxing, and spiritually rejuvinating. It also involved two 20 hour bus rides. So, instead of writing about it now, I am going to chill and sleep. I will try to write soon.

Happy Days

Yesterday was a great day. I found out the night before that I got the job I wanted. I had interviewed at two different schools and one was clearly my first choice. The not so good school had the following qualities:
-Someone got car jacked in the parking lot two days before I visited
-There were posters of local child sex offenders displayed in the halls
-It is located in an area where an unidentified man has been breaking into people's homes and laying in bed with women, fondeling them and himself and then running away when they wake up. Eek!
-Also the teachers seemed worn out and tired.
-I would have had to teach 5th grade all subjects.

I got an email from the principal of the school I want that says they want me and that they will contact me to fill out all the paperwork next week. YAY! No more job interviews! I didn't mind them as much as the average person since I am devoid of emotions but they were a time inconvienence. It is also great to know where I will be next year. This school is only two years old and no teacher has taught more than six years so everyone is still young and fresh and passionate about what they do. I will also have my ideal position- 4th grade- Language Arts. So, I am pretty pumped! I am antsy to sign the papers so it feels official.

Yesterday I got to go to the beach with Neha, Thama and Katie H. It was great to be back there even though it doesn't compare to Maui. I really like Galveston even though it gets a bad rap. The waves were messy and choppy but I was still able to teach Katie to surf. It's always cool to see someone stand up for the first time. I am also getting excited about moving in with Katie for the Fall. We are hoping to find a house in the Heights with wood floors, a porch and A backyard with room for a trampoline. We'll never want to leave the house.

I also just realized that I leave for YoungLife camp in a week. June has snuck up on me big time. I am excited about going but I need to get used to the idea that it is about to happen.

Enticing Offers

I have been super sick this week. It's not as bad as when I had Dengue fever but it is still no fun. Some people say Christians should never be sick and use the phrase, "We are healed by His stripes" to justify this belief. But they are misusing it. That phrase is refering to our sins being healed not our physical healing. I am definitely sick. I spent the last two days in bed and I have used two full boxes of Kleenex. I missed one day of work and had to reschedule a teaching job interview. Things are beginning to look up, though. Today I felt well enough to go to the interview and go back to work.

My teaching interview went pretty well but I am not sure if I want to teach at this particular school. The teachers and principal seem nice but the area is a bit shady. It didn't feel that shady until I found out that some woman almost got car jacked in the parking lot two days ago. They also had fliers with the faces of local registered sex offenders posted where the kids get picked up. I am glad they're aware, but it's kind of scary. I am still in the interview process at another school that I think may be a better/less likely to be assaulted fit. We'll see though. The next interview at that school is on Monday. I just want to know where I will be. I hate waiting.

Tonight I worked until 10pm at Soundwaves. It's been a long time since I worked at night at Soundwaves. It's always an amusing experience since we are located in Montrose- the weirdest and gayest part of Houston. I helped a big older black guy look for some cds. He told me, "I like your hair." To which I said, "Thanks, sometimes it turns into a 'fro." Then he said, "I think I'd like that too." Red flag. He kept refering to me by name, which he cleverly discovered on my nametag. He asked if I liked to go out. I told him that I am super busy, always working. He asked if I had any time to have fun. I told him no. He asked me if I was married and I told him, "Pretty much." (Does Jesus count?) Then he asked if I had any friends who liked to go out. (Maybe ones who also have frizzy hair, perhaps?) I told him that they are pretty much all married.

I read a book once by a lady who was clearly not a Christian, who went on dates with anyone who asked her for a year. She lived in New York City and ended up going on over 100 dates and slept with an alarming number of them. If I had been playing her game, I would have had to say yes to the random guy tonight. Thank goodness I wasn't. It's not that I didn't want to go out with him because he was black. Sometimes I actually prefer black people to white people and I would definitely go out with a suitable black guy. No, the reason I wasn't interested had more to do with the fact that he looked 40 and that he worked as a truck driver. So, I am not a racist but maybe an occupationist. Is that bad? I have recently determined that my kind of guy loves Jesus, is sporty, and is the kind of guy who would work at a summer camp, be a Younglife leader, serve with YWAM or be a teacher. Truck driver is simply not on the list.

Who needs emotions, right?

I recently realized that I have inadvertantly turned my emotions off. This is not something that I normally can do or try to do. I have several friends (mostly guys) who seem to be able to consistently turn their emotions on and off. One tried to tell me that this is a good and easier way to live. I don't agree. It seems to me that most people who practice this coping mechanism come to a point where the emotions have to come out whether the person wants to or not. Sometimes this can take years, but it will come out. And when emotions come out like that, it's usually very painful and hard-worse than if you let them out naturally.

