KENYA KENYA KENYA!!!

I will write more about this soon, but I haven't mentioned at all that I am going to Africa for the month of July!!!
I am going with my uncle's family to Tenwek hospital that is 3-4 hour drive outside of Nairobi, Kenya. We will be spending a couple days in Nairobi at a women's home that helps former prostitutes to learn skills to support themselves and an orphanage there too. Our time at Tenwek, my uncle will be serving as a doctor there, but I will be helping out in a number of different areas, basically where they need help on any particular day. My opportunities will be helping in an orphanage, local schools, nearby villages[community help], hopefully administrative shadowing -like business experience type work- and random things around the compound. I'm not going as an intern, so I don't have a specific role, but thankfully I have the chance of seeing how the business end runs and also working with people.

I am so so so excited but will have to write about this later.

I gotta get up in a few hours for 8:00 International Marketing :)

Gifts?

Tonight I went with Courtney's family to a Chris Tomlin concert; it was a really good time but made me realize how much I take forgranted. In Grand Rapids and at Cornerstone, I experience such amazing worship opportunities, bands, services... that they have become commonplace in my life. I don't stop and realize how special these times are and that I must take advantage of them now. Evensong here at Cornerstone is a great example; the talent, passion, atmosphere is amazing!
The concert tonight was fun, and I am glad I was there- but something inside me was not impressed. It seemed just like I was at chapel; so many other people's lives are drastically impacted by experiences like a Christian event- guess I just don't want to take things forgranted anymore. So many of the adults tonight were so invigorated to have the experience; I felt ungrateful.
Guess I just want to work on looking at my life from a different perspective in order to take every chance to see an opportunities or a blessing.

BAHAMAS!

So much has happened since I last wrote on here... a 5 week winter break in which I helped around home, went to the BAHAMAS- amazing might I add, started a new year, and hopefully have a new outlook on some things about life in general...
but for now, the thing on my mind is--- I am so scared of living like the typical American Christian!!! Worrying about all the worldly things that need to be taken care of is so typical, I am not sure how to explain my thoughts but just the things money gets spent on and the mindset of all the things that we "need" [ since we dont' understand the concept of true need] & if I have a family all the many things that will occupy my time, it scares me, I dont' want to get caught up in the things of this world. Most importantly, I don't want to keep waisting time within relationships when people need NEED CHRIST. For some reason I have been so caught up in helping people with physical needs that while spending time with them, I have somehow been deceived into forgetting that their GREATEST NEED = CHRIST & his salvation! We don't live like people are dead and condemned to hell, the time is now, time is short. I want to remember this.
I want to be in the world but not of the world but there are soo many temptations. My fear is that I am so brainwashed that I am deceived and already fallen victim to many temptations, my prayer is that the Lord will renew my mind. Strip it of the things I accept as normal & put them to His test. -yet to be figured out...-

well this is my venting for now, gotta go get ready for my brother's basketball game.

So instead of saying weirdo, I think friends a better name!

We all remember the tacky lessons of good ol' Veggie Tales... I was just thinking about this song and I really like it. We are all different and its good to be friends with everybody no matter who their friends are or whether you have the same interests or backgrounds...i really like the idea of "any day in any weather"--- like no matter what, I will be there for you friend. Love is about giving with nothing expected in return and giving always, when it's the hardest and when it hurts. I want to be a friend on "any day in any weather"

I can be your friend

I can be your friend

Any day in any weather

We can be friends and play together

Ya were all pretty different some are skinny some are stout

But the inside is the part were supposed to care about

Aye! thats why we have feelings that are very much the same

So instead of saying wierdo i think friends a better name

I can be your friend (la la la)I can be your friend (la la la)

If your hair is red or yellow

We can have lunch i'll share my jello

I can be your friend (la la la)I can be your friend (la la la)

It's okay if we are different,we can still play and i can be your friend!

Boy oh boy, it's that time of the year.

Right now there are so many emotions, worries (aka EXAMs), activities- a million things going on all the time. I am now officially done with classes for the semester, I have 4 more exams & then 1 exam to try to test out of a class. I should in fact be studying this very moment but will probably just go to bed after this.
Tonight was Mock Rock, which was amazing and I love so much! The winning act from last year started off the evening and was a great surprise! "When You Were Young" - love it love it. Let's see, some guys that I didn't expect to participate were in the first act which was very entertaining. My favorite to watch though was a kid doing "bye, bye, bye" ... oh my goodness!!! He was soo good and HILARIOUS, like I was extremely impressed but laughing so hard the whole time at how intense he was at this dance, up there all alone, it took guts! Anybody from home who can come next year should come up, I love this event so much!
Courtney went to the ER tonight, I think she will be ok but that was a little scary. She has been sick on and off all semester and her fever and such got to that point of needing to see what was going on. She got back quickly though so she'll be alright :)
Tonight I was/am feeling quite overwhelmed ect but the end is in sight and I will be free for so long over Christmas, it will be amazing.
I want to learn to count my blessings, even the simple ones. I am thankful for the ability to learn and the funds to be here. I will not write all that I have to be thankful for but this is what I need to remember when feeling down.
ok headin out. I gotta make fun of Peter and Jenn ;)

the Oasis

This snow is here! I couldn't be more excited about it. Sunday night me and Seth built a giant snowman and played in the snow for an hour or two, that was super duper fun. That time included the snowman, playing with cattails, summersalting & rolling down a hill, tackling Bethany in the snow, and sliding like a penguin over big snowballs. I should have been inside studying, but I hadn't been out to my favorite area on campus in a while so about an hour ago I went out behind VO's parking lot to just be at rest and take in nature's beauty. God is so creative and so good! The picture on the left makes me smile cuz you can see the clocktower, that is my way of proving I was still at CU, or maybe I just like to cheesily represent CU...

This is my fav picture!!! :)
I love this little drainage "stream", somethin bout water does me good.