A short, yet full summer...

Well I am definitely overdue this time.
My summer was pretty good... I spent up until June 16th in Waukesha working at KC's Driving School before going to L.A. for the S.T.E.P program. The S.T.E.P program is a program that allows young people the opportunity of working with Latino kids at various apartment complexes in the greater Los Angeles area. It focuses on personal spiritual growth as well as the VBS with the kids. It is hosted by the believers of Westminster Bible Chaple, who hosted those of us on the team in their own homes for the entire week and a half. They were truly a blessing! Our time at the apartments consisted of us doing games, songs, skits, Bible stories, and small groups with the kids. What a neat time! At the same time, it is sad, because even though Catholicism has such a dominating presence there, many of the kids had never even heard of the Bible, or Adam and Eve...
It was really impressed upon me the huge responsibility we had during this opportunity. I really knew we had to give them solid truth that they could understand regarding sin, it's punishment, Christ's work on the cross, belief, and repentance. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and evangelism.

I then went home for about a month, and had absolutely no work lined out. God, however, dropped more work on me than I could accept! I worked for a mason/bricklayer for 2 and a half weeks, and that was a real blessing! I also had a few side jobs cutting brush and installing some crown moulding for the neighbors which helped as well.

A big thing this summer is all of the people I have been able to connect and reconnect with this summer! Wow. It truly has been amazing. I know I have been brief, but I can't be up all night typing!

Anyway, I fly out late tomorrow, and will arrive early Tuesday morning back in Wisconsin. Leadership training will start on the 6th, and classes begin on the 20th! I will be an RA this year, and I will also be taking Greek in addition to all my other classes. Needless to say, I will be really busy... really busy.

More later!

Playing Catch-up!

Well I sure am falling behind again…

Thursday I don’t remember much about what I did. It was supposed to be my last day of work, but I didn’t end up on the schedule! I do remember that I went to a really small car show at Mander’s and had some free food and listened to Chad James play some live music. He was pretty good! His left arm is missing just below the elbow, but he tapes a pick (literally) to the stump on his left arm, and plays left-handed. He has a awesome voice, and is an overall great musician. He is even touring with Jeremy Camp at the fair here on August 6^th. Thursday was also the last day of school, so a lot of the bus drivers left.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time talking to Kimeth. He and I were two of the few guys left here. It was really neat getting to spend that time with him. I also spent a good amount of time packing. I needed another storage tub, so I also made a trip to WAL-MART for that. Sonja, Mindy and I went to watch Jeff perform in the play Little Women at 8pm, and he did a great job! I especially enjoyed the character of Aunt March.

Today I filled in for Stephanie at work. Sonja and I left early and walked down to the farmer’s market by Fox River. It was rather simple, and not very exciting. Work went well, and I got to have a really interesting conversation with a staunch Catholic student about the authority of Scripture, and how it is necessary for the individual to be able to interpret Scripture with the Holy Spirit’s help alone, in order for a person to have a personal relationship with God. Without the ability to interpret Scripture, the individual is unable to understand who God even is, or what He desires of us! If the individual can only rely on the “Church” for the proper interpretation, then it really isn’t a relationship between them and God, it is a relationship and dependence on the “Church”! Anyway… there was a lot more to our conversation, but I will leave it at that.

After that Mark, Sonja and I went to Subway for lunch, and hung out in downtown for a while. Then we went for a drive in Mark’s sweet little Nissan pickup! I had music practice at 4pm, so we just hung out on the grass in front of the school until I had to go.

Music went good, and now I am back at the school typing this blog!

Getting behind...

Well, I didn't blog last night, and now I am having a hard time remembering what I did yesterday.
I started out the day mowing grass at school with Dan Dan, Keane, and Morrison. We did that from 9:30am till 12pm when we went over to Rob's house for pizza. After that I don't remember what I did. I think I took a shower and went to work. After work I went back over to Rob's house to have some leftover aroz con poyo. It was really good! Coco also gave me this lump of rice that had a slice of banana on it wrapped in a banana leaf. It was super good! I then went to the main lounge and watched National Treasure 2 with Sonja, Lisa, and Amber. It wasn't too bad, but there is nothing like an original.