I usually like to handle my emotions in my time and not stuff them away. That's why I am surprised that I have turned mine off. I have been thinking and praying about it and I guess I don't want to deal with the fears and stress that come with my little brother going back to Iraq in about a week. He is one of my favorite people and probably the person I love most in this world. I have loved and tried to protect him since the day he was born. I know he feels called to go back and I want to support him but in order to fully do that, I can't think about the reality of him going back to a place where people are actively trying to end his life. That's why I think my emotions are off. I think the solution is to spend a lot more time praying and talking with the Lord. For now, though the emotionlessness has had some benefits.

I haven't been nervous about things that I would normally be nervous about like job interviews. This comes in handy because confidence makes a good impression. I have a visit to a potential elementary school tomorrow. I really want this job but I feel no stress or worry. Those of you who pray, though, please pray that it all goes well.

This weekend I went to College Station for my friend, Lee's graduation from college. He's 31 and has been out of high school for thirteen years so it was a pretty big deal. His mom died four years ago and had really wanted him to finish college. If I wasn't such an emotionless droid, I know I would have cried when I saw that Lee had written on the top of his graduation cap, "I did it Mom!" Because it was such a big deal, most of our friends came from all over Texas, Lousiana and Mississippi. It was so fun to have everyone together again. We usually only get together as a group at weddings. It was nice to have more time to hang out. I also got to see Lee's family, who I really enjoy. His nephew Jonah is super friendly. He's four years old now and even though I hadn't seen him since he was a toddler, we were instantly friends. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. I told him no. Then he asked if that was because my mom wouldn't let me. I told him no and asked who he thought should be my boyfriend. To this, he smiled and pointed to himself. Unfortunately I think the age difference is just too much but it was a nice offer. I got to see my friends, Erin and Zach's baby, Joe. He looks like such a mix of both of them. I like it when that happens.

This week, my schedule is super weird. I have school visits on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and then I work at night until after 10pm. Then I have a day off and then Friday night I work. It's very different than my usual 10-4 weekday schedule. I am glad for the day off, though. I am hoping to go to the beach finally (not the same as Maui, though) and spend some extra time with the Lord. I am glad for the break.

Old Friends and Job Fairs

Last night I got to hang out with some of my childhood friends, Leena and Neha Patel. We all grew up together on the same street and had an incredibly fun childhood. My parents have since moved but their parents still live on our old street- Quiet Spring or the "QS." My parents' new house has never fully felt like home. Being in the Patels' where I had spent so much of my childhood was like coming home. It felt so good. We had such a good time laughing, catching up and remembering our past adventures. We watched an incredible video of Neha's eighth birthday. I was ten, Andrew was eight and Jocelyn was eight. We were such funny little kids. Eleven year old Leena seranades her sister with a crude violin solo of "Happy Birthday." I eagerly keep asking when we will open the presents, Andrew shoves Jocelyn from behind and Jocelyn accidentally says her name is Jocelyn Hightower. Priceless memories! I am not a fan of the suburbs for my current stage of life but I think I may end up there when I have kids. It is just so fun to have all your friends living on the same street.

Today I raced home from work, got fancy and headed to a job fair. It was for student teachers but I can't attend the big city-wide one because of YoungLife camp. They let me in, thankfully. I had only been to one job fair before and I only went to have an excused absence from student teaching. I knew I wasn't going to be a teacher. This time was different. I actually wanted to get a job. It was a lot like one of those speed dating things I've seen on tv. You had to sell yourself in about five minutes and hope for the best. I talked to one principal, whose school I wouldn't want to work at. She seemed worn out and said that 100 out of 500 students from her school left last year to attend other schools. HISD lets students apply to go to other schools. Bad sign that 1/5 of the school left.

One school seemed really cool. The school is only two years old and no teachers have taught for more than six years. There are definitely some benefits to having older teachers around but I like the idea of working with people who are close to me in age and open to do things in new and creative ways. The school sent several teachers on the hiring committee as well as the principal. One of them was a super cute male fourth grade teacher. He seemed really nice and wasn't wearing a wedding ring. This is not the only reason I liked the school but it didn't hurt. We seemed to be on the same page with our educational ideas and he secured me a visit to the school. I go on Tuesday morning. I don't want to get my hopes up but it seems like a cool school. I am also going to visit another school on Tues and talked to a couple other principals about getting together later. It feels good to make progress. Please keep praying for my job.

The Weekend in a Nutshell

This weekend, I went on a little road trip. Big surprise, huh? I seem to be going on a lot of those. I gotta make the most of the mainland, right? I went to San Antonio to spend a final weekend with my brother before he goes to Iraq. He was about to go to Colorado for two weeks and then he leaves for Iraq around May 18th.

