Crazy Christmas Break

I know I look like a blogging machine right now...however, I thought I would give some updates while our internet is actually cooperating. Not to mention, I really do not want to study for my Church History final.

My last final is today and Jeff's is tomorrow. After that, our Christmas break officially begins, but we will still be in NB for a few days. We are going to Kari and Andy's wedding on Saturday. Jeff wanted to stay around for the staff Christmas party this year, so we are not flying out until Tuesday. Be will be driving down to Boston with the newlyweds. They will be spending their honeymoon there and driving our car back to NB, and we are flying out of Boston to go to Minnesota. For the first few days we are in Minnesota, Jeff will be on the farm, finishing up his truck (hopefully). I will be staying in the Cities with our friend, Raquel. That weekend Jeff will pick me up and we will head north to my parents' where we will be staying through Christmas. On the 26th we will drive down to Morris to see some of Jeff's family (including his parents who will be up). That we be a very short visit because we are then driving down to Oklahoma. We will spend a few days visiting Jeff's grandparents in Oklahoma before driving back to NB.

It is going to be a crazy break. We probably won't get as much rest as we are used to, but hopefully we will get some. The best part about all of this is that when we get back, we will be starting our LAST semester of classes. That is such an exciting thought. Have a great day everyone. much love

Red Whale

In the last post, I mentioned us drinking Starbucks. However, I am not a huge fan of Starbucks (but it does beat Tim Horton's any day). This year, through some friends of ours, we discovered this amazing little coffee house near St. John...Red Whale. Even though it is a 45 minute drive, we love going up there on date night, to read, to study, for meetings...for just about anything. They have all sorts of specialty teas and coffees. Everything is fair trade and delicious. Our favorite is their Mexico blend, although Kenya is good as well. They also sell all sorts of syrups, and have a sugar-free options which is great for South Beach. We have definitely been drinking a lot more coffee since this discovery. If you're ever in New Brunswick, we highly recommend you check it out. Words cannot describe...

Kari's Bachelorette Party

A few weeks ago some of us girls went out for Kari's bachelorette party. We went to St. John for the night. We had fun walking around beautiful dowtown St John, eating some Mexican food (which is hard to come by in NB), shopping at Indigo, and drinking some Starbucks. Kari's wedding is this Saturday, and we are really excited for it.

Lady of the Night

Chillin at Starbucks

Courtney and Kendra

Erin, Jen, and Myself

Andy (the bachelor) taking pictures for us before we went out.

Season Finale

Week 8, 20/11/08
4, 3, 2, 1: PAT IS THE SOLE SURVIVOR!
After 11 weeks of game play it came down to the final 2 Pat and Krista. These 2 people made it as far as anyone can in the game beating out 12 other contestants. However only one could win and in a 6-3 vote pat walked away as the winner of Survivor: Summit Avenue "the other side."
In the first immunity challenge of the night, the remaining 4 survivors were put to the physical and mental test. each person had a bucket of ice containing a key. Smashing through the ice, they would get the key and unlock a bag containing a puzzle. Pat and Alex, both lead the competition getting there keys early. Knowing that one of the puzzle pieces would be missing, Pat had solved his puzzle but had to find the missing piece in the back yard. Kerri and Krista finally joined the 2 in the puzzle but Pat came back with the correct piece and won the immunity. At the tribal council, tension was high for the 3 remaining girls. But in the end Krista, Kerri and Pat all voted against Alex and she became the 11th Jury member.
In the final 3 Immunity Pat, Kerri and Krista had to hold together blocks off the ground, if the blocks dropped out of their hands they were out. Pat was the first out, leaving Kerri and Krista to fight it out. By this time both girls were holding 10 blocks and it became harder and harder. But when Kerri dropped the blocks the competition was over and Krista had one the most crucial immunity if the game. At tribal Krista chose to take Pat with her to the final 2 sending Kerri to the Jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, the game shifted to the Jury who would vote for a winner. After receiving some very tough questions it would have looked as though it was anyones game. A lot of the Jury was mad at Krista because of the game she chose to play. As much as she tried to convince them, it did no good, the Jury was on Pats side, and they awarded him the grand prize. (a TV, $25 to walmart, $10 to the movies, $10 to McDonald's, and a box of chocolate)
Thanks to all who played, and made this season so memorable.


