sickkkk.

I'm sick, and it totally sucks.

Tuesday was an awesome day, but I woke up with a sore throat thinking to myself, "Oh goodness, I hope I'm not getting sick." I went through the whole day feeling pretty good, and we even practiced all of the skits we learned last week!

Without any notice, Justin just said for everyone to gather in a P.O.D. (prayer over drama) circle together. We learned that every time during a missions trip or outreach that we perform our skits and dramas, we will be starting out in the P.O.D. This means that before/after/in between skits that you perform in, you pray for the people currently performing and for the crowd that is watching. We basically went through a full run of each skit and even practiced the 2 minute introduction, 2 minute transitions between skits, 5 minute testimony, and the wrap-up after the "Everything" drama that serves to explain the drama and tell people how to accept salvation. We were pretty nervous to go through it all, especially since we only learned and practiced half of the "Everything" drama. We thought Justin might skip that one, but we had to do it! The first time through it all, I didn't do any of the skits, I just did a 2 minute transition explaining Upon A Stage and introducing Catch-All. Justin and Cadre watched and gave us a pretty harsh critique after the entire set. We were a little bit discouraged because we were being "graded" so harshly even though we had only performed the skits once each and hadn't even learned all of "Everything."

The second time through, Justin said he wanted everyone to switch up their parts, so that no one would play the same part they just did. Since there are only 3 girls in 24/7 that were given the part of the main girl in "Everything" and the one who knew it best had just gone, I had to do it next. I was SO unprepared and nervous! But it actually went pretty well, thanks to the other people knowing their parts! My part basically mimics all of the others roles at some point, so I rely on their cues to figure out what I'm supposed to do, and my group did pretty good considering how little we had worked on it. Cadre said it wasn't too bad, and then told us to basically create an "all-star" cast for each skit and do the whole set a third time. This meant that they wanted the people best at each role to play those roles, even if that meant they did more than one skit. The first years picked me to do "Everything" again! This time each skit was SO good because the people who knew what they were doing were the only ones performing, and when it came time to do "Everything" I was nervous again. But that is SUCH an emotional drama and every emotion that the girl is supposed to convey comes so naturally because I'm literally putting myself in her place. It was SO much fun, and if you watched the video of it that I posted, you can see that at the end she lunges toward God time and time again only to be beaten and pushed down by the other "evil" characters. So now the entire right side of my body is covered in bruises from being slammed on to the floor repeatedly.

But I LOVE IT!!

So after another amazing night at Venue and talking to everyone in sight, my throat was killing me, and I hoped to sleep it off and wake up feeling better on Wednesday. I was so wrong. Wednesday I reported to the church at 5:30am for Scripture Memory CT, then sat through morning prayer feeling sick to my stomach. I was dismissed from work-out and told to go home and rest till 1pm. I came back at 1 and was dismissed AGAIN because of how sick I looked/acted/felt. I stayed in bed for the rest of the day and night.

So this morning I woke up feeling just as horrible as yesterday, but I have my heart set on having a good day! I did CT at 7:30 with everyone else this morning and had a good time during morning prayer. The reason we reported so late today is because Justin's wife, Stefanie, just had her baby yesterday!! Justin is a daddy! :) So we were all going to go to the hospital to see Baby Bentley after morning prayer. However, sickly people like myself don't get to see and hold newborn babies, so I am stuck hanging out and doing homework in the youth auditorium while everyone else is at the hospital meeting Bentley. :( But Bentley is gonna be around for a long time, so I'm sure I'll get to see him. In the meantime, I just want to rest up and get better!

Praying that God gives me a great day today and helps me feel better by tomorrow.

another awesome day.

Today was SO busy, but absolutely wonderful!