I had dinner with Andrew, Shella and Shella's parents. We ate at Cracker Barrel. I think this is one of the few restaurants that serves "American food." It is very fattening and very good. In the morning we had breakfast with the same crowd and then headed to Schiltterbahn. For those of you unfortunate souls who are unfamiliar with the place, it is the world's best waterpark as deemed by the travel channel. It is on the river and has tons of rides. We had a fun crowd: Andrew's old roommate, Eric, Andrew's friend- Veazey and his lady friend, our lifelong friend, Jocelyn and her husband as well as me and Shella. It was like four couples with me and Eric as a random one. Eric's a little too short and too engaged for me, unfortunately. We had a good time strutting around in our bathing suits and riding water slides.

Then we all had some good BBQ at Rudy's. I said good-bye to Andrew. It was the last time I will see him until he gets back from Iraq in January. It's super sad but I basically pretended it wasn't a big deal. At least I will get to talk to him a couple times before he deploys. I am sure I will have some form of emotional breakdown right after he leaves.

On Sunday, we had a Young Life car wash to raise money for camp. A lot of our kids come from lower income families and don't have enough money for camp so we provide opportunities for them to earn money. There were at least 20 kids there. This was a good sign since we often have no idea how many kids are planning to come until the day before.

I am super excited about camp. Before camp we are taking the kids white-water rafting. Most of our kids are black. And some stereotypes about black people prove true in real life. Most black people don't like to swim or get wet. There are practical reasons for this like for girls getting their hair wet will ruin their expensive weaves and many don't know how to swim. Therefore, the idea of them white-water rafting is simply hilarious! I can't wait!

Busy Busy

It's crazy to me how I have already filled up my weekly schedule and I've only been out of Hawaii for a little over a month. This week I have worked over 30 hours, went to the Astros game, went to YoungLife club and went to the gym multiple times. Yesterday was crazy as I had to be at work at 7am. It was a bit like death as I don't like to wake up in the sixes. Then I was at work until 6:30pm. I went home for literally five minutes before I headed across town to our last YoungLife club. Then I didn't get home from YoungLife until 11pm. I didn't know how I was going to make it towards the end of my shift at work but once I got to hang out with the Young Life kids, I didn't feel so worn out. I don't know how someone could just work retail without doing something to give back. It is hard to feel like you're making a difference when selling cds and surfboards.

Every YoungLife club gets better for me because I get to know the kids' names better. I wish I was one of those people who can just remember names immediately. I remember there was a YoungLife leader in high school named Elisa, who I barely knew. She remembered my name after one short meeting and remembered it years later. That meant a lot to me. I want to be like that.

It's too bad that this was the last club. We are having a car wash on Sunday to raise money for the kids to go to camp. Camp will be the best chance to get to know kids and it is stinkin' fun! Unfortunately it is at the same time as the gulf coast teacher job fair. I am anxious about getting a job and I know I could get one if I went. But I really feel called to YoungLife and I think I am supposed to go to camp. I have thought about doing YoungLife full-time but I also feel the Lord has called me to teaching. I wish He would just throw a job at me but that probably wouldn't teach me patience. I keep learning or not learning that lesson over and over and over again.

This weekend I was going to drive with my brother and his wife to Colorado but now they aren't leaving until Sunday and I have to work on Monday. Instead I am going to San Antonio to hang out with them. We are hoping to go to Schlitterbahn or Fiesta Texas, weather permitting. It should be good times and I will be able to go to church and the YoungLife car wash on Sunday. I am thinking of wearing a string bikini to the car wash to raise more money. We all have to make sacrifices for the Lord, right? Maybe that's not what He had in mind.

No More Church Shopping

I have been church shopping though not very fervently. (I had only visited one church before today.) The first church I went to seemed okay but the people seemed too dorky. That's probably not a good or politically correct way to judge a church. Anyway, today I visited my second church- City of Refuge. I went with a fellow Ywam alum named Dinah. It's a really cool church.

Most churches seem to be very segregated. White people go to church with other white people, Black people with other black people, Koreans with other Koreans, etc, etc. I definitely don't think this is how God intended things to be. I was thinking about how when I get married, I will invite friends from all different times in my life- childhood, college, camp, work, YWAM, etc. I would prefer to see my friends from different areas all mingling and getting to know each other at my wedding instead of separated into their various groups. I think God may feel like that. He wants to see all the people who know Him mingling together and not segregating themselves.

This church is mostly black or white but there are also plenty of Asians and Hispanics. It seems more like what Heaven will be like- All of us worshiping together. The preaching was good. I have served as a full-time missionary and been to a lot of churches. I am a bit of a snob about church services. Some preachers pick one little verse from the Bible and then spend all their time trying to stretch the short verse into a 20 minute ten-point sermon. I prefer a sermon that focuses more on the Bible verses so that I come away with a greater understanding of the meaning of the passage. This guy also had a sense of humor and an obviously big heart. He mentioned a couple of people in the church who were struggling with hard stuff in their lives and we prayed for them right there. It made it feel like a family.

