all in a day's work

leadership team for middle school youth group (plus david, the tall ginger in the back)

things have been really busy for me lately. i'm working so hard to prevent and treat burn-out as i have seen some early warning signs in my life. THANK YOU to Anne Jackson for writing a wonderful blog and publishing a very helpful book and burnout and ministry. i've been very deliberate lately to take a Sabbath (usually on Monday) and make sure i get personal time with Jesus every day. it's tricky to do when part of your job is studying the Bible and reading books about spirituality.

my busy-ness looks different every day and not everyone would call it "work." and I LOVE IT. and i just want to tell you about my tuesday...

6:30 a.m.: run with my new sweet friend and running partner mina. she's a gem!

8:00 a.m.: then i wrote some emails for camp: scheduling two phone interviews and sending out some applications. and worked on the message for youth group on sunday: moral boundaries and spiritual disciplines.

11:00 a.m.:from there i went to the copy store to get some things printed for sunday school. 12:00: then i took some pizzas to rosslyn for lunch. it was the prize from middle school youth group a few weeks ago. the kids were like, "i don't know what this is for, but thanks for the pizza!" not exactly what i'd planned, but i always love seeing them at school and they were pretty excited and felt special for getting pizza during lunch.

1:00 p.m.: from there i took hannah home and took out her weave and dyed her hair. yeah, i know that sounds random, but she's in the play and a pretty little blonde with green eyes and playing a Anne Frank, a jewish girl. so she needed brown hair. check out the pics on my facebook page.

3:00 p.m.: afer dying her hair i went back to the copy store to explain in more detail what i wanted copies of. essentially i was having them print out all the copies for sunday school for the whole year. so it was like printed the Bible in coloring sheets. it did generate great discussion among the employees and myself.

3:30 p.m.: from the copy store i went to cheerleading practice

5:00 p.m.: after cheer practice back to rosslyn to catch the end of a soccer game and take another student out for coffee.

7:30 p.m.: i finally made it to the house for team night with the homies.

dying hair, drinking coffee, making copies, talking about God, reading about dating, all in a day's work.

this is the hair i dyed. can't really see it in pin curls.

i will add that i am really enjoying facilitating youth group these days. i have to study a lot to prepare for the lessons and it's been great for me to get my thoughts in order about authentic faith, spiritual disciplines, and sex and dating. and if anyone has any advice on these topics with teenagers feel free to send them my way!

thank you so much for praying for me and for all my crazy days like this one. please continue to pray for:

-the students i'm blessed to hang out with (some of them are really hurting)

-our team

-my financial support (mainly that i won't worry)

-my friends who are getting married soon and currently, for two more weeks, live in seperate countries

-the Church at ICF

-my family in U.S.

-Camp BlueSky 2010: counselors, campers, program, and THEME (we're currently working on establishing the theme and will begin the devotion guide as soon as that's done).

thanks for reading, praying, and loving!

Diwali pictures

I promised to post some pictures of Diwali. Thank you Megan for letting me steal these from you! You can read my post about Diwali here.

yummy festival food!

homies enjoying the festival. i wish you guys could see the way kim was darting around all excited like a 10 year old. it was priceless!

bring it on

i'm coaching cheerleading again.

i've done this before at this certain school and it was a total bust. i mean i got to know some sweet girls and got on campus several days a week (i guess that was probably the point), but the whole cheerleading thing didn't go over well at that school. this time, though, it's different. it's totally student organized. i joined after they'd already been meeting and had picked out uniforms. so it doesn't at all involve me trying to recruit girls. and let's all pray that it doesn't involve me performing a dance routine in front of the entire school again.

it's also different because i'm older. i did one toe touch the first day of practice; the girls laughed at me and i was sore the following day. and every time i demonstrate one of my cheers i feel like i look like my mom. anyone remember that? when your mom says, 'here's a cheer i did in high school,' and you're thinking, "please stop doing that." and i can feel the flab on my arms jiggling when i do a high-v. i don't remember that from high school. so i started working out again this week.

the girls are so cute though. and i love spending time with them. and it's such a divine blessing to have this opportunity. we spend a lot of time at our practices talking about life and what's going on with them. i've even already talked about my faith! we meet twice a week and i think i might plan a saturday clinic (to include episodes of one tree hill and all three bring it on movies per their request). they make me laugh every time we hang out. we tried stunts yesterday for the first time and i just knew someone was gonna leave practice with a broken arm. everyone is ok and they finally got into a basic stunt. they were thrilled! it was precious!

so in between planning youth group, praying for kids, and recruiting camp counselors, you can now find me looking up cheers on youtube and practicing them in the hallway. clayton's dog zoe hates when i cheer in the house, by the way. she jumps and tries to bite me. weird. she also doesn't like my tap dancing or hip hop dancing. hmmm...everyone else just loves it. ;) will post video soon.

mother, mother ocean, i have heard you call

i finally made it to the beach! yea!!! what a blessing it was!

this is me being way cool. i'm such a rock star. glad my white legs are cut out of the pic. thanks linds! ;)

a friend of ours has some friends offer their house to him for a week and he invited us along. so we packed up our things in the blue van and drove down on thursday morning and came back last night. it was just what i needed.

