summer happenings

What have I been doing instead of blogging?

Cleaning, Organizing, Filing, and Throwing Away!

I have so enjoyed my time at home thus far.  I shared with a few people how I had such high hopes for my three weeks at home, and wasn't overly confident that I would find a happy balance of getting everything done.  I had several things I wanted to do, some including: rest, go through school papers, reorganize my filing cabinet, sleep, cook, spend time with grandparents, clean out my closet, help mom around the house, spend time with family, relax, etc.  Those were just some of the selfish things I wanted to do.  I also had responsibilities of getting public school observation hours in.  I feared I would not find a happy medium of relaxing and doing personal things, while also accomplishing things both at home and out and about.  Anyone who knows me, knows I am a home body through and through, so the things at home weren't as much a concern as the things out and about.  But being at home, I was afraid I would either be too lazy and not get much accomplished, or I would put too much emphasis on the relaxing and sleeping, and not get anything productive done.

I am pleased to say that so far, I have had a very productive and restful summer break.  I went through so many papers and files, and threw away about a 2ft tall stack of papers--what a great feeling.  Mom keeps saying "are you positive there isn't a piece of paper in there you might want later on?"  The answer to her question is "there probably is".  But the way I look at it is, if I haven't looked at it for years, why can't I get past the feel of need for it once or twice?  I have gone through years worth of receipts, only to find that I am such a paper pack rat.  Why in the world would I keep a receipt for a pack of gum?  As if I thought, "hmm, just in case I need to return it some day".  Wow, Becky!  I have cleaned out my closet, and found many clothes to donate, some to throw away, and some I had totally forgotten I owned.  I have had many memory flashbacks too which have been so wonderful.  

This productivity has not been at the expense of my rest either.  I have been getting a fair bit of sleep, and in the evenings, have sat with my family and relaxed.  I have already been able to spend time with my grandparents, and some friends.  I have had fun cooking at my leisure.  I look forward to my dinner date with grandpa and grandma where I cook and bring dinner!

Today has not been an exception for productivity.  I decided this morning to wake up semi early for summer break and get right to work.  I have cleaned the bathroom, done some laundry, vacuumed the house, cleaned out the refrigerator, cleaned the kitchen, washed dishes, RA preparation, paper filing/organizing, and the banana bread just came out of the oven.  Aah, what a feeling of satisfaction.  Dinner is planned, and now I am waiting for my family to get home from their various activities of the day.  I am grateful to the Lord that He has given me such a love for the home and my family.

This morning, I began my summer Bible study on love.  I hope to meditate daily on a passage from 1 Corinthians 13.  I have two specific ministries in my near future involving daily interaction with people, and have recently been convicted that I don't love people as I should.  With being a camp counselor this summer, and an RA next school year, I need to learn to love people as Christ.  1 Peter 4:8 is one of the reasons I have been convicted and prompted to do this study, "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."  Love is the key!  If you have any verses or insight for me on this topic, please share--I have a lot of learning to do.

A quick update on my trip this summer...Plane tickets have been purchased.  I will fly out June 1st for the summer, and fly directly to Nashville (Tim and Beth) August 15th.  I would love to go home at the end of the summer, but it just isn't practical to fly home, then drive to Alabama only to drive back up to school.  I prefer to be healthy when I get to school.  Please be in prayer for me as I prepare for this ministry, and that the Lord be working in the lives of all those involved!

IMPACT 2011 pictorial review

Welcome to IMPACT 2011...Always Prepared!

Registration... 

Friday night activity: 1 against 100 (or whatever it is exactly called).  The girls definitely did better then the guys, and Doug even admitted it!

 They did a great job with music!

Friday night it was raining, so we had to have our 'bonfire' inside.  While people were waiting in line for pizza, Eric was playing the guitar and before we knew it, the teens had gathered in a circle praising the Lord.  What an awesome thing to be a part of.

These are my super amazing sisters for the weekend: Makita (other counselor, and ABC student), Brittany, Breanna, and Bridget!  What sweet girls they were and what fun they were to spend the weekend with.

Dr. Tommy Mitchel was our speaker.  He is a medical doctor who realized the truth about creation later on in his life and is now serving with Answers in Genesis.  It's too bad he had to leave.

It was a wonderful weekend!  I so enjoyed the time out of my room, and having fun.  We played a ginormous game of "Underground Church" which was intense, as we had to figure out clues and before we could get a new clue, the entire team would have to recite that spot's clue.  Definitely got a lot of walking in.

So excited with what the Lord did.  Please continue to pray for the teens (and ABC students) as we have learned and been reminded of so much, pray we use this information for HIS glory! 

Jehovah Jireh

I would just like to humbly say how grateful I am for the way the Lord has been providing this semester, in so many ways! I am overwhelmed.

New Furniture!

Our campus truly has seen God's goodness recently. The building I live in has been used as a women's dorm for...let's just say a very long time. The same furniture has been used for just about as long, if not as long. The school has been wanting to get new furniture for quite some time now, but it has been a struggle because other needs have come up, and it isn't like the old furniture was unusable, you just had to be delicate with it, haha. A 'sister' college had recently had to close a few years back, and long story short, they offered to let us buy there new furniture that had only been used for a few years. The school (in school I mean the higher-ups. I did not know any of this until after) began to pray about this offer when Dr. A (the president of the college) met a man in the airport who offered to buy all of the furniture and pay for transportation.

