Bubbling Joy!!!

Wow! What an incredible weekend! As i reflect, the word that comes to mind is bubbling joy (the title of a fun kids song i did with precious preschoolers at bible school a couple years ago). Our BCM left the thick air of a college campus two weeks into classes, and rested in the light and free air of the mountains. The mountains have an effect on me like no other place. I love going hiking to waterfalls, camping out in tents, playing in creeks, and sitting on the side of a mountain in awe at the mural of the brilliantly colored range across the gorge in the fall. i mean, wow! I bet God just loves creating the amazing pictures of nature each day.
Last week i was walking to class, and the sun was shining through the trees so that very visible rays were shining on each side of the path. it felt sacred to get to walk through that. so anyway, sorry, im so exhausted- and when Lauren is exhausted, things get crazy. before kristen and i went to supper, i put in two loads of our clothes, after supper, she went to put them in the dryer and then came and said "Lauren, i think you forgot to turn one of the washing machines on." oops :). and i headed to white horse road when i was trying to get to cherrydale.
anyway, bubbling joy. If you had the privilegde of seeing Anna Lovett first thing this morning, you would understand. She is a beautiful girl who absolutely amazes me. She laughs uncontrollably and sometime for no funny reason. i love it! at first i thought it strange, but then i realized that she was so full of joy, she couldn't contain it, it just bubbled out of her. and its contagious. its so uplifting being around her. her face glows, i mean, seriously radiates. if you dont know what im talking about, well, you just gotta meet this girl and witness this for yourself. its priceless. as i think about the retreat, i see other glowing, all smiles faces flashing in my mind. You know that kind of smiling that is so intense its hard to talk? wow.
im invisioning our group doing the freedom dance together. dancing, being crazy, being together, worshiping God, being real, being vulnerable, full of joy. i was a part of the praise team, and so today i got to watch the others dance while i helped sing the freedom song. at one point, i could hardly sing because Christ's Joy filling me was so powerful. That's freedom to me. Nothing seems to be weighing you down, and its almost like you could fly.
I just can't get past how exciting it is to see a group of 35 college kids of all ages laughing together, totally enjoying each others presence, developing meaningful and personal relationships, and seeking God together (not being afraid to ask the questions or share the hurts, fears, and uncertainties).
Mega Relay wet games was so fun! most of us were soaked through by the end of the 2ish hours. no one read scripture, no one sang a song, no one led a prayer, but i saw worship on that field. i saw worship that first night of hangout time. some of us were playing football on half the basketball court, while others played basketball on the other half. others were circled up talking, playing cards, and chilling. and it was good. it was really good.
The bonfire once again was my favorite part. We have the bonfire in this open area right by the woods, and the pond is right near it. when you get to be part of a mixture of the dark of nite, stars, crickets/treefrogs/katidids/and other singing nite critters, a cool wind, a warm fire, graham crackers, milk chocolate, marshmallows, and those who are united in love, wow. i like that mixture, thats a nice mixture.
one time, i walked to the pond, and also just watched the group interact. it was a beautiful picture.
those two nites were worth everybit of going to bed at 2:30.
i never saw a bear, i guess that is a good thing.
as i was writing about my day this evening in my journal, God amazed me by what he so graciously let me experience today. When i went to exerds to develop film, He gave me the opportunity to help give a little relief to a stressed worker who was so frustrated from trying to communicate with spanish speakers. my spanish wasn't pretty, but God helped me get the job done, and it was cool to talk with the two hispanic guys. the lady said if i had nothing to do, i could stay a few hours and just translate for her. the need for bilingual knowledge was affirmed. then, i went walking and reading about Paul back on campus, and was able to give a pizza guy directions to geer, and let two girls in poteat who didn't have their swiper card. God reminded me of other needs as i heard the conversation of the two girls. one was explaining how she couldn't say if the KA party last nite was good or bad because drunk doesn't even begin to describe what she was. Would it have freaked her out if i had given her a hug? i just said goodnite and left. But God was so generous to give me all those easy opportunities to experience more intimately Christ's love and joy. goodness, i was just walking, He could have let me have a fine evening of reading, but no, He came so we would have life to the fullest. He takes time to let us help him in His work, even though we aren't so skilled. It reminds me of my daddy letting my siblings and i help him build a log cabin and a tree house when we were little. Being Daddy's little helper made me feel like a princess. i wonder how much i got in the way. well, there was that one time i fell off and got hung on a nail, and he had to take me and spend the rest of the evening being doctor and stiching me up- and even then, while he was stiching me, he let me help sow the stiches. And this is just my earthly father. wow.

i see that this blog is quite long, and a lot of it may be weird sounding and confusing. im sorry if you're disappointed. i guess its an attempt to express and describe something that im incable of describing to its full measure. God is so big.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of His Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13

if you know Will Swinson, say "Paris" when you see him (unless you are an anti-laugher). If you don't know him, get to know him, because you're really missing out
love always<><

adjustments (the nice word for change)

ok, so its way past my bedtime, so im not really sure where this post might go. i've been waiting for a good time to write, but that may not come any time soon, so i'm here in my dorm room, Kristen my sister/roommate is still at home, and i need to get myself ready to fall asleep. so, why not write. I should be really excited right now- i went home yesterday and saw my 11th grade brother lead his team to victory, then my 6th grade brother won his football game this morning (he is also a quarterback), and then I watched the Furman game with great friends this evening, and we got 45 points. that is a whole lot of points. ok, so the other team scored a bit many points too, but still, we scored more. Christopher and EA Cox came to the game, and I got to spend a little time with EA (my discipler). That was really special, and Christopher's during the game commentaries just complete the Furman football game experience. Kat (my family group mom from last year who is now a New Orleans evacuate) came to the game too. So it was more like last year. It was really great. I got to eat ice cream with Shari thursday night, which was wonderful. I love spending time with her. I learn a lot and laugh a lot when we are together.
so oh yeah, the title. Compared to most people i have nothing to complain about, so i'll just say that its tough adjusting from a summer at a children's home back to school that is very different from the previous year. different people, different living arrangements, different lots of stuff. Right now this different is hard to deal with, but i think it'll get better.
yeah, i dont have much of anything right now, sorry for wasting your time.
if you were trying to distinguish between the two bats, wouldn't it make sense to call one a bat like you swing and the other a bird bat?
goodnite, goodmorning
oh yeah, my little sister in 9th grade is on the homecoming court!

confusion

ok, so the Greenville Krispie Kreme has changed it's hours. it now closes at 11 instead of 12. sadness.

but on a happier note, you can still buy fat free cool whip and a container of rainbow sprinkles at your local grocery store= freeze the coolwhip, then mix it with the spinkles...amazing! :)

SCORE!

Yay for furman football! Undefeated! glorious, glorious last second (literally) comeback! Go Paladins!
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