VBS, Garden, Job Hunting, and "A Tale..."

This week back in Ohio has consisted of Vacation Bible School each night. Our theme is an island theme complete with decorations, huts, and island songs. I have been in charge of the Bible Study Beach Hut. Here I try to help the kids learn and remember the Bible Truth and memory verses. And tonight I did the illustration about Jesus bridging the gap between man and God, a little illustration I learned from Mr. Bird. :) But it has been a good three nights. Tonight the count was 102! You never know how these VBS's might reach kids and their families for God (which is why so much energy and money is invested in them)!

The weather here has been so very nice and cool - like 70s. My mom, brother, and I (finally) planted our veggie garden. Hopefully in a month or two we'll have tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, squash, and cucumbers! Yummy!

I've also been filling out applications and running around trying to talk to managers. The two Starbucks that I applied at basically said that they have too many employees as it is. But the one mananger said that since I stopped in to talk to him, he will put me in a file of people that made an extra effort. So I guess that is a good thing! :-) Who knows, some crucial employee could quit tomorrow and perhaps they'll call me! :) At the beginning of next week I need to stop in at Kohls, Panera Bread, and Hallmark and talk to more managers. I should have started this whole thing mid - May...why do I always wait this long??? Oh - well....God has it all in His hands. He has always provided.

I guess I do have some small jobs which I need to be thankful for! Like tomorrow I'm going to babysit for a couple of hours to give the mom some time to run errands. This should be a weekly job, so that is good. And then I will still be working for my Aunt Brenda - she is the best "boss." She usually treats me to lunch! :-)

So tomorrow, since I am still without my precious car, I will drop my mom and brother off at LBA, work on my independent study a bit, go babysit, go work for Aunt Brenda, then pick my brother up at his friend's house, pick my mom up at work, grap something for supper, and head down to VBS. Whew -- I have a headache just thinking about it!

Well perhaps tonight I'll get in bed a little earlier! Have a great rest of the week!

P.S. Sometime I'm going to start reading a Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I've never read it, but figured since it is a classic, I should read it. (Which I know isn't always a good reason) The first sentence is quite intriguing:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Wow - that has to be the best first sentence of any book - it pulls the reader right in! Too bad - I have to wait until I get my Independent Study finished till I can start. (my stipulation!)

Hilton Head Island Vacation

I'm back! Our vacation to HHI was quite wonderful! Earlier this year my dad's boss invited us to go with them and his daughter and family to Hilton Head Island because they needed another family to go with them. My parents have been to HHI, but my brother and I haven't. So this was the perfect opportunity, and that word perfect can very well describe the whole vacation. The weather, house, food, beach, pool, biking...it was all perfect! I'll let the pictures tell the rest! (We took a day and went to Charleston, South Carolina and toured the USS Yorktown and a submarine and another smaller ship. It was very hot outside, but a very neat experience. The Fighting Lady -USS Yorktown - was quite a ship!)

I must give credit to my dad for taking these wonderful pictures!

One thing that is nice about taking our family vacation so early is that we still have all of summer left! Wahoo! V.B.S. is next week, so every night we'll be there. It is usually alot of fun though!

Well it is getting late and I should go to bed. I still haven't told ya'll about the big storm we had two weeks ago that blew down one of our nice Bradford pear trees and tore sections out of the other ones. And I haven't written about my car that mysteriously broke down, quite providentially though. Hopefully, I will find out its status tomorrow. So even though I have more to say, I'm surrendering to sleep and the fact that I have much to do on the morrow!

Kansas Trip / Memorial Day

Well, I have a little bit of time, so I thought I would give a little update. I just got back from a weekend trip to Kansas to celebrate my cousin Janette's graduation from highschool. We also helped them move to their new house they are building. It was a fun and fast weekend. We flew which helped out so much! I love flying! I would fly every day if I could. Maybe I'll include some pics later.

It has been some busy days getting ready for Kansas. And now we have four days and then we are going to Hilton Head Island!! It is going to be crazy getting ready. Monday night my dad and I are driving two hours to Jackson, OH to meet my two uncles and my cousin to pick up my Papa's truck that we will be taking to HHI. Then Tuesday night, my brother is graduating from LBA. Wednesday night is church and then pack Thursday night and leave Friday morning. Why is it soo much work to leave on vacation??

Here are some Memorial Day pictures. I spent most of the morning working and then we had Howard, Elena, Brandon, and Misty and Aunt Brenda over for the grill-out.

Misty and the pretty peony she picked.

Howard and Andrew picking a few

The "Dreams" Pillow I "made" for my Aunt Brenda -- something for her Mary Kay meeting. I never know what she'll have me do! :)

I realize this is a picture of plastic cups, but I thought the reflection on the table was cool.

Fireworks - aka Sparklers

One BAD Habit

I have been out of school one week and I have already develop a very bad habit! Almost every night I have stayed up til 1 or later and consequently don't get up till 12:00 or so. I've yet to write my "summer goals" so I feel like I haven't done anything this whole week! (Which really isn't true...) So I am saying "Good Night" to 1:00 A.M. It was fun while it lasted, but I think I would rather get up at a nice hour like 9:00 and go to bed at a decent hour of 10 or 11 o'clock. So -- signing off!