Through some minor inconveniences (losing our desks the day before fall semester exams started, and sleeping on the floor for one night), our new furniture arrived yesterday! Thursday afternoon we took a lot of the old furniture out: chairs, bed frames, some mattresses, cinder blocks (used to prop beds up), and of course, the desks had already been taken out. Friday afternoon two semis arrived on our campus, packed floor to ceiling like a puzzle. The guys were all assigned shifts, to which we are so grateful. They were a huge help. It was so amazing watching the entire campus pull together to get everything done. Guys and girls carried things in from outside (and might I add it was frigid yesterday), and there were a few teams of guys that would assemble the beds. It was a science. As far as I know, no one was injured. Several students are kind of hobbling around (it is hard work lifting and climbing and walking after being a student of sitting at a desk doing homework), but beyond being sore, we are all fine--Praise the Lord!

I am so thankful for this wonderful gift, and thought I would show you some pictures of the new furniture and how I arranged it! I guess I didn't post pics of how my room was arranged after my roommate left, but here are some pics of how my room was at the beginning of the year, with the old furniture.

As you walk into my room, this is what you see diagonal to the corner with the door. The next few pictures are from the other corners moving clockwise.

Here a few closer ups.

I love the hutch on my desk! Each room gets two beds, two dressers (our old dressers are still in because the hot water heater goes through it, so that will be a chore for another time), two desks, two chairs, and two hutches.

As you can see in this picture, the hutches can go on the dresser too. Everything can stack!

The quilt my mom made me makes just about anywhere home. She is so talented, and I am thankful for the bed quilt, and lap quilt she made me. Also thankful for her teaching my younger sister, who quilted the pillow in the above picture. There are lights in the ceiling in both the corners over where the desks used to be, but since the top bunk now covers the light coming from that at night, I strung white lights under the top bunk so if I ever wanted to read, I could have light!

So very thankful for the Lord's goodness to us here on campus!

Read more, and see more pictures at ABC's facebook page.

so proud of my church kiddos

What a week this has been, and I don't say that negatively. The week went by fairly quickly, was exhausting, but was a very good week. Classes went well. I don't think there are any classes that I really don't like. This semester will have a lot of required reading keeping me rather busy, but that isn't always a bad thing. I am taking several elementary education classes, which is a lot of fun! Intro to Special Ed is my first night class (which I was dreading) but has pleasantly surprised me into being a great class! My other el ed class is Elementary Art Methods. Surprisingly this class will require a bit of work, but will be a change in pace when I work on that homework.

Wednesday night, those kids were crazy off the wall. I enjoyed being back with them all and was so encouraged by their enthusiasm for memorizing the Word of God! One little boy came in with his Dad and his Dad was trying to explain to me which verses his son had ready for that night. The little boy perked up and said "the one with flawlessness in it" in his adorable 4 year old voice with a strong southern accent. His father could not remember the other verse he had memorized, so I sat down with the little boy and we were reviewing different verses, and I was trying to sound out which one he had not yet 'officially said'. After reviewing for a little bit, he remembered that it had something to do with 'indoor' (again in his 4 year old voice with a strong southern accent). I dug into my memory trying to think of what verse talks about the indoors. He had stumped me good! So we continued to work through each verse, and we got to 1 Corinthians 16:34 when he got all excited and said the verse. And then it hit me--he hadn't been saying 'indoors', he had been saying 'endure' and I was unable to understand past his adorable southern accent. These children may be a challenge and a test to my patience at times, but I truly have grown to love each one of them, and am so proud of them for how they have been hiding God's Word in their heart. They have Miss Rebekah so proud, but more importantly, they have pleased the Lord! I am so thankful the Lord has given me this opportunity.

The end of the week, was very exciting and tiring here on campus. The dorm I live in got all new furniture! I am loving every bit of it, and again, so thankful!

I challenge you to not just go to church tomorrow, but to meet with God (a common challenge from a prof here at school Friday afternoons).

Christmas week

I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas remembering the true meaning. The last two weeks, I have been teaching here at home, and talking about the Christmas story. I have been impacted in a new way of what Jesus went through because of His love for me. God Himself loved me so much that He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, here. He didn't come down as a king, but humbled Himself to be born of a woman, in a messy way. He was not only born as a human, but was born in a cold, damp stable. I was even given better conditions then that. The thing that gets me the most though is that He knew His life was not going to be glorious, He knew from the start that His purpose in life was to die. He died for me, because He loved me--Wow! I encourage you to think through that.

Daniel picked me up from school on Friday and we started our long trip home. I am so thankful for the clear weather we had. The worst roads we had were in town before we left. We got in about 12:30 am. We had a lovely week together relaxing. We baked several cookies, and helped mom make other Christmas goodies. We were also able to make it to three of Sarah basketball games, which was especially nice for me! He surprised me with a Cricut! I have had lots of fun playing with that and trying to learn all of the amazing things it can do :) Sadly, I had to allow Daniel to go back to his family early Christmas Eve. After an eventful (no one was hurt) morning, he was getting on the road shortly after 7am. I so enjoyed his visit!