FINAL RESULTS
1. Pat- Winner
2. Krista- Runner Up
3. Kerri- 7th Juror
4. Alex- 6th Juror
5. Dustin- 5th Juror
6. Becky- 4th Juror
7. Travis- 3rd Juror
8. Shelley- 2nd Juror
9. Todd- 1st Juror
10. Nate- 10th place
11. Josh- 11th place
12. Greg- 12th place
13. Heather- 13th place
14. Chyan- 14th place

Spring Cleaning

We have had a lot going through our minds lately. God had been showing us some crazy stuff and leading us in a different direction. Either of us could go on for hours about how He has been moving in our lives. The following is something I wrote which shows just a snapshot of what's been going on. It's a little rough and I know some thoughts could be developed more, but I will give you an idea of what we've been thinking.

The church as we know it needs a total overhaul. It’s time for spring cleaning. The rooms need to be emptied and reorganized. No one can deny that the church in North America is dying. More people are leaving church and less people are finding church. Why? Because we have strayed so far from our roots. It’s like this. Back in the New Testament, the church was this nice little clean room. Over the years we’ve accumulated boxes of junk. At one point in time that junk was brand new and did what it was supposed to. However, over time we realized it really had no purpose and it was tossed aside for the latest thing that would also eventually end up becoming junk. Those boxes of junk have piled up and up and up. Most are used, but they are never gotten rid of. There’s always that one person that wants to keep that piece of junk around “just in case.” What does this junk look like? Ministry philosophies. Styles of worship. Building styles. Preaching techniques. Traditions. And on and on.

It’s time the church goes through some good old-fashioned spring cleaning. What happens during spring cleaning? Does someone go into that room and rearrange the boxes? No. All the boxes get taken out. Each one is emptied and the contents examined. What’s junk is recognized as junk and gets thrown out—never to be seen again. It’s not easy. In fact, the mess usually grows before any real results are seen. Getting rid of all the non-essentials of our churches (including buildings being called churches when the church is a living organism) is going to be messy. It will not be quick and smooth. There will probably be pain. Someone will probably get offended.

But we need to examine the Bible with fresh eyes. We need to stop looking through our boxes of junk and into the Bible. We need to remove the boxes of junk and study the life of Jesus and the early church with sincerity and without our own agendas in mind (no matter how noble they may seem). If we are honest with ourselves and hold each box of junk up to the light of Scripture, and get rid of all the junk that has accumulated in the church over the years that does not line up with Scriptures, we’ll get back to that clean room of the New Testament church. That’s right, we might actually start resembling the church in the New Testament. The church as the church was meant to be. We will no longer have to read our boxes of junk into the Bible, because all that will be left of the church is the people of God, coming together to love one another, serve others, and worship Him. I’m mean, that’s really what it’s all about anyway, right?

Two Weeks in One

Survivor was cancelled two weeks ago, so this last Thursday crammed two weeks into one. . This week is the two-hour season finale. Should be good.

Week 7, 13/11/08 Prt. 1
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE: BECKY VOTED OUT
As the Survivors came together for the reward, they had no idea what was in store for them. They knew that this was the family visit challenge where loved ones would come and compete with them, but they were wrong. Instead six staff members came to play along side them. Alex was pared with Sarah Canney, Pat with Janet Starks, Krista with Troy Carruthers, Dustin with Ben Canney, Kerri and Dana Butler, and Becky with Richard Starks. In the Challenge each survivor was blindfolded and had to get 3 clues that were scattered around, once they had the clue they could search for the reward. Dustin won the challenge and a $5 gift card. At the immunity challenge players had to stand on squares and flip them over as they moved, systematically eliminating each other. Dustin again dominated and won his first individual immunity. At Tribal Council, the votes were split between Pat, Kerri and Becky, but it was Becky who received the most and she was sent to the Jury.

