2012...bring it.

There is just something about the promise of starting over new. It's so refreshing!

A time to contemplate, to reflect, to hope. To think over lessons learned and imagine ways you'll be different in the up-and-coming future.

2012 is THE year. The year I've thought about for so many years. The year of changes: graduating for good, starting a career, welcoming a record number of unknowns into my life. I'm excited. Excited to experience newness, to be used by God for things past imagination, and to fail, even. I've learned both in lectures and in life experiences that failure leads to success. Every time I think about the number of times I'm going to make mistakes this next year I have an urge to do this awkward laugh. It's hard to convey in text...it would be better if you could just hear it. Kinda like a snort, but with a little chortle/guffaw at the end. That's it. Embarrassing, I know. But I think of how I reassure students that it's okay to make mistakes, and how it's from mistakes that we really learn. Mistakes are kinda uncomfortable, but they are short-lived. Good stuff comes from them.

So...I think if I were to make a resolution, it would be along the lines of: I will look for ways  to grow (and eventually have success) when I have failed.

Short and sweet and to the point.

Gasp! I only have 5 minutes left of this year. Here's to my last post of 2011...Happy New Year!

Mry hita!

…possibly the strangest post title yet.

But there is a back story.

I was writing little notes in gift tags for my friends the other day. You know how sometimes you can write using different colors for every other word? Well I was writing this: Merry Christmas! and I had only written the red letters, so it said:

M r y  h i t a !

My sister happened to walk by at that time, and looked over at what I was writing. She was confused, but didn’t take the time to ask me what I was doing…she just laughed at me instead. Typical! But it was pretty funny. And because of it, my sister and I had our own personal Christmas greeting for each other this year! [pronunciation: murr-ee hit-tuh]

So I hope everyone had a very mry hita, or maybe one with all the letters in place, even. I know I really enjoyed going to the candlelight service last night and the service at my church this morning. I loved singing so many carols! And both services provided just what I was needing—a time to reflect.

Christmas eve is always so enjoyable. Wonderful food, a good time with my extended family, lots of memories to be made. I haven’t really liked Christmas morning for several years now, though. When I was little, Christmas eve/morning was always such a magical time. I remember riding home from my grandma’s house on Christmas eve, wondering if we would make it home before midnight so Santa would continue to go unseen (even though I really wanted to catch a glance). I always searched the sky the whole way home for a glimpse of his sleigh. I would wake up the next morning just knowing it was a special day like no other. Something had happened during the night while I was asleep. Something beyond Santa’s arrival. Jesus had been born! I don’t know if many people feel a different in the day, but I really did. And of course, my sister and I would always beg our parents to hurry up so we could open presents. Everything just felt so magical.

Now, though, I don’t feel the same way at all. Christmas eve is still fun, but Christmas morning just feels like such a let-down. I guess there is just such a contrast to all the fun festivities from the night before, and also all the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. The fact that the Christmas season is over starts to set in. At church this morning, it seemed like another other Sunday morning. Yes, the service was a little bit different, and there were several Christmas greetings exchanged, but it wasn’t drastically different or more special. I do admit I feel a little jealous when I hear people talking about the fancy dinners they have planned. When I got home today, I had some reheated leftover casserole. One year my dad, my sister, and I went to a Chinese buffet for lunch because my mom was working. That was the most depressing Christmas morning for me in all. It just isn’t special for me anymore.

I was bothered by my down-in-the-dumps demeanor today. Was it really that bad? I mean…really? I thought about my cousin who was helping at a homeless shelter this Christmas. I actually have it really good when thinking about this. I have a house. I have food. It may not be leg of lamb or carved turkey or homemade soup (not even reheated), but I don’t ever wonder where my next meal will come from, or if it will come. I have lots of presents under the tree, even if they don’t produce a magical feeling in me! Goodness, all these things are just extras, really! I forget the root of it all. The only part of our celebration that has lasting value. Jesus. His birth, his sacrifice for us. Immanuel—God is with us. I so easily take that for granted.

So I can safely say I had a very mry hita. I know the value of Christmas is not measured by how it makes me feel, thank goodness! Christmas has so many wonderful aspects, and I will welcome them all back next year!

Even Christmas morning.

Christmas is here, bringing good cheer

Christmas is tomorrow. Whoa, this season has gone by fast.

It’s been delightful, for the most part! All the traditions have faithfully shown up and I welcomed them wholeheartedly. Tree decorating, cookie baking, gingerbread house building, ugly sweater wearing, Christmas caroling, lights viewing, present wrapping, gift exchanging, piano playing, card writing, merry making. It’s been grand.