Today I got up at 7:30am and went running for the first time since I was on summerstaff at TRFC in 2006. I ran a little over 5 miles in 45min... not bad considering I haven't done much of anything active since I messed up my ankle playing rugby 2 months ago. It would be nice to do something like that fairly regularly.
On my way back in the school I ran into Jeff, and we talked about the play that he is in. He is playing Laurie's tutor in Little Women. Sonja, Mindy and I are going to see it on Friday.
I shaved and took a shower before going down to the dining room for an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast that Mike and Matti put on. After that run I was more thirsty than hungry, so I only ate 3. They were good though!
After that I helped Barry move the remaining big stuff from the old place to his new apartment.
I then bought a few Jarritos, met up with Sonja in the main lounge and re-strung her guitar. After that I went and got my laundry I had accidentally left in the dryer, took it upstairs and folded it. I then relaxed until I had to go to work. Work went well, and I am now typing this blog!

Three-day summary

So, I haven’t blogged since Friday night, and a lot has happened…

Saturday I didn’t end up working, so I ran some errands and did some miscellaneous things. I had to go and get a few things at Radio Shack and I also had to go to KC’s and get some immunization records out of a tub I had put in storage. Once I got back I practiced I can’t remember what else I did, but I did play the songs for Sunday once through. At 3pm I went to the Webbs house for music practice and was there until 5pm. While I was there, a really ugly storm front cut loose torrential rain and even produced some baby twisters that never actually touched down. The tornado sirens went off and everything. After that I met up with Brian, Anthony, and Rebecca, and we all drove out to Brookfield to see newlywed Peter and Crystal. The trip there was pretty interesting because there was a lot of water accumulating in the road the whole way there. Once we got there we found Peter bailing water that had collected on his patio and was flooding the house. Crystal and Rebecca were busy in the house making us a wonderful meal of enchiladas. After only being inside for only 10 or 15 minutes we saw the water was rising again. We guys went outside to try and divert the water from the house, but soon realized it was all in vain. So we took a bunch of plastic grocery bags and filled them with sand from the backyard sandbox and placed them around the doors to try and stop the water from coming in. We ended spending an hour and 45 minutes straight outside while dinner grew cold inside. Crystal and Rebecca got so bored waiting for us that they watched a movie while we broke our backs to keep the water from coming in the house. Anyway…long story short, we managed to keep the water out of the house, dinner tasted great, and we watched the movie Enchanted.

Yesterday was Sunday. The best day of the week. Well, I went to church. And it was goooood! The music went really well and Jerome preached a really good sermon on desire. After that I went to the Webbs. And ate some foooood. Good = food. I hung out with Joseph for a good part of the afternoon and we had a great time together. I’m going to be playing my song ‘Jesus’ next Sunday at church, so Joseph and I practiced that while I was at their house. After quite a good chunk of time there, I went over to KC’s in time for the Bible study, but again no one showed. It’s kinda sad that no one has come, but I trust in time the Lord will bring someone. I guess I should pray more that the Lord will send people. While we were there another big storm front rolled in and Mark and I went up on top of the parking garage and watched it chase Sonja on her trip back from Sheboygan. She won. Hooray!! She and I went out to Caribou coffee afterward for some much craved frappuccinos. The drinks were good and we had a good visit. That's ‘bout it!

Today was Monday. (Monday always comes after Sunday.) I slept in, ate some food, read Romans 7, and then went to see Ben at the Salvation Army. I also talked to Mike, my mom and my aunt on the phone this morning. After getting back from the Salvation Army I talked to my sister Amanda as well. After that Sonja and I played catch with a softball and baseball until Sonja left for work. After that I helped Barry (a teacher here at NTBI) move some things from his old apartment to his new abode on campus until I had to leave for work. Work was good. After work Sonja, Mark, and myself walked down to the Fox River to see it at flood stage. It was neat to see. Then I came back to school did some laundry, had some soup with Sonja and had her type my blog for me. The end!

Listening to Falling Up

The weather today was rather interesting. I got up at about 6:15am and it was super warm and windy outside. The sky was full of dark clouds, and it rained sporadically throughout the day. I guess there were tornado warnings all over the place.

Anyway, after showering I went outside in shorts and a t-shirt and just spent some time praying, reading Romans 6 and watching the squirrels. I realized as I watched that the squirrels actually eat the seeds that are inside those little “helicopter” things that fall off of the trees in front of the school. It was nice and relaxing out there.