Yours truly,
Ms. Night Owl

Tragedy

I just heard this on the radio and confirmed it online. For those of you who might not know, Maria Chapman the youngest daughter of the Steven Curtis Chapman family was struck by a SUV driven by one of her older brothers in their driveway and later died of injuries. When I heard this, my heart just fell. I guess the brother just didn't see Maria. Maria and her two sisters were adopted from China and the Chapmans began a ministry called The Shaohannah's Hope Ministry which helps families adopt by reducing the financial burden. Please pray for the Chapman's during this horrible tragedy. My little worries and concerns pale in comparison to what has happened to them.

Picture and information from: http://www.christianmusicplanet.com/music/artist/steven_curtis_chapman/11576057/

A Good Day, this Sunday

Today I woke up late (what's new) and was somewhat out of it as we drove to church for Praise Team practice. I've had several late, late nights and was feeling it this morning. But as we began practicing our worship songs this morning, my attitude lifted. Praise does that you know, even if we were just practicing. We had a bigger Praise Team this morning. Kenny and Rhonda were there and Kenny played his sax and I played my flute on some songs. After our practice we had Sunday School which, like usual, is enjoyable because of Kenny's personality and awesome storytelling. He shared about Gideon (not Gilligan) and how he trusted God and obeyed God in the face of certain death. A good truth to remember.

As I was getting reading for the worship service, Dan came to me and said that the order was going to be a little different this morning. We were going to sing one song, the special song, and then Pastor would preach and then we would sing the rest of our songs. If you know our Pastor, he always does what God tells him (which hopefully all pastors do that), so sometimes our services are a little - umm - unconventional? Shocking that God doesn't always stay in the box we put Him in.

Well, I digress. We sang Come Now is the Time to Worship, and then sang our special - a new Brooklyn Tab song. Then pastor preached an awesome sermon about tithing. Yeah, I know what you are saying -- tithing? He did talk about tithing our money, which I totally believe is a topic that needs to be preached more! It's God's money anyway. But he also talked about giving back to God in such areas as time and worship. And he spent the rest of the message talking about worshipping and praising God. This makes the third confrontation I have had with this topic this week. A lunch conversation, Bro. Bullock's message, and then my pastor's message. (Which I think, Pastor Cox went to GBS and heard Bro. Bullock's message because he talked about Jehoshaphat and Paul and Silas too.) So needless to say, I think God is trying to tell me something! :)

Anyway, after the message, the Praise Team sang / played our songs. I love our little group. We have amazing guitarists from Belize and India and my brother, who is learning guitar, has been playing with them. My dad is the worship leader and I usually sing lead with him, but today I was singing middle with mom (who plays the piano) because Rhonda joined us and was singing lead too. And Kenny was singing tenor (I think). Then our Music Minister (the Boss :), Dan, plays the keyboard, his wife Desta sings low, and their son Daren plays the drums. So that is our little group. We have a wonderful time singing/playing together and leading the people to worship. I am so blessed to be around awesome people.

Our worship time was wonderful, giving praise to God for His goodness. We had a short altar service, then the instruments played a little while everyone left.

Let's see Sunday dinner: we had barbecued chicken on the grill (by my bro), mashed potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, crescent rolls, and fresh strawberry pie with whipped topping! YUM! My mom is the best cook! :)

I was able to take a much needed nap this afternoon since we didn't have kid's club. I know I should have gone to the 2:30 service at GBS but, alas, I slept instead. Got ready for service tonight and hurriedly drove over to deliver Katie her freshly laundered choir tank top that I borrowed last night because I forgot mine.

The choir met in the Music Hall and had prayer time before the service. I have tremendously enjoyed being in choir this year. We have been such a close and united choir which was evident on our choir tour. I love learning under Mr. Wolf. He is such a godly, honest, transparent man. I think everyone should be in choir just to sit under the direction of Mr. Wolf. He will make an impact on your life; I know he has mine!

The instrumental ensemble played It is Well with my Soul for congregational singing. Chen told me to take everything up an octave because we didn't have mics. He said the only person that would hear me was Mr. Miles. Poor man, probably has hearing loss now. :) Just a word about Alfonso Chen (from Mexico). I have grown and matured musically because of him. He is so kind in his advice and affirms when I've done a good job. I love hearing his testimonies in service and seeing his big smile. And Lord willing, I will be going to Mexico band camp this summer. Please pray that God will provide the money that I need to go.

Our choir sang for the last time tonight. We sang And Can it Be, There is a Remedy, and Unto the Hills, some of our best songs. I think the choir and the band has had such good songs this year. I enjoyed playing and hearing them sung one last time.

After we sang, Mr. Avery shared about the financial need of the school. I know everyone is feeling the pressure, with gas and food prices increasing. But that pressure is just compounded in a larger institution like GBS with all the buildings and people. Bro. Avery felt like God wanted him to raise $50,000 tonight to go towards the deficent. And thanks be to God, the people responded and we raised that amount.