Week 7, 13/11/08 Prt. 2
DUSTIN IS GONE: 4 ARE LEFT
After Becky's departure from the game the survivors were underway on another Immunity challenge. A history of Russia was read to the remaining 5 and the looks on their faces were of shock. The story proved to be confusing for the 5. After the story was read, each survivor had to answer 8 questions. 4 stations were set up and only one person was allowed in at a time. Kerri came in first followed by Pat, Dustin, Krista and then Alex. Kerri was the first up to find out her score, and she led the way through the rest of the scores with 5 winning her first Immunity. At Tribal council Dustin found himself for the first time on the outs. And with all 4 votes cast against him, he became the 5th member of the Jury.

Down to Six

Week 6, 30/10/08
TRAVIS BLINDSIDED BY THE IDOL
For the last 5 weeks, the survivors have been competing in challenges and voting each other off, but now it was time to test their memory in the reward challenge. They were asked several questions pertaining to past events during survivor. the first person to get 5 won the reward, which was a tray of apples and caramel dip. Becky ultimately won, and took Alex and Krista with her. Before she left though, she also sent Dustin to Exile, leaving Kerri, Travis and Pat with nothing. At the immunity challenge the survivors learned that they would be running an obstacle course and it would prove to be the toughest challenge in Survivor history. In the beginning Travis had the lead, but after one heat became tired, as well as everyone else. Pat did well the entire time and collected all 4 flags before anyone else, and won immunity saving him from being voted out this week. At tribal council it would have seemed that the ever strong alliance or 5 would remain strong and Kerri would be voted out, but when she revealed that she had the hidden immunity idol, everyone was in shock. By the end Travis had received the two votes from Pat and Kerri and it was enough to send him to the Jury.
Only 6 remain and the competition is only going to get harder, who will be voted off next?

Game Night

We had some friends over last night to hang out and play some games. Kari brought over her new espresso machine...that thing if amazing! She made all of us our choice of a latte, cappuccino, or cafe creme. They were delicious! The boys played some Guitar Hero while she was making the drinks. We then played a game that Kari and Andy received recently at a wedding shower...Imagine Iff. The premise of the game is that someone reads a card that would say something like "Imagine Iff...(fill in the name of someone playing) was a drink...what kind of drink would they be?" Then there would six options to choose from and each person holds up a card with the number corresponding to what they think is most like that person. The people who choose the majority answer get a point. It was a really fun game. We then played the classic game of Life. Jeff and I became doctors, lost our job and became sales people, went back to school and became vets, lost our jobs again and became police officers. Lesson learned...we should never go into medicine. Enjoy the pictures from the night. Have a great day everyone! much love

The former professional athlete turned lesbian mechanic

I guess she was a lesbian while she was an athlete as well...

The rich lawyers who suck at their job because they keep getting sued by the lesbian mechanic

The couple who sucked at practicing medicine on animals, so they lost their job and became hairstylists before resuming the practice of medicine...this time on people

Those who cannot practice medicine on people should become sales people...those who cannot practice medicine on animals should become cops

And Then There Were Seven

Week 5, 23/10/08
SHELLEY RUFFLES SOME FEATHERS BEFORE SHE LEAVES
As soon as all the members of Zolotoy arrived for survivor they were made to fill out a question sheet that would come into play at the immunity challenge. After they completed it, the game was back on, as the survivors got to bid on a variety of different items, at the Survivor Auction. This reward saw Becky walk away with a teddy bear, and Pat with a bottle of water, Shelley with a slinky and Kerri with a note that would come into the game at the immunity challenge. Kerri also won the ability to send someone to exile and take their money, she chose Dustin to go, and for the first time he was put in exile. After the Reward challenge the tribe went down stairs for the immunity challenge. Everyone had 4 cups lined up and every time they got a question right they could smash an opponents cup, once all your cups were gone, you were out of the game. Some of the questions were very interesting to hear, as Becky was labeled as the Sneakiest, and Krista the most trustworthy, and Kerri the least important in the game. When Kerri was almost taken out of the game she used the card which she had won in the reward challenge to switch places with Travis, giving him only one cup and Kerri now had 4, although it didn't pay off in the end as Alex walked away with her second immunity in a row. At tribal council, sparks flew as Shelley, Becky and Travis argued about what was going on, and Dustin admitted to backstabbing everyone in the game. When all was said an done though Shelley argument did not pay off, and she was sent packing,and became the second member of the Jury.

