This is the amazazing Trace!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Long Time Coming
Hi friends! Sorry it's been so long since an update. I've been busy and then I haven't been feeling like writing, but a lot has been happening. I'm not entirely sure where I left off, but I'll keep this as short and sweet as I can. I went to a leadership immersion November 11th which was really cool. I went not know what to expect, and I was surely not disappointed. there were ten of us I think, about twenty total. What was really crazy is that we were evenly divided between guys and girls, so we split up into groups of four with two men and two women on each team and our goal was to go and share the gospel with as many people as possible. This was all practice, the people we were "saving" were actually Campus Crusade staff, which didn't really connect with the first guy my group met. It was really akward at first, but as the day progressed we got the idea and it went really smoothly. We had a lot of fun hiking around in the mountains around La Veta. By the end of the day I think we were all pretty tired. I got to work with some people from the Springs that I didn't know and there was a really neat dynamic that happened. We were able to really bounce off each other so there wasn't much silence when talking to people. Over all I think we did pretty well, and one of my friends came out of her shell a bit. I'm really proud of her. She's a pretty quiet and reserved person like me, and like me if very social when she gets to know someone, and she's just grown fathoms in the past semester. It's been really amazing to see.
After that we finished up our Bible Survey class which was really interesting. We were studying the Bible itself, not really the Word in it. We were trying to get more familiar with the general movement of the Bible and where things are so that we can use it more effectively in our own lives and in sharing the gospels. I really got a lot out of it. We looked at geography and the movement of Israel through out their history and where they went to and why they were stuck there. We talked about the different "era's" in the Bible. Where the divisions really were and what was happening. I mean, you have all these books and some of them seem to go together and some of them don't and it can be hard to tell if God is doing something in this part that he wasn't doing in another part. So our leader divided the Bible into twelve era's (if you're curious about any of this let me know and I'll explain the whole thing to you, it's really fascinating), and told us which books fell into each era and what happened in the era that seperated it from the others. By the end of the class (it was three weeks, three days a week at 8:00 am before actual classes started), I felt much more confident with the Bible and finding things than I had been before.
The next big thing was the manuscript immersion. We did an "iductive study" on Amos and our leader was showing us how to break down books of the Bible to better study and understand the Word itself. He printed off the etire book of Amos and fixed the margins so that there was room to write things down and everything. Then he gave us some colored pencils and we had several diffent colors and we designated what each color was. For instance there was a color for people, people actions, location, God, God actions, God commands, explainations, and keywords... there might have been one more but I don't remember. So we would go through and mark up our manuscript, circle the people in their color and God in his color, locations in their color, underline people actions, God actions, and box explainations and key words. When we were finished with that we would break it down by a few verses and write a summary on what was happening in that section and after each chapter we would decide what we could take from that chapter and apply to our own lives. It was really neat, and a lot of fun. We had a good time marking our paper's up and talking about what God was trying to say to His people at that time and how we could learn from it. What's really neat is that is was so easy to do and you could get a lot out of it, however it does take some time (which is actually a good thing when studying the Bible lol).
Aside from that I've been going to prayer meetings and to JiB on Thursdays as often as possible and it's been just really good. I feel like I've been so busy in all the best ways. It's been a truly rewarding semester. My boyfriend and I will be going to the Denver Christmas Conference in January. Again, I'm not really sure what to expect, but I know that it's going to be just really awesome and that it's going to stretch me out of my comfort zone which I love so much but is like poison to my soul. It's a week long deal at the Adam's Mark Hotel and there is going to be worship and out reach time and some speakers. If you like you can check it out at www.dcc2007.com . I'm really excited about it. I am a little sad though because the semester is over and all my friends are going home and I won't see them until for at three weeks (for those that are going to DCC, four for those who aren't coming back until the spring semester starts).
I am thinking about doing a missions trip this summer. I have no idea how I will afford it, but money is no object when God sends you somewhere. My school's group is going to Serbia for seven weeks, six weeks I think in Serbia and then the seventh is in South Korea for a huge conference, which would be really awesome. I would really like to go but I have my reasons to hesitate. It's not the money, it's only $4,500 to go, which really I don't think is much for seven weeks out of the country. I've never been on a trip like that before and seven weeks is a long time when you've never gone to do anything like that at all. And, as silly as this probably sounds, I don't think I want to leave my dog for that long either. My parents would be taking care of him, and he's my dog, so I don't want him to bond to my parents over seven weeks. I would be so sad. I wish I could take him with me, but that's rather improbable. Then there is the being away from my family and my boyfriend for that logn too. That would be really tough. However! If I went I wouldn't be alone. I already know of a few friends from Crusade who are going, and I know that it would just be an awesome experience. I think it would be really hard, but really fun and really, really rewarding. I'm sure that I would come back a different person. So, I'm praying about it and I'll probably start filling out an application just in case. There are some other options that I might go with, but we'll just have to see. I am planning on going to Mississippi with a group to do hurrican Katrina clean up there. We've been going every break to help clean up, and I've decided that it would be a good thing to do. I've heard some amazing things about it.
As for life outside of Crusade... Business continues to be bad. We're taking out a loan to try and cover costs so that we can stay afloat a little longer, but at this rate we won't last much longer in Pueblo as a business. It makes me made to think about it. Being a rather stubborn person in a job I love I rather refuse to give up on our business. I know that God is in control though, and although I still have my doubts and anxieties from time to time he is ever faithful and good. I know that even if the business fails that my family will not fail. That God will provide something even better for us here. However, with the recent lack of money I'll pretty much be taking a semester off again. I'll only be taking one class this semester think. I just can't afford school and I didn't get an application for a loan in time. Fall semester though, I hope to take a full load, as dreadful as that will be, I really don't want to spend the rest of my life in school. I'm rather jealous of my friends who are also 20 years old and Juniors in College getter ready to graduate next year. And here I am, barely a sophmore and struggling to stay in school long enough to graduate... especially since I don't really care about getting a degree! Ugh... employers are aggrevating. Well, we continue to pray unceasingly and depend on the strength of our fellow brother's and sister's in Christ to keep us hopeful about the future.