Mom and I had fun spending the day together on Christmas eve baking up a storm. I so miss the time in the kitchen while at college, so I enjoyed making a strawberry pie, homemade cranberry sauce, and a breakfast casserole.

We kept out Christmas day traditions by going to Grandpa and Grandma Hewitt's for breakfast. We had a very yummy breakfast and then a wonderful time of visiting with them. Thankful they are still here to celebrate Christmas with! About 1:30ish, we drove the quarter mile to go to Grandpa and Grandma Meigs'! We enjoyed opening gifts together, and I was excited to add to my teacher supply collection! We had an absolutely delicious lunch/dinner. After dinner we did stockings, watched Mom open her mother-daughter box (one of our favorite traditions as we try to guess each gift). We had dessert (my family loves to bake a little too much...we had five pies for seven people), and then headed for home. What a wonderful Christmas Day we had!

The 26th has always been our family day that we celebrate Christmas as an immediate family! For several years now, us kids have made breakfast for Mom and Dad. This Christmas was not an exception. We had a yummy breakfast, and then headed off to church. After church we enjoyed the lasagna Dad had made and opened gifts as a family. I would have to say the highlight of our family Christmas was the lap quilt my mom made me! It is a bright purple and teal with flannel! After evening service we watched The Ultimate Gift and opened stockings. We had an awesome day as a family!

Last night we got about 12 inches of snow, and the wind has been blowing like crazy. It has been fun to be home with Sarah and Mom and just enjoy being inside. Sarah and I carried firewood in this morning, so I expect to be inside the remainder of the day warm and cozy. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas remembering the true meaning of why we celebrate. I am home for roughly another two weeks before I go meet my niece. Have a wonderful day!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Christmas season has arrived, and I am loving every minute of it. I brought lots of Christmas music back from break, and have enjoyed listening to it immensely. The countdown is coming to an end, as I am already past the one week mark. I can already feel the warmth of the fireplace at home, and the smell of goodness of the Christmas Season. My room here is quite festive with Christmas lights, a plate of Christmas cookies (from a dear woman at church), and peppermint pinwheel candies. Most of the time, I have my pine candle 'burning', but nothing beats the smell of a real Christmas tree mixed with pies baking. I don't think I have looked forward to Christmas this much since I was a child, and I don't really know why or what makes this one more exciting then the last, or the one before the last, but trust me, I am excited.

When I snap myself back into the reality of my life as a college student, I am thankful the Lord has gotten me thus far in the semester. I look back on several points of my semester, and have no idea how I survived, besides the fact that I serve an awesome God, and have many prayer warriors backing me up each day. This past week was one of those times, I don't know how I made it through. But God is good, and has carried me through on those eagles wings as He talks of. I have experienced the truth behind the verse that states "when I am weak, He is strong" (Becky paraphrase).

Wednesday night, I had the fun of being able to go over to the Peterson's home after church. Mr. Peterson teaches here at the school and was the staff advisor for the Mission's Conference Steering Committee. He and his family have taken the four of us students on the committee under his wing, and graciously welcomed us into their home. I had fun proclaiming the arrival of my sweet niece, and they all shared in my joy, which was much appreciated. While there, we enjoyed sweet conversation with some yummy Swedish treats (they used to be missionaries in Sweden). One of the things we had was a spiced drink that you drink in a tiny cup and put almonds and raisins in it--it was SO good! We also had some delicious Swedish cookies that reminded me a bit of a gingersnap, but they were very thin--again, very yummy! Once our bellies were full, we enjoyed sharing Christmas traditions, and I felt largely outnumbered as I was the only one who had not been on the mission field in the past. We left just in time to be back in our rooms by curfew, but what fun we all had.

Thursday was study day which means no classes. I didn't allow myself to sleep in too much, and got right to work on reading, projects, and other random assignments coming due. I worked studiously all day, and ended up having to pull late lights because of the pile of things due on Friday. My mind was so heavily into my work, that I completely forgot about devos, and after they had done all of their gift exchanging, they noticed I was missing, and sent Kelsey to come get me, haha.

I made it through Friday, which is totally a God thing. My day started with me freaking out because it was 7:19 instead of 6:00, which is what I had set my alarm for. I am proud to say I was still able to get ready in time! Several projects were handed in, and we wrapped the majority of our classes up in lecture. As soon as my classes were done, I raced back to my room to work on my Learning Center. If you don't know what a Learning Center is, let me just tell you it is a ton of work and time. Thankfully, I had the idea in my head and at about 11pm, I finished that up.

Saturday morning, I woke up and immediately got to some reading. I got to talk to my Dad on the phone for a bit, and skype with my niece. It was fun getting to see her in action. My Saturday was full, and I was thankfully able to start and finish my OT Survey notebook. My day crashed at about quarter of midnight when I was more then ready for sleep!

Today has been an interesting day weather wise. When I woke up, it was pouring rain, and at about 12:30, it started snowing. We are expected to get a bunch of snow between now and Wednesday. I was able to wrap up a few assignments, put some last minute touches on my Learning Center, and enjoy a cozy nap!

Now that you have heard about my last several days in extreme detail, let me give you a heads up about the next several days. We have classes Monday and Tuesday, but those will pretty much just be reviewing before finals. Final exams start Wednesday, and my last exam starts at 10am on Friday! The plan is for Daniel to drive up and pick me up, and then together we will head up to VT. Please be praying with us for good weather. I keep hearing rumors that we are to get a storm Thursday and Friday, but then others say it should be clear. We know the Lord has it in His hands, and are resting in that.

If there is any way I can pray for you this week, please let me know. I would be overjoyed to be able to pray for you in a specific way!

home

I am safely home- Praise the Lord. It was an eventful day on Friday trying to figure everything out. VERY long story short, my ride's vehicle 'broke', and so I found a new ride within fifteen minutes which got me to PA. Dad picked me up at 1am and we started our trip home. We safely arrived home at 8:30 am! It was so good to be home, and I was able to stay awake all day until we watched a movie Saturday night. In 60 hours, I had gotten roughly 7.5 hours of sleep total. I hope to not do that again. I wasn't able to bring home much luggage (like at all), but I am safely home with my family, and that is what matters.

Last week finished up fairly well academically, and I got everything complete. Chapel on Friday was on being thankful (obviously), but it focused more on being thankful for the difficult things. It challenged me in having to be thankful even for the ride situation that was erupting. We were given some time to write down a list of those difficult things in life we need help from the Lord to be thankful for. I am still playing that chapel through my mind and working on being thankful for EVERYTHING and at ALL TIMES.

Going to church this morning was so good. I enjoyed seeing my church family here, and got several hugs :) It was also good to be able to thank many of those who had prayed me home safely. My church here was just finishing up a three month evaluation. Today was the day when they received the "results" on their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, along with several suggestions. I admire their willingness to make changes they need to, and trying their best not to get stuck in the all too common traditions.

I would blog more but quite frankly, I have no desire to be blogging while I am home. I am tired, and am enjoying this woodstove and my puppy far too much. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and are able to be thankful for EVERYTHING and at ALL TIMES, including the difficult things.

encouraged by friends, church family, and the Word of God

The weather this week has been absolutely gorgeous! It has helped add to making this past week a wonderful week. Last weekend I plowed away at my homework, which freed this week up a ton! I was able to enjoy the week, and be working on this upcoming week's homework instead of cramming to finish quickly.

This weekend, I got to see the Petersons (friends from home)! What an encouragement that was to me. I dilly dallied around my room all yesterday morning (since I didn't get to sleep in due to the the truck right outside my window working on the rood), and was excited when the call came at around 12:45 that they were on campus! I quickly ran to go see them. I was able to give them a tour of campus here, and then we went out for a very yummy lunch at Chili's! After lunch, we drove over to the bridge, one of the things West Virginia is known for. We walked around and went into the visitor's center for a while. After that, Mr. Peterson insisted on driving down the windy one lane road to the bottom of the gorge. It is especially neat when you do that, because you get a while new perspective from driving under the bridge. On our way back to campus, we stopped for ice cream. All the time sharing good laughs and conversation. They were not able to stay the night, so once we got back to campus, they pretty much turned around, in order to get a few hours under their belt. I so appreciate their being willing to drive the few hours out of their way to come see me!

Later on Saturday evening I went to a birthday party of one of my friends. It was a surprise party and we had lots of fun waiting to jump out at him. One guy hid on top of the soda machine, and another guy attempted to hide in a trash can, only to find he was much too big. I am not sure how surprised Sam was, but it was still fun. Hannah, Miriam, Meg, and Emilie had made some pies early on, and we all went outside so Sam could blow out the candles (didn't want to set the fire alarms off). They started to dish a piece of pie out only to find it was much too hard, so instead everyone (minus me because I will still so full from the ice cream) grabbed a spoon and dug into the pie! The guys acted as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. I must confess it was comical, mainly because this isn't a common occurring, it was something out of the ordinary to have fun and be crazy. We hung out in the lounge for a while, with the occasional interruptions of the guys jumping onto the floor in a hog pile screaming "Men on the floor" (what is called when a man must enter the dorm, they were making fun of it). A fun time was had by all.

Yesterday was wonderful as I got to be a helper for Sunday School! I love to teach, but I must admit, it is nice to get a break once in a while, and be able to be crowd control (which isn't always any easier, haha). I love my church family down here, and love being in the Sunday morning time of corporate worship. Yesterday was no exception. We have been studying the book of Daniel, and that has challenged me in so many different ways. I so appreciate my pastor and his preaching directly from the Word of God. I do look forward to being with my church family at home though this coming weekend. Yesterday afternoon, I worked on some homework, and then took a wonderful nap. It was dreary outside (adding to the sleeping atmosphere), and I was as snug as a bug in a rug. As always, Sunday night we went to the Dingus home, where we enjoyed some delicious food, fellowship, laughs, and time in the Word of God. We got into some deep conversations concerning 'the grey areas'. What an encouragement the Dingus family has been to myself, as well as the other college students.

