Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

Recently I spent the night in a shelter. Don't worry, I didn't do this because I don't have a home and this was the only place that would take me, although that is a true fact for some of the others who I stayed with. I went and spent the night as the host. This shelter is a temporary one that bounces between churches throughout the winter months. It houses the people who cannot go to other shelters either because they are full, or the people have been denied access to them.

I made a lot of stew and brought rolls and some chocolate chip cookies along. We set up cots in the church and put two blankets on each. We opened the doors and welcomed people in. There were 8 guests this night. One drove, one came in a taxi, one got a ride and the rest walked. There is no bus that comes very close to this location, so it was quite a walk in the bitter cold night air. It wouldn't be bad, except some of our guests have to cary everything they own with them each day. I was so happy to meet our guests, but shaking their icy hands made me sad.

I thought it was fun to have a big dinner with 11 of us chowing down around a table, but then I wondered if it would still be that fun if this was my only option. Every night. To eat whatever was given to me and not have a choice. To sit at a crowded table with strangers instead of family. To not get dinner till 9 o'clock at night. I think the fun would wear off quickly. This made me sad.

I enjoyed the conversations, but it made me wonder how many conversations these new friends of mine got to have with people who would actually listen. Sometimes I think our willingness to listen is based on the appearance of the speaker. That though made me sad.

I was happy enough to sleep on a cot with my sweatshirt as my pillow for a night, but I wondered how much I would like it if this was my every night. To sleep on a cot that someone else slept on the night before. Someone who may or may not have had a shower this week. Someone who doesn't have that many clothes options to change into because they can only carry so much each day. One of the guests had a respiratory issue. He asked if we had a chair he could sleep in. I wish we could have given him a bed with enough pillows to prop himself up as he did not look very comfy, but he was so thankful for the chair we shared with him. Another guest with a bad back asked permission to sleep on the floor instead of on a cot as she said it felt better on her back. I was happy to help her set up her blankets on the floor, but sad that an adult would have to ask permission to sleep on the floor. I was thankful to be a deep sleeper and slept through the snoring of many of the guests, but I felt bad for the light sleepers in the room. Many said they did not sleep well this night.

I was humbled as I cleaned up in the morning and spoke to a guest who slept on the floor in the entry way of the church. She was so thankful and said that this was the best place she could imagine sleeping. A solid floor, a warm blanket, some Christmas lights, and a nice view. What more could she ask for. I could think of plenty of things, but was so humbled and grateful for her attitude.

I take a lot for granted. Today I am choosing to value what I have.

The Greatest Horrible Idea!

Sometimes bad ideas seem like such good ideas at the time. Then there are the ideas you know are bad and you don't even want to think them, but someone reminds you later it might make a good memory. I was recently faced with just that situation.

BAD IDEA:

•  Lets completely submerge ourselves in a lake on a snowy winter day.

REASONS IT WAS CONSIDERED:

• It was disguised as a birthday party for my dear friend Sara. 
• It was a way to raise money for a children's program at the YMCA.
• I am an adrenaline junky. 
• I have yet to learn how to say no.

the crazy birthday girl

So obviously…I did it. Now let me tell you about it! The week leading up to the plunge was warm for a Pennsylvania winter, but the day before we were hit with a crazy storm. The drive to the lake on the morning of the plunge was like driving through a winter wonder land.

brrrr, brrrr, brrrr!

Our group name was the Royals and so of course we wore tutus, tiaras, and crowns and held wands and swords. I mean if you're doing something this crazy you gotta go all out!

pre-plunge already shaking from the cold

Until just moments before the plunge I kept putting my winter coat back on between pictures. As I was standing in a crowd of people some girl who was fully dressed and just watching the event looked at me kind of scoffing and said, "You're the only one with a coat on." I refrained from explaining to her that I was probably the only one in a semi-right mind because it was FREEZING out! Or that I grew up in Africa and DESPISE the cold. Or that she had clothes on and shouldn't be talking. Or any of the thoughts that came to mind and instead just smiled and said, "yeah, it's cold".  There was also another guy who went before our group and then stood right by me and explained in great detail how painful it was…I plugged my ears.