But I need time to slow down. Time to reflect. It’s not that I’m missing the main point of Christmas—I’m not. But I want to grow in my understanding of the Christmas story, and, ultimately, understanding of God’s love for us. I feel like as each Christmas season comes and goes, I have a deeper and better understanding of it. I’ll never be able to understand it fully, but I am so glad I am able to keep growing, and not stay in the same place. I want to make sure I continue that growth this year…every day in between…but especially at this time set aside for the reflection of God’s gift to us. The way I see it, this growth is two-fold—for our benefit, and for God’s…He gets glory!

So excited to be able to celebrate tonight and tomorrow, too. Merry Christmas!

Good stuff

I’m slacking at this blogging business.

But…I’m not slacking at teacher business.

I have written so many lesson plans this semester it seems unreal. But I know it pales in comparison to what I’ll be doing next semester…when I student teach. :) And guess what? I now know I’ll be student teaching in Lincoln!

I’ll be sad to transition from Kearney to home…from dorms to family…but it will be a good change. At least living at home isn’t some big scary unknown. I do have experience doing that—about 18 or so years of it! So it will be good.

Here’s my top 10 reasons why I will like living at home next semester:

10. I’ll be so close to both Omaha and Lincoln. I’ve missed that, quite a lot.

9. My dog, Gabby!

8. My four kitties. They are SO FLUFFY at this time of year.

7. I could take bubble baths everyday, if I wanted.

6. All my stuff will be in one place. I won’t have to be like “Oh shoot, that’s at home…”

5. I can go to the pancake supper at my grandma’s church. I haven’t been home for it for such a long time!

4. I will be able to go to all my sister’s band concerts and such.

3. I can visit my friends on the eastern part of the state, whom I don’t see much.

2. There is always good, good-for-you food around. And I don’t have to walk outside to another building to get it.

1. I get to see my family more often! Both immediate and extended.

 

So there ya go. Good stuff coming up!

Some of my favorites!

You may or may not know this about me, but I love figure skating. A whole lot. :)

The extent of most people’s figure skating knowledge is the Olympics. The majority of people I know can say they enjoy watching the events every 4 years, but that’s about it. What about Nationals? Or Worlds? Or the Grand Prix? I think not many people know these events even exist.

I’m thankful the skating season is pretty long- from October to March. It’s great to be able to watch it on TV: there are some televised events, but overall…skating is not represented as it should be. Unlike football. But I’ll say no more about that. :) I’m just happy to say we are in the midst of the Grand Prix right now!

I thought I’d post a couple of my very favorite skating performances from the last couple of years. It’s been really hard to narrow them down. I’m just so thankful for YouTube. Seriously…where we would be without it? I’d still be recording every event possible, and grieving over the countless events that aren’t shown on TV.

I’m gonna share some good stuff with you. I’ll give you 5 fabulous videos…enjoy!

Sasha Cohen’s Olympic short program [2006]: Dark Eyes

Johnny Weir short program at the Cup of Russia [2009]: Fallen Angel

Meryl Davis & Charlie White original dance at Nationals [2010]: Indian Folk Dance

Irina Slutskaya Olympic short program [2006]: Totentanz

Nathan Chen U.S. Nationals [2010]: Peter and the Wolf

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There’s been a shift.

Suddenly, it’s November.

Suddenly we’re in the season of fall that is much closer to winter than summer. With that, I am realizing how little time this semester has left…how close I am to not being in the safe, nurturing realm of college…and close I am to having to grow up for real. I have to admit, I am getting kind of freaked out! Some days I feel an even mix of nervousness and excitement, but some days that excitement is just scared away. Part of me just wants to start my student teaching right now, so I will know exactly how it’s going to be, instead of sitting here imagining the worst…because that’s what I do.

Suddenly life is going to get a whole lot different.

Suddenly I will be sure of very few things.

Simply Enchanted

Last month, a friend of mine turned 21 and had one simple birthday request: that we (her friends) make all the celebration plans. I was definitely all over this. I love birthdays, and celebrating, and the thrill you get when you create something really cute with little or no money. Brainstorming didn’t take too long, because soon I remembered how much my friend loved the movie Tangled. The first time I watched it was with her and another friend of mine- I remember being sandwiched in between two sobbing girls, feeling  a little awkward! Ha! But that’s just me, not a crier. Although I am becoming more emotional as I get older…but that’s a whole other blog post.

