At the end of last months post i said that i would update you all; if i remembered...oops! i did forget & i'm sorry.
I'll take a few steps back so i can catch you all up. I flew down to PA for break instead of driving like i had originally mentioned. It is still so weird flying by myself & i've done it like 3 times now ;) Christmas break was fun. Seeing everybody was extremely awesome!! Some people didn't recognize me when i walked int
o the church for Christmas Eve service (Shmeil!) but that's cool i'll still love them forever!! I spent a few days, including New Years, with Tessha. We caught up & laughed for hours...omgsh it was sooo much like old times.
I got to hold my little nephew for the first time. He is so cute & he smiles & makes all kinds of faces when he sleeps. I baby sat a few times & got no sleep whatsoever. I will put some pictures at the bottom of the blog so you can get a glimpse. As far as Christmas day went, i got some great things. I got snow pants, sneakers, jeans, & a $25 Wal-Mart gift card. (yea baby!) Of course it didn't really feel like Christmas but i won't get into that right now...
I flew back to NH on the 2nd of January. Bundy & Stacie picked me up at Manchester, let's just say that the ride home was full of Facebook updates! :) LOL. It was so nice to be back. I went straight up to my room, got in some comfy clothes, & retreated to the living room w. my computer & new Tastykake mouse in order to wait for Shayna.
Since being back we started having "focuses." I am in youth which is absolutely amazing...i LOVE it! We have been remodeling some rooms in the church. We took the thrift store from downstairs & upstairs & put it into the fellowship hall. Before we moved everything in though, we painted the fellowship hall; it felt like record time. We then started working on cleaning out the old thrift store rooms in order to be used by youth & children. Downstairs now belongs to the youth & they have done an AMAZING job with it. At first, it was painted all black but now there's murals on the walls along with a lipstick red floor. The kids room is now a city with children & buildings painted on the walls & it is the coolest kids room ever! I will post pictures as soon as i get some.
We just finished working on those two rooms last week. We did not have sermons or scriptures last week & this week was newsletters so we have had some extra study time. That is absolutely okay because i had a chance to get ahead on some work. Yesterday was thursday & we had an immense amount of study time. I took advantage of the fact that i was ahead & pretty much gutted the drama closet. I took everything out, left the trash out, organized it, put the stuff back in & replaced our toilet.
I know, i know you're probably wondering why i had to replace a toilet. For some of the dramas that we do, we use a toilet that is attached to a wooden base. This toilet obviously is no longer in working order but it is a full toilet. Our "old" one was damaged during our Georgia trip & we've had this one since we started renovations but it hasn't been based yet. So, yesterday i took the old toilet off, cleaned the grease off of the nuts & bolts, cleaned the new toilet, & attached it to the base. In order to attach it properly i had to make a "ghetto" lift system. I didn't have any extra 2x4's laying around so i got two 10x10 cardboard boxes that were unopened & put the base w. the toilet on it atop the boxes. There was just enough room left under the base for me to put my arm so i could hold the nut while tightening the bolt at the same time! woot-woot!! ;) that made me so happy right there that i could do that.
After the closet was done there was still a little bit of time left for studying. One, the worship team, was finished practice so, Tepy, our assistant director, got all of us together & we started peeling off the colors from our church sign. We were inside so it wasn't cold but we were a little crowded in the hall. There were two signs (front & back) so we needed a few people to jump on board. It was pretty hard but we got A LOT done. We couldn't use anything but our fingernails because it would scratch the base. The whole thing was just clear plexi-glass & they are going to re-use it for our new sign. That was fun too especially when one of the students said, "alright, who asked God for a sign?" LOL omgsh i cracked up laughing for like 5 minutes!
I love working with my hands so yesterday was an enjoyable day for me. When we were done for the day, Elisa & Ally B. took me to Old Navy to do some shopping. They were having a mad sale, 50% off of clearance. I got a WARM vest, 2 nice T-shirts, 2 tank tops, & a dress shirt. After Old Navy we went to Market Basket to shop for the dorms. Elisa shops for the boys dorm & Ally B. shops for the girls dorm. By this time it was soooo cold & windy. I don't know how quick it happened but it was nice out in the afternoon. I mean the sun was out while it was snowing! :) (no, i didn't get any pictures)
This past sunday Jason Lee Jones came to our church. The service was amazing & totally more than what i had expected. That morning in prayer PC told us to have high expectations & i thought i did but what happened blew my expectations out of the water. God touched us on Sunday morning & He used Jason to speak into our lives. It was funny because something that he had said i had heard in the beginning of the year in a sermon but he put it into perspective for me. We wrote down the names of people that we are believing Salvation for. We prayed/roared over those names. I am totally lost for words to explain what the rest of the service entailed.
Since the beginning of the month we have been praying & fasting for our community. We are doing a 3 week deal the first week was a full fast & the last two weeks are giving up something of importance that God has showed you to lay down. I've never fasted before this but it has truly made my prayer life more in depth between me & God. Sunday is the last day but that doesn't mean we have to stop praying & fasting for what we are believing for.
Today is friday & we have a day off. Tomorrow we are going to Raymond to help out with their youth group again. I love being able to help them out & getting involved with their youth. One is leading worship , 2 of the first year girls are giving their testimonies, & PC is preaching off of Revelation 12:11.
Things have been going at a pretty calm pace but it will soon be picking up. The first years are going to Dallas, TX w. PC & Mrs. Patty, we have Day In The Life, we are going to Lincoln, ME, & up by Caribou, ME. We are going to TX for the Master's Commission Conference. It is the 25th anniversary of MC. I am so pumped because i wanted to go so bad & we just found out that we are!! We leave on the 7th of February & come back LATE on the 10th. Day in the Life is the weekend after we come back from Dallas. Then the week after that we are traveling around Maine. :) I am excited to get back on the road!...After GA that's all i wanted to do but there was other stuff that had to be done.
Oh i forgot to mention WarCry. That was a youth leadership & student leader leadership summit. It was very enlightening on the some ways to get through to the youth about how important their unsaved friends are & aspects of teamwork that everyone can enjoy. The speaker is a youth specialist at Southwestern A/G University (SAGU). On the first night i learned that he is originally from Kennett Square, PA & he knows what Tastykakes are!! I was thrilled because i lived in Kennett when i was little & nobody in New England knows what Tastykakes are...they are slowly getting acquainted- believe you me!
Anyway, I will not go any longer because this blog is already HUGE! Again, i will try to update more often but i can't promise that i will remember.
Leave a comment or email me with any questions or comments! :)
Love yas, Kali <3
