It's official

Starting June 1st, by God's grace, I will officially become the College Director at my church!! Ahhhh...

This was a huge decision for me, including weeks of prayer and seeking counsel. It's been amazing to see how the Lord has turned my heart around during this process. I have a real peace that this is what He has in store for me next. It is of course, very scary to think that I will be in charge of a whole ministry, but I had a revelation a few weeks ago that has been so awesome.

When I was co-leading the college ministry with my boss Charlie, I didn't need to rely on God. I relied on Charlie. Charlie has been in ministry for years and he knows what's going on. So I always went to him when I should have been going to God. Now that Charlie will not be there anymore, I'm left alone. But I'm NOT alone. This is going to give me the opportunity to run to God when I am nervous or feel inadequate. When I have doubts or feel scared. I will be depending on Him so much more. I should have been doing that since the beginning. But now it will really come into play.

And you know what? That excites me. Relying on God like I never have before. It's going to be hard and I'm going to learn alot. But I feel like my life has been leading me up to this point, so I am feeling ready for it.

Oh college students....we have more good times ahead of us.

Drama

So, I guess this is the week for drama in the college group. I am doing a lot of listening and a LOT of praying. I'm a bit drained but hanging in there. It's crazy that there is so much happening at once. And I'm speaking tomorrow night and I NEED to go finish my talk. We are starting a new series - The 4 Loves. Tomorrow night is the 1st love: between child and parent. (Don't ya love the picture?) I am really looking forward to it.

Sleepy sleepy

A bunch of friends and I are doing a triathlon in two weekends. So it's crunch time for training. I just went on a long swim tonight and really pushed myself. It felt really good. I came home and inhaled my dinner. I was so hungry! And now I am so pooped. I can't wait to go to bed. G'night!

He-e-e-e-e-e-e-r-e's JOHNNY!!!

Hello friends. Big news this week...I got a new car! He is 2006 Toyota Corolla LE. It's been a month or so without a car and I am so thankful to finally have one again. No more trying to find rides or taking the bus. =)

His name is Johnny. Let me share how he got his name. To start off, his color is described by Toyota as "phantom grey pearl". Don't you just LOVE how they make normal colors sound so amazing? So anyway, the roomates were saying I should name my car after someone in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie (one of my favs) because the ship is called the Black Pearl. We decided to take the car out for a spin and head downtown for a celebratory ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. On our way there, we were trying out names: Orlando (no), Captain (no), Jack Sparrow (no), Barbossa (no), and on and on. Finally someone said "Johnny" after Johnny Depp and hmmmm...that wasn't too bad for a car name.

So we go into Coldstone and were greeted by a friendly male worker. Probably 19 or 20, Coldstone hat with a l-o-n-g ponytail in the back, a black shirt that said "Friends don't let friends buy grocery store ice cream", and SUPER chatty. He was talking and talking with us. So nice and eager to serve. He and the other workers sang for us when we tipped them. We sat down with our ice cream and were still trying to think of a name. (Johnny was still high on the list) Finally, one roomate said we should go out on a limb and just name my car whatever our 19 year old server's name was! I was like, "No way! What if his name is Skippy?!"

Then we went into this whole tirade of guys' names he might be: Hank, Stuart, Rodney, and more. We were cracking ourselves up. Then we had to figure out how to find out his name because he didn't have a nametag on. So boldly I just went, "OK! I'm going to go ask him!!" I walk over while he's ringing someone up for their ice cream and say, "Thanks so much for your help tonight....what was your name?" He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Johnny."

I KID YOU NOT!!!

Out of ALL the hundreds and hundreds of guys' names in the world...his name was Johnny. Not even John. Johnny. It was too perfect. We HAD to name my car that. It was meant to be.

On the ride home we came up with fun ways to use the name Johnny. The "Johnny Rocket!" or "Johnny Angel" and "Johnny Be Goode" (old songs from the 50's) Or our favorite was when I pull up to people's houses I can shout out, "He-e-e-e-e-e-r-e's Johnny!!!" The possibilities are endless.

So there's the story. I've had him for four days so far and I love him already! He drives so smooth! It is quite comparable to how my poor Saturn was driving. And Toyotas last forever, so it will be nice knowing I don't have to worry much about him. When I brought Johnny home, we prayed a prayer of safety and protection around him. That was really cool. It's also cool to think how this car is part of my ministry, too. I drive college students around in my car all the time. On trips, out to lunches or coffee, to meetings, etc. I've had some great talks with students inside my car, too. I am excited for that to continue.

