servanthood + love

this is just a picture that makes me happy. sally & jared on the bluff at the redbirds. this is the night the campus crusade for christ group was nagging mikah about the exact date of his salvation...

last night the lesson was on humility and servant hood. i talked about how christ washed the feet of the 12...even though he knew he was going to betrayed by the one. the lesson was hard to get though. it seemed that all of the youth had their mind on other things.
i asked them questions about what it meant to be christ-like and to be a servant.
oh well...we have several good discussions too.
also at the end of youth i was greeted by brad and this gentleman who informed me that two of the youth had thrown a water balloon at his truck while he was driving down walnut grove.
....sigh adolescence.
currently planning guys nights/girls nights.

man i forgot how small they used to be...

went out and saw harry potter last night w/ adam, bryan & kim. it was packed and the movie was pretty good. adam and i had preped by watching the 5th movie before youth. later went to ihop and tried to not steal a decanter.

happy birthday daniel

happy birthday dan!

epic adventures canoeing down the buffalo river

this weekend we (bryan, kim, daniel and myself) took the youth canoeing. we kinda got lost, but it was okay...composure was maintained.
i never knew that after keeping youth inside a church van for 3 hours they would be so cranky (please tell me you smell the sarcasim). there was quite a bit of complaining but once we got on the river things went pretty smoothly.

everyone but bryan and daniel rode two people to a canoe.
within the first mile and in the first rapid two of my youth tipped mine and kim's canoe....
we eventually pulled aside on a bank and had a sack lunch w/ the youth. kim and i however were not strong enough to battle the current so we beached on the opposite side....and had quite a bit of trouble crossing the river. i fell and was almost swept away, but thanks to one of my stronger youth (dalton) who reached out to grab me and hoist me up....i was able to make it across.

after about another three miles down the river kim and i ALMOST dodged a tree....then we tipped completely over and our oars smacked us in the face...it was pretty ballin'....this country family that was drifting by was giggling and informed us that we handled that tree the best way we could.

some of the youth found a rope swing and decided to climb up the rocks and jump off. it was raining by this point...it was just wonderful. we were all just chillin' up on the bank enjoying the cool water and the beauty of nature.

we stopped on a strip in lexington, about an hour away from memphis, to eat dinner. i told the kids the church would pay for their dinner if they could all agree to eat at one place. the adults and 3 of the youth ate at taco bell on the church's account. the rest of the youth walked down to sonic...with some whining.
oh well, that's youth.
after dinner we circled up in the parking lot next to taco bell and we all shared our 'roses and thorns' (thanks mikah) of the day, then prayed and headed home.
the drive home went smoothly as well. daniel seemed to get really tired towards the end so we started singing along and such....

then the church bus passes us....no....pulls up beside us and one of the youth pulls down his pants and pushes his bum cheeks up on the window (great now i need to clean it) and moons daniel and myself.

my first trip with the youth...where I was the adult in charge.
:-)

canoeing

so i'm taking the students canoeing (with the help of daniel, bryan, and kim)....tomorrow. i'm super excited.
however i woke up this morning and i feel like CRAP. hopefully i am feeling better by tomorrow.
i got a new phone....it's def. a 'change' and i've also realized i've collected way too many contacts.

also my new driver's licence came in the mail...so i no longer have my social on my driver's licence. so yaaay for that, finally.

have been able to spend some good time w/ good ppl, and that's been rewarding.

all for now. i'm going to lay down before work.

epic adventures in life

again...no pictures. i'm still house sitting and i can't dl anything on the pc.

i just finished reading the allen blog and my eyes still swell with tears at the idea that they will not be with us or wesley when the school year starts. *sigh*

....but lately i've gotten really good support from some great ppl. my lessons have come a long way from when i first started.
i now so appreciate all the work and planning justin did for all of our trips and service days. there are so many little details that i just did not think about that my support team has reminded me of. (thanks to all of you wonderful ppl).

just simple things like....a meeting to remind all the attendees of what to pack, when to be there, when they will be back, and planning a devotional...wow, can't believe i forgot that one.
i love my job.

even my job at fresh...minus the bullshit parts anyway. there are a good handful of great ppl that make it not so bad.

i wish i didn't have/need to push to get things moving a long at the church...tis life.
be assertive and stand your ground lauren and make things happen!
....i hopefully have my meeting w/ the ds at the end of july.....
just another step close to becoming rev.baller!!!

i'm so grateful for people that i can be honest and talk to....about stuff that matters. not just sports, clothing, shoes, handbags, cars.....tv shows....you get the idea. i like people that care enough/trust me enough, to be honest with me....questioning my values and pointing out when i'm wrong... i value that kind of honesty...that kind of friendship and compassion.
people like this make my heart overflow with smiles.
although, i do enjoy the goofy faces and dancing fish too...

i've also realized this week that i don't want an inside dog....
i cut my foot open on a rawhide bone this morning....my fault for not wearing shoes but still....

house sitting adventures

first let me say that i LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to watch wimbledon in HD.
i haven't really watched tv since november and what a way to start back....oh how i love tennis! the grass courts are just so exciting too.
the australian open just is not as competitive. you either ARE a clay court player or you are not.

okay...house sitting. i realize the reason i'm here is for IF things go wrong. so the puppy's bum exploded..no biggie, i clean it up.
the a/c broke yesterday so i txt'ed saja and told her...someone's coming to fix the downstairs unit. i feel kinda bad. i mean i know it's not my fault but still...i'd like it better if things ran more smoothly

hopefully i will not be distracted by the dogs, tennis and the a/c repair person before work...i need to prepare my lesson for sunday evening.
i just wish i had more time to devote to the youth. i knew this would be a problem....it was a problem when my boss was still working at the church.....
for a part time job fresh is not THAT BAD...i mean i complain just to complain...for the most part anyway.
i have good ppl to work with and the work is pretty easy...it's just i could be using that time to be doing more productive things: things i actually care about.

christy made a good point though...we should make the best of our situations.
we may not like our jobs...but we have jobs, and our job is to do the best we can at our job.
it's all about respect. so props to christy for that.

now i am learning how to balance a career, a job, friends, a guy, and life responsibilities....i realize now that i need to prioritize. and that everything and everyone cannot always be my no.1. as with most women i feel like now i am letting someone or something down....and most of the time i end up putting myself last, which leaves me frazzled and frustrated.

things will look up. i'm sure of it....another advantage of house sitting....jacuzzi bubble baths oh yeah!!!

dog sitting, becoming a hippie and the joys of wimbledon

no pictures today....sorry guys.
i'm at saja and pat's house in g'town house/dog sitting.
things are going well so far....lily rose is a bit hyper active and beau is just...large and fluffy. pictures will come later in the week though.

i woke up this morning and started to think that maybe i am turning into a hippie. as i rolled out of bed and brewed my coffee only to pour some soy milk into it....after i finished my coffee i went to get ready in the master bath. there i opened up my nalgene to get a drink of water....and as you read from the previous post i am a proud owner of a new pair of chacos.
....i opened the pantry to look at my reduced sugar, organic peanut butter....
sigh....i'm 'that' friend and 'that' relative....
oh well. i enjoy my life.
and it is that time of year....
WIMBLEDON!!!!
every little girl/boy hopes to one day step foot on the grassy courts (the ones that play tennis anyway)