So knowing how much my friend liked Tangled, I knew that: [Tangled + her + surprise + friends] would equal…FUN! And it really was. Here’s a few pictures of how our party turned out.

There were, of course, cake and presents…

We played Pin-the-Tongue-on-Pascal…

And we made our own Tangled lanterns.

 

Such a fun party! Hit me up if you need a party planned at any time…I would love to do it. :)

We go together like milk and cookies…

Halloween has come and gone. It’s November, just like that. It seems it flew by so fast, but don’t worry! I didn’t miss out. I think my costume this year was pretty spiffy. :)

My roommate and I were Cruella DeVil and a Dalmatian puppy last year, and that was so much fun. We thought it would only be fitting if were were a pair like that again this year. We were totally gonna go Amish. How fun would that be?! But to be legit, to look like the most vunderful-gut Amish people we could, it would have cost us some moolah. Quite a bit actually. So instead of spending tons of money, or ending up looking not-so-legit, we decided to go an entirely different route. After much brainstorming, we agreed we would be milk and cookies!

Once the really hard part was finished- thinking of a costume- then I started on the easier (and more fun!) part: making the costumes. I was home over fall break, with a whole lot of nothing to do, so that was the perfect time to get creative. I can’t believe how long it took me to decide what kind of cookie (chocolate chip or Oreo?) and what style of milk (glass, jug, carton?). I definitely had Google to help me out. And I definitely had my dad to help me, too! It was so great. I asked him a simple question: “Do you have any ideas how to make costumes out of cardboard?” Not only did he give me tips, but he got out all his sweet tools. He drew straight lines and measured with a ruler, and cut with a box cutter. Heck, I was just gonna make a couple of really rough costumes, but he helped me do it well. It was super fun, too!

 

 

Kady and I go together like milk and cookies. No doubt about it :)

This sums it up perfectly.

Yes.

Meanwhile, in autumn

There are things you must do in autumn. There just are.

This past weekend has been good for the heart. Being at home for fall break has allowed me to do so many fall things. Marching band. Cornfields. Playing with my black Halloween cat. A bonfire, not without hotdogs and s’mores. A birthday party. Jumping in piles of leaves. Plus many other relaxing, homey things, like bubble baths, making cookies, and sitting around drinking hot tea and reading books. SO good.

In the last few days, fall has passed from being more summer-like to now being on the cusp of winter. Can you feel it? There is a definite chill in the air, much more so than that crisp, invigorating breeze we’ve had for the last month or so. I brought my winter coat back to school with me. I feel like I’ll be needing it soon, since a simple sweatshirt almost did not suffice this morning! I’m not looking forward to winter all that much, because I know it means the weather won’t be warm again for at least 4 months…too long for this girl. I have been doing some thinking on the matter, though, since it seems the majority of bloggers I follow live in Florida, California, or other such places. They envy our winter. Our frost. Our change of pace to seemingly endless cold. I’ve never experienced life sans winter before, so I can’t claim to understand where they are coming from. However, I do see the goodness of it in the fact that summer seems so much sweeter in contrast to the long months of bitter cold. How much more do we appreciate something, when we realize it is missing? That’s how our seasons work. I will hold onto the loveliness of fall for as long as it lets me, and then move on to winter with renewed appreciation.

For now, enjoy the beauty of fall.

P.S.- Not sure why I’m cheesin’ in all of these pictures…just keepin’ it real, I suppose. :)

I have to write something on here.

It’s ridiculous how uninspired I have been.

I mean, it’s not like I haven’t had things in my life worth sharing lately…I’ve had plenty.

Like…

flying kites through my sunroof while driving

having hopes of dancing with a boy crushed, that led to…

a midnight run- just enough adrenaline to sweep away my energy and emotions

a crazy, crazy Saturday night in downtown Kearney

drawn-on eyeliner mustaches photo shoot

seeing people almost lose their will to live because the Huskers lost

bug bites on the bottoms of my feet

Swear, I have had more than enough thoughts and moments to write about. As I sit here and try to conclude as to why I am so absent, I think it’s because I cannot conclude anything. Lots of things are taking place in my life right now, and I have lots of little philosophies about what they are teaching me, what direction I should be going, what has put me in the place I am in right now.

I know several things,

God loves. He knows what’s up. He only gives good gifts. His truth stands, even when I can’t feel it.

Our God is greater than emotions. He is stronger than circumstances. He loves us individually, and we can feel His love.

That’s where I’m at.

It’s September…

“The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel–
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Drying grass,
New books and blackboards
Chalk in class.
The bee, his hive
Well-honey, hums
While Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.”