Once again, pictures coming soon...soon being whenever our internet wants to be fast.

Survivor Pictures

The New Zolotoy Tribe

First Individual Immunity Challenge

Top Three for the Challenge...Alex with her Immunity Hat

Me with the Second Immunity Idol of the Night (I was happier...Jeff just couldn't take a picture)

The Merge

WEEK 4, 16/10/08
LINES ARE DRAWN AS TODD GETS VOTED OFF
Survivor this week was guaranteed to be intense as the tribes were now merged into Zolotoy. As the Survivors gathered together they were put to the immunity challenge at the start. Each player had to stand barefoot in the rain on a paint can. While doing this they also had to hold over their head a frozen bottle of water. Through out the challenge, deals were offered to get people to step off their paint can. Shelley, Becky, Nathan, and Dustin all stepped off to take a deal leaving, Todd, Kerri, Travis, Krista, and Alex to fight it out for immunity. Kerri was the first to fall and was sent to Exile. By the end Travis and Alex were fighting for Immunity, but with Alex standing strong, she outlasted Travis, giving her the first individual immunity. Becky also received immunity in another quick game. At Tribal council, It would have appeared that 2 sides were formed, and the vote would determine where everyone stood. With 4 votes for Krista, and 4 for Todd, only one vote was left, and Todd found himself on the outs and the first member of the Jury.

P.S. Pictures Coming Soon
P.P.S. I still do not have full feeling back in my thumbs...more than 36 hrs later

Under Bridges

There's this song by Brave Saint Saturn called "Under Bridges." It's an amazing song that I recommend you check out. There's a line in it that says, "And all have hated...crucified and walked away...Savior of the prostitutes, drunkards, rapists, and the gays." Every time I listen to this song and hear this line I can't help but think of God's amazing love. Jesus didn't die just to save liars, gossipers, and thieves. His death on the cross doesn't just cover these "little" sins. His death covers all sins. While I know this, it's hard to live like I know this. It's easy to pick out certain sins or the people who struggle with a certain sin and say "they're too far gone." It's too easy for us to be the judge, when Christ calls us to love. Yes, some of the sins come with earthly consequences, but that does not mean we give up on someone. Christ died for all. Who are we to decide who deserves His love?

That song gets me thinking every time so I just thought I'd share a bit. Here's a video someone made for this song. Listen to it. It's good stuff. O, and the end is the best worship chorus ever.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, and this weekend has been incredibly uneventful...for me at least. I brought Jeff to the airport around 4 am on Thursday. He is in Tulsa visiting his grandparents. I stayed here and planned on getting a lot accomplished. That, however, has not even come close to happening. Thursday and Friday were regular days filled with class. Friday night I discovered that surfthechannel.com is still around, so I have spent much of my time without Jeff watching movies and catching up on TV shows (for those of you who do not know, we unhooked our satellite from our TV this year so we would not watch so much TV...now we just use it for Wii and movies). I must say that surfthechannel is absolutely amazing, yet has caused me to be highly unproductive. Besides surfthechannel, I have gone to Frenchy's (a Canadian Goodwill of sorts) with Erin, played some Mario Kart Wii with some friends, tried perfecting some delicious south beach peanut butter cookies, and made my first recipe with tofu. That tofu thing was pretty interesting...an almond energy blast (another SB recipe made with tofu, almonds, soy milk, and yogurt). I'm still not sure what I think of it. That has been my extended weekend thus far. Exciting, I know. much love

Yummy SB PB Cookies...even the crab and fish want some

Almond Energy Blast...at least what's left on the glass...thick stuff

Survivor--Week 3

WEEK 3, 9/10/08
DOUBLE TRIBAL TAKE ROOMIES OUT
When all the survivors showed up to compete this week, they were informed that each tribe had to select 2 team leaders. Krista and Travis were selected from Zcholtee and Dustin and Josh for Laurier. They were shocked to find out that they would be switching tribes. At the reward challenge, teams had to race back and forth truing to fill their bucket with water, but their transporting containers had holes and water was leaking out. Laurier won their second reward by 1 inch. this meant that they would compete in an individual immunity challenge. Before the challenge though the team leaders were switched back to their former tribes, allowing Dustin and Josh the privileged of competing in the immunity challenge. Again though, Laurier showed that they still could not win immunities when Krista and Travis waled away with the individual immunity. Zcholtee was first to Tribal Council, where no one seemed to know who to vote for. After Becky, Alex and Kerri all received one vote, Pat had received 4 and was the 4th person voted out of the game. Laurier was second to go to tribal, and both Josh and Dustin thought they were safe but it was Josh who found himself being the 5th person voted from the game. The Tribes have now become one, what will happen as the new tribe has to compete individually?

Survivor Week 2

WEEK 2, 2/10/08
A NIGHT OF FOOD AND TWO LEAVE THE GAME
As the tribes came together for the next immunity challenge, they were all excited to eat whatever came their way. Among the dishes was Snails, and a not so bad plate of Oranges. Both tribes tied, and Krista and Heather were sent to face off against each other to win Immunity. Zcholtee ultimately took home the Idol for the second time send Laurier Back to Tribal. Before they went they sent Todd to Exile, and Heather surprised everyone when she left the game for good. But the game still went on. Laurier went to Tribal and a shocked Greg found himself on the outside looking in as he became the second person to be voted out.
11 are left what will happen next week and who will become the sole survivor?

Cast Photo (minus Chyan)

Jenn's Survivor Night

Last spring, Jenn Carruthers and Darrek Thornton started a game of Survivor on campus. I was not a part of it in the spring, however, they decided to continue this semester and I am now part of the cast. It's a crazy fun, incredibly tense time. We meet every Thursday at Jenn's where we have a reward challenge, an immunity challenge, and tribal council. There is also a hidden immunity idol somewhere on campus which we periodically receive clues for. It's amazing. Every week I'll try to post Darrek's synopsis of that week (my timing will depend on when he gets it posted). Hope you're all as excited as I am.

WEEK 1, 18/9/08
NEW GAME NEW PLACE AND CHYAN FIRST OUT

The start of Survivor went off with a twist and several people left in shock. After the 2 tribes were divided they competed in their first immunity challenge, which had teams retrieving 5 bags containing letters to a phrase. The Zholtee tribe, (Pat, Kerri, Krista, Todd, Becky, Alex and Travis) won the challenge after they correctly solved the phrase, "Trust No One." This sent the Laurier Tribe (Shelley, Josh, Nate, Heather, Dustin, Greg, and Chyan) to the first tribal council. But there was a twist. Shelley and Dustin received Immunity and the Yellow Tribe picked 3 of the remaining 5 to be voted out. Greg, Nate and Chyan were Picked and in the end Chyan was sent home.

Cast Pictures

Laurier Tribe

Greg

Heather

DustinJoshShelleyNathanChyan
Zholtee Tribe

Alex
Travis

Krista

Pat

Kerri

Becky

Todd

WiiFit and South Beach

For our anniversary present to each other this summer, we bought a Wii. We're so romantic, I know :) We each had a game which we really wanted. Jeff got his Guitar Hero when we bought the Wii, but we could not find WiiFit anywhere! It was incredibly frustrating. However, about a month ago we went down to Walmart here in good ol' Sussex...and, lo and behold...a beautiful WiiFit sat on the bottom shelf in the Wii case. God is good :) We have both been enjoying our WiiFit. I would highly recommend it. For people who are already in good shape, it would just be a fun toy, but for those of us who cannot say this about ourselves, it is a beast of an excerize machine! Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it really does help. Everyday, we weigh in and find out our BMI and WiiFit Age. It is a very handy tool. The only downfall is that sometimes it says "OW" when you step on. That's not very nice to hear.

On another note, last fall Jeff and I sort of started the South Beach Diet. I say sort of because we read the book and followed the diet...when we felt like it. However, this summer all four of us (us and my parents) went on the diet hardcore (ok, so my dad wasn't so hardcore about it, but he still did great). Altogether we lost well over 100 big LBS. Jeff and I each lost between 25 nd 30 lbs. We've continued the diet since we've been back at school. In fact, we have started a bit of a trend on campus. At one points there were at least six other people who were on the diet, but I think that number has shrunk to 3 or 4. It's been good to have other people around who help keep us accountable...like yell at us when we cheat.