So, it looks like my church shopping is over, thankfully not long after it started. Unfortunately I will be out of town for a couple of weeks but I am excited to go back when I get a chance.

Back to Soundwaves

Today was a busy day especially compared to the last two days, which I had off. I started working at Soundwaves again today and then I had YoungLife at night. I wasn't sure what it would be like to go back to Soundwaves after a year and a half, but it was good. A lot of people I know still work there. It seems there is always basically the same core group of responsible people and then there is the revolving door of irresponsible, my first job, just here for the discount, lazy surfer types.

Despite their initial reluctance to take me back, they have made me a manager again. This is good because it means I tell people to do the crappy parts of the job instead of having to do them myself. I am going to have to be careful not to spend all my money on stuff at the store. There is a lot I want and I get a 35% discount. I am limiting myself to one thing a week. There was once talk of me having a lifetime discount so I will be able to get the discount when I am a teacher. That'd be cool.

Apparently one of the other managers, Jenny, has a stalker. This guy took a liking to her when she served him coffee. Apparently he later got on one knee and proposed. We've discovered that he is a paranoid schizaphrenic. He writes Jenny notes but calls her by different names. The letters tell of how he will support them once they're married. We called the cops and we are supposed to call 911 if he comes in the store. Pretty weird. Hopefully I am not there when he makes an appearance. Or maybe I want to be there. I do like drama.

YoungLife today was not the usual. We had a scavenger hunt where we had to take pics in various locations posing with an inflatable shark. It was fun and the kids got really into it. My team won, naturally. I got pretty into and I was driving a bit eratically in order to win. It was like I was on the Amazing Race but instead of winning a million dollars, I got a brownie. It was good to try to remember more of the kids' names. It is hard to come in at the end of the year because all the kids and leaders already know each other. Going to camp will definitely help me to get to know them better.

One funny note from YoungLife today: One of our leaders is this big muscular black guy named Bronson. He is an awesome guy. He's great with the kids and I am so thankful that we have him on our team. Anyway, he has the funniest phone ring. His ring is the Michelle Branch song, Everywhere. It is just hilarious to hear this incredibly girly ring go off on this large black man's phone. I die laughing everytime I hear it. Today it went off during club and all the kids laughed at him and rightfully so.

Tomorrow I am taking yet another road trip. I am certainly making the most of my new car. I am going to visit my brother in San Antonio. He should be heading back to Colorado soon and then Iraq May 20, so I need to get as much Andrew time as possible. It's definitely worth the six hour round trip.

Wedding Number 7

I was in my seventh wedding this weekend. Abbey and Wil are two of my friends from Maui and they got married in Toronto. I got to hang out with some of my favorite YWAM friends, including my YWAM best pal, Amy. It was awesome!

Wil and Abbey were only engaged seven weeks before the wedding so there was definitely a bit of last minute scrambling to get everything done. Amy, Kristy and I ran around the mall with Abbey's mom and niece to find a mother of the bride dress the day before the wedding. It looked bleak at first but we found something she really liked and she looked great.

We made little bouquets and butonaires (who actually knows how to spell that?) for the bride and groom's parents about five minutes before we left for the ceremony. It all came together just fine.

The ceremony was nice but it made me aware of my shrinking attention span. I found myself poking the flower girl in the head with my bouquet to annoy her. Then she started dropping flowers on my shoes. At this point I realized I should probably stop egging the eight year-old on during this very important event. The flower girl was Abbey's niece and one of the coolest eight year-olds I have ever met. And I have met a lot of eight year-olds. She was simply hilarious.

From my vantage point neither Abbey nor Wil cried, but they both seemed pretty nervous. They were both swaying during the ceremony and it looked a bit like dancing. Wil's face turned red several times and Abbey was clearly giggling. It was cute. One of the groomsmen got in a minor car accident on the way to the ceremony. His wife had back surgery in the past so they had to take her to the hospital to get checked out. It was a shame because he missed the whole thing. Amy and Bethany walked together with the last groomsmen on the way out.

With all the last-minute scrambling, we were more than a little shocked to show up to the super-fancy reception. It was held in a hotel on the 38th floor and the view of Toronto was awesome. There were at least 5 courses and I couldn't identify any of the foods on the first plate I was served. Now that's fancy!

And now Wil and Abbey are living happily ever after. And not to be graphic but after 30 long years of waiting, Wil gets to have sex. As Christians, I feel we need to be more open about celebrating people's celibacy. It's not easy to save yourself for marriage in this day and age so Way to go will! It also makes for better jokes at the wedding and reception. I look forward to that part of my wedding as well.

Check out the pics from the wedding: