Church Update

Here is an update on my home church. My mom called me today and said that she had some very bad news to tell me. The news was that the youth pastor and another youth worker annouced at a meeting on Wednesday that they were resigning from their positions. This is very hard for me to hear because I was very close to the youth worker that is resigning. I was also very suprised. When I was home for Spring Break, I was able to attend my church for two weeks and I finally felt like things were begining to settle down. I also thought that everyone who was going to leave would have already left by now. Sometimes I just don't understand why God does things. I mean why would God completely split up a church that is faithfully serving Him for many years. I am trying to trust that God continues to have a plan for Twin Oaks, but it is really hard to do when people keep leaving and things like this keep happening. It was not announced where either the youth pastor or other youth worker will be going, so I guess I will just have to wait and find out what happens. When I think about these two people leaving, I am very thankful that this did not happen when I was in the Youth Group last year because I don't know what I would have done. I am going to miss these two people a whole lot. I will continue to keep you updated on the situation.

Disappointing News

As you may know, I have been trying to decide about whether I should work at YMCA Camp Lakewood or a Salvation Army Camp. I have not been technically offered a job at either one yet, but they both sounded really promising. Well, yesterday I called the Salvation Army Camp to try and get some more information about it and what I found out was pretty disappointing. I found out that it was not a camp specifically for children. They have all different kinds of groups that come to their camps. These include teen camps, family camps, children's camps, and senior citizen camps. These are all wonderful, but they are not exact what I was expecting and not exactly what I want to do. Therefore, I have taken the Salvation Army Camp off my list. I feel like I am back to square one. I am trying to patient as I wait to hear back from YMCA Camp Lakewood.

Exciting Night!!!!

Tonight I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my college's regional championship men's basketball game. My school is classified as an NCAA Division II school. The game was absolutely incredible!! There were a whole lot of students there and a whole lot of energy. This is the first time since 1995 that our team has gotten this far in the tournament. Our team played really well and are going to the Elite Eight(National Tournament for NCAA Division II teams). I very much enjoyed the game tonight. It was a wonderful experience to see a game this important. I am very glad I got to go.

Home for Spring Break!!

This week is Spring Break for me. I have been very busy this week going to doctors appointments, visiting with friends, spending time with my family, and cleaning my room. On Monday, I had my job interview with the people from Salvation Army. It went very well, but was a little weird. I was supposed to meet the person at a Starbuck's near my house. I got there and the women that I was supposed to have the interview with was not there. Then, finally a man from Salvation Army came into the store. after he got there the interview only lasted about 10-15 minutes. He basically asked me if I had any questions and then left. This was a very weird experience. I have never had an interview like this before. The interview went well though. He said that from my application and references that I would continue to have a place in the process. I will hopefully find out next week sometime if I get the job. Now, the hard part is trying to decide wheter I want to work at the Salvation Army camp or for YMCA Camp Lakewood.

I have a bunch of other things to do this week and then I will go back to school on Sunday. Once I get back to school I will only have eight weeks left till the school year is over. I can not believe that I have almost finished my Freshman Year in college. I will let you know what I decide to do about the camps.

This Past Week

This past week has been very busy. I had major tests in Spanish, Ecology, and Math. This has been kind of frustrating, but the good thing is that I don't think I will have very many more tests between now and Spring Break, which is just a couple of weeks away.

One thing that has characterized this week is the cold weather. It has been in the teens all week long and we have had snow twice this week. On Tuesday one of my classes got cancelled because of the snow and then it has been snowing tonight. I am thankful for the weather that God provides us, but I am getting quite sick of this extremely cold weather and snow. It seems like we have had snow on the ground here the majority of the time since I got back from Christmas break. It is absolutely miserable walking around campus when it is this cold and there is this much snow. In addition to the FREEZING temperatures, it is also quite windy, which makes it even colder outside. I will be so glad when it gets warmer outside.

The other major thing that happened this week is that I had a summer job interview with a different camp called Camp Lakewood. It is located in Potosi, near the Ozarks. This is a completely separate camp from the one I mentioned in a previous post. This interview went extremely well. They basically said that they were going to check my references and if my references matched what I said about who I was then they would start talking to me about a contract. This is extremely exciting. Now, I am anxious to find out what is going to happen. If both of the camps offer me a job then I will have to make the hard decision of which one I should work at. I have been on the Internet doing some more research about these camps and they both sound like a lot of fun. Looking at pictures of children swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and playing games outside is making me crave Spring Break and Summer. I can't wait until Spring Break and ultimately I can't wait for summer. I am really excited about the opportunities that God seems to be giving me to minister to children. I hope that I end up getting one of these jobs because my dream job is working at a summer camp for children. I will keep you updated on things.

I am excited because tomorrow night I will be going to a sweetheart dinner that is being put on by the church that I am involved with here. I am excited because I will get to know the people at the church better. I haven't been going to this church for too long, so I don't know many of the people very well. I will also get to spend time with this women and her family that I stayed with a couple of weeks ago. It will be good to see her. I can't wait till tomorrow night.

Church Update

On Sunday February 11, my church at home had a special evening worship service. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there, but my parents gave me this report. At this service the congregation met downstairs and sat at tables. They worshipped at the tables and then afterward they all were fellowshiping together and talking about how they had seen the Lord work in their lives and in the life of the church. This was very good for everybody at church. First of all, it was a great way to unite my church. When everyone was together it helped to strengthen and heal relationships. There were testimonies of how the pastor had worked in peoples lives, which was and is exactly what my church needs right now. I think this was very encouraging to my pastor and many people from the congregation. It was good to finally get some good news about the things going on in my church.

Leadership Development Conference

This past weekend I went to a leadership development conference with the Baptist Student Union (BSU) at my school. This is the Christian ministry that I have been involved in this year. There are only two other Christian ministies on campus and I have found that BSU has met my spiritual needs. I went to this conference because I have joined the Joshua Team this semester which is a student leadership team. I very much enjoyed this conference and I learned a lot. One of the things I enjoyed most about it was getting to know people in the group. All year I have been going to the BSU and never really felt like I knew people. I now really feel like I am apart of the BSU. I also got to know the leader better which was a lot of fun.