about three hours into the trip on thursday morning while going over a speed bump the van just stopped working. some of the guys (and kim) looked and poked at the engine for a while but to no avail. we had "randomly" invited another friend of ours to come along with us. he just happened to know a pastor in the area and gave him a call. the pastor came with a mechanic and temporarily fixed the problem so we could drive to the next town and get it properly fixed by another mechanic. so after three hours, a cup of chai, some chapati, and a quick tour of a school, we were back on the road! anyone who's ever broken down in kenya knows this is a miracle! to know someone in the middle of nowhere on the highway and to find a legitimate mechanic and get your car really fixed is amazing. not only was our friend good company, but was divinely appointed to join us! :) thanks paul!

and then we did nothing at the beach. that's right. nothing. ok, well, i threw the frisbee a little and walked a good bit. and bought a khanga. oh, and ate brownies. but other than that, nothing. i also finished don miller's newest book (a must read) and listened to a lot of jack johnson. and had some good conversation. it was such a nice break. i did a lot of praying and reflecting. there's nothing like sitting alone on the beach with Jesus. i'm in love.

this is the banda in front of our house overlooking the beach. we hung up our hammocks so we could think and read rain or shine

it was lindsay's birthday on saturday so we walked down the beach and sat at a bar overlooking the beach. here are my mom's words about these kinds of pictures, "that boy clayton would be so cute if he wouldn't always stick his tongue out!"

on the way home i called to check in with the leaders of middle school youth group. we canceled youth group for high school this sunday, but the leaders for middle school are stellar and completely capable of pulling it off without me. i'm looking forward to meeting with them this week to discuss in further details. they finished up a 5 week series on spiritual disciplines and played uno baseball. i left the whiffle ball equipment for them in our garage, but they couldn't find the plastic bats or balls. so they improvised with a HOCKEY STICK. and a kid got hit in the face! they say he's alright. i'm calling his mom this week. i really missed seeing all the kids this weekend. i'm looking forward to being back in action next weekend. there's a football, basketball, and tennis tournament at RVA and it's halloween. lots of young friends around!

although there was water in the ocean and there is more water in our house these days there are part of the country still suffering from drought. please continue to pray for rain.

and please pray for these teenagers. there are so many hurting and struggling. pray that i will have the words to say and they will hear Jesus speaking to their hearts.

and i have cheer practice twice this week with some sweet high school girls.

thanks again for reading and praying!

Diwali

hopefully i'll have pictures soon of this past weekend.

it. was. awesome.

it's diwali!

it's the hindu festival of lights and includes cleaning your house and eating sweets, oh, and fire works. loads of them. everywhere. coming and going from all directions. we can hear them from our house and it makes the dogs hide under tables and chairs. on friday night we (members of my house minus clay) ate indian food with friends at a delicious restaraunt/convenient store/parking lot. it's actually called "occidental plaza." you can get great food in the parking lot (which is now covered with a canvas) and it's the only place i know if in nairobi where dipping tobacco can also be purchased. don't worry, i only go there for the food. and don't ask about why i know about the skoal. so we had dinner, remembering to order the "mild" version of everything because it's the spiciest around, and drove around like crazy white people looking for an indian party. we could hear fireworks, but never found the source.

BUT, on saturday night we found the party. we went to one place a friend suggested but the party there was dead so, again, we drove around our part of town following the sights and sounds of explosions. then we found it. there were a few tents set up on a soccer field and only two or three of them were selling food. oh, but the food was good. the other tents were like box seats at a sporting event; private parties for viewing the festivities. but it wasn't a sporting event. well, sort of. there were people of all ages standing around the field launching fireworks in all directions. 7 year olds (or younger) could be seen running quickly away from something they'd just lit and thrown into the air. my favorite sight was a middle aged man holding 4, read it again FOUR, roman candles in one hand with his face turned away from the direction he was pointing them. occasionally one of those huge fireworks (you know, like 4th of July down at the levee) would explode on the ground and people would jump out of the line of fire and we would all duck and cover. us whiteys seemed to be the only ones nervous from all of the loud sounds and shooting blazes. i felt like a 10 year old turning in circles and screaming, "wow! this is awesome!" over and over after i'd eating pizza, samosas, and spring rolls. then we went to DP for more indian food and ice cream. Happy Diwali!

yesterday was my normal busy Sunday. i was supposed to have lunch with a student but it didn't work out. i'm really looking forward to spending time with her. pray it happens soon.

it's raining so much now which is great but means making a "rain plan" and a "no rain plan" for middle school youth group. and yesterday we ended up inside while it cleared up and becamse sunny outside. we did have to clean our muddy feet though. mud is everywhere. don't even get me started on muddy dogs who have amazingly learned to jump over the even-higher-than-the-other-one gate when i arrive home from a long day.

i gave the message this week at high school youth group and felt like it didn't make any sense. i was pretty excited about it, but sometimes my words get all mixed up and when i say things aloud they don't make as much sense as they do in my head. by the end of it my face was burning and it felt like my toungue was swollen. that feels great when there are like 30 teenagers staring at you. but some encouragement was exchanged with a few students that i've really been thinking about and praying for. i was obedient and God is faithful; that's success.