Adopt-a-Block gets better and better each week, and now we are building relationships with the people who keep coming to see and talk to us while we're there. Now that we're no longer strangers, they trust us with requests for specific needs!! We provided one lady who just had a baby with diapers, bottles, formula, and baby clothes, and the boys worked for another lady to get bees out of her house. These people are so nice and so grateful that each week we actually desire to come back and serve them. :)

After that the entire 24/7 group was invited to a surprise birthday party for the daughter of one of the men at Bayside that does a lot of stuff to help us out. He's there at all hours making sure the doors are unlocked for us, keeps the A/C on so we don't die of heatstroke, and does so many other things. To show our gratitude, we showed up for his daughter's 16th birthday party along with like 30 other people and we had an awesome time surprising her on her special day. And hey, we got to hang out, play sports, and have free subs and cake! Bonus!!

I also got to spend time with my family today, including my amazing sister, brother-in-law, and baby niece!! It was such a blessing to see all of them and see how big and beautiful my neice has gotten. And who doesn't love steak, mashed potatoes, and caesar salad for lunch?? I didn't get to spend much time with them, but the time I did get was definitely worth it!

I had to be at the church to help open the Cafe at 3pm as usual on Saturdays. However, I wasn't aware then that I would be working a 7 1/2 hour shift today!! It was so crazy! It started out like a normal Saturday, where I served in the Cafe for both services. Working went great and the guy who oversees everything in the Cafe, Lex, told me he wants me and one other girl to basically run the Cafe by ourselves at one point! That is such a huge compliment, especially since I've only worked in the Cafe like 3 times! He told me he sees my passion for working there and that I take initiative to do things without being asked, and it was so nice to have the work I did be recognized. I feel so special! AND earlier today he had also complimented me about how I acted at Adopt-a-Block!

Today was definitely a fun, busy, encouraging day. Can't wait for tomorrow!!

These are a few verses that relate to how I felt today. The joy I found in being recognized and encouraged for the work I did makes me want to give that feeling back to others:

^"He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you." -1 Thessalonians 5:10-12

Good night! :)

Lifehouse "Everything" Skit

Upon the Stage - Twentyfourseven

living in the presence.

If you didn't know, there are four teams within 24/7. One is made up of Cadre and the other three are groups of first years, with one Cadre "coach" for each team of first years. Each team except Cadre has a name chosen by the team coach that has a specific meaning. My team is "Coram Deo," meaning "living in the presence of God" in Latin. Boy is that an appropriate name for what we went through today.

In a nutshell, today was a total God day. His presence was unmistakable in everything we did throughout the day.

Yesterday during prayer I basically made a vow to God that I would not give up during workouts anymore. My mom told me once that the most effective diet she ever tried was one where she had to make a vow to God to stick with the plan. NO ONE wants to break a vow made to God! You might as well just pray to be struck by lightning, right? So I figured that would be a great motivator...and I was so right. Today, each time I felt like I couldn't lift any more weight, run even one more step or do one more lunge or bear crawl, I just thought to myself, "I literally can't give up. I made a vow to God that I would not give up, so I just can't." And I got through it! I felt so empowered! God gives us total access to all he has for us, yet we continue to choose not to take what He has to offer! When He offers us wisdom, we settle for what we already know. When He offers us strength, we give up when we could still push harder. When He offers love and companionship, we choose to give into false feelings of loneliness and depression. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US? Why can't we just accept what He has already offered to us?? I'm learning to trust Him and rely on him for everything I need more and more each day.

Then during morning prayer I had such a strong feeling that there was just this ridiculously thick, immoveable cement wall between God and I, blocking me from really hearing from Him. When I was praying, I felt like I was talking to a wall. When I prayed for answers, I heard nothing. I got so discouraged and prayer ended on a sad, frustrated note for me. When Pastor Alex came into the room for class, I expected to sit back and listen to a godly man for an hour and that would be it. I was wrong. Our lesson today was on reading the Bible. Pastor Alex talked about all that God has to offer us through the Word, how to read and study the Bible, and he hammered into our heads over and over the fact that if we do not get into the Word every single day, we are voluntarily separating ourselves from God. I realized that that is exactly what I have been doing. All this time I've been praying for God to really speak to me or to show me what he wants me to do in certain situations, but I'm not doing my part by reading the Bible. God speaks to us most clearly through His Word, so how do we expect to hear Him if we are not constantly reading the Bible? I feel so stupid now! But it's a good thing. :) I can't wait to read the Word more and more until I really start to hear God clearly. It'll be a process, but an amazing, life-altering one.

