Thursday, June 19, 2008

Croatia

It's hard to believe that another school year has ended, and the first week of summer vacation is almost over as well! In addition, I can barely believe that at this time tomorrow I'll be in a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean!

That's right folks! I'm a traveling girl once again! For those of you who haven't heard, I have an opportunity to go to Croatia for almost two weeks. While there, we will be working (Monday-Friday) at an "English Camp" which is in all reality Vacation Bible School in English (with the assistance of translators). While at the camp we will be helping the kids improve their English skills, but more importantly, we'll have the opportunity to share the story of Jesus Christ with them.

The camp will run from 10-1 each day, and then I, and a few other team members, will be heading over the the "Bim" to hang out with the high school students from the church. We will be having some devotional time, and we will also be simply hanging out and playing games.

The rest of the time we are there (Saturday-Tuesday) we will be traveling to the coast for some sight seeing. Croatia (from what I'm told) is one of the most beautiful places on the earth. I'm very excited to see it, because I know how gorgeous S. Africa was last summer, and if Croatia even comes close I know we're in for some amazing scenery!

However, one thing that is slightly weird for me, is that this is not a "construction" trip. I know...most people don't think of me when they think of a construction trip, and this Croatia "Camp" trip seems more up my alley, but I really enjoy the work aspect of the construction trips. It's simply a different type of work than I'm used to in my daily life. I am also very curious to see the difference in how God shows up. This trip will be WAY more relationship based.

On a side note, I am realizing more as the day goes on that there are things back home that I am really going to miss not being a part of. I'm 100% sure that what I'm doing is God's will for me, but I'm definitely going to miss not being at my friend Shannon's wedding. This is the first time that all of us haven't been together for a wedding in the group of my high school friends! I'm also going to be missing the Velocity trip to North Carolina! I'm positive that God is going to work in amazing ways during that trip, and I can't wait to hear all about it when I return!

If you want to follow our travel, there will be a blog posted on the
NorthRidge Website. (www.northridgechurch.com) Click on OUTREACH, then GLOBAL, then CROATIA BLOG. Once we send something it should appear, but we're not sure of the computer access we'll have once we're there. So check it often :-)

Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!" Joshua 1:9

Monday, June 16, 2008

School's Out...*Sigh*

This past Friday officially marked the end of the school year. It's hard to believe that the year is over! We were so worried that we would go crazy with Easter being so early, which meant that we would have to finish the last two and a half months of the school year without a break. However, those ten weeks went by so fast, I'm not sure I honestly believe that I'm done for 10 weeks!

In just a few short days I leave for Croatia! For now, my plan was to finish watching season three of 24. What an amazing show! I came home tonight, watched two episodes, and when I went to switch the dvd I was totally bummed to realized that I had finished the season! I have to borrow season four now from someone! Jack Bauer is definitely my hero!

I'm currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's by the same author as The Kite Runner. It's a really good book and I'm about half way finished with it. It's better than The Kite Runner, even though it's another historical fiction novel set in Afghanistan. It's quite interesting to read about how much that country has changed, and how much the culture has been affected over the years. I think it's time for me to log off this computer, and go read :-)

On a side note...I can't believe that Tiger won today! It was one of the best golf tournaments I've ever watched! I was rooting for Rocco. He's gone through so many injuries and other stuff that I thought it would be fun for him to win...Plus, our house up north is on Mediate Dr. Named after him :-)