Anyone wanna go for a drive???

We're home!

Since I've been home, people have been asking me , "So how was Mexico?" If you've been in my shoes before, you know how difficult it is to sum up all your feelings about a trip into one sentence. Saying, "It was great!" just doesn't seem to do it justice. But since this is my lovely blog, I will do my best to share about this amazing trip without typing a hundred pages. =)

To start off, I have to say that I have NEVER been on a trip that ran as smooth as this one did. I mean, we're talking smooth. No major problems. Last year there was so much wind, the tents got flown away and people's stuff got lost all over. No wind this year. It was supposed to rain all week down there. It didn't rain until the day we left (right AFTER we crossed the border). Last year over half the group became violently ill from bad water. NO ONE got sick this year. With over 80 people buiding houses at 5 different sites, there were no injuries (besides your basic scrapes, blisters, et). Last year the sites were an hour and a half away and they were all in separate villages. This year the drive was only a half hour from where we camped and the sites were all near each other (which helped with the cohesiveness of the group). I felt like all of these things were little gifts from God.

Beyond all the logistical stuff, it was so amazing to see the Lord at work down in Mexico. The students came ALIVE. It was incredible to watch. They would come home after a long, hot, hard day of making cement, setting up walls, chicken wire, or stucco and they were praising God! They were encouraging each other and lifting one another up! I never heard any grumbling or complaining the whole week. They were so positive, it blew my mind. And they were always giving glory to God.

We'd have campfire every night after dinner with singing and sharing time. The students were very aware of God being with them and helping them when they were struggling throughout the week. By the end of the week, many students had made some awesome revelations that they shared. Some were seeing their need for Christ all the time (not just when it suited them). Some wanted to pursue more mission work in the future. Some talked about wanting to change their lives once they got back to Santa Cruz. -- Campfires were by far my favorite part of every day. --

I wouldn't say the trip was perfect. I have never been a leader on a trip like this before, so I definitely saw our issues and problems (that I probably wouldn't have seen if I wasn't a leader). But God used them all. I really got to see that first hand.

It was very strange to come home. To go from Mexico where people sleep on the floor in tiny shacks to CA were we are bombarded with things we take for granted: running water, flushing toilets, clean streets and hills, matresses to sleep on with warm blankets, TV, internet, showers, homes that won't topple over in a storm. It's quite sobering. And then there's the weirdness of being with the same people for 8 days 24/7 and then waking up the next morning and you're not surrounded by them anymore. It's like we became a family and that is sort of gone. I am adjusting to what people might call the "camp high".

So as I'm sleeping 13 hours a night (I'm so exhausted) and cleaning all my clothes and trying to get some "Me-time" after being with lots of people for over a week...I'm taking time to reflect. Process all my feelings and memories from the trip. Think about what God showed and taught me and what I am taking away from this amazing experience. It was an honor to serve Him down there, that's for sure. And serving Him doesn't stop now that we're back.

Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts. And hey, enjoy the pictures. They are just a few out of the 150 I took. (Yes, I am a picture fanatic) They are of:

- the students who rode in my van on the way down (Lynnea, Kyle, Jillian, Garret, Tyler, and Brian)
- our nightime campfire
- a group of students building their house
- myself, Eduardo, and Rosa (two kids I fell in love with the first day)
- the girls who drove in my van on the way home (Courtney, Tanya, little Laura-daughter of an adult leader, Kayla, and Lila)

Yeah for Mexico 2006! "We can. We will. We did."

Viva Mexico!!

Ok friends, I am off to Mexico on a mission trip with 90 high school and college students. We will be building 5 homes during the week we are down there. I am really excited to spend some quality time with these peeps. We get back the day before Easter so I won't be posting again till after that. Keep us in your prayers!

Some pixs

I realized I havent posted any pixs lately, so I found some recent ones with myself and my college students. There is one of me and the student leaders out for a Bowling Night. Another one is a crew of us in our Children's building at church. For a service project (we do one a month) we helped paint the climbing wall behind us, organized skit clothes and props, built shelves, cleaned rooms, and other fun stuff. The last picture is a group of us at Malibu Grand Prix, about the drive the race cars. That was so fun! I had the need for speed...

I love these students SO much.

Oh. My. Word.