Today has started out well, and I am looking forward to a presentation I have this afternoon. It is for elementary education, and I am feeling very prepared (a great feeling). This week doesn't look too bad, and Friday looks especially wonderful. Friday after my last class, I will be heading home with some other students who live about two hours north of me. Praising the Lord, and rejoicing in this day the Lord has made!

a lovely day

I am only ten minutes into my shift and am already bored out of my mind. Homecoming weekend and not a soul in the lounge, wow. The fridge and freezer sure do sound noisy this afternoon (as well as my typing). I am thankful that it is Friday though! The weather here is absolutely spectacular. Right before I work I was able to take a walk down to the pond and enjoy a lovely conversation. The sun was so soothing and provided a wonderful atmosphere, even if I sadly did kill a woolly bear.

We had no classes today which was such a blessing. We had sessions this morning, one of which I worked nursery and got to hold the most precious baby girl, and this afternoon involves sports games. Tonight is the banquet for seniors and alumni, so the rest of us get to go to the other side of campus for dinner. I am already on page four of four pages for a paper due on Monday, which has me quite excited. I am hoping (hoping being the key word) for a slower weekend, but we shall see.

Wednesday night we had several VERY wound up children who had a hard time paying attention and listening to directions, but still it was a lot of fun. The Lord never ceases to amaze me with the excitement those children have for memorizing Scripture. I am so excited with what He is doing!

This week has been more of a struggle as I have been under the weather, but as you can read in earlier posts, the Lord has sent much encouragement to me through the little things in life. I am holding strongly onto Him for all my strength, and He is carrying me through this hard semester. One blessing I have seen through these struggles is that it has pushed me to my knees in prayer, and I love that. I know I will look back on this semester having learned a lot and been blessed, but in the heat of it, I often find myself tired and discouraged. Thank you all for helping lift my spirits through prayers, cards, and calls. Each are so very much appreciated. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and are able to rest a bit.

So thankful for encouragement

I am constantly amazed with how the Lord uses people in my life to encourage me at the very moment I need it. Three specific times I can think of right off....

• At church yesterday, apparently I had a 'tired' look (we all know that means 'not good'), and a dear woman came over to me who I highly esteem a godly example, placed her hand on my back and asked me how my week really went. She was so encouraging as I shared the hardships, as well as the good times. She left the conversation with telling me she would pray harder for me this week and to remember that she loved me. She didn't know (though I may have looked) that I was having a hard day, but she allowed the Lord to use her to encourage me.
• After the church service yesterday, my little man from church ran over and while batting his eyelashes said "Hi Miss Rebekah". He caused a big smile on my face as his mom asked if I had heard him earlier. I hadn't, so she explained that when Pastor got up at the end of church after the closing song, he had just realized I was sitting a little bit in front of him, and yelled "It's Rebekah!"
• The third occasion was today. It has not been the easiest of all days, and I went to check my mail, not expecting anything when I got a letter with familiar handwriting (the best!). I quickly told my friends to hold on a second so I could open it up and show them. I had gotten a picture and note from Sophia back home with a note from her and her mom. What an encouragement that was. I called mom to talk to her about some other things when all of a sudden I hear Sophia pick up my mom's cell. Another encouragement it was just to hear her voice. When I asked if I could put her picture up on my wall, she informed me that I could do whatever I wanted to with it, haha.

I am so thankful to the Lord for the little things in life that are such an encouragement, and that pick me up when life gets busy and hectic. God is so good to me, and has blessed abundantly with wonderful people in my life. I have been reminded lately the power of prayer when I hear of how many people are praying for me. If you are one of those people who faithfully prays for me, I thank you so much. Your prayers are felt, and so very appreciated.

I hope you all have a great week, where the Lord teaches you something spectacular about Himself that you hadn't really ever noticed before!

Mid-Week Blessings

Each week I think I am finally going to get a break enough to take a breath, but it seems to never happen. Each week seems to be so busy, with little time to slow down and sleep, or socialize. It has been a bit wearing, and discouraging in some ways too. I feel I am already worn out, and the semester is just beginning, but yesterday I found myself rejuvenated by two dear children. I went to church, excited to teach Noah, but also feeling a lack of energy to be enthusiastic. I was trying hard, with little success when two of my girls walked over to me with a beautiful little bouquet of wild flowers, and a picture. They were shy, yet excited as they said "here Miss Rebekah, we picked these flowers for you, and here is a picture of a princess and a castle on the back" I immediately had energy and enthusiasm as I saw these young girls' hearts. I gave them each a great big hug, and enthusiastically thanked them. What an encouragement that was to me.

This morning I had to get up early for a Mission's Conference meeting. I used to come back and go back to bed, but today I have a test, so decided I better stay awake and be productive instead. I studied for a little bit while my roommate was still in, and did some cleaning. After she left I knew it was necessary that I spend some time with the Lord. What a lovely time that was with Him in His Word and praying with Him. I was reminded of how thankful I am that He hears my prayers.

Praise the Lord for the encouragement He has been giving me. Now to get back to studying for a test at 11am! But I did want to share with you in hopes that the Lord will use His encouragement to me as an encouragement to you as well.