I'll try to get some pictures to go along with these last few posts (because I know it makes reading blogs way funner)....but we'll see how my internet goes. Have a great day everyone. much love

Jen's B-Day

A couple of weeks ago we went out for our friend's 21st birthday. There was a lot of drinking. Ok, not really. Jen's Canadian so the big 21 is no big deal. Anywho, we has a good time. We went to the new Indigo (a book store) in Saint John, then to the mall, then to East Side Mario's. Here are some pictures from the night. much love

Well, there were going to be pictures....I'll get them posted when our internet will let me.

Coffee Shop "Church"

In the last post, I briefly mentioned that Jeff and I have come up with the idea of a coffee shop "church." The more we talk about it, the more we realize this is not just some crazy idea that is never going to happen, but it's a matter of when it's going to happen. Without wanting to sound harsh, we both just feel today's "traditional" churches are not relevant to much of society. Yes, they do serve a great purpose. And no, we do not think that all churches are irrelevant and should just shut their doors. We know many great people who work in churches who are making incredible differences in their communities. However, we feel God calling us to work outside this traditional church setting. As also mentioned in an earlier post, I have been reading books like crazy this summer. They have got my creative juices flowing. The product of which is our coffee shop church idea.

Basically, we would open up a coffee shop and run it like any other small business. However, we would also use the building for church. This would get us in the community. It would also mean that any sort of tithes and offerings would not go toward building maintenance or salary, but would be put into the different ministries the church would have going (within the community and globally). Sunday morning services would be more discussion based rather than just listening to one person all the time. There are so many more details we have thrown around, but it's a bit much to cover in one blog. If anyone has any questions, I would love to chat. This has really become a passion of ours. We can't wait to see how all this plays out and see what God has in store for is. It's crazy exciting. Hope everyone has a great day. much love

Give Me Your Eyes

So I've been pretty much addicted to this sweet song lately. You may know it...you may not. If you don't, then you need to get to know it. It's a chill song with a message that has been speaking to my heart over and over as it plays on repeat. This video that someone put together is a bit cheesy, but is accomplishes the purpose of getting you to hear the song.

"Give Me Your Eyes"
by Brandon Heath



So there you go. Can't get enough of this song. It's my prayer daily. It's my prayer as Jeff and I consider what we'll be doing when we're done here. For now, we don't see ourselves in the traditional church setting. Our idea for now is a coffee house/church. Just loving people in our community...wherever that may be. Anywho, more to come on the crazy exciting idea later. Have a great day everyone. much love

Goodbye Warroad

That's right, our summer is pretty much over. We say goodbye to Warroad in the morning. We will be spending about a week in the cities and Austin visiting friends before our time in Minnesota is over. We will be doing a lot of traveling over the next week and a half, so you probably won't be hearing from us (not that you would be hearing from us in that amount of time anyway :)) It's getting late and we've got an early morning ahead of us. Have a great day everyone. much love

Journey

To anyone on the outside looking in, this summer would look like a fairly ordinary, somewhat dull summer. I've just been living in Warroad, trying to make some money at Subway, and traveling around Minnesota with Jeff. Nothing all too exciting. But God's really been taking me on a journey this summer. In fact, I can see where this journey began a few years ago, but it seems to have made giant steps this summer. It all started by reading books like Blue Like Jazz and Velvet Elvis a few years back. A lot of new ideas presented themselves to me through books like these. They really got me thinking and started challenging me.

Fast forward to this summer. This summer I have just been devouring books. Books that have proved even more challenging than the ones previously mentioned: books like The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President. Even though I was being challenged by what seemed like every page I read--challenged by everything from Fair Trade to being environmentally friendly to the war in Iraq--I still felt as though something was missing. (Now, I do not necessarily agree with 100% of everything I have been reading. However, my positions on matters such as these have been challenged, and some key beliefs have been altered.)