Sorry to keep talking about my car, but I feel like I have been on some crazy roller coaster these past few weeks. Guess what? My engine DOESN'T have a recall on it. The shop that worked on Mitchell gave me false information. It's a whole long story of what I've been through the last couple days, but I can sum it up: I am going to have a to buy a new car.

Mitchell - R.I.P. good buddy. You gave me some great years but it's time to let you go.

So, now I am starting this new process of looking into cars, payments, etc and I'm tired. It's been up and down up and down and I'm tired. But the Lord is good and He will be faithful, like He always is.

I really like being an adult, but man oh man....sometimes it's hard. Thanks for reading, everyone. I'm ok.

I both like and dislike the Saturn company

Remember two weeks ago when I posted about taking my Saturn to the shop to get a new alternator? After I got it back, it started acting REAL weird. It was making the WORST noises (drawing looks from everyone I passed), it started sputtering and shaking, and couldn't even accelerate up tiny hills. At one point I could only go to 40 on the freeway. The other drivers loved me, I'm sure.

I couldn't ignore my problem and hope it would go away anymore. So yesterday I took it back to the shop and had them look at it again. My roomie Jen Cope taught me how to drive stick shift in a high school parking lot last night (good times!) and then let me take her to work so I could use her car. The car place called me around 4 this afternoon. Here was our convo:

Dude: "So, hey, I have good news and bad news."
Me: "Um...ok."
Dude: "The problem is your engine. It's in real bad shape. You're going to need a new one."
Me: *fainting in shock at my desk*

(Crazy thoughts running through my head. Ack! I can't afford a whole new engine. What am I going to do? etc etc)

Dude: "Here's the good news...Saturn has recalled it. They will replace it once you take it to their dealership."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

I whipped myself back into a sitting position and emitted a tiny shriek of joy right into his ear. No way!! What are the chances??? Oh my gosh, thank you Lord!!

So basically all I have to do is tow Mitchell to the nearest Saturn dealership and they will give me a new engine. Yesssssssss. Then my car will have a few more years in it. Yesssssssss. When I sell it, I can get more money because the engine will be newer. Yessssssss. Oh Saturn. Why have you put me through this turmoil? I was going kind of nuts these past few weeks over my car and the alternator and then all the problems after that. I had some naughty words in my mind to describe what I thought about their cars and their company. And now, GLORY BE, they have redeemed themselves to the highest degree by recalling my make and model's engine. How amazing.

The rest of my day I was giddy and blabbing my good news to anyone who would listen. This is such a huge answer to prayer!

What I am learning

I am always learning. That's it. What am I learning? That I am always learning. This is something I am coming to grips with at my job. I am going to make mistakes all the time. And instead of dwelling on them and wishing they never happened, I should be focusing on how I can learn from them and how to change things in the future.

If I never made mistakes, if I always did everything right...how would I grow? I learn the most from my mistakes and that keeps me learning every single day. Although I will gladly admit I wish there were days that I could sail through (the daily learning is super exhausting), I know it is helping me grow and be even better at my job.

I am not sure if that makes any sense, but to me it does. I need to be ok with making mistakes. I need to give myself grace in this area. Do any of you deal with this same sort of thing?

Buckstars

In the county I live in, it is very trendy to boycott all major corporations and support the little independent places. It's our way of "stickin' it to the man!!" And for the most part I do. However, there is one major exception. I cannot boycott Starbucks. I just love it too much. Sometimes I just want to sink into one of their couches, listen to the obligatory Norah Jones CD, "people-watch" to my heart's content, and drink my delicious peppermint mocha frappaccino. Sometimes I'll go with a book, sometimes I'll bring my journal, and sometimes I'll go with a friend (or friends) and have fun conversations. Yesterday was such a day. My good friend Jenna and I walked to Buckstars from my house and we sat for HOURS on the comfy couch, laughing our heads off. It was amazing. I had kind of a stressful week, including working three nights in a row (I usually only work one night per week) so I was in deperate need for some sort of release. And that was it for me. We were laughing so hard we were wiping away tears. It completely made my day and my week. Not to say we couldn't have laughed hysterically like that in Coffee Cat, but C.C. doesn't make my yummy frap. Does that mean I'm a coffee snob? So be it. I love Starbucks.