Mr. Bullock's message on revival was right on, tonight. It is something I know I need personally, my family needs and my church needs. This summer especially, I want to draw closer to God in my devotional and prayer time. This past year it has been difficult for one reason and another, but I want to make that time and give that time back to God. After the sermon, we had a beautiful prayer time with God.

After the service I said goodbye to several of my friends who I am really going to miss this summer! But I pray that you all will have a God-filled, blessed, relaxful summer and I will see some of you back in the fall.

Thank you God for such a good day. I praise You for being faithful to me, loving me, dying for me. Thank you for Campmeeting and the encouragement and guidance I've received. Thank you for my wonderful friends and the awesome memories we've made this year. Please bless us, help us, make us more like You even this summer. Father, You are a good God and worthy of our praise. Thank You for all that You've done.

Highlights of the Night (and Morning)

The Concert on the Lawn 2008 has come and gone. That is what I hate about these one night deals - we practice all semester and it's done in one night. We need to do a three day tour around Cincinnati playing our beautiful classical repertoire! :) (And I just spelled repertoire correctly the first time!)

On to the highlights of the night -

• On Lucile I began playing twice as fast as everyone. Yeah, that was great.
• Seeing the group dressed up in late 18th century attire and imagining a whole choir like that.
• Playing Wizard of Oz -- Just a very fun piece.
• Playing Festive Overture about the fastest we've played it. We really did make so much progress on that piece.
• Finishing up The Rifle Range Regiment with our very cool run and looking up to see Mr. Wolf still directing! :) Hey, how would you like to turn a page and reclip it every 8 measures!!
• Eating a Hot Fudge Brownie Supreme at Frisch's with my mom, Elena, and Misty.

Well those were highlights of the night, but my highlight of the morning was going to Panera with Rachel and Katie to celebrate the end of finals!

I enjoyed a Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and Chai Tea Latte.

I thank God for my friends and how we've developed deeper relationships this year. I'm going to miss everyone so much over the summer!

Funny Moment

My dad was playing his guitar.
Alanna: Get it in tune!
Andrew: Man, you like to boss people around!
Alanna: I just like to get a reaction.
Andrew: Anytime, I pick on you, you always get mad!
Alanna: Uh -- that's a reaction! Duh!
Andrew: --- (it dawns on him) Oh - yeah! *laughs*

If you don't get it -- that's ok. It was a "you had to be there" moment! My brother and I laughed.


Two more finals to go!! Then finish up I.S. and I am DONE! (Oh, then there is always portfolio work to do...) It never stops! :-)

Focus on Him this week. That's my goal!

P.S. If anyone wants to -- I'm thinking about going to Panera for Breakfast on Tuesday after the 8:00 - 9:30 final. You are welcome to come! Just let me know.

Oratorio

Oh, what a truly wonderful experience I had last night. After months of preparation, the GBS Choir presented the annual Oratorio. I have loved every minute of it! I played with the instrumental ensemble on Franz Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. It was so exciting because I was able to play with eight professional musicians, along with the regular ensemble, and alumni! There was an oboe (who I sat by), a violin, two violas, a cello, a trombone, a bassoon, and a double bass that were our guest professional musicians. The oboist was amazing and so kind. She actually plays in the Clermont Symphony, and I live in Clermont County which I thought was cool. She was soo good! The night of the dress rehearsal after we rehearsed I asked her if she was sight reading, and she said that she looked it over the day before! She played the whole work perfectly, except for the last song she made a few mistakes. She was awesome! I really think having her there helped me to play better. Even Chen said that playing with them helps us to play better. The church was beautiful and had wonderful acoustics. Oh, I enjoyed it soo much!

The words to the Haydn are beautiful too. Since I was playing, I hadn't really paid much attention to the words, but last night I read them out of the program -- wow! These words were from the first song:

" 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' Father in heaven! Oh, see us kneeling. Look down from Your throne. Father, forgive us! They Son entreats Thee, oh hear Him pleading and interceding, that mercy be shown. Ah, we are grievous sinners, and great is our guilt. Forgiveness and grace to win us our Saviour's blood was spilled, sacred blood was spilled. Our Saviour's blood asks no revenge, it flows to cleanse us. Father eternal! Let Thy grace attend us. Let mercy be shown."

This is just the first one and there are seven more just as expressive and beautiful as the first. Reading the words just showed me how wonderful my Savior is to come and die to redeem me, a "grievous sinner" because of His infinite mercy and love.

It was a wonderful night. I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity.

PE -- Final Field Day

Here are a few pictures from Health and P.E. Methods. For our final, we went to Eden Park and taught each other picnic/field games (we had to teach "different" games -- it couldn't be the regulars - softball, volleyball, soccer...). We had a great night. Rachel and I taught water balloon volleyball. Rachel played while I passed out the water balloons. We had had trouble with the balloons bursting (cheap dollar store balloons) so I knew we didn't have very many, so when one off-course balloon came flying through the air at me, I thought I would try to catch it. The picture below shows the results of my brave attempt to save the water balloon. :)

Sweet, cute Rach

Playing "Mr. Wolf...what time is it?" (I know the people at the park had to think that we were mental!)

Yeah -- we had fun.