-John Updike, September

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That is all. :)

As of late…

My blog. I love you.

Tomorrow it will be a whole month since I last posted something. I think I kind of have this unwritten rule in my mind that I can’t let it be more than a month between posts. Because…how will remember if I don’t write it down??? I don’t want to forget all the in-between moments.

So let’s go with a list. A compilation of all the goings-on as of late.

In no particular order:

1. I’ve learned that you can [generally] determine whether or not someone will go to college by the size of their garage. Or whether they even have one. Think about that.

2. I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’m a feeler. This means my logical side doesn’t kick in until I freak out about a situation. Ha! I can see that in so many areas of my life. It’s good to know. Also, I am an external processor. Hence the blog! I don’t fully realize what I’m thinking until I say it or write it out. Pretty cool. Lastly, I am an outgoing introvert. Meaning: I love being around people, but they wear me out. I really do need my alone time! SO much insight into myself lately.

3. I almost always solve the Jumble puzzle in the newspaper by figuring out the answer first, then unscrambling the letters from that.

4. I’ve scored some really great sales lately. $50 jeans for $28? Heck yeah! A book (one that will help me prioritize my life…more on that later) for only $1.98 [including shipping!] on eBay? You betcha!

5. I feel so defeated by school already, and it’s only the 4th week of school. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much time I invest in my homework, I am still behind. It may be a matter of prioritizing my time, but I’m not sure. I thought I was good at that…maybe I’m not. At least in this season of life. All I know is that something’s gotta change, or my whole semester will be so out of balance.

6. Because of poor time management, or kick-butt homework, or whatever…time alone with God has been rarely happening. If I don’t do my homework, there are obvious consequences. But not spending time with God? There are consequences, too. I’m starting to see that.

7. Do I really need that much sleep?

8. I realized tonight that I had a presentation due online in an hour, speed-skimmed the chapter, threw a bunch of words together, and pulled it off. Pretty impressive, I must say. But see what I mean about homework waging war and winning?

9. My goal this week is to look cute for 8 o’clock class at least once. 3 more chances. We’ll see.

10. My laptop battery is dying, and I’m too lazy to get up and plug it in. So this will be it for the night. But hey! I think it was helpful just to write what’s up. Like I said…external processor. Hopefully it will somehow help me solve my problems.

Later.

Spice up yo’ life.

This school year ain’t gonna be a boring one. Nuh-uh!

To add some spice to your life, to make your classes a little less dull…fancy up your notebooks a little. Like this.

Grab some old notebooks.

Everyone has those classes that require you to take notes for, like, the first 2 weeks of school. From then on you are smart enough to know the professor puts the notes online, or doesn’t really test over them…something along those lines. Anywho, I have tons of notebooks each with less than 20 pages filled in. If you aren’t the same way, you can use new notebooks, too. There are no rules in this game.

Find some cute paper.

I have so much scrapbook paper; not for scrapbooking (too much effort- I much prefer this blog to record my life!), but for whatever creativity requires.

Next: Mod Podge. Essential.

And really, the next step can’t be explained. Just let your creative juices flow. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up with some super cute designs…to be enjoyed throughout the whole year. :)

Now I’m excited to take notes!

Late-summer sweetness

I just realized today it’s been almost a month since I last updated this blog. My life since then has been…crazy? Busy? Boring? I really don’t know how to describe it. It’s still been busy, but a different kind of busy than when I was in Florida. I’ve been catching up with people and now I’m catching up with life in general…part of that includes updating this little blog! Since I’m good at it, I’ll throw some more pictures your way.

I’m pretty excited to get back in the school routine again, and to start blogging about less moments and more thoughts. I learned lots of things this summer, and right now they’re still sort of floating around in my mind…once I’m back in school with more free time (crazy how that works), I’ll be able to post some substantial things (I hope!). For now, though, I will enjoy the sweetness of late-summer and be looking forward to fall. :)

Faves

It’s been crazy busy up here in J-ville. Or down here, since it’s rather south.

Anywho.

It’s hard for me to write anything, since I don’t have much time and usually my brain is just drained from processing so much! (I also think the sun drains my thinking power, as well as my energy). :)

I am going to leave you with some of my favorite pictures from the last couple of weeks. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and since I don’t have those thousand words for you, these pictures will have to suffice!

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Here’s my team leader Andrea and me at our Thrift Store Prom:

Fellow Razzle-Dazzlers Amy and Ashley with me. This was at the beach on the 4th of July- waiting for it to get dark so fireworks will start!

