Life's Trials

Sometimes it is so hard to understand God's plan for life. The last several days have been pretty hard for me. On Wednesday night I found out that a three year old boy at my church back home was diagnosed with cancer (probably Wilm's Tumor). Then on Thursday night I found out that one of the little babies that I have taken care of on Tuesday night at a local church died of complications from Spina Bifida. It was so shocking and sad to hear of these two events. It is so hard to think that two weeks ago I saw the little boy running around and playing, just being a normal three year old, and now he is so sick with cancer. It was just four or five weeks ago that I held this little baby girl in my arms, trying to comfort her and now she is gone. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. It is times like these that remind me of what is really important in life and how short it is. I am reminded that really the only thing that matters in this life is whether or not you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I know that I do and so I don't have to worry about where I am going to go after I die. I know for sure that I will go to heaven, but what about all the people in this world that don't have that assurance. It also reminds me that as a Christian I need to do all I can to reach out to the people around me because nobody know when they are going to die. We can't just have fun and make the decision to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ after we have done what we want to do. We need to do it now because we may not be alive much longer. I'm not trying to be negative, but that is the honest truth. It is during difficult times like these that I turn to Christ and his word for comfort. One of the passages that comes to mind is:

Psalm 46 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart
of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river who streams make
glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High
dwells.
God is within her; she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he break the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

It is so important, yet so hard to just be still and know that God is God and that he does have a plan in circumstances like this. Yet this is exactly what God had called us to do, even when His plan does not make sense. I hope that these two stories remind continue to remind us all as Christians of how important it is to share Christ's abounding love with the people around us every day. Please join me in praying for these two families as they go through this very difficult time. (If you are reading this and are not sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and/or you have questions about any of this, please comment and I would be glad to help you with your questions!)

Easter Weekend

This past weekend I went home to spend Easter with my family. It was such a wonderful weekend. I got home late Friday night after riding the train. On Saturday I helped my parents get ready for my mom's cousin, her husband, and their two kids to come in from New Jersey. In addition, I got to do a little bit of shopping that I didn't get the chance to do over Spring Break. The company arrived around 4:30 on Saturday. Then on Saturday night, the kids (who are 12 year old twins) and I had a blast dying Easter eggs.

On Sunday, we all went to church. I enjoyed the service so much. It was so encouraging and I learned a lot from the sermon. I was once again reminded of the amazing thing Jesus Christ did for me, which was die on the cross for my sins and then rise again on the third day so that I could be saved. That afternoon my siblings and their spouses were over at my house to celebrate Easter and spend time together. We had several Easter egg hunts (which we never do because my siblings never want to do them) and I got to see my niece, Lilli. This was especially fun since I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I very much enjoyed getting to see everybody. On Sunday night, I went to see a movie with the kids, which was a lot of fun as well. I very much enjoyed getting to hang out with them by myself.

I was a bad girl and decided to skip class on Monday for several reasons. Mainly because I wanted to spend more time with the relatives from New Jersey and I didn't feel like spending five hours on the train on Easter. On Monday, we all went to the arch and Union Station. We went up in the arch and saw the video of how it was made. Then that afternoon, I took the kids to the park and we played and ran around. On Monday night, we all went out to dinner. Monday was such a fun day as well. I had a lot of fun at the Arch, Union Station, and the park.

On Tuesday, we went to Florissant so that the kids could meet their pen pals and then they left town. I returned to school on Tuesday evening. This weekend was so much fun. The last time I saw these relatives from New Jersey was six or seven years ago, so it was absolutely wonderful to see them, especially the kids. What a wonderful weekend.