Mitchell

So, my dark blue Saturn (Mitchell) had a little "episode" Saturday. I was at the mall and he just wouldn't start up. I had him towed and worked on for two days. It was very strange to not have a car Saturday-Tuesday. I never realized how dependent I am on my car. If I lived closer to where I work, I could just bike there. But I work too far away. So I was literally stranded Monday and Tuesday, with no way to get to church. Monday I ended up staying home all day to work on my talk for last night and then Tuesday I took the bus. THAT was an experience all in itself. All I can say is that there are some sketchy people who take the bus, but it was all good fun. One of my co-workers drove me home that evening, which was so sweet because it was completely out of her way. But now I finally have my car back....450 bucks later. Yowzahs. Mitchell needed a new alternator. So, here's hoping I really DO get a fatty tax return this year! =)

Snow?!?

This past weekend was NUTS. It was so cold that it actually SNOWED here. There was snow on the sides of the road, snow downtown, even snow on the beach! Incredible. This picture is in the parking lot of my church. It looks so beautiful-I love it!

lightning and thunder

Hi everyone. While I am typing this, there is an awesome thunder and lightning storm going on. I'll see a flash light up the sky and quickly run outside to hear the thunder boom. It's like the dark clouds are fighting and ramming into each other. I love storms like this!

So, here are some thoughts that have been running through my head this week:

- As of August/September, I might possibly become the College Director at my church. How do I feel about that? Do I want that much responsibility? A whole minstry on my shoulders when I still feel quite new to ministry in general? Can I do it? Am I excited about this?

- Two of the students in our college group just got engaged. They are 19 and 20 and have dated for three and a half months. Ack! I feel like they are so young, but it is totally their decision. Her parents are NOT stoked...

- I am speaking next Wednesday night and I have NO idea how to do this talk. I don't fully understand the topic myself. How am I supposed to explain it to students? And I don't feel like it really fits with our current series. Strange.

- The high school and college group leave for Mexico in a month!

- I sent my tax stuff in the mail and they were SUPER slow arriving, so I thought they got lost. But luckily, they were found. I would LOVE to get a fatty tax return this year.

- Thank goodness for my roomates. I think we help keep each other sane. They make me excited to come home.

Ok, I'm off to go watch some more lightning and listen to more thunder. (One boom just made our windows rattle. Whoa.) Lates!

Looking up

Things are better, thank the Lord. I got to get away this past weekend and I think that really helped. I drove up to Placerville with two roomates to help celebrate the wedding day of a special friend, Kim. I got to see some old friends (don't you just love that about weddings? They are like mini-reunions) which was awesome. We tore up the dance floor and got to chat with the bride and meet her new hubby. It was just nice to focus on other things and enjoy laughter with good friends. I came into work this morning with brightened spirits and a more positive outlook on things. I have been praying alot about all of my work stuff and I will for sure continue to do so. It's easy to trust God when everything is going great. It's a lot harder to trust him when it feels like your world is going crazy.

I wish I didn't think all the time

Man, this week blew. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but it's the truth. This week has been the hardest I've had in a long time. I've been through so much in just the past 6 days. I've made mistakes at work with my student leaders, two of my college girls got hurt Wesdnesday night (falling out the back of a pickup truck as it drove forward, one girl had to go to the ER for a concussion - I was with her till 2 in the morning), there are going to be some MAJOR changes going on with my job that I am not happy about right now (and I feel like I got blindsided and I'm upset with how things went down), I have not been sleeping, I feel like I cry every day, and my mind is constantly in overdrive. Just stop, brain! I seriously just need to get away to rest and sleep for a week and NOT THINK. It's too much for my poor little mind to deal with all at once.

Three problems

Yesterday myself, my boss Charlie, his admin Michelle, and the two high school associates (Clint and Erica) all headed over the hill to The CORE - a half day of training for youth workers put on by Youth Specialties. But here's Problem #1: we are youth workers. We stay up late hanging out with students. So we like to sleep in. Especially on Saturdays. When did we have to get up yesterday, which indeed was a Saturday? 7 am.

Some of you are probably like, "Awh, get over it, Sarah! I get up at 7 am every weekday!" True true true and I admire you greatly for it. When I was in education I got up early every day, too. But my life has shifted into youth ministry life, so my time clock has changed. And I really love sleeping in until 8 or even 9 if I can get away with it.

Back to the story: we're all squished in this little car, yawning and grumbling all the way over the hill about how early it. (But it's definitely for a good cause. I was really looking forward to this training. I appreciate any training I can get!) But here's Problem #2: as we turned the corner to the church where it was going to be held, we see a gorilla. Yes, yes...a man wearing a gorilla costume was on the corner holding up a sign for The CORE and doing a little jig. My boss Charlie was like, "Oh no, it is TOO early in the morning for THAT!" which I thought was hilarious and I promptly started laughing my head off. We turn another corner to park and there is ANOTHER gorilla holding a banana and just staring at our car. This increased my laughter. Is this normal for youth worker days??