Our team on the beach. :)

Last week’s Bible study included making a fort…we actually had Bible study inside of it…so cool!

Outside the entrance of Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure. It was such a fun day with all the JAX people!

Please feel free to comment! I love comments.

Also, don’t hesitate to check out the previous posts from this summer. Even though I haven’t been updating as much as I had hoped, you can still get a picture of what I’ve been up to! As always, enjoy.

St. Augustine

Last Saturday a bunch of us went to St. Augustine! Only about 30 minutes away, St. Augustine is a very old city with some pretty impressive architecture. We got to see Flagler College- I cannot even imagine attending school there! It was so fancy. Definitely different from UNK. :)

 

Such pretty streets.

Lovely Gone with the Wind-inspired places.

 

The downtown scene is very quaint. We were told to go to this rockin’ popsicle place, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. First of all…gourmet popsicles. Second of all…all natural. Right up my alley! I got a Honey Honeydew popsicle and it was soooo good. I am inspired, people. Let the homemade popsicle-making commence!

 

I am currently trying to update this blog with pictures of all the fun activities we’ve been doing lately. There are lots!

Stay tuned!

Miles to go.

Let me tell you.

This summer training program is INTENSE.

I’ve often heard it compared to running a marathon, and I would definitely echo that comparison. It’s certainly not a sprint; no, it takes quite a bit of endurance to get through these 8 weeks! So far we are a little more than half way through, and I am so completely filled up and overflowing with information. I am thankful for the times I do have to sit and process all that I am learning, because without those times of reflection, I would go crazy with information overload! Work is keeping me really busy, as well, and social time in addition to that. Last summer I definitely learned time management, and it’s a good thing because I am really needing it now!

It’s interesting that this summer I’ve been running a lot. I’m not really a runner. I would much rather exercise by doing random things (like dance parties, see here), but there’s always a group going running every night so I usually join. It’s easier to run down here in Florida because we are at sea level, but also more difficult because of the humidity. Some nights it feels like a swim-run. But it’s been good. I am able to talk and run at the same time, and so can many others, so there are some good conversations. (We also usually see some cool animals, like armadillos!)

Running helps keep me in shape, but it also provides me with personal experience to this analogy.

1 Corinthians 9:25- Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

I’ve never really experienced “strict training” before, in regards to physical exercise, but this running business sure has given me a taste of it. I’m exhausted, yet it’s refreshing!

Wheels…

The wheels in my mind are a-turnin’.

I am learning SO much here at JAX! Every week, 4+ memory verses. How to share The Bridge illustration (ask me if you want it explained). How to treat guys as brothers in Christ (difficult, since I don’t have any brothers of my own). One thing that’s been really helpful for me is learning the definitions of big words in simple terms. For example, last week Jerry Bridges shared with us the definition of justification. Honestly, before I would avoid verses with this word in them, simply because I didn’t really grasp what it meant. It didn’t really mean anything to me. BUT, here’s what I learned, and it completely blew my mind.

Justification: “Just as if I’d never sinned.” And furthermore, “Just as if I’d always obeyed.”

Wow.

That is how God views us, because of Jesus! Now I want to read all the verses with justification in them. :)

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Another type of wheel is the Navigator Wheel. Ever heard of it? It looks like this ---->

A Christ-centered life has four distinct aspects.

Prayer, fellowship, the Word, and Witnessing.

Our summer training program theme this year is Go Deep. Basically we are focusing on going deep with each of these 4 areas.

With this in mind, there are specific ways you can pray regarding growth in each of these.

Prayer: That I will prioritize my time here, and realize the importance of spending time in prayer; that I will become more earnest in praying

Fellowship: Further team unity; that I would be an encouragement to others here at JAX

The Word: Adequate time with my work/social schedule

Witnessing: Interaction with co-workers, beach evangelism opportunities

In all of these, you can pray that God will reveal Himself to me and everyone else here! That would be so great.

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With that being said, here is a picture of my team while getting ice cream last week! :)

Beach Evangelism

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Life is busy, which is so great. Thankfully I haven’t neglected any of my program stuff just to write on this blog! I still have postcards to send, but it will happen eventually. We’ve had 3 Saturdays here so far, meaning 3 beach evangelism days. It’s been really cool so far.

I’ve experienced a variety of scenarios. The first week, my partner and I didn’t get rejected once…it seemed everyone we talked to was very nice and very open to hearing what we had to say. Nobody made any major decisions, but who knows what went on even after we talked with them. We came across a couple pairs of girls where one was a believer and one was not. I’m sure that definitely opened up some conversation once we were gone!

