It's November now....

...and camp has been GREAT! I really couldn't as for more from a full-time job. I've gotten to play in the trees for most of this month by running the high ropes course and giant swing. I've been trained to set up every adventure element that the camp has to offer (which to me is more challenging than the activities themselves!). I get to hang out with really cool people ALL THE TIME! I get to meet really cool people ALL THE TIME! I get to know and become better friends with cool people ALL THE TIME! And to top it all off they all have the same passions in life as I do: to love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul, to love people, to hang out with and disciple kids, to encourage one another and to do it all in a camp ministry setting. I really can't ask for much more than that!

In other news, I went to my first Chic-Fil-A opening this past Wednesday and for myself some coupons for free chicken! We all camped outside in the parking lot for 24 hours and played games and watched the Phils beat up on the Yanks. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life- watching a game 1 of the World Series with 50 other Phillies fans, hootin' and hollerin' at a 30 inch flatscreen while sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of a Chic-Fil-A opening. LOVED IT!

Halloween was yesterday. Sarah hand-crafted Taco and I's costumes. We were knights. The costumes were sick. It was fun. I hosted a retreat group all weekend so I didn't have much time to hang out with everybody until this afternoon, but Fournier (the semi-permanent retreat hoster) got the chance to go to the Ranch costume party at Barb and Kevin's (a married couple who work at the Ranch). We played signs (for those of you who went to college with me you know what you missed out on)!

I'm sure pictures will be up on Facebook within the next few days so check them out and GET UPDATED! Send me e-mails, call me, comment on here and keep me on the ball for updating ya'll =P. Oh, and cheer for the Phils, they're down 2-1 in the series, they're in need of the love.

From busy to busier...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. The past week and a half has been pretty busy (if you can't tell by the bog title...). Last weekend I support hosted my first retreat, worked the exit on the high ropes course, ran the zip-line entrance and set up/ran the giant swing. After that, Taco, Sarah, LaDessa and I went to my house in Jersey for the weekend. We went into Philly Sunday night to get some Soho's pizza and hung out by the river for a little bit. Monday we headed down to Ocean City, NJ for some fun in the ::cough:: wind ::cough:: "sun" and the boardwalk. We bought fudge. We talked a lot. Ate a lot. It was fun. Oh, and we also had crabs at my sisters house Sunday afternoon before going into Philly. It was the first time they had crab out of the shell. They enjoyed it. We cleaned a lot this week and set up for the first weekend of Maizefest. Maizefest was fun, I ran the mini zip-line all day. Running the zip-line consisted of dragging children back up the track I sent them down for five hours straight. Needless to say I didn't need a workout yesterday. Today was fun. Taco and LaDessa planned a day out for us since we've done nothing but work hard all week. They set up a picnic in a park nearby and we ate, talked, payed volleyball and wrestled over who should be on the largest bean bag I've ever sat on. Welp, my eyes are burnin and I'm gettin tired, so, I'm going to stop blogging. I promise I'll be more insightful and witty on my next post. But. Until then.

--WAH

The Fading Lights of Dying Stars...

I must say that one of my new favorite pass-times is laying out under the stars. I mean, its no new thing for me, I used to do it all the time in college, but they were always with a significant other or a group of friends. I've never sat under the stars by myself. Maybe its because I'm afraid to be out there alone in the dark, or it migh tbe the fact that I enjoy the deep conversations that come about when laying under the "backlit canopy with holes punched in it." The desire to sit out at night has been tormenting my brain for the past week or so. There's good reason for it too. Back in Jersey, you can't see as many stars as you can here. It's beautiful. Lifepoint's church service two Sundays ago talked about God and the heavens. He created them. He knows every star by name. He deserves to be praised for His creativity, imagination. I mean, that's the basis for all of our creativity (not that I'm at all creative, but I am very imaginitive). But most of all He deserves to be praised for His majesty. He rules over it all. We can barely make it to the moon, and that's baby steps compared to the vastness of the universe. I mean, He's made stuff that we can't see, even with the hubble telescope. It crazy to think about.

So I think I am going to take advantage of every chance that I get to lay out under a clear sky while its still nice enough to enjoy. Take time at the end of my day and reflect on how God's moved in my life and others for the 12 or so hours I was awake, revel in His glory and sit in awe of the fact that the God who created the universe still desires to have a loving relationship with a measly human like me.

Life is ALWAYS interesting...

Let's change things up. I'm stealing the idea from Sarah's page to use bullets to explain the past few days instead of long, drawn out paragraphs. I'm sure you'll appreciate that. Here are a few things that I've learned from the past few days.

• Perverted old men do exist. So do REALLY perverted old men.
• People of pretty much any weight can safely ride the zipline.
• Absolute truth trumps relative truth, regardless of what people may think.
• Taco is a sweet dancer.
• The Orioles CAN walk off.
• Horses can get high by chewing on fences, this allows them to break into other peoples yards and/or barns.
• P90X is hard to work into an erratic schedule.
• I really really really love the interns here. The staff too I guess. =P
• I enjoy being in the "Hot Seat"
• Stargazing stimulates deep conversation.
• Garden State is NOT the right movie to start watching at 10:30.
• Biz and I are a day apart.
• I miss playing volleyball.
• It's really creepy to walk around in the dark while its foggy out.
• It's still creepy to walk around in the dark when its not foggy.
• Sarah learns things really quick.
• I can catch poison ivy without ever coming in contact with it. Nothing works well to get rid of it either. O_o
  
• Did I mention that I love my job?

If you want more details than that you're gonna have to leave me comments at some point =).

Oh, and hot cupcake pans leave some pretty nasty burns.