Group Projects

As many of you know, group projects are an integral part of a college education, but I definitely not a fan of them. I understand that they are a useful teaching strategy and that people need to learn how to work together, but they are so difficult. I would much rather just do the project myself and get it done with instead of trying to set up times to meet with people, and deal with people who don't do their part. Right now I have at least five group projects assigned. Two are due this coming week and the others are due sometime in April. The first one that is due this week is for health class. My group has some kind of irresponsible boys in it who are supposed to put the majority of the power point together and then the whole group with get together to put the finishing touches on it. I just know I am going to get to class tomorrow and find out that nothing has been done on it and that we will have like 72 hours to do all the research and put the presentation together. The second project is to write a group paper for my Nursing class. It is just a weird assignment. Why in the world is a group of people trying to write ONE paper? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I can understand a power point, poster, or some other type of thing a group can work on together, but a PAPER? My group for this project is having an even harder time. We were all supposed to read an article and then answer a set o questions about the articles. Then one girl volunteered to write the paper putting together all of the peoples answers. Then the group would get together to put the finishing touches on it. Well, she has only received answers from half the group and one girl just gives excuses for why she hasn't turned anything in. I really don't like group projects. They are such a hassle.

Spring Break!

I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything here. I have been really busy with school and other stuff going on. Well, this past week was Spring Break and a lot has happened. I didn't go anywhere unlike most college students because I wanted to go home and have a relaxing break with family and friends. In addition, I needed to take a break because when I get back from school at the end of the year, I will only have about a week until staff training starts for camp this summer. Even though I didn't go anywhere, I had a lot of fun. On Tuesday night I went out with some girls from the young adult group at my church, which I really enjoyed. Then on Wednesday night I got to hang out with my sister-in-law. We got pedicures and went out to eat. On Friday night both my brother and sister-in-law came over to play board games with me, which is one of our favorite things to do together. Lastly, I went bowling with a friend from High School that I haven't seen in quite a while. These were the big events, but in between them, I did lots of shopping, went to the doctor (because I got kind of sick on Tuesday), helped my Mom and Dad around the house, did a little bit of homework and other various things. In general, I had a great Spring Break.

SNOW!!

So we got about 5 inches of snow today where I live. I was so excited because I love snow, especially when I don't have to go anywhere. Snow is so beautiful and it always reminds me of the beauty of God's creation. Isn't God so wonderful. Enjoy these pictures of the snow!

This picture shows how much snow we got!

These are pictures of my backyard with trees covered with snow!



My snow covered car!

The view of my backyard from the front of my house.

This is the school across the street from my house.

Crazy Weather!

The weather around where I live is so crazy. Last week is was bitterly cold, then this past weekend the temperatures got as high as 65 degrees. They lasted until early this morning, then as the day progressed it got colder and started snowing. It has now been snowing for the last couple of hours. Tonight the temperatures are supposed to get as low as 7 degrees. I can't believe that it was so warm this weekend and now it is so cold. Later this week we are supposed get get even more snow and the temperatures are supposed to stay low. Then, once again, this weekend the temperatures are supposed to warm up again. The weather around here is so random and unpredictable.

This Summer

I know it is kind of early to start thinking about what I am going to be doing this summer, but as many of you know I like to plan far ahead. Over Christmas Break, one of the wonderful opportunities I had was to go to the YMCA Camp Lakewood Staff Reunion. It was a whole lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing people that I haven't seen for quite a while, as well as, getting to be in the camp environment again. Well, as might be expected, when I was there I decided that I really wanted to return to some kind of camp environment this summer, but I didn't know how it was going to happen. Ever since I changed my major, I have been planning on taking a summer class in order for me to graduate Spring of 2011. I started looking at my four year plan and realized that I could not take the class I was planning to take because I will have not taken the prerequists for it. I was so excited.

I did spend some time looking into Ridge Haven Camp (camp for the PCA denomination). After doing quite a bit of research and even talking to some people who worked there, I decided that it was not the place for me. There are several reasons for this: First of all it is really far away and the logistics of getting me there are a lot more complicated. Second, is that I really need to make more money than they were able to offer me.

Well, all of this is to say that I am officially returning to YMCA Camp Lakewood for a second summer. I am so excited about this and am once again very thankful for this opportunity God has given me to minister to children. Even though there were some aspects of last summer that were quite difficult, I feel like this is what God has called me to do and that he is using this opportunity to prepare me for possible missions work in the future. Not only has God given me the opportunity to minister to the children that I come in contact with, but also to the other staff that I come in contact with. I pray that God will use me in a powerful way to change the lives of kids this summer. I can't wait until May 18th when staff training starts.