The second week, though, included 8 rejections in a row. This definitely helped get rid of any pride we might have had, thinking “We’ve got this.” Another factor was that we went to another beach, with an entirely different crowd. Not only were our rejections many, but they were rude. It was a little discouraging until near the end of the day, when we came across a van that was sinking in the quickly-rising tide. The people were panicking, and I really didn’t think the van was going anywhere…ever. After much chaos and a handful of fearful moments, a very nice man offered the use of his truck and a rope. Finally the van was able to move! My partner and I helped this family move their coolers, tables, chairs, and tent so they could get out of there before the tide got even higher. Although we didn’t have very many chances to share the Bridge with people, it was really great that we were able to help this family out.

Last week, our third, we were back on our original beach (with the friendlier people). It was a very interesting day. I saw what looked like a big circus tent on the other side of the pier, and I was actually pretty excited about it. I wondered if we could check it out after we were done, in case their was something fun going on. Well, as we were walking around talking to people, the “circus tent” started coming closer. Soon we could hear music and chanting, and it started seeming less like a circus. Actually, it was a big group of Hare Krishna followers who were having a celebration and were handing out information about their religion. I decided that it would be good to talk to these people about the gospel, too, so I went up to a lady handing out papers with her young daughter, and asked her what religion she was. She explained that they worshipped Lord Jagannath, and that they consulted a lot of philosophers with questions about life, even though there was no way they could ever know the answers. Pretty bleak, really. I told her were were Christians, and that we were also here on the beach sharing our faith, and I almost got to talk to her about it. Unfortunately, the moving circus tent thingy-ma-bob was leaving her behind, so she had to run and catch up to it. My partner and I continued on, and by the end of the day we had met several Christian girls, who were very encouraging to talk with. One of them is trying to join us for our Monday rally nights if her work doesn’t go too late! New friends are always good. :)

A couple more beach evangelism Saturdays are left…looking forward to it for sure!

Weekly schedule

In case anyone is wondering, here is what each week looks like for me! Every day I get up, have quiet time and breakfast, and then go to work from 8:30 to 3:00. Then we all eat dinner in the union on campus. After that, we have something different going on each night.

Monday: Rally night (worship, skit, speaker)

Tuesday: Free night

Wednesday: Workshop night (expounding on what Monday’s speaker taught)

Thursday: Bible Study night

Friday: Program social or group dates, alternating each week

Saturday: Beach evangelism

Sunday: Sunday school and church, then team time

I have free time on Sunday nights and Tuesdays, but other than that I’m pretty busy! I’m used to having something going on all the time at school, though, so it’s not really a change of pace- just change of events. A good balance of fun social time and spiritual training. That’s JAX!

Adventure Landing

I’ve been working as a lifeguard at Adventure Landing for a week now. I love my job! I worked out great since I don’t actually have to be certified, because I’m only here for two months. I’m usually at the tops of slides telling people when to go, watching the lazy river, or catching little kids at the bottoms of slides. I’m already very tan, which is always nice. :)

Here’s a picture of the park from my first post at the lazy river:

Shipwreck Island:

On duty!

Probably the most intense ride, the Hydro Half Pipe. I have to wear a harness when working up there, so I don’t fall. It’s kinda scary!

 

A view of the lazy river.

   

People have asked me why I raised support when I have a job here at JAX. Having this job allows me to help offset the cost of the program, and also have some money for this coming school year. I usually only work during the summer, and use that money I make then throughout the rest of the year. This year it will be less, since I am working less and have to pay for the rest of the program. It’s okay, though! This experience is totally worth it. This job also provides me a place to apply what I’m learning in the program throughout the week. Our first E-challenge (evangelism challenge) was to find a creative way to show Christ’s love to a co-worker. As I was working one day last week, I found out a co-worker of mine doesn’t speak English (only Spanish). That would be why he never talked to me…ha! But I tried to say some simple things to him in Spanish, even though I’ve forgotten a lot since high school. Although simple, I think he appreciated this- I haven’t seen any other employees talk to him, so hopefully it was a nice change.

I encounter many interesting people while working here…I actually talk to the guests while they’re in line, which isn’t always encouraged at a lot of places. Here, though, the lifeguards are definitely encouraged to make conversation with the guests, and even to squirt them with the “Big Squirts” (the water toys sold at AL). It is really fun working here, for sure. You’ll hear more about Adventure Landing soon!