Enter camp. Although I was a counselor, God still did some pretty sweet stuff in my life at camp. We had some quality one-on-one time when we took care of some issues that needed to be taken care of. But even more than that, it was the interaction with my campers that made the biggest difference. I was finally able to use some of the knowledge from classes and the books I've been reading to help out. It was good to see some fruit from all those hours of classes and writing papers. It was very encouraging indeed. While I had been reading all this stuff that had been challenging me to the core, camp helped make it more personal. I needed the personal Jesus thing to help make sense of all that was challenging me.

Since then, I've continued to consume even more books. While I have been challenged in my personal life, I have also been reading these books with youth ministry on the brain. I can't help but read these books and think about how I can integrate some of these ideas into youth ministry. (It doesn't seem all that far off now...less than a year now and I'll be starting my internship. Crazy.) God's definitely been stirring in me and putting some crazy ideas in my head about youth ministry. I'm excited to be in a position where I can put come of these ideas into practice.

That's been my summer. Normal on the outside, but a whole lot going on on the inside. It's good times indeed. I know some of this might sound a bit vague, but if you want to know more, I would LOVE to talk with you about it. All you need to do is ask. Have a great everyone. much love becky

Books I've read along this journey: Blue Like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts, and Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller; Velvet Elvis and Sex God by Rob Bell; The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne; Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw; Everything Must Change and Finding Our Way Again by Brian McLaren; Jim and Casper Go to Church by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper; and Lord, Save Us from Your Followers by Dan Merchant.

Travel Time

We will be travelling for a bit. Friday after work Jeff dropped me off in the cities where I'm staying with some friends (Kate and Raquel) for a few days. Then he headed down to Taopi to spend some time with the Voigts. He's already back on his way to Warroad because he has to work this week. I'll be heading down to camp tomorrow. Jeff will be down next weekend to pick me up. I know it's not all that exciting, but that is what we are up to. I'll write more about our trips when I get back to Warroad. much love

Back in Warroad

We have been keeping quite busy since leaving Sussex. Our trip out here was as good as any 40 hour drive can get. Jeff started working at Doug's (the only grocery store in Warroad) two days after we got here. He's cutting meat for them. He is enjoying it way more than the loading dock at Marvin's. I'm back at Subway for the summer. Both our jobs have been keeping us quite busy. When we're not working, we've been helping my dad out with his new venture. My parents are starting a small business, Heritage Acres. This summer they are planting blueberries and grapes. The blueberries are just about finished, and the grapes will be here next week. Jeff's been helping out with the planting and all that sort of thing. My job has been quite a bit easier...taking pictures of everything so my parents can make a scrapbook/photo album of the whole experience. Other than that, we haven't been up to a whole lot. Jeff, of course, has found the time to do some fishing, and I have found the time to watch the Lakers and do some reading. That's it for now. Have a great day everyone. much love

I Love L.A.

Not much has been happening here. Campus is cleared out, and we're just waiting until Tuesday so we can leave. Jeff's been working on getting the dorms cleaned out and everything else he has to do at the end of the year. I've been laying around, doing a whole lot of nothing. One thing I have been enjoying is watching the NBA playoffs. I love watching the Lakers. I have done pretty darn good not posting anything on here all season, but I just can't help myself now. Sweep of the first round. Won game one of round two today. Kobe is probably the MVP. Gotta love it. Let's just hope I haven't jinxed 'em. That's it for now. much love

All Done

We finished our last finals today. Oh what a joy that was. The end of the year has been crazy with papers, projects, and tests. It is so nice to be done with all of that, especially because it's finally warming up here. We've been able to get outside more...go for walks, play tennis, throw a softball around. It's been good. Jeff misses the snow but I'm loving the sun. We leave here on the 6th for Minnesota where we will be living for the summer. Sorry for such a bland post, but not a whole lot of news this way. I'll try and get something a little more interesting up within the next few days. much love

Devotions in Public Schools?

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to share Jesus with the kids at the schools on the island. We led morning devotions at 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools during the week.

Say "Macaroni and Cheese"

Giving my message at Charlestown Secondary School

Waiting in the principal's office

A couple of the primary schools...they are just adorable!

Inside the classroom

Ministry in Nevis

Andrew with some kids at church

Children's Ministry Pictures