What I Learned at Consumed

Southern Hills partners with several other churches in the area to plan a convention for our middle and high school students called Consumed.  The purpose is to connect students from different youth groups and to challenge students spiritually.  Here's a summary of what I learned while at White Water Express in Tennessee with 300 teenagers.

Drinking water is a must.  Showers are not.

Nothing refreshes like white water rafting.

It doesn't matter who is behind the weapon, a veteran paintball-er or a newbie, it's going to hurt when you get hit.

Accept the fact that you will get hit with a paintball and you will be much more beneficial to your team.

The key to victory is to get out of the bunker.  (I think there is a church/evangelism metaphor here...)

A rope between two trees will entertain a crowd for hours.  As will a ring attached to a string and a hook on the wall.

Mission trip or not, be flexible.

In Silent Football, the proper term is "thwack."

You may get one point for failing to thwack when thwacked upon, but disrespect the Game Master and your in for some serious trouble.

Ghosting works best when the person is actually moving.

Inescapable heat, body odor, stuffy disheveled cabins (Did a tornado come through our room?  No?  Then how did your bra get in my bag?), and overcrowded meeting rooms will not prevent God from showing up.

What I Learned at Camp

This past week I was at Woodland Christian Camp chaperoning the Drama and Music Camp for 4th through 6th graders.  It was an amazing week!  I was the cabin mom for six outstanding girls, had a great cast for my skit, and worked with a great team from Southern Hills.  Here are some things I learned (or re-learned):

Kids can act!  (Encouragement and praise beside direction helps.)

Expect a lot and you will get a lot.

Little things make a big difference- like glow sticks, hugs, watching a dive at the pool, sharing a kind word, sticking up for a friend when no one else will, being a shoulder to cry on, a cup of caffeinated soda, a nightlight.

Balloons and glitter make unplanned free time fun.

Bee-stings hurt!  For real!

The "George Washington Pool Hairdo" never goes out of style.

Hide and Seek in a camp cabin is possible and a blast!

With a group of girls there are three bed times: 1) lights out 2) everyone to their own bunks 3) no more giggling.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  A coconut is not a fruit of the Spirit.

Time Set

Our last series at church was titled "What a Difference a Day Makes."  For the graphics and stage set, our creative team focused in on the time aspect of the series.  We made abstract triangle columns that we saw on this site, added fancy lightening and VOILA! the stage was set.

Ok, making a 16 foot by 12 foot clock was not that easy.  But it was worth it!  I thought the abstract triangles and larger-than-life clock gave the stage an "Alice in Wonderland" feel.

We removed the center of the clock and placed it two feet in front of the rim to give more depth to the set.  This also allowed for band members to enter the stage from the back through the clock.  A lamp was placed behind the center to light the rim.  At times the rim was also lit with stage lights for more affect.

For the next series, we are simply removing the clock and adding another column of triangles in its place.

How we made the clock- The clock is made up of 3 layers of alternating insulation foam board.  (Remember to use foam board glue!  Other glues will eat through your project.)  Once the glue cured, we stood the giant sheet up and I finished the clock with it standing.  I projected the image onto the board, traced it, cut it out with a saws-all, used high-gloss paint, and filled in the seams with caulk.  The center is mounted to the floor with spare 2 x 4s and the rim is secured to a giant wall we have near the back of our stage.  When we removed the clock, it was cut into manageable pieces that will be recycled for future sets.

How we made the triangles- Melissa made the triangles out of coroplast, or sign board.  We planned to hang them from fishing line, but the triangles were too heavy.  So Kevin and Andrew fixed them to 2 x 4s that are secured to the ceiling.

Mistaken Identity

I'm browsing the shelves at a store when I a stranger approaches me.
"Can you tell me where I can find the ___?" they ask.
I turn my gaze away from the product I'm inspecting and give them a puzzled look.  "Excuse me?" I politely reply because I didn't catch their question the first time.
"O I'm sorry.  Do you work here?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't.  But what are you looking for?  I might be able to help."

Has this ever happened to you?

It happens to me.

All the time.