we had dinner at the Conway's which is always wonderful. Eric watched my face and laughed at me when Holly announced we were having chilli dogs. it's such a BLESSING to be welcomed into a warm and loving home and feel like a family member. being taken care of for one evening by a mom and a dad (even if they're not your own) is so good for my soul. it's nice to borrow a family every once in a while. thanks Conway's.

this weekend i finally get to go to the BEACH. hopefully. that's the plan anyway. thank you to our good friend Shawn who has a sweet low-cost place (i mean, free) and invited us along. so we're leaving on Thursday morning and returning Sunday. i'll miss all the kids at youth group on Sunday, but i'm excited about this much needed rest.

the minshew's returned last night! i'm so excited to have them back. i missed them a lot. and their sweet baby, Graham. he's grown so much over the past few months.

hopefully soon i'll have pics of diwali and the beach!

love to you!!!

lately LOVING

It’s raining! And this time the guard on my compound says it will “set in” tonight. woo hoo!!!Here are some things I’m loving lately:

-my NEW HAIR! Some lovely ladies on a short-term mission team gave some of us haircuts and gave me some sweet highlights. They are some lovely ladies who were training some hairdressers in the slums in Nairobi. Most of them were from the South so it was great to sit in the kitchen with them and listen to their stories with those beautiful southern accents. Cindy did my hair and she did an AMAZING job. And what a blessing it was. I would never be able to afford something like this and now I feel like a rock star!

-HUGE Spiderman backpacks on the backs on tiny first graders. I wish I had a picture of this. I was a sub last week for a friend of mine at Rosslyn. She’s a fifth grade teacher and I got to spend time with her sweet class all day on Thursday. The kids at Rosslyn are so beautiful and I love being reminded of it. I was also reminded of how much I love these kids while I facilitated the high school retreat this past weekend. One of the teachers asked BlueSky to help out with activities. It turned out that Lindsay and I were the only ones available to help. It was perfect! I had worried so much about the program, but it turned out beautifully. I was also able to talk with some kids that have really been on my heart; to me, a success.

-Jacaranda season in Nairobi! I love these beautiful trees. Every time I see one I’m reminded of where I am and what I’m doing. There is a big beautiful Jacaranda tree near one of the schools where some of our camp kids go. When I lived and worked here before I prayed and prayed and tried to get involved in this school. I would go to games and after school activities and drive past that tree on my way home. I remember feeling relief every time I left this school last time and smiling and appreciating my life every time I saw that awesome tree. It reminds me that I’m supposed to be here.

love you! thanks for reading!!!! come to kenya and enjoy my new hair, sweet kids, and beautiful trees!!!

rain, mercy, and a God who sees

my homesickness has been waning. even though mountain day was this past weekend, the coosa valley fair starts this week, and i spent 5+ hours in traffic court on friday. thanks for praying for me. i surely need it.

it rained on saturday!!! that's right, RAIN. we, too, were wondering what the noise outside was and why there was wet stuff falling from the sky. we had a youth group party on saturday night and right before it began it started raining. it was raining water and kids at our house because, i lost count, but we easily had 40 people over!

before the party i also had the opportunity to go for a swim, lay in the sun, and take a shower. these things are all real treats for me. AND i got to hang out with some friends.

sunday, church was so sweet and we started our new children's curriculum. the teachers loved the it and i think the kids do too. please pray for a family at our church as on saturday after noon the father died suddenly of a heart attack leaving two very young children and his wife. this was shocking and will be very difficult for this family and our church family, but it is always sweet to see the Body surrounding its members and meeting each other's needs. she will have to move back to the States with her two children and organize a funeral for her husband. please keep them in your prayers.

sunday afternoon both middle and high school youth groups went very well. one of our high school leaders, is speaking at middle school youth group for a total of 5 weeks. we're in week two. she's doing such a fantastic job. it's beautiful to see these young leaders developing their gifts. and i wish i could record my 6th grade small group of girls. the things we talk through are so sweet! they are precious. we talk about spaghetti strap tank tops, boys, mean girls, God's love, and the Bible. i love girls.

here are some boys at youth group:

at high school youth group i talked about The Good Father. and how Jesus has not promised us all we ask for, but he has promised us mercy and grace in our time of need. there are a couple of students that i can't get off my mind and i really feel like God gave me that message for them. i was so nervous (i always am; i don't want to confuse anyone with my mixed up words), but the Holy Spirit delivered the message through me and TO me. indescribable.

i was reminded that Jesus has experienced all the emotions, fears, temptations, and struggles that we have. sometimes we feel so alone in the things we go through, but He knows and He sees us, and gives us mercy and grace.

we've had water steadily coming to our house all day today! it's a miracle. just to be sure i could completely wash my hair, though, i washed it outside in the spigot in front of our house. that is, after i washed the dog. he needed it more than me. i'm really glad no one drove by while i was bathing in the driveway. please continue to pray for rain.

love you all!