Coming Soon!

I wanna write about some things lately, this is basically a memo to self.
"The Silver Spoon"
"Change on the Street"
"Giving it my all"

Just an update

Well at the moment I am enjoying thinking about Kenya. I read a few pages from Miracle at Tenwek when I had a moment in [pause for firedrill, now i'm back] btween -that's purdy sweet, firedrill right the middle of typing the word inbetween- ok anyway, today I read a bit about Tenwek, spent some time on the website looking at the community development stuff and also just researching Kenya. I love having the resources to just look things up and learn; hopefully the more I learn about the customs and culture now, the more I will understand and be impacted by my experiences in Kenya. I am doing a HUGE project on the Dominican Republic right now for Intermational Marketing, and the website everyculture.com was one of my best sources for my culture paper...so I went back there for starters on Kenya.
http://www.tenwek.org/tchd/what.htm
http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Kenya.html
I like being able to read about a culture and feel like I somewhat have a foundation to build off of from my international classes here at school.
My next endeavor is to learn more about the Kipsigis tribes and people, because they are the main group served by Tenwek and that live near Bomet. These people do not represent a large portion of the people of Kenya; the primary ethnic groups include the Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin and others, but near Tenwek are many Kipsigis people.

New subject:
I have so many great things to be excited about coming up! This weekend Jenna, Jenn, Liz, Brenda, and I are going to Indy to have a weekend away with Tamar!!! This will be the first time our everyday group of friends from last year will have all seen each other in almost a whole year. It will be so much fun & just great to catch up on life with everyone. I know a few ppl are really struggling right now, so it will be a great time of community -at least that is my hope.
Then the next weekend starts spring break :) I am going to visit Mike and Janet and Caleb!!! I am soo excited to see all of them! Caleb is going to be completely different and more capable of everything than when I saw him in October; the first year, kids change so dramatically soo fast! Reconnecting and catching up is something I am longing for right now and can't wait to spend time with Mike and Janet so soon!

other quick closer:
well I was gonna add the link to the chapel recording from today, but it's not up yet. Today Christine spoke in chapel, and it was a really good reminder for everyone. Often, people either work really hard to live a good life (mentally earning salvation) or think that they could never deserve salvation- either we ask: Am I enough? or Am I too much? (could God ever really love me? ect) She had a chart that basically showed how we for some reason thing that saving us is God's job and then making us complete in glory someday is God's job...but this time inbetween is somehow our responsibility.
This parallelled thoughts I had the night before when reading Mark 7:6-8. I am one of the "do it yourselfers" who want to live a good life and honor Christ in my actions, which can be great, as long as it doesn't turn into mere works done out of self-righteousness. In Mark 7, Jesus calls the Pharisees out about doing good deeds but having their hearts be far from Him. This reminds me of the danger of the way I am attempting to live. I need to repent and rely fully on Christ each and every day, doing acts of service out of gratitude for who He is and all He has given.

well I really need to go. Dinna w/ Sashi then tutoring. Can't wait to see the kids, we didn't get to go last week

Things I have done in the past year...

Tonight I was thinking about how thankful I am for my car and that it runs. Many of my friends are not so fortunate right now. I was also thankful for safety while driving on the roads, so much traffic would not be my first choice. Anyway somehow this led me to looking at pictures and thinking about how blessed I am and decided to make a list of things I think are purdy cool that I have done in the past year.

I have seen...
Skillet
Thousand Foot Krutch
Spoken
Beautiful Republic
Falling Up
Family Force 5
The Mines
Israel and New Breed
and Chris Tomlin
.... IN CONCERT!
I...
made a snowman
made a snowwoman
shopped at Salvation Army
rode a fourwheeler
held a racoon
watched a game of rugby
watched the Highland games
played volleyball
went ice skating
went on a picture scavenger hunt around GR
went on the GIANT button downtown GR
swung on the big tire swing downtown GR
climbed a GIANT tire
climbed sandunes
climbed trees
climbed the CU big metal sign in front of the Hansen Center
went on the big swing on my brother's ropes course
went rock climbing at Grand Ledge
climbed BLBC rock walls many a time
walked on frozen lake Michigan
watched a sunset over Lake Michigan & Lake Huron
swam in Lake Michigan & Lake Huron
saw one of my best friends leave for the Air Force & then Italy!
saw many Many MANY shooting stars
went on a crazy dress up day
saw a LLAMA
was with Michelle when she saw her FIRST SHOOTING STAR!
took TONS of pictures
went to a Detroit Tiger's game (almost went to Canada)
WENT TO DRUMMOND ISLAND
took Stacy's senior pictures
went to Lizzy's first ever band concert [tonight!]
chatted with many people with interesting and sad stories downtown
worked at Bair Lake Bible Camp
became a lifeguard
WENT TO THE BAHAMAS!!!
went snorkling in the ocean
saw a sea urchin, anemone, sting ray, squid and many other amazing creatures in the wild!
saw the Atlantis
said "see ya later" to Mike, Janet, and Caleb
went to Purgatory [it's state land in Jones, no worries]

hmm well i dk random and i'm sure i'll think of tonz more things that i'm like- oh yeah-that was sweet! but I think I got a purdy good list going :)

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.