Sara and I

Before we went in we, along with the whole crowd, sand Happy Birthday to Sara! 

singing our hearts out

Then we charged the water... 

Shock and horror! 

Shock and horror part two! Instant brain freeze! Struggling to walk.

Still in shock! Still can't figure out why it is so hard to walk.

Shock continues. I'm about to look down and realize my tutu is around my knees and that is why taking steps is so challenging. I couldn't feel it. 

DRY AND ALIVE! WE SURVIVED!

Yay for the Polar Bear Plunge!

This is definitely up there in the greatest horrible ideas of all time. I really hope I never do it again, but I highly recommend everyone does it at least once in their lifetime. It just another thing to check of the list of crazy things to do!

Unstoppable Joy

Today I have Lucy to thank for my inspiration. 

After hanging out with this sweet 2 year old for a couple months now these are the two words that come to mind when I try to describe her. She is unstoppable: fearless, adventurous, strong willed, excited, outgoing, brave, and active. And she is full of joy. Those are two character traits I am working on and have accountability from Lucy all the time!

Some areas that Lucy has got me beat:

• ·     She cheers when she gets her shoe on her foot (even though I do all the work to put it on)
• ·      She squeals with delight when I tell her it’s snack time
• ·      She giggles at herself randomly
• ·      Squirrels fascinate her
• ·      “Yay!” is heard when her shirt is on
• ·      Watching a dog walk by makes her whole day
• ·      You should see the reaction when her family comes home (although I   keep up pretty well on this one when I see my family)
• ·      When we get her hair in pigtails there’s another cheer
• ·       “Yay!” when we’re done changing a diaper
• ·      That sudden inhaled breath when she looks at her books and finds all those amazing characters that she found in them yesterday, and the day before

Her delight is inspiring. Not that I think we all have to cheer every time we put our shoes on, but what if we didn’t take all the little things for granted anymore? What if everything was an adventure? What if we remembered that without God’s help we wouldn’t even have our next breath to breath, let alone the ability to make snacks, or get dressed. Let’s rejoice in the little things and thank God for giving us the strength to face each day!

Hit by a Semi..Check!

Now some people like to call me adventurous, but I am starting to think that adventure just finds it's way to me! Let me give you an example:

This weekend I went to visit some awesome friends in Virginia. It was wonderful to spend some time with them again and catch up on their lives since it had been over a year since we had really hung out. Well this morning before I left my dear friend Erin prayed for my safety on the roads, and I'm glad she did.

It was a quiet drive…me and my GPS. I'm pretty sure my GPS took me on the scenic route since that's not the way we came in and I didn't get on a highway for a long time, but it was fun. Eventually I did get on a highway and at one point I had to get off and switch highways. Well, there were two lanes to exit to the right and you came to a stop light and so we waited. I was in the far right lane and a semi truck was next to me also turning right. When it was our turn to go we all started moving and the semi crossed over the line between us. (You know that feeling when they kind of lean towards you…that's what it felt like.) I thought he'd straighten out and get back in his lane, so I scooched as close to the guard rail as I could and kept going slowly. He kept getting closer. I got tense and tried to stop hoping he'd sneak in front of me. He kept scootching closer. I honked. He kept scootching closer. The car behind me saw it and honked. He kept scootching. Then BUMP! He hit me and luckily stopped. The whole thing only took a couple seconds, but it was crazy. Once he stopped I could go and get around him so I did. It was a really awkward place to try to pull over and chat with him, and I didn't want him to get fired or anything, so I just kept driving. I am fine. My car is fine…it has a little tiny dent in it which will always remind me of God's faithfulness and how He protected me from that semi.

I had never thought of putting "Get hit by a semi" on my 'bucket list' or 'adventure to do list', but I guess I could now and just have another thing to cross off! =) 

I'm Back!

