As the summer comes to a close
It's been a very long time since I've updated. That usually means I just write out a list of things that have happened in the past however long it's been since I've written anything. But I don't think I can do that right now.
The last thing I posted was the video of my commencement speech, along with the speech itself written out, so I've got a lot to catch you up on.
I went on many church trips this summer, starting off with the Summer Escape, where we take the High School students on a trip to San Diego, where we stay at Point Loma Nazarene University, and we get away from everything in the world. This ends up becoming a major group building time, because the only way you can avoid being social with people is by avoiding everyone (they have internet access there, and some spend most of the time checking their myspace for any new comments on one of their many profile pictures that they think looks awful, but for some strange reason they still posted it). So I got to know many of the High Schoolers, they got to know each other, and (most importantly) they got to know God better.
Right after that, I went up to Jr. High camp, (which started 2 days prior to me being there) and was a counselor. It was harder then I thought, mainly because I had to catch up with everything that had been happening at the camp while I was in San Diego. Everyone knew each others names, they had teams set up, they had their lessons, and I had to put myself in there. It was fun, but it was harder. In the end, I got to be there when one of the young men from our church told everyone at camp that he wants to become a youth pastor. It was an awesome moment.
In July, I started out the month with a Road Trip to LA/OC area with Michelle. We hardly ever do anything big, like trips to the beach, or something like that, so it was nice to get stuck in a car with her. First we went to San Bernardino, where we met up with Eydie, one of Michelle's friends, and we had a great time with her and her boyfriend Stephen going bowling, shopping at Target, going to Super Markets late at night to buy Sunny Delight only to find out that the next day they would go on sale for half the price we paid for them.
It was awesome.
One of the days we drove over to Azusa, and met up with Chris Bradney, a good friend of ours who I haven't seen in ages. He's doing rather well, and is enjoying life. We ate at this retro 50s Diner called Legends. I am kind of trying to watch what I eat and drinking less crap, so I didn't get the tasty looking Pastrami Burger that Chris got, and went for the Fish Taco's instead.
No good.
Didn't like them.
Would have been better off with picking off him and Michelle.
So we sat around a talked before I finally had to return back to work from his lunch break. He's a good man. Maybe that's why he got the nickname Charlie Brown when he lived here? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
The next day, we drove over to Culver City where we met up with My brother and ate dinner with him. I don't get to see him much, and even though it was about an hour out of the way to see him, I thought an hour is way closer then 4 hours, and that it was no big deal. Plus it was fun.
After dinner, Michelle and I took the 405 to the 101 and made our way to Santa Barbara, in search of our friend Sarah Scott, who had finally returned from her year in Ireland to continue her education at UCSB.
She lived in a house with 12-16 other girls (I don't quite remember the exact number) that was less then a football field away from the ocean and directly across the street from a dome-like house that looked like a giant coconut. Pretty sweet.
We showed up late, but she was still up working on a paper, so it was no big deal. We hung out for a bit, and then went to bed.
The next morning we were taking to a local bagel shop for breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy looking, but the bagels were awesome. You could tell this place was meant to be for the locals. You went in, said what you wanted right away, paid for it, and then stepped aside and waited for it to be made. You could say they were the Bagel Nazi's.
We hung out with Sarah some more, and then finally decided to take off. We headed for State Street, which is just fun walking up and down. We ate Italian food. We walked some more. Found a Borders and a Barnes and Noble. Then we finally made our way home. The drive to me right now seems like a blur, because I got all pumped up and Caffeine and Sugar, and let Michelle take a nap. So most of it was spent with me staring at the road, saying nothing at all.
We got home, and ended out sweet vacation with tons of memories, and left over Italian food.
Three days later on the 14th of may, I went up to Kids Camp to be a counselor for 11 young boys, with two co-counselors. I remembered how hard Kids camp is, and how physically, spiritually, and emotionally tiring it is. But I remembered how rewarding it is as well. Not many of these kids have someone older then them that shows them they are cared for, and that God loves them. So by the end of the week, I realized why I became a part of the kids program at my church two years ago.
And when I looked at how some of the other counselors acted, I remembered why I left the kid's department at the end of last year.
It's a shame when adults spend time trying to figure what they can get out of their time at camp instead of trying to see what they can put into it. Instead of investing in the lives of these young children, they were cashing in on their chance to leave home for a "vacation." I think many forgot that this camp is meant for the kids, and not for the counselors.