I have been told that I am a rather patient person, and as I was praying I remembered that I had prayed for patience as a kid. I wondered why I hadn’t prayed for anything like that recently. I decided that I’m going to start praying that the Lord will help me learn more discretion.

After that I spent a portion of my day watching ESPN baseball and basketball. That was neat, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was completely wasting time.

I decided to go play frisbee-golf by myself, and did really well until the last 2 holes. I ended up at 4 over par. (boo!)

I then went back inside and edited my prayer card and the video I made for partnership development. My sights aren't settled on Cambodia, so it seems just fair for my prayer card and video to accurately reflect where the Lord has me now, which is here.

In addition to all this, I also practiced music for Sunday.

Today was also the day that Nate Gilley flew out for Idaho, so I drove him to the airport in Milwaukee. It worked out just well for both of us because I wasn’t scheduled to work until 5pm, and his flight to Chicago had unknowingly been moved from 6 something pm to like 4 something pm, and I got him there at about 3:45pm!

The only problem is that his flight from Chicago to wherever was delayed until 11am TOMORROW. Ugh, Disgusting!!!! Poor Gilley!!!

It’s neat though, he left his Jeep for me to use while he is gone! What a guy!

Anyway, work from 5-7pm was fine, and I spent the rest of the evening with Sonja at the Richards with the boys, and then she and Mark and I went stargazing out behind the quarry. Sonja saw her first ever shooting star and I saw my first ever firefly!!! Hooray!!!

Also, there were multiple miscommunications. I am supposed to have both music practice AND dinner at the Harpers after work tomorrow. However, I just saw tomorrow’s schedule, and I don’t even work tomorrow! So, we shall see what tomorrow brings! Maybe I will finally put new strings on Sonja’s guitar…

Listening to more Simon & Garfunkel

Well my day started off at 6:30am with a massive thunder and lightning storm and a down pour of rain that lasted till 8ish. I was slightly distracted from my sleep, so I got up and shaved. I then did some work on my computer, trying to figure some stuff out.

I ended up showering and eating some cereal before taking off to the mall with Sonja and Lisa. We went to Old Navy and JC Penny, and I wound up getting two pairs of shorts and two button-up, short-sleeved t-shirts. I do like them.

So after we got back, I watched “The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai” on my compy. I did that and hung out with Gilley until it was time to leave for work. Driving went well today! All the kids were amiable, and not too life-threatning.

After work I came back to the school and spent a good hour and a half working on the songs for Sunday. I also talked to Peter Harper today for the first time since the wedding on May 17^th. He and Crystal are going to have Brian Rich, Anthony Lockard and myself over for some food and fellowship tomorrow night! It ought to be fun! But for now, it’s time for me to hit the sack.

Listening to Nada!

Well, this morning I helped Rob Tallman and Scott Knievel strip some of the wax off the dining room floor. At 11am myself and a bunch of other students helped Drew Grateke and Shane Burgett film a video for the youth group they will be starting at New Beginnings in the fall. After that I just ate and piddled around on facebook and my blog page… wasn’t very productive. Don’t get me wrong, I got stuff figured out for Sunday music and work today, and I updated and customized my facebook and blog pages, but other than that I didn’t accomplish a whole lot. I tried to figure out how to download podcasts from The Berean Call, but that didn’t work out. Actually, I did fold some laundry and talk to my mom on the phone, so that is good. Yeah, the days are just like that around here. Try to fill in the morning and keep myself occupied until I have to go to work. And the bus drivers work different hours than I do, so doing stuff with them is the easiest thing to arrange. Do I sound like I am complaining? Maybe I am… I don’t know….

Gilley is sitting on the couch working on something…He is leaving on Friday. Man it will be weird not having him around. He has a great summer lined up for him in Idaho though.

I just found out today that more money has been given to me for the missions trip! I haven’t paid a dime yet, and I only owe $150 out of the original $400 something. Yaay God!!!! Plus, God has provided me the opportunity to do some work around the school for Rob. The Lord is providing the money I will need for the trip and for initial fees! Initial fees are going to be due sooner than I expect, I imagine. I should probably figure out when that is…