Week #3

Another week is coming to an end and I am finishing up my third week of being here at school. In one sense it doesn't seem possible because I still can't believe I am a sophomore. But on the other hand, it seems impossible that it is only my third week because it feels like it has been way longer then three lonely weeks.

Classes are still going well and for the most part, I am staying caught up with everything. I am kind-of-slightly behind on some reading (because on the schedule the reading was due Thursday or Friday, in the classes we didn't have class, but they weren't planning on not having class, if that makes any sense). I still find myself enjoying most classes, and am so exciting about my semester project in Testing and Curriculum. The semester project involves creating your own school that you have to write the Philosophy and Goals of Education for the school, and plan out a class. We will only be preparing one lesson, but we have to show all of our work of the technical things you are supposed to include in a lesson. Also in with this project we have to do a learning station on it, and at the end of the semester we will be teaching our lesson to our class. Our professor warned us on Monday that we may want to get to class early on Wednesday to pick out our textbook we would be using. I showed up about ten minutes early, and much to my excitement, I got Arithmetic 4! I absolutely love math, AND fourth grade is my dream age, and has always been my dream grade. The lesson I get to teach is on units of measurement (12in=1ft, 3ft=1yd etc.) I find myself wanting to do the entire project this weekend, I am so excited. The problem is, I don't know all of the nitty gritty details involved. I guess I should stick with creating my school and its Philosophy and Goals of Education this weekend!

Wednesday night was such fun with the children. The children at my church down here sure have made an impression on me and I missed them so much over the summer, so it is so good to be back with them. I was nervous about teaching Genesis 3 because of having to explain some of the topics to the 2s through 5s. But God was SO good (as usual) and helped me with it and I feel the children really enjoyed it. One little boy (~3 years old) is just so precious. He knew his memory verse from last week and was so excited to recite it to me, even though many of the older children could not remember it, and had not practiced. Later on while I was teaching this week's memory verse, I began reciting the verse, when I noticed the small voice next to me reciting it too--he knew this week's verse too. When I asked his dad about it, he explained that his son was so excited about it, they decided to go ahead and work on this week's verse too. How thrilling for a teacher to see her student so excited by the memory of God's Word. Before leaving, he looked over his shoulder with his big blue eyes and said "thank you, Miss Rebekah", while almost running in to the wall on his way out.

Once again, I am at work and it is so dead up here tonight. All of the freshman/incoming students are on a field trip (due back late this evening) and that is like half of our student population, so at the moment only two other people are up here. So far I have been enjoying my job! I get paid to do homework, talk to my friends who come by, and once in a while I sell some snacks or books, haha. I praise the Lord for providing this perfect job for me. I hope you all have a blessed, restful weekend! Always feel free to drop me an email on what is going on in your life, or how I may pray for you.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

1 Peter 1:13-16

Day #4 of Week #5

Shew wee has this week been exhausting. But as one person was reminding me that it is the joy of the Lord that is my strength. It has been a week that I have been learning quite practically that I do nothing of my own strength. This week has brought sickness and severe exhaustion, but God has been good, and I feel as though I am on the recovery. Still fighting a sore throat and runny/stuffy (not an oxymoron, though you may disagree) nose. I am trying to get as much rest as possible and just take it easy. Although all my previous host homes would have handled it great, I must admit that I am happy to be home while all of this is happening. Thank you for prayers, and please keep them coming. I don't want to let my guard down for my very last day of clubs this summer.

The children at both clubs have been a lot of fun, which has helped things out a bit. Our first club is a three hour VBS and I went into it very blindly not knowing exactly what my responsibilities would be. I got there, and realized that just about everything was the responsibility of Corey and I, which added some stress. But as always, God was good and has helped work the schedule out perfectly where we keep the kids (and us teachers) busy for all three of the hours. It has stretched my creativity skills in the athletic department as the group consists of more older guys. Our second club has been a blast for me as the majority of the children are from my church and children I have done a bit of babysitting for. They have been full of energy and great sports. One of the things I love about the second club is their enthusiasm. It is every CEF teachers dream to be overwhelmed at the beginning of club when all the children swarm you saying "Miss Rebekah, may I say my memory verse to you?" "Miss Rebekah, here is my challenge card" "Miss Rebekah, I brought back my mailbox club for the mailbox" "Miss Rebekah, last night I was telling my dad about the story" as I sit there and have to bring myself back from whatever world I go to from the excitement of their enthusiasm for spiritual things.

Thank you so much for your prayers this past week. Clubs are going well, and I am praying that Corey and I find the Lord's strength tomorrow as we complete these two clubs. Praise the Lord, that Corey still seems to be healthy, and we are praying that it continues that way.

3-day Day Camp: Day #2 and #3

I must admit that I liked this set-up of the clubs best. It was great fun spending all day with the kiddos, telling them stories, playing games, eating, doing crafts, and lots of giggling. I felt I was able to invest in relationships much more with this set up then with having 90 full minutes for five days.

Day #2 went pretty well, but it was the in between of them being comfortable with us, but being tired from the day before. We were still establishing and sharpening the relationship as the authority. I told the story of the Prodigal Son in the morning, and felt it went well, but that I got a little long winded and lost some of the children's attention. The kids LOVED doing the craft, and all morning were asking "when do we get to do the cement?" Again, no decisions, but in talking to a mother this morning, she was encouraged that one of her children was hearing the gospel and showing interest. The seed was planted, and the Lord will work to what He sees best.