The most recent time was at Hobby Lobby.  A man approached me as I was kneeling in the clearance aisle sorting through a bin of beads.  This is understandable and a simple mistake, but I don't get it when this happens at Wal-Mart.  Am I holding a price scanner?  Do I have on a name tag?  Do you see me wearing khakis and a blue shirt?  No.

I don't understand why this happens to me so frequently, but I appreciate the opportunity to help and serve other people.

Welcoming Committee

While in Nicaragua, our landlord sprayed our house for bugs because we had been having a problem with ants.  Funny thing about these ants was they weren't in our sugar bowl or honey, but we kept finding them in our coffee maker reservoir.

Nicaragua is over-populated with over-sized bugs.  LeErin almost slept with a millipede, we heard about huge centipedes, made friends with a scorpion, went to church with a ginormous beetle, were entertained by jumping bugs, and shared dinner with countless flies.  Bugs were constantly around us.  Yet, I did not see them to be a problem.  The flies were certainly annoying, but the bugs were manageable.  The barking geckos ate a good portion and none bothered me in my sleep.  But I was excited to come home to a bug free house and generally less bug populated country.

When we walked in our front door we were greeted by 1 partially dead and 3 totally dead cockroaches.  I was glad Kevin sprayed and happy to see the evidence of such, but was freaked to know that these guys had been hiding out somewhere in my home.  But the following morning, the ants were still marching across our counter and now into our sugar.  Last night I felt something crawling in my hair.  I flung it on the ground and turned the light on to see a cockroach scurrying across the floor.  Didn't get much sleep after that (despite my husband getting out of bed to kill it for me).

How is it that I stayed for 7 days surrounded by bugs with no real problems and now in my own home bugs are cuddling up with me at night?  YUCK!  I'll put up with the ants if I can get rid of the roaches.  Apparently though roaches are a common problem in Georgia.  Lovely.

Today I'll be purchasing roach and ant bate stations, seven dust, and whatever other cockroach killing products the store may offer.  Maybe I'll even get a barking gecko.  They seem to do the trick in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua or Bust

On Saturday June 4th, Corey and I will be loading a plane headed towards Nicaragua for a short term missions trip.  Our church has partnered with Mustard Seed Missions in Managua and during our trip we will be participating in on-going construction projects in the Aduano Dos community as we continue to build relationships with the people who live here.  We will also be hosting a VBS for the children who come daily to a central feeding program at the church.  Along with VBS supplies, we are bringing 1,000 pairs of prescription eye-glasses to give to those in the community.

Over the past two months, our team has been meeting and praying about our trip.
I can't believe it's already here!

I'm very excited to hear stories of victory from the missionaries Michael and Lisa Perkins.
I'm can't wait to see how God is working in Nicaragua.
I'm looking forward to serving and working with our team (especially my husband).
I know that God is going to teach me through this experience; I pray I am open to His lessons.

The end of the world?

The world was supposed to end this past Saturday.  I'm sure you heard as it was plastered all over Facebook.  I hesitate to write about it because it seems to be all I've heard about on social networks, but I've had three thoughts I can't shake and would like to share.

The first- I had no doubt that God was not coming back.  But what if He had?  And not because of some mathematical equation a man forced on Him, but because those who believed it acted in such a manner to bring back Christ.  What if those who thought the end of days was near did everything in their power to spread the message of salvation to those who did not know Christ and in doing so created the conditions necessary for Christ's return?  Saturday has come and gone.  I guess their efforts weren't enough.   

The second- In college I created a list of "Things to do before I die."  The list includes things like

      Build and camp-out in a tree house.

      Leave someone a $100 tip.

      Ride a camel.

      Learn to change the oil of my car.

      Crash a wedding.

Since moving to Georgia, I have accomplished (unknowingly) two of the things on my list.  Oddly enough both were in the same week!

      Learn to knit.

      Bake an apple pie from scratch.
I had forgotten about this list until all the hub-bub about the end of days.  Many I will not accomplish unless I purposely set out to do so.  Guess I better start cracking on my list and live intentionally!

The third- How awesome would it be to be in the baptistery at Christ's return?!?

As so many on Facebook have pointed out, the end is indeed near and we should be acting as such all the time.