New Port--I mean OSAGE Beach

Yo.
Hope everyone's Fourth of July/Independence Day is going swell! I'm currently in the Ozarks (Osage Beach to be specific) and enjoying a relaxing day by myself in an empty condo! My family is here for my Dad's side of the Family Reunion. So, even though I don't know the weekend's plans, I DO know that it'll be full of awkwardness and... FOOD. Haha
I think we're just chillin' today and grillin' out tonight for supper... That shouldn't be too bad. Tomorrow I think we're renting boats and Jet Ski's! That's all I really care about. I'm not particularly fond of lake water/swimming, but Jet Skis... That's a different story!
Wellllllllllllllllllllllllll... Anyways... I think I'm gonna head back inside and enjoy the A/C... I'm spending the whole summer outside.
Peace out!

Russians, Friends, Life in General

Wow:
Life is full of strange twists and turns.
Currently I am sitting on a piece of crap mattress, on a bunk bed, at a CONSERVATIVE BAPTIST church camp. I know! I never saw it coming either. I'm a HUGE fan of contemporary EVERYTHING! I mean, for crying out loud--I go to The Crossing! It's the most contemporary church you can possibly find in a 200 mile radius of where I live. If you would've asked me a short 6 weeks ago what my summer plans were I would've told you that I was going to try to get a job working in Quincy at a computer company. However, one night I was joking with my friend, Lorri, who told me she was going to work at a church camp for the summer. I said, "You should hook me up with a job as a lifeguard!" I was TOTALLY joking. Two days later I get a call from the manager at Camp Manitoumi by Peoria. I jumped at it. At the time I was having some friction with some close friends and needed some time away from home.
I've already made it through 3 weeks at this camp. I'm here for 9 weeks! This week we have RUSSIANS. I know, right! RUSSIANS?! I'm not exactly sure how they came to be at this camp, but this week is going to be interesting to say the least. Many of them don't speak English. I have to use an interpreter at the pool to get on people for running and hanging on the rope!
At first I was loving the fact that I was finally getting away from my normal Bowen/Macomb life. However, the day I left for camp I had a hard conversation with one of my good friends I was mentoring from Macomb. He's had a tough life and really just wants someone to be there and care. I feel like I've failed him by leaving. When I visited back home last weekend, he and I had another hard conversation in which he showed signs of rebelling against me. However, I texted back and forth with him today and I think he's doing a little better.
A couple other of my friends from high school are really scaring me. I know college changes people, but wow... These two jumped off the deep end! My heart breaks everytime I hear from them and they tell me about how much they threw up the night before at some party or something. And everytime I start a serious conversation about CHANGE, they say: "Well after this summer I'll start living a Christian life again."
When I get done with camp on August 8 I have a lot of stuff coming right up. I have a wedding for a great friend of mine on August 8. A week or so ago I was offered a paid job on staff at The Crossing. I was offered the Head Tech position in Macomb. I also interviewed to be an RA in the residence halls at Western. The interview went very well, but as of last Friday there are no open positions. Also these two awesome opportunities God has given/laid on my heart are slightly conflicting... If I'm selected to be an RA I'm supposed to only work 10 hours a week. If I accept the Tech position at The Crossing, I'll be working at least 15-20 hours a week. And once evey 5 weeks I'll have to work 30 hours a week... I've wanted this position at The Crossing for quite awhile. I'm not sure what to do about all these options, but I know whatever happens God had willed for my life. It'll work out.
Right now it's late. I'm breaking curfew. And I'm VERY exhausted! I have a long day tomorrow of yelling at Russians who can't understand me...!
I miss you all!!!
God Bless

VBlog2/Picture Post!

Here you go:
Video Blog Number TWO.
Enjoy! (I tried not to touch my face or flip my hair...)



Picture Post:
This is what happened when we set up a Photo Booth in the Studio for the students to have fun with... This is just a couple of my favorites out of the 200+ pictures taken within an hour or so!!!

I call this the RockStar pose.

I can't even tell you how scary this picture is. Can you believe it's actually me?!

Wow...

I just love this picture b/c the colors are inverted and still the shirt gets its message across.

You gotta love Larson and Carter...
Amanda... Ha.
Me, Lindsay, and Diane (Diane is the one whose house we go to to watch The Office!)
Carter was givin' me a smooch!
Thermal
Inverted.

The Truman Show

So I should be in bed right now, but frankly... I'm not tired.
I feel like this is the bout of Insomnia coming back to plague me like my senior year of high school... But who knows.

I've finally figured out VIDEO BLOGGING!!! So here is my first one!