Well that came to an end, and I came down the mountain for three days. I saw The Dark Knight on Friday, and Wall-e on Saturday afternoon. The Dark Knight was amazing. Everything was over-the-top, and it kept me at the edge of my seat for most of the movie. And at two and a half hours long, it was a long time to spend going crazy. The only thing that bugged me (and it bugged me in the first one) is how Christian Bale sounds when he's Batman. I don't know if there was no other way to sound creepy, but he just ended up sounding like some guy in a creepy clown costume trying to sound scary to the kids coming to his door asking for candy. You know it's not his real voice, but he doesn't keep you awake at night making you wonder if he's under your bed.
Wall-e was good. Especially with the way my brain thinks. There was so much stuff from last semester in my philosophy that kept coming back into my head while watching it. And it was just all around fun. I don't think there's one Pixar Movie that just sucked. There's some I like more then others, but they always stand apart from all the other computer animated cartoons. Definitely worth it.
After three days, I made my way back up the mountain where I was a counselor for the High School camp. This was by far the best camp of the summer for me. After chapel every church would break off into their own church groups and discuss the nights topic. This was a time where I got to see into the hearts of many of the guys and girls of this youth group. We had times were the questions were so deep that it was better just to sit in the silence and and think about them, and then listen to some people who are simply trying to answer things for themselves out loud.
On the last night, the teens were given a chance to lay down their burdens, and I got to pray for many of them. Some I could tell needed it, and some I just went up to and started praying for. I don't know why I did for some of them, and I didn't know what I would say, but I did it. After this night, I know I'm gonna have some roll in ministry, but I don't know what exactly yet. I know whatever happens that God knows where I'm needed, and what I'm needed with.
I've been working (very last minute) on transferring to Fresno State in the Fall, so I'm super stoked about that. Just came back tonight from Dog Days orientation, where I got a lot of questions out of the way, and I'm ready for the semester to start.
Well that's it. I think it's about time I went to bed. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm helping Michelle move. She's moving with some friends to an apartment, and they're making a day out of it. Hopefully it won't be too long of a day, because I'm about ready to crash and burnout.
The last thing I posted was the video of my commencement speech, along with the speech itself written out, so I've got a lot to catch you up on.
I went on many church trips this summer, starting off with the Summer Escape, where we take the High School students on a trip to San Diego, where we stay at Point Loma Nazarene University, and we get away from everything in the world. This ends up becoming a major group building time, because the only way you can avoid being social with people is by avoiding everyone (they have internet access there, and some spend most of the time checking their myspace for any new comments on one of their many profile pictures that they think looks awful, but for some strange reason they still posted it). So I got to know many of the High Schoolers, they got to know each other, and (most importantly) they got to know God better.
Right after that, I went up to Jr. High camp, (which started 2 days prior to me being there) and was a counselor. It was harder then I thought, mainly because I had to catch up with everything that had been happening at the camp while I was in San Diego. Everyone knew each others names, they had teams set up, they had their lessons, and I had to put myself in there. It was fun, but it was harder. In the end, I got to be there when one of the young men from our church told everyone at camp that he wants to become a youth pastor. It was an awesome moment.
In July, I started out the month with a Road Trip to LA/OC area with Michelle. We hardly ever do anything big, like trips to the beach, or something like that, so it was nice to get stuck in a car with her. First we went to San Bernardino, where we met up with Eydie, one of Michelle's friends, and we had a great time with her and her boyfriend Stephen going bowling, shopping at Target, going to Super Markets late at night to buy Sunny Delight only to find out that the next day they would go on sale for half the price we paid for them.
It was awesome.
One of the days we drove over to Azusa, and met up with Chris Bradney, a good friend of ours who I haven't seen in ages. He's doing rather well, and is enjoying life. We ate at this retro 50s Diner called Legends. I am kind of trying to watch what I eat and drinking less crap, so I didn't get the tasty looking Pastrami Burger that Chris got, and went for the Fish Taco's instead.
No good.
Didn't like them.
Would have been better off with picking off him and Michelle.
