Surprise at ARISE Part 2

So this is part two of yesterday's post! :) After we finished eating, we went up to the game room and all played some games together. Here are some shots :)

Melissa Guthrie: future ping pong pro. 

Playing with Shannon, who is another future ping pro :) I am so honoured to take pictures of them before they're famous! :)

Guess who?

...Carmen! :D

This event was so awesome it had TWO photographers :)

Filipinos are good at foosball! :)

At about 10, a group of tired, happy people left for bed. It was a really fun night, and a good chance to have some fun with friends! :) I miss you all, and Victoria, thank you SO MUCH for having a birthday! :)

Surprise at ARISE

Last month, at the beginning of October, Val and Allie had the brilliant idea that Cyrus, Melissa and I should come and visit them at ARISE. We all, of course, loved this idea, but Cyrus had a big test the next weekend, and the weekend after that was a closed weekend at Weimar, and the weekend after that Melissa was busy, and then they had an evangelistic series. So despite the threatening emails, the pleading Skype chat, and our own desire to drive and see everyone, we hit a dead end. 

Then, about a week before the closed weekend, I received an email in my inbox. I had been Bcc'd on an email Matthew sent to the girls' dean at Weimar, asking if Melissa and I could come down for Victoria's birthday! We were surprised and super excited, but we were pretty sure that it wouldn't work out (so we tried not to get our hopes up). Surprisingly, the school said yes! We cheered, we jumped up and down, we packed, we told Cyrus, we cheered again, and on Friday we began the long drive.

8 hours we spent in the car, for our dear friend Tori, and then we finally got there. She came in to see some her ARISE friends holding up a Happy Birthday sign, and then Allie gave her a completely blank card (that we had gotten for her) that said, "The distance between two friends..." on the cover, and then on the inside: "...is never as far as it seems." She was kind of confused, and begin to tear up. "I don't know who I'm supposed to be missing," she said, "but I really miss all of my friends!" Then we walked in, and there was much crying and snapping pictures and recording videos and smiling. It was THE best. Surprising people is my new favourite hobby. :)

Here are some snapshots of the weekend. Sorry for the blurriness in some of the shots, but the memories they capture are worth it. I love and miss you all!

COCONUT cake! Best. Thing. Ever.

This shot is really blurry, but I think it really captures Matthew as his usual self. :)

Tori telling some one on the phone how we had surprised her :)

This pretty much captures why we went - for Victoria, because she is one of our closest friends, and we love her and miss her a lot! Love you Tori! :)

Canvassing

This last summer, I went canvassing again. When most people say canvassing again, they mean for their second summer, perhaps their third. But I was actually going for my fifth summer. That's right, my fifth summer. It was a hard decision to go again, because I wasn't sure if that was what God wanted me to do, and I liked the idea of just staying at home and spending time with my family. God has a much higher calling for each one of us, however. He calls us to do whatever it takes to tell others about Him, to share with them the good news that they've found. :)

Joel reading his birthday card :)

This picture was taken by my good friend Moses :) I thought I should at least include one picture with me in it. lol.

Lol Misa's face is priceless!

Nancy didn't really like the cherry tomatoes. 

Moses and Sheela (she's wearing our class sweatshirt!) :)

Extended Vacation

Hello everyone,

I am really sorry I haven't written on my blog for a long while, but college life is quite a lot busier than I thought it would be. Yes, I am at Weimar college, and it has been quite the journey. First of all, I arrived late, missing registration, a tour of the [very small] campus and orientation. I started classes the very next day, and it's been a whirlwind ever since. I work 20 hours a week, have 17 credits going, and go to town every weekend. It has been amazing so far, although I can't say that there haven't been any bumps or hurdles. All I can say is that I know that God has led me here, at least for this semester.

So that's me. As for my 33 other class members, they're all scattered - from Spain to Tennessee to California to Alberta to Washington to Vermont to Oregon to Indonesia to British Columbia, and even more. I miss them a lot, and pray for them all the time. As for the classmates that are with me at Weimar (including Desiree), I couldn't be more grateful and happy to have them there (and James too). It makes it so much easier to know that someone understands my homesickness for Canada and understands why all other carrots taste repulsive and understands why I don't think cold California lakes are very cold at all and who understands my longings for a little school in a valley far, far away.

When I left Fountainview, I had convinced myself that I would move on, that I was just continuing to the next chapter of my life. During the summer, everything went smoothly. I went home, hung out with my family, worked at camp meeting, and went canvassing - and then I went back to school. This was different school. At the same time, it was nearly identical. Similar rules in so many areas, similar campus, similar types of staff - none of these things were bad, they just seemed out of place at a college.

As the year kept going, I realized that I could choose to hate it, and drag myself reluctantly through every moment, or I could choose to enjoy it for the time I was there, and pray that soon the chosen enjoyment would become real. Thankfully, I chose the second option, and every week, God makes it a little more for me. The weekends are always a huge blessing, like a little glimmer of starlight through stormy clouds. They are a welcome relief from college stresses and mountains of homework, especially the Sabbath. I honestly do not think I will ever appreciate the Sabbath enough. Every time I think that I have reached the epitome of pure gratefulness for the Sabbath, another beautiful one comes again and surprises me with its indispensability.

Anyways, as this Sabbath wraps up, I just wanted to let you all know what has been happening to me, and how much God has been leading me, in distinctively different ways than ever before. I am truly blessed by everything that He's done for me, and I hope that you realize you are too! :)

Sincerely,
Fellow Blogger returning from vacation