a big day

3.28.09 (happy birthday mom!)

as i look back on my yesterday (3.27.09), i can't believe it all happened in one day. i know a lot of my days at camp can be that way. ah-it's good. i'll precedent all these stories by saying that even today a number of people have asked me how i'm doing (the common question when greeting people) and all i can seem to do is smile and say "i'm doing really really good!...thanks for asking!"



yesterday celine and i got up early for yet another chapel visit-portage michigan. we saw a beautiful sunrise on the way there and since we were driving through nappanee and all the "amishvilles" of northern indiana, i was totally distracted by all the horses that seemed to be in every pasture we passed-i loved it.

it was an ipod day so celine brought hers and put it on shuffle songs for us to listen to...which involved lots of singing, interpretive dancing, and of course 'days of elijah' as the sun was rising. we were in a great mood by the time we got there. it was a neat school we hadn't been to in a while so it was neat to see that connection being re-established between two ministries. the kids were enjoyable and one of the teachers even hugged me on her way out...i was surprised, but loved it!

on the way back we stopped at not one, but two gas stations (the bathroom was being cleaned at the first one-gah) and also at a dollar general and a good will...can i just say, goodwills are ALWAYS exciting (that was for you amykuhn). amy-i shopped for summer stuff-it wasn't the same without you, but i got some good stuff.



it took turning around a couple times, but we also got pictures of celine on the side of the road with the statue of liberty and a lion (it couldn't slinky!) and another picture of a lion who was "pounding it" (you rock, dude). and don't forget the life-sized plastic horse in somebody's front yard.



last but not least we listened to tangled blue on the way home and recorded a video for joel and aimee to their song "Jesus Christ is Risen today" with some fun interpretations of us not singing the alleluias (it's lent).



all that in the morning and we were still back to camp by 1pm! so much still lied ahead. the scrapbookers were at camp so i spent some time tending to their needs (like cleaning out lights-woo). i had checked my email upon return from our visit, but within an hour of that, i happened to go back and check it again...i had 2 new emails from mary bull at youth encounter. one of them saying i'll be receiving a packet with a letter of call to be on "rainbow of promise," youth encounter's international team that travels to india and nepal!

...i had 2 initial responses..."go tell everyone" and "go run away into the woods and pray!" not many people knew i was going through the applicatoin process because i wasn't entirely sure of it myself, but after applying i told sarah and some other people. i half jokingly told sarah that she should be the first to know since she's in asia of all places...but i couldn't help but think that i should tell her...so naturally, i got online and asked matt if he knew when she might be back on-but he didn't. i sort of left him in suspense by saying something like "i've got news for both of you" and then left. i spent a lot of time on a bench at the top of the hill by the lake...thinking, journaling, praying, and reading my Bible. i'm glad i took the time to get away. not long after that time, i went back to the office, sat on celine's floor and proceeded to distract her from her work with my news. her first response was "you can take your drum!" (we're going to a drum making workshop this weekend) and her second response was "we should shout it to the rooftop!"...i thought she said 'from the rooftop' so i was a little nervous as she opened her window...turns out tim was on the roof! so we shouted it up to him, which was all sort of crazy. but fun.
i walked over to the schroeders trying to find don (who was also one of my references). i ended up telling peggy...and soon after that don was home so i told him and emma. erin was visiting and celine was going to make navajo tacos over the fire pit so i was invited to join. when i walked into celine's house, i heard erin's voice shout "what's your news!?" so i proceded to tell her as well (way to be an instigator, celine). it was a fun evening of making navajo tacos over the fire pit. i kept my computer with me tho and was able to share my news with matt. before i told him which team it was he said "i hope it's not india"...because of all the unrest the country is experiencing...but we'll see how it goes. after enjoying navajo tacos and fry bread (mmmmm) we went back to celine's house to get the makings of banana boats (banana, chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallows) and apple creations (a cored apple, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter) and enjoyed making our 'fire desserts.' i got to upload/enjoy the picutres/videos from the day to my computer, and pass on a message with kristine that i wanted to talk to sarah. after a long night of fire fun and fellowship, i went to bed.
i was awoken at about 2am by my computer ringing. it said kristine was calling me...which was just weird. and since i was disoriented, i hung up on it. alas, she called again. through my sleepy eyes (without glasses) i came to and answered...and realized it was sarah. i finally started putting two and two together. it was exciting. i don't even remember much of the conversation, but it was good. i remember sharing my news once i became less disoriented and i remember people in the background being excited...so thanks, new dawn! it was great.
today i started telling some other people and tried to get ahold of my family to let them know-but it's hard because i'm stuck here at camp hosting. it's all exciting...still don't know what to think of it...almost doesn't feel real!

romans 12