Day #3 went well, and I would even say I felt it went better then yesterday. The children were very energetic, but at the same time, very tuckered out from the heat and two long days before today. I taught the story of Samuel this afternoon, and was encouraged by their thoughtful questions. Again, they were excited to finish up their craft, and I can honestly tell you, they turned out great! The children did a fantastic job at being careful, and creative. They walked away with coasters they should be proud of. Again, the gospel was presented, and a challenge was given to the saved children to pray to God, and watch for him to answer.

I thank you for your prayers this week, as it was a different week for me. I now have two days off, that I am looking forward to cleaning and just catching up some rest that has been a rough department this week. It will also be good to spend some time with mom while dad is off to work. Next week, I get to stay home again, and we will do the bulk of a VBS at a church, and in the afternoon, I get to do a club in my hometown (how exciting is that?) I am looking forward to being all rested up and ready to be with the children again early Monday morning.

Friday update for week #3

It is Friday morning and I wanted to give you a brief update on the past week. Our first club has been going very well, and Corey and I have been having a lot of fun with those children. We have been having the same 8 children all week, and a ninth child on Monday, Tuesday, and she should be back today. Both of our clubs this week are four day clubs due to different situations. The second club was organized Monday afternoon, and Praise be to God, has been better then anticipated. Tuesday we had 3 children, Wednesday we started with 6 children (ended with 4, and not because we lost them, haha), and yesterday we didn't have any. God knows how many children will be at our clubs each day, and has planned it out. Our host home this week has been fantastic, and we have enjoyed our time with them immensely. Last night we got to go kayaking, and what a beautiful evening that was. I am sorry I don't have time to write more, but I am beginning to smell the (good) aromas of breakfast. I probably won't be able to give a full update on this week until Sunday night or later as I am going church camping with my family this weekend. Stay tuned to hear my exciting plans for club next week! Thanks again for your prayers and thoughts!

second week of clubs

Good morning!

Once again, we had two clubs this week, one at 10 in the morning, and the other at 1 in the afternoon. The week went very well, and I Praise the Lord for that. He had a watch over us, and gave us the strength and wisdom to do His work. This week, I did have a new partner this week and her name is Corey. Corey will be a senior in high school and has been working with CEF for the past three summers.

Our first club was located in a small town, at a woman’s house that has recently broken her ankle. Corey and I were able to enjoy some sweet fellowship with her before club and a precious time in prayer. She is a prayer warrior, and I always knew she was praying for us as we were leading clubs in her backyard. She has a daycare just around the corner from her house, so the Lord provided the children for the club from that day care. Each one of those children were a lot of fun, and one of which was a Mormon. It was neat to watch this little girl come out of her shell throughout the week, and by Friday she was asking intellectual questions, and asked if she could have one of “our” Bibles. Please be praying for this little girl as she has heard the gospel, and be praying that she reads “our” Bible, and comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Another highlight of this week in our first club, was the Lord giving me the privilege of leading a young girl to Christ. She missed Monday, but from the start of Tuesday, you could see her heart was tender towards the gospel and the things of the Lord. Friday’s Bible lesson is on Samuel being called while sleeping, and this young girl asked the good question of “If we can’t hear God talk to us like Samuel did, how do we know what he says to us?”, and I was able to answer that. She responded to the invitation and we were able to have a sweet conversation about what the Lord did for her on the cross. In explaining this to her, and explaining how the Lord loved her so much that He died on the cross for her sins to be forgiven, she responded in a somber voice, “that must have really hurt”. Please be praying for her, and that she is able to go to church to learn more about God and to be able to grow. Overall, this club was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed our time immensely with these children!

Our second club was located a little south of our first club, and was hosted by a mom of five children. I was deeply encouraged by this woman’s relationship to the young people in her neighborhood, and Tuesday through Thursday, we had a new child who kept coming back! This club had more of the older children, which is more of a stretch for me as I am more often working with younger children, but God was good and helped me through this. I was also encouraged by the Bible knowledge of the hostesses children, and it was great to see another family that has been raised in the Bible, and knowing the truths. Corey and I especially had a lot of fun at this club, and interacting with them before and after club. Please be praying for the children who came who do not yet know the Lord, pray that they talk with the hostess about what they heard this past week, and the Lord would do a mighty work in their lives. Please also pray for the hostess’ children as they have heard about the Lord, pray that continue to grow in their knowledge of Him, and seek to please Him with their lives.

As far as weather goes, we can’t really complain. On Tuesday, we had to take shelter halfway through both clubs, and took shelter for the whole second club on Friday, but other than that, we were able to be outside enjoying the cool shade. It was much cooler then last week, and selfishly speaking, that was a huge praise.

Another prayer request is: for the week of July 26-30, we are looking for two clubs in the Rutland and surrounding area. I have been calling around, but still no one who has been able to commit. Please pray that the Lord’s will be done with the clubs for the week, and that I be content with that. If you are interested in holding a club in your backyard, please contact me.