Maybe I'll start blogging more now that I've figured out the whole video thing! Keep your fingers crossed! I really like the idea! Maybe I'll even start editing them and make them really cool with effects and stuff... Who knows?! Anyways...

God Bless!!!

Faith, Hope, and Love

Hey guys,
I know it's been awhile. I'm sorry I've made hollow promises to get back into this blog. I am however writing one now. And I'm going to pour my heart out...
I'm at a church retreat right now. I'm a youth coach for all these high schoolers, and yet here I sit in my bunk praying and writing a blog because I, myself, am crying out to God.
God is so awesome. I can't even begin to fathom just how much he loves me.
Love. This word is thrown around so much by my generation and all those following.
1 Corinthians 13:8a- "Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:13- "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 John 3:16- "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
Psalm 5:11- "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."
So:
What is love?
I'm not going to define it. I haven't looked up every verse that has the word 'love' in it and compiled a Bible-friendly definition of this concept, emotion, and feeling.

All I need to do is understand this:
-God is in control. He has everything for my whole life planned out. He's up in heaven right now, watching the footage of my life in the future.
-God paints on a HUGE canvas. He knows exactly what is good for us, and that His timing is perfect. I may not understand why I'm going through a certain situation, but God has it all planned out and He knows that in the end it'll become clear to me that it's all for the better.
-Forgiveness is not free but given to me nonetheless. I didn't have to pay anything for it. Nothing. Jesus paid everything when He allowed Himself to be taken and hung on the cross.

All those people that gathered to see the Christ tortured and killed on a cross... Jesus died for them. I was standing in that crowd. Every one of us were standing there, scoffing.
Jesus' love is limitless, boundless, unfailing, never-ceasing, unending, and uncensored.

I'm not sure if this really even makes sense. It did however help me.
Thanks for tuning in...

Pre-Finals Week!

Hey guys!
On my lunch break... I quit going to Thompson Hall to eat so I could save some money. So now its burgers and deli meat for meals! lol
I haven't gotten tired of it yet!

This week is going to be crazy. I can just tell...
I have two final projects that I need to get done before this weekend, three essays to prepare for, three history quizzes to take before Wednesday at 5PM, and one final exam to study for. As well as plenty of tedious homework assignments in my stupid religion class (No. I don't think religion is stupid. Just this class!). I'm going to need to stay focused all week and stay on task otherwise I'm not going to get things done.
I'm not sure I can study in my apartment either b/c I'll become distracted with people going in and out, my roommate playing XBOX, me wanting to play XBOX, and tv...
I'm thinking I may go to The Crossing church and study there in the Studio. It has some nice couches, and I can hook my laptop up to the tech booth and get on the internet that way as well as listen to some tunes while I'm studying. Then when I take a break I can bring my XBOX and play a couple of games of halo there in Stage 46 or the Studio...
I like that idea! haha

Last night I went to Studio and got a very unexpected surprise! There was an inspirational singing group putting on their fall concert in the main auditorium!
Now I'd like to say this:
I am by no means racist. So when I say this next thing, don't take offense, because I'm not being racist about it.
The entire choir was black! The whole service was a typical Southern Gospel church setting. A lot of jumping around and shouting! If you were sitting, you clearly didn't have the Holy Spirit inside you! It was probably the single most time I've ever felt the closest to God! It was a very powerful and moving experience! I honestly can't say I've ever had an experience quite like it!
Overall this past weekend was GREAT!
I had the Gospel Choir on Sunday, and on Saturday I went to visit my sister up by Chicago. Her church was putting on this thing called 'Walk to Bethlehem' and we did that. It was AMAZING! It basically is a VERY realistic reenactment of Jesus' birth. We were even verbally abused by Roman soldiers!
Overall it was a good weekend from a fun stand-point, but from a work stand-point... Not so much! I didn't get any work done on my projects... So I've really gotta crack down on those.

Oh ya! On top of all this school work, I also got scheduled to work on both Tuesday and Thursday. These two days are my major homework days because I only have one class and I'm done at 9AM. So then normally I can spend the rest of the day doing homework. This week though... Not a chance.

Anyways!

My break is almost over, and I need to pack my bag and grab something else to eat. So I'll try and post more this week but I'm making no promises with everything that's going on!
I want to get back to posting some scripture and giving my interpretation of it... So keep checking back!

God Bless!

Tactic Squad--Take 2

First of all:
I made it into the clan. I had tryouts last night, and did a head-to-head game against CrawMan. I played terribly, but [thankfully!] they still let me into the clan.
Anyways, my avatar was approved and the emblem was supplied to me.
Here's the finished product!