So we sat around a talked before I finally had to return back to work from his lunch break. He's a good man. Maybe that's why he got the nickname Charlie Brown when he lived here? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
The next day, we drove over to Culver City where we met up with My brother and ate dinner with him. I don't get to see him much, and even though it was about an hour out of the way to see him, I thought an hour is way closer then 4 hours, and that it was no big deal. Plus it was fun.
After dinner, Michelle and I took the 405 to the 101 and made our way to Santa Barbara, in search of our friend Sarah Scott, who had finally returned from her year in Ireland to continue her education at UCSB.
She lived in a house with 12-16 other girls (I don't quite remember the exact number) that was less then a football field away from the ocean and directly across the street from a dome-like house that looked like a giant coconut. Pretty sweet.
We showed up late, but she was still up working on a paper, so it was no big deal. We hung out for a bit, and then went to bed.
The next morning we were taking to a local bagel shop for breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy looking, but the bagels were awesome. You could tell this place was meant to be for the locals. You went in, said what you wanted right away, paid for it, and then stepped aside and waited for it to be made. You could say they were the Bagel Nazi's.
We hung out with Sarah some more, and then finally decided to take off. We headed for State Street, which is just fun walking up and down. We ate Italian food. We walked some more. Found a Borders and a Barnes and Noble. Then we finally made our way home. The drive to me right now seems like a blur, because I got all pumped up and Caffeine and Sugar, and let Michelle take a nap. So most of it was spent with me staring at the road, saying nothing at all.
We got home, and ended out sweet vacation with tons of memories, and left over Italian food.
Three days later on the 14th of may, I went up to Kids Camp to be a counselor for 11 young boys, with two co-counselors. I remembered how hard Kids camp is, and how physically, spiritually, and emotionally tiring it is. But I remembered how rewarding it is as well. Not many of these kids have someone older then them that shows them they are cared for, and that God loves them. So by the end of the week, I realized why I became a part of the kids program at my church two years ago.
And when I looked at how some of the other counselors acted, I remembered why I left the kid's department at the end of last year.
It's a shame when adults spend time trying to figure what they can get out of their time at camp instead of trying to see what they can put into it. Instead of investing in the lives of these young children, they were cashing in on their chance to leave home for a "vacation." I think many forgot that this camp is meant for the kids, and not for the counselors.
Well that came to an end, and I came down the mountain for three days. I saw The Dark Knight on Friday, and Wall-e on Saturday afternoon. The Dark Knight was amazing. Everything was over-the-top, and it kept me at the edge of my seat for most of the movie. And at two and a half hours long, it was a long time to spend going crazy. The only thing that bugged me (and it bugged me in the first one) is how Christian Bale sounds when he's Batman. I don't know if there was no other way to sound creepy, but he just ended up sounding like some guy in a creepy clown costume trying to sound scary to the kids coming to his door asking for candy. You know it's not his real voice, but he doesn't keep you awake at night making you wonder if he's under your bed.
Wall-e was good. Especially with the way my brain thinks. There was so much stuff from last semester in my philosophy that kept coming back into my head while watching it. And it was just all around fun. I don't think there's one Pixar Movie that just sucked. There's some I like more then others, but they always stand apart from all the other computer animated cartoons. Definitely worth it.
After three days, I made my way back up the mountain where I was a counselor for the High School camp. This was by far the best camp of the summer for me. After chapel every church would break off into their own church groups and discuss the nights topic. This was a time where I got to see into the hearts of many of the guys and girls of this youth group. We had times were the questions were so deep that it was better just to sit in the silence and and think about them, and then listen to some people who are simply trying to answer things for themselves out loud.
On the last night, the teens were given a chance to lay down their burdens, and I got to pray for many of them. Some I could tell needed it, and some I just went up to and started praying for. I don't know why I did for some of them, and I didn't know what I would say, but I did it. After this night, I know I'm gonna have some roll in ministry, but I don't know what exactly yet. I know whatever happens that God knows where I'm needed, and what I'm needed with.
I've been working (very last minute) on transferring to Fresno State in the Fall, so I'm super stoked about that. Just came back tonight from Dog Days orientation, where I got a lot of questions out of the way, and I'm ready for the semester to start.
Well that's it. I think it's about time I went to bed. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm helping Michelle move. She's moving with some friends to an apartment, and they're making a day out of it. Hopefully it won't be too long of a day, because I'm about ready to crash and burnout.