Thank you again for your prayer support- I couldn’t do it without it. This has been an awesome experience thus far in doing the three things I love most: God, children, and teaching. May the Lord bless you in this upcoming week, and please email me if you have something that I can be praying for you with.

update on the first week

This week has been, well....hot, very very hot! The past three days we have been over one-hundred degrees, which I feel has hindered the attendance to our clubs, because it is just too hot to go out when you could stay home in your ACed home, or you could go to your next-door-neighbor's pool. But the heat did not catch the Lord by surprise and we have had wonderful attendance at our first club.

Each day the numbers have climbed for our first club and today we had nine children. Praise the Lord, our first club is in an ACed living room which helps a lot, and helps the children's energy level that seems to severely decrease in the heat. My partner, Joy, and I have had a blast getting to know these children and have been able to relax to the point of enjoying teaching and having fun with the children.

Our second club has been much different. For the first three days we had no one besides our team (including the hostess). All credit goes to the Lord when I say I never really got overly discouraged though knowing that the Lord has planned this before I even knew I was going to do CEF this summer. We had some wonderful time in prayer praying for the other teams we knew were teaching. Yesterday, Joy and I taught the club to the hostess as if there were children there, in hopes some children would come on over to check it out. No children ended up coming, but it was a blessing to each of us to get the practice and become more comfortable and familiar with the material. Today we were getting ready to do the same thing when two people from the hostess' church walked up the hill to the picnic table we were at. We were able to do a club, and what a blessing it was. Joy and I both enjoyed the interaction from them, and walked away feeling encouraged and refreshed.

Praise God for the mighty work he has been doing this week. All glory and honor belongs to Him!

training week

Training of week is done, but I will say that I feel as though the week was very beneficial and productive. I have been blessed in getting a lot of this training previous years from a past CEF lady in preperation for our church Vacation Bible School. It was very long, but I am so thankful for the skills I was able to sharpen during the time.

Just a brief overview, there were 42 'students' training to go out and be CEF summer missionaries both in the state of Vermont, and New Hampshire. We had a tight schedule packed full with teaching/classes, demos, and study halls. Each part played a vital role in the overall training, but as weird as it may sound, I most appreciated the time being evaluated during study halls. To rewind a little bit, you learn how to do it in the class (whether it be how to use the wordless book, or how to teach a Bible lesson with the gospel truths), we would then watched the experienced demo it, and then we would study and that have to go do it for an evaluator where we would either "proceed" or "repeat". At first, it was a little nerve-wrecking having to be evaluated as you were teaching a lesson, but I grew to love that time by the end of the week. The evaluators impacted me in just the way they handled the evaluations. They cared about us enough to not be afraid to have us repeat if the truth of the gospel was not clear. I enjoyed the conversations I had with them about the strengths and weaknesses I had, and how I could best improve the clarity of my teaching. The evaluators I had weren't just there to evaluate me though, I had some blessed conversations with each of them where I was encouraged, and where they inquired about what I see for myself in the future. They were each a huge encouragement to me that teaching really is my calling.

I came home feeling very dirty, but very excited. I look forward to teaching the clubs and actually getting to teach several children, instead of one adult with a pencil and clipboard (might I add, an adult who knows all the answers). I have been lazy, and still have yet to unpack or do laundry.

A huge praise is that we have our first week of clubs set up, along with who I will be working with, and who we will be staying with. This is a huge praise because at the beginning of the week, we did not have a host home, but I was able to remember that we have some friends who used to go to church with us who had moved up to the area. They are looking forward to having us there, and I am looking forward to catching up with them. Praise the Lord, for answered prayers.

A prayer request is that I not get overwhelmed, but that I be able to have clarity of thought and that this coming week serve as a restful, rejuvenating time. Also, please pray that I have the right heart attitude throughout the summer.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. Each and every one of them are treasured.

time for training.

I can't believe I leave tomorrow for training. I am so thankful for the training I have received up this point. Through VBSs, college, church, and life, God has taught me so much, and has continued to kindle my passion for teaching and for children. When I sit back and think about my passions, I am just amazed that God has made it this clear to me, this early in life.

For those of you who do not already, this summer I will be working Child Evangelism Fellowship of Vermont. I will be involved with five weeks of 5-Day Clubs. These clubs are designed for children ages five through twelve and will be ninety minutes each day, including: singing, games, a Bible story, a missionary story, and some other little things. I will be working with at least one other partner where we together will do two to three clubs a day in an area. During these weeks, we will be living with a host family from our host church (this is probably the part I am most nervous about). I will leave each Sunday afternoon to go to the host church that evening, and will be able to come back home on Friday after my last club.

This coming week is when I receive my official training. I will be there from tomorrow (Saturday) through next Saturday. I really don't know many details at all concerning my schedule or how many people will be there, but I am excited for what I will be learning.

If you think of me, please pray that I will a vessel for the Master's use, and that I would be relying completely on Him for words and wisdom. I am excited, and thank you all for your support. I will try to keep you updated on my blog just on what is going on and if there are more specific prayer requests!

"So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that any one of

these little ones should perish."

(Matthew 18:14)