Hello world, I'm back in Michigan again. It was so hard to leave my beloved New Zealand home, but it was most wonderful to see my sister again. This was the longest we had ever been apart in our lives (well, except for her being born before me, but that doesn't count!) So it is great to be spending the summer with her (and everyone else here in MI)!

And don't worry, I haven't left the adventures in New Zealand! They have come with me! Today after our picnic lunch, we went out hunting for a Lorax…we decided they must be shy, because we couldn't find one so we left some nice grass bundles as a gift by a tree and will go back out to search for him tomorrow…if you didn't know, I'm not losing my mind, I just hang out with 2 little boys all day. =)

Jetlag is trying to get me, but with no time to rest I think I've got it outsmarted this time (other than last night when I was up till 2am). But yeah, it's nice to be back. And it's a constant reminder to me that even though everything I can see is different God is the same. I love that!

Camp - joys and struggles ;)

Jumpstart has been amazing so far! Currently the kids are in class which means I have some free time to prepare and relax. This week we have 14s, 15s, and one 16 year old here and there are 16 of them so it is crazy! But they are all super sweet and they're even starting to get used to us as their crazy leaders. =) Today one girl asked me why I had ever wanted dreads, I told her that I like them because they are big and crazy, and she said, "oh, like you!" Yes. Thank you, I will take that as a compliment I guess. 

But I do have one dilemma...it's something I have been struggling with all week actually. Let me tell you about it...

It's getting pretty cold here now (remember it's fall on this side of the world) and it gets down to freezing temps at night and we don't have central heating...we have a fire place. Anyway, in order to counter that cold I start the day off with a cup of tea before the fire is built. Then when Kelcey comes down she makes coffee and I have a cup of that too (camp leaders need their caffeine!)...at this point I am starting to warm up. Unfortunately, our bathroom is the coldest room in the whole house and drinking tea and coffee leads inevitably to a visit to the bathroom. Well, once I've been in the bathroom I'm cold all over again, and I have to go make a hot drink to warm up...you can guess what that leads to and how the cycle continues. It's really been a struggle for me. ;) 

Hehe, but really camp has been awesome! Keep the prayers coming, because we have another week after this one! 

Guilty of avoidance? …yes!

Wow, I am a horrible blogger, sorry world, I've just been avoiding you to be honest. As school was coming to an end it seemed to sad to admit it, so I could not bring myself to put it into words. But alas, it came anyway. Graduation was on June 23rd and it was beautiful. A few of us shared testimonies of what God has done in our hearts and lives this year, and I was honored to be one of the people to share. Though it was very hard to sum up my growth into just 5 minutes when God has been working non-stop these past 9 months. And it was also a challenge to get through a speech without bursting into tears, but I just thought about how we tricked most of our lecturers into trying a super sour lolly (candy) just to burst into a fit of laughter at their reactions and I made it through.

The next day I said goodbye to 5 of my best friends and now family members. Only God could count all of the tears that were shed by all of us! (I'm actually surprised our house didn't flood!) But while it hurt to say goodbye there was also joy in knowing that all that we've learned here will be spread out to 13 different places as we go. And that we are a forever family in Christ and He will be with us always...nothing can separate us from His love.

The weekend was weird and quiet and we were missing the 5 who left, but also the beginning of a new excitement as we began to prepare for the next two weeks. Those of us who stayed are hosting a camp for the next two weeks called Jumpstart. It's gonna be such a blast! We are adding 16 kids to the house, so it won't feel quiet and lonely anymore! Please be praying for and with us as we embark on this adventure. Pray that these kids would grow in the Lord and have the best week of their lives. That we would lead well with joy and love. That there would not be any injuries. That memories would be made. That nothing in the house breaks down. That we all stay warm (it's getting really cold over here!). 

Hopefully I'll post again soon and tell you how it's going, but if not, just keep praying! I'm most grateful for your prayers! And to those of you in MI see you in less than 2 weeks!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well here we go… on the morning of my birthday this beautiful outfit was laid out for me to put on by my roommates. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I put it on and got ready to embrace the day.