And that is what is happening at the Lighthouse.
I hope you all have a very blessed and Merry Christmas and that 2007 is a year that bares much fruit in your lives and that peace and love and joy and laughter follow where ever you go!
After that we finished up our Bible Survey class which was really interesting. We were studying the Bible itself, not really the Word in it. We were trying to get more familiar with the general movement of the Bible and where things are so that we can use it more effectively in our own lives and in sharing the gospels. I really got a lot out of it. We looked at geography and the movement of Israel through out their history and where they went to and why they were stuck there. We talked about the different "era's" in the Bible. Where the divisions really were and what was happening. I mean, you have all these books and some of them seem to go together and some of them don't and it can be hard to tell if God is doing something in this part that he wasn't doing in another part. So our leader divided the Bible into twelve era's (if you're curious about any of this let me know and I'll explain the whole thing to you, it's really fascinating), and told us which books fell into each era and what happened in the era that seperated it from the others. By the end of the class (it was three weeks, three days a week at 8:00 am before actual classes started), I felt much more confident with the Bible and finding things than I had been before.
The next big thing was the manuscript immersion. We did an "iductive study" on Amos and our leader was showing us how to break down books of the Bible to better study and understand the Word itself. He printed off the etire book of Amos and fixed the margins so that there was room to write things down and everything. Then he gave us some colored pencils and we had several diffent colors and we designated what each color was. For instance there was a color for people, people actions, location, God, God actions, God commands, explainations, and keywords... there might have been one more but I don't remember. So we would go through and mark up our manuscript, circle the people in their color and God in his color, locations in their color, underline people actions, God actions, and box explainations and key words. When we were finished with that we would break it down by a few verses and write a summary on what was happening in that section and after each chapter we would decide what we could take from that chapter and apply to our own lives. It was really neat, and a lot of fun. We had a good time marking our paper's up and talking about what God was trying to say to His people at that time and how we could learn from it. What's really neat is that is was so easy to do and you could get a lot out of it, however it does take some time (which is actually a good thing when studying the Bible lol).
Aside from that I've been going to prayer meetings and to JiB on Thursdays as often as possible and it's been just really good. I feel like I've been so busy in all the best ways. It's been a truly rewarding semester. My boyfriend and I will be going to the Denver Christmas Conference in January. Again, I'm not really sure what to expect, but I know that it's going to be just really awesome and that it's going to stretch me out of my comfort zone which I love so much but is like poison to my soul. It's a week long deal at the Adam's Mark Hotel and there is going to be worship and out reach time and some speakers. If you like you can check it out at www.dcc2007.com . I'm really excited about it. I am a little sad though because the semester is over and all my friends are going home and I won't see them until for at three weeks (for those that are going to DCC, four for those who aren't coming back until the spring semester starts).
I am thinking about doing a missions trip this summer. I have no idea how I will afford it, but money is no object when God sends you somewhere. My school's group is going to Serbia for seven weeks, six weeks I think in Serbia and then the seventh is in South Korea for a huge conference, which would be really awesome. I would really like to go but I have my reasons to hesitate. It's not the money, it's only $4,500 to go, which really I don't think is much for seven weeks out of the country. I've never been on a trip like that before and seven weeks is a long time when you've never gone to do anything like that at all. And, as silly as this probably sounds, I don't think I want to leave my dog for that long either. My parents would be taking care of him, and he's my dog, so I don't want him to bond to my parents over seven weeks. I would be so sad. I wish I could take him with me, but that's rather improbable. Then there is the being away from my family and my boyfriend for that logn too. That would be really tough. However! If I went I wouldn't be alone. I already know of a few friends from Crusade who are going, and I know that it would just be an awesome experience. I think it would be really hard, but really fun and really, really rewarding. I'm sure that I would come back a different person. So, I'm praying about it and I'll probably start filling out an application just in case. There are some other options that I might go with, but we'll just have to see. I am planning on going to Mississippi with a group to do hurrican Katrina clean up there. We've been going every break to help clean up, and I've decided that it would be a good thing to do. I've heard some amazing things about it.
As for life outside of Crusade... Business continues to be bad. We're taking out a loan to try and cover costs so that we can stay afloat a little longer, but at this rate we won't last much longer in Pueblo as a business. It makes me made to think about it. Being a rather stubborn person in a job I love I rather refuse to give up on our business. I know that God is in control though, and although I still have my doubts and anxieties from time to time he is ever faithful and good. I know that even if the business fails that my family will not fail. That God will provide something even better for us here. However, with the recent lack of money I'll pretty much be taking a semester off again. I'll only be taking one class this semester think. I just can't afford school and I didn't get an application for a loan in time. Fall semester though, I hope to take a full load, as dreadful as that will be, I really don't want to spend the rest of my life in school. I'm rather jealous of my friends who are also 20 years old and Juniors in College getter ready to graduate next year. And here I am, barely a sophmore and struggling to stay in school long enough to graduate... especially since I don't really care about getting a degree! Ugh... employers are aggrevating. Well, we continue to pray unceasingly and depend on the strength of our fellow brother's and sister's in Christ to keep us hopeful about the future.
And that is what is happening at the Lighthouse.
I hope you all have a very blessed and Merry Christmas and that 2007 is a year that bares much fruit in your lives and that peace and love and joy and laughter follow where ever you go!
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