Friday, July 24, 2009

a new adventure

so usually when people ask the "what's next?" question i cringe somewhere inside because i don't have a solid answer for them. i like to have answers for people. "i don't know" seems like a lame thing to say.

well, it's amazing what can happen in the course of a week.
because last weekend when i was in evart i had to admit to not knowing what i was doing when i'm done with honeyrock (less than a month from now) but this weekend i can say with joy that i will be moving to the battle creek area (southwestern michigan) around august 28 to start as and outdoor educator for battle creek public schools.
now, if you're one of the people i know who will undoubtably scratch your head and think to yourself, "what the heck does that mean?" then this link is for you: clearlakecamp.org
if you click on the "employment" section you can read the job description for what i'll be doing.
right now i'm hired as "seasonal" for the fall, with a very good chance of staying on as long as i'd like.
i'm looking forward to the job itself and the added perk that it's much closer to home than i am now! i will also have to work less hours and have weekends off which means lots of road trips to see friends!

i still have 4 more weeks here at honeyrock- 2 more for summer campers and 2 for wheaton passage. it's going to fly by i'm sure!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

something else

i went for a run tonight. actually, i just got done.
i hadn't run in a long time.
it felt good.
i forgot how much stress it relieves in me.
note to self: run more.

today was really stressful. sometimes work just seems to come out of nowhere.
so the run was good. the nooma video we watched with advance camp was good too. it was one i'd never seen before.

and, as often happens after the right combination of things in a day: reading for a little while before worship tonight (... i WILL finish this book dangit.), truly enjoying hanging out with the kids before they leave on friday, time spent singing, a nooma video, music, and a run at dusk, i had some really good thoughts as i ran down the infamously windy highway x.

i feel like people commonly talk bout wishing life was more of a straight path- it's the turns and hills that throw off predicitability. i guess i often find myself with that same wish. "just make it easy, God. show me a straight path to follow and i will"

i am a goal oriented person. it keeps me motivated. and as i ran down highway x i kept saying to myself "ok, you can run just to that next curve" or "alright, you're almost up this hill" and it kept me going. each curve and hill along the way was some sort of mini milestone in my run. i NEED those milestones, because i'm not really a very good runner. each tiny victory made the daunting task ahead of me seem somehow easier.

this parallels my life.
sure it'd be easier if there weren't so many twists and turns.
i feel like i've had a lot of unexpected curves over the past year or so. but i can't help but think that if my life was a straight road i would have missed something. a flat road lined with dull scenery isn't very fun to run on. it's the curves, the hills, the variences in surroundings that make it exciting for me. these small things tangibly mark the distance i've come. once again, this is true in my life.

the highs and lows, frustrations and joy, fears and hope that have overcome my heart in the past few years have made definitive marks on my life that i wouldn't give up for anything. they mark the path that God has brought me down, no matter how windy and curvy it's been and will continue to be.



"i believe in a faith that grows and the four right chords could make me cry, when i'm with you i feel like i could die and that would be alright... i want something else to get me through this life" third eye blind, semi-charmed life