The training was AWESOME. It was three sessions long. Our speaker's name was Brock Morgan. He's a youth pastor at Bayside Church. (his pix is above) But to start things off (remember this is STILL really early in the morning) he has an activity to "break the ice". Hence, we come to Problem #3.

"Ok guys! Grab a sheet here and you have five minues! GO!"

The 5 of us grab a sheet and realize it is a mini-Olympics type game. You and your co-workers have to do activities like the "Bumsled" where you sit on the floor, wrap your legs around the person in front of you, and then shimmy on your bum forward 10 feet. HUH? Or you can pretend to be an ice skater and the other workers give you scores. Or stand on your chairs and sing the Star Spangled Banner at the top of your lungs. There were tons of options.

Erica quickly excused herself to go to the restroom. Charlie, Clint, Michelle, and I just sat there watching 150 other people start shimmying, doing triple lutzes, and singing like crazy all over the room. We looked at each other like, "Um....what is going on?!" Clint leaned in and asked, "So...are WE the tools? Or is everyone else here the tools?" We figured it was probably us, but oh well.

Other than those 3 problems, it was a great day. Hope yours was, too.

This book ROCKS

Oh my word, I am in love with The Brothers K. It is a fiction novel written by David James Duncan. It follows the Chance family: mom, dad, 4 sons all a year apart, and two younger twin sisters. It's their life growing up in the 60's. Dad was a pro-baseball player and then busted his thumb in a papermill accident. And now they have to deal with life after that.

I love Duncan's writing style. I go to bed thinking I'll just read for ten or fifteen minutes...and then it's two hours later and I STILL can't put the book down. And the best part is I have been laughing OUT LOUD multiple times at night. Poor Laurel-my upstairs roomate. I hope I don't wake her up (my laugh is pretty darn loud). I can' help it though. I love this family.

Moving Day!

I am pooped.

But in a good way.

Today, myself along with my mom, dad, sister Liz, and a couple other friends helped my older sister Amy and her husband David move into their VERY FIRST HOME!

They have been married for a year and a half. And they got to buy their own house only about 10 minutes from their old place. It's so cute. They painted all the rooms different colors. I started off the morning with a fun memory we'll be laughing about for years to come. The floor had just been polished and I stepped on a drop cloth to pick up some paint to move...when S-W-I-S-H, I slip, fell, and slid across the floor until I hit the wall.

I fell on my right arm and it hurt so bad. I immediately realized I wouldn't be much help today. I couldn't lift anything with my right arm. I felt quite useless. I wanted to come and help move heavy things, and before we even get started, I bust my arm. I probably looked really silly when everyone was moving things with both hands and then there's me carrying in dumb little things like A pillow with my gimpy arm hanging dead at my side. =)

But here's my gift to my sis and bro-in-law: I cleaned their bathroom. To others, it might not be a big deal, but to me IT WAS. Ask anybody...I DESPISE cleaning bathrooms. I will do anything to avoid it as long as possible. Give me trash duty, give me dish duty, anything! I just DON'T want to clean my bathroom. But today I even volunteered to clean theirs! I could scarcely believe it! But that was a way I could help. And it felt real good to see it sparkling when I was done. If only I felt as motivated to clean my own...fat chance.

Anyway, I am including some fun pixs from the day. The first is Amy and I early in the morning. Note the coffee cup and how tired we look. Zzzzzzz...Second pix is dad and bro-in-law moving the heavy stuff into Amy's KFAX work van (with that moustached dude on the side - she doesn't like driving that thing around, but it was helpful for the big stuff) Third pix is me on bathroom duty. Cleanliness with a smile! And lastly, Amy and David outside their new abode at the end of the day.

I am off to heat my arm and get a good night's sleep. Peace out!

Curling?

My roomates and I have enjoyed gathering around the TV every night to watch the Olympics. They have been great so far. But honestly...who made CURLING an Olympic sport? That has got to be the silliest thing I have ever seen. My favorite part is when two people have to furiously sweep the ice before the boulder-thingy...they are going nuts and they look so dang funny. I guess it's ok to have as a sport because it keeps me entertained. But STILL.