They said since my favorite color is rainbow I had to wear it all day and they decided to surround me with a rainbow too, and assigned everyone a color to wear all day.

After lunch they took me on a scavenger hunt that lasted all afternoon. 

All around our house and yard. I had to go to each person in the "family" to get clues or do something else.

No day is complete for me without a wheelbarrow ride these days

At one clue I stopped for a tea part with the boys

Later I had a clue that led me to a coffee date with Kelcey 

Jess played me a song on the piano 

The boys kept on making me hot drinks all day! I've never been so hydrated!

Card with Erica…I won…of course

Amy took me for a bike ride…the first one they let me go on since I ruined my foot…gonna say I didn't feel all that safe once Jess and Erica let go, but it was fun and I survived! 

Kelc did my nails 

And it ended with brownies and ice cream and games all evening. 

Broken but still going!

 Okay, so here's the story. Me and a couple friends went up there. It was a super fun hike and a great time hanging our legs over the edge and looking at the tiny trees below us as we ate lunch. It's on the far left of the picture below as well. These pictures were taken at my friend Drea's farm. Which is by far the most beautiful place on earth! 

 This was the view we enjoyed from the top! The beach below is their private beach on the farm. It's wonderful. We went swimming down there and swam under the arches! Wow! God is just so creative!

Unfortunately on the way back down we stopped to climb on some rocks and mine broke. =( I fell and landed on my ankle instead of my foot - I know, not smart! But yeah, it hurt really bad so I just laid down for a second so I wouldn't pass out or throw up or anything and then let the adrenaline kick in to get me down the mountain. I told my friends I'd be fine and we started down. I clenched my fists and kept my mouth shut and was glad that the weekend before I had been working with a girl paralyzed from the waist down who couldn't feel anything. I thanks God that I could feel even if it was pain. Eventually it was too much for Dave to bear and he said he would just carry me the rest of the way to the car, and that was nice. A couple of days later I went to a doctor and found out I chipped a bone, sprained my ankle, and tore a muscle. Now I'm babying it much more, BUT luckily the 'family' here does a great job of including me! Let me tell you about the latest 2 activities that I "couldn't do" but got to do anyway…

 

 We all went to a barn dance where they taught us to do line dancing. Most of my time was spent sitting on the hay laughing at everyone trying to figure out the footing.

But I couldn't not dance at all, so Matt gave me a piggyback ride for one song!

 

We weren't exactly in step with everyone else, but it was fun! I did the hands clapping part and he did the feet. 

Then today we had another one of our 5k runs!

 This one was the "Decade Dash" because next weekend we are celebrating our school's ten year anniversary of being alive. So everyone wore a 10 for their number and we had runners, walkers, a biker, and me. It was a bit of a dilemma how they were going to get me on this thing. Dave was going to pull me in the trailer, but the trailer ended up being full of stuff, so we couldn't use it...

 So he pushed me in a wheelbarrow!

 And kept up with the runners while doing it!

The halfway point! 

Trying to take pictures while sitting in a wheelbarrow and getting pushed down a gravel road at a jogging pace makes them end up a little blurry.  

We made it to the end! 

I just love the family that I have here! It's hard for me to sit back and not do everything, but they help me to do it with them or sit by me when I can't. It has been such a blessing!

To end this off, here is our latest Awkward Family Photo for our 8th Banniversary! We only have one more left and then I'll be back in the States! So crazy!

Have You Ever Pet Wild Baby Seals?

This little guy was one of many who we stumbled upon when we stopped on the side of the road to add some water to the overheating car. We glanced down over the edge 

And saw that there were heaps of seals…and most of them were babies!

The boys climbed down first to see if they could touch them and the little guys were so friendly, and no big mean mama seals came to bite.

 

So then we all climbed down and pet them!

And others would come up to us and sniff our hands!

They were sooooo adorable! One of the many highlights of 2 week break!