After a Q&A with Pastor Randy and his wife, Amy, and our lunch break, we met back in the youth auditorium for our next instructions. Class time today was cancelled so that we could work on the dramas we will be performing on outreaches and mission trips. I was a little nervous because the two skits made for the kids required LOTS of exaggerated silliness and the serious one required lots of step memorization and acting talent. We practiced the first two, which are mostly just funny skits for drawing crowds in and entertaining kids, and it was SO FUN! The first was called "If I Were Not Upon a Stage," and was a silly, fast-paced, hilarious teamwork skit. Each person had their own combo speaking/moving part, where the first person would go, then the second and first, then the third, second, and first, and so on. It is seriously the most fun thing EVER. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaATfmhwsv4) The second skit we did was a non-speaking skit called "Catch All," which starts with a line of about seven people with their backs to the crowd. The first person, or Catch All, acts out a normal routine, like yawning or pretending to wash their face, and soon the second person in line faces the crowd and acts out a super-silly "symptom" such as squawking like a chicken or sneezing uncontrollably. Once the second person bumps into the Catch All, that person is "cured' and the Catch All now acts out that symptom. The other people in line one by one act out their symptom, then give it to the Catch All, resulting in a hilarious string of symptoms that the Catch All must act out all at once. (There's not really any good videos of this one online, but it's probably easier to imagine.)

The third skit is silent, very serious and moving. Many people are familiar with the Lifehouse "Everything" skit. I've seen it done more than 15 times and when the right people do it, it is seriously more moving every time. The concept is this: a girl is living the "normal" Christian life, and has a good relationship with God. She is happy with this, but a boyfriend/lover comes in and sweeps her out of God's arms and into his own. (This skit is kind of dance-y, so there are several short dance sequences.) Next, she is grabbing greedily at money, which another character waves around her, just out of reach. Next, she is pressured into drinking by a friend, then pressured into throwing up from a pretty, popular girl. Then she is introduced to cutting herself and ultimately holds a gun to her head, ready to commit suicide. At the last possible moment, she throws the gun to the floor and jumps back toward God, who is now separated from her by all the other characters. She lunges towards Him over and over, being punched and knocked down by the evil characters, but doesn't give up until she ends up back in His arms again. I CRY EVERY TIME!!!

And the best part is: I get to be the main girl. Cadre assigned everyone their parts and they chose me to be the girl! I am excited beyond all belief to be a part of this skit, but so nervous because I've never done anything like this before. It is so awesome that each of us gets to play a part in a skit that will undoubtedly change lives all over the world. Because the concepts are acted out silently, there is no language barrier when we perform it for people who speak foreign languages. This skit contains something for every kind of person at every stage of life. WE ARE GONNA CHANGE LIVES!! I can't wait to start practicing this skit and perform it ASAP.

So yeah, that's basically my day. Totally crazy and hectic, but completely wonderful.

God is SO GOOD. :)

(I'll see if I can post videos of the "Upon a Stage" skit and the "Everything" skit so you guys can see them!)

the highlights.

Wow, haven't posted in a week! Let's see what I can highlight from the last few days:

• Friday night my team destroyed the buffet at Hungry Howies, then went on to our team coach Paul's house to hang out, play basketball, ride his motorcycle around, and listen to stand-up comedy from one of our team members. Awesome night of fun and relaxation.
• Saturday Adopt-a-Block went SO well and twice as many people showed up as last time. My 3 1/2 hour break after outreach was spent being a couch potato, taking the longest shower of my life, and spending an hour and a half on curling my hair just because I could! Church on Saturday night was awesome as usual since I get to work in the cafe for both services.
• Sunday services were great, but the day went downhill once CT started and my team was given the most pointless, frustrating yardwork around the church to work on for 4 hours. Sunday night I had dinner with my home sponsors and Mrs. Ault's parents, and we had home grown/slaughtered chicken! I'm starting to get used to the fact that we eat animals that we just fed and bonded with yesterday... :)
• Monday, my day off, was spent working with my mom and making some extra cash, training for the triathalon at the Y, and hanging out with my home sponsors.
• Tuesday was morning prayer, scripture memory test (2 of my team members failed AGAIN), outreach to USF Sarasota (I got a caricature done by an artist there for free!! It's SO cute! He even drew in my nose ring!!), and Venue at night. Each week our Venue service gets better and better, and I even got the chance to talk with someone I haven't seen since senior year! Tuesday was also the beginning of our 3-day Daniel fast, during which we were only allowed to eat fruit, veggies, and nuts. It may not sound too bad, and fruit is definitely delicious, but that diet radically confuses your body and you constantly feel like you're starving to death.
• Yesterday was day 2 of the Daniel fast, and we all felt a little weaker and more hungry than the previous day. My team started out the day walking around the church at 5:30am (shocker!) for an hour for scripture memory CT. Then during morning prayer with the regular church members I just felt uninspired and exhausted, which made me feel SUPER guilty since it's supposed to be time where you just give back to God and worship Him. I was so tired that I couldn't even let myself close my eyes because I would fall asleep, even if I was standing up! After prayer I was feeling very unhappy with myself, and Justin said he wanted to speak with the whole group. We figured he would tell us to go outside and start running our usual route (Wednesdays are always running days) but instead he told us that workout was cancelled!! We were SO excited, especially since we were so hungry and caught off guard physically because of the fast. Instead of a physical workout, Justin told us we would do a spiritual workout, which turned out to be another hour of prayer and worship. THIS time it went by so quickly, and I was completely encouraged and excited throughout the whole hour and long afterword. It was just what I needed! Then my group had our Venue Prep meeting to work out the kinks from the previous night, and we were dismissed for showers/lunch for THREE AND A HALF HOURS. It was such a ridiculously long break I didn't even know what to do with myself. I forgot what it was like to have that much free time! It was awesome, and then we met back at the church for class time and our First Wednesday duties. Overall great day! :)
• Now, if you think yesterday sounded good, today was AMAZING. We started off with CT at 6:30, and surprisingly my team and I were in great moods and were just excited to hang out together, even if it was freezing outside and we had to be there an hour before everyone else. I actually woke up smiling this morning! I figured that has to be a sign of a great day. After team devotions we started the first of the three games of Ultimate Frisbee! I was terrified of the frisbee once the games started because earlier, during CT, I got nailed in the face by a super-fast frisbee thrown by one of my teammates. It was a total accident but still horrifying and painful. I had a gusher nosebleed all through devotions! But I have to say that I'm lucky that the frisbee hit me right in the septum because it could have hit me a) on the bridge of my nose, leaving a dent or breaking my nose, b) where my nose ring is, possible ripping it out or pushing it through, or c) in the teeth, possibly knocking out teeth or ripping my gums. So those possibilities considered, it was the best possible scenario for getting nailed in the face with a frisbee. :) Ultimate Frisbee was a little confusing at first, but really fun! Then we had class with Pastor Matt, where we debated about divorce and gambling and whether they are sins or not or to what extent they are acceptable. SO INTERESTING!! I had to be on the "gambling is not a sin" side and it was actually really fun. My side won! Then we had ministry time where we help out other people in different ministries in the church. I got to serve in the Cafe and get trained for everything! I now know how to make lattes, cappuccinos, frappes, smoothies, americanos, hot teas, mistos, steamers, caramel macchiatos, and a billion other things! So exciting!! ANDDDDD the best part was that the fast ended at 5 today, and we got to drink the coffees we made during training! I seriously thought I died and went to heaven. So after all that, a personal pizza from Pizza Hut, a Dt. Dr. Pepper, and some TV time with my home sponsors, I have concluded that today completely rocked.

So now I'm going to bed, and hoping that somehow tomorrow will top today. Don't know how that's possible, but you never know!

(And I get to see my AMAZING sister and super-precious neice this weekend! I'm so pumped!!)

:D I love my life!