The first days of "real" work

I weedwhacked a forest yesterday. Or, at least, what could only be described as a forest. We have a 6 acre corn maze on the property that is used throughout the month of October for an event we host called Maizefest. Thing is, they build the maze wayyy before then and nobody takes care of it apparently (that's when the slaves come in). They sent three of us interns into the maze along with Matt and a few weedwhackers (cleverly named Bessie, Shaniqua and DixE) to cut down the overgrowth (some of which was about 3-4 feet high. It reminded me of weedwhacking around the golf course for hours on end. I don't miss it all that much, but it did feel good to get dirty again. Even though we spent all day in the maze, we only got 3/4 of the way done (the last quarter doesn't look fun at all.....) and have to go back in sometime later this week. Hopefully I get to work with the two I worked with yesterday (Sarah and Taco, you are too funny). The rest of the interns got to pick weeds out of a labyrinth used for prayer walks. Its full of gravel and has no real place to sit. I felt bad for them; I highly dislike picking weeds. Its probably my least favorite activity to do, other than running.

After a day of hard work, all of us went to Chic-Fil-A (out favorite place to eat as a group apparently) and headed to a coffeehouse where a bunch of people from the Ranch go to hang out every Tuesday. I'm not sure how often I'll go with them on that... I mean, the music was cool (its open mic night-- one suggestion the flyer gives is proposing marriage, we found that humorous) but the place is too new-agey with weird art and stuff. It feels very business-like, not homey at all. Come in, do what you need to and get out. That's what it feels like. It's kind of like Barney's apartment in How I Met Your Mother mixed with Joey's first apartment by himself in Friends. Very odd.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Monday night. All the interns (minus Taco- he had dinner plans with his adopted family) went out to Sakura and got some sushi. Sarah had never eaten sushi before but she seemed to really enjoy her first experience. That's more than most people can say. We'll see how she likes the sashimi when we go again =D. When we came back we all met at the girls place to watch The Prestige. I love that movie, so does everyone else. I wouldn't mind watching it on a daily basis.

REMINDER: WAH, you need to buy that movie. Go find it. Cheap.

That about sums it up for now. I'm helpin Doug today in the kitchen and I gotta get started. Have a great day everyone!

Love you all,

WAH

Ahhh the weekend!

I saw that heron again today. He was just chillin' in the river where I last saw him. I wonder if his nest is around here somewhere...

This weekend was pretty interesting. Saturday, Beth, Ryan, LaDessa and I detailed (cleaned) the few places that still needed for the week and then spent the rest of the day doing our homework. Yes, even though I am essentially working a full-time job I do still have homework. I don't mind it much though, it challenges my faith. One of our assignments is to read a book written about two brothers who started the Ranch and then call some "alumni" of the Ranch to get their perspective of Ranch life and of the founders, followed by a reflection paper. Its due in a few weeks but I don't feel like procrastinating on it, how much of an oxymoron is that? And for those of you who know my study/school habits how much unlike me is that? Seriously, this Ranch is changing me (in a good way!). I also have to write a paper analyzing the Emergent Church movement. The good. The bad. The uncanny. Stuff like that. I've always found different theologies or ways of thought interesting. They allow me to define what I really believe and challenge my comfort level of where I am in my Christian walk. I'm all about getting out of my comfort zone.

Speaking of which I climbed the indoor climbing wall on Thursday (not sure if I mentioned that or not), talk about being uncomfortable. Man, I knew rock climbing was hard but I climbed for a total of 5-7 minutes and my forearms were KILLING me. I don't know how people do it for much longer than that.

Anyway, the homework is for a couple classes that the Ranch provides for us to take while we're here. Theology, support-raising, ranch history and retreat-hosting; all taught by the staff here. Its all very laid back and doesn't feel like taking a college class or even doing homework. They've somehow woven a desire for knowledge into me that I never had in college (a little late for that huh?). Better late then never I guess. After the homework session the four of us played Skip-Bo and headed to bed. Exciting no?

Sunday was a little bit more eventful. Ryan and I went to LifePoint church for the second time (our first experience left us wanting). The pastor spoke this weekend instead of a guest speaker and, I must say, it reminded me a little of Southland Christian Church mixed with a little bit of Southwood Baptist Church (Southland being my home church in KY and Southwood being my home church in Jersey). I'm impressed, the pastor has the Authenticity about him like Jon Weece has in KY but teaching like Pastor Joel MacDonald in Jersey. I think I might have found a church home here in MD but I am going to look around a little bit to make sure. I need to get plugged into a church while I'm here at the Ranch (its a requirement) so I need to make sure I'm listening to God and not my own logic about this.

After Church, Ryan and I road-tripped back to my house in Jersey to pick up my glasses and a few things that I left at home. It only took a few hours (4-5?) for us to do all of that, so we had plenty of time to watch football when we got back =D. We sat at Doug's place and watched the 4:00 and 8:00 games, GO NINERS!!!!! 20-16 against the NFC champs. That's all I gotta say. During the 4:00 game, though, one of the staff workers here, Morgan (she was an intern last year and now works full-time with the horse program) fell off a horse and had to go to the hospital. In respect for her wishes, I won't give out details about the accident, but keep her in your prayers. She is a strong woman.

That incident reminded me that even though unfortunate things like this happen to people all the time, it is part of God's plan for their lives. None of us will never know the extent of why things happen the way they do, but we do know that it presents multiple opportunities to show Christ to people through how we handle situations like these. God always keeps bringing me back to passages like Romans 5: 3-5 "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us ," and James 1:2-4 "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." When difficult trails or times of suffering barge their way into your lives, do not grow angry or throw a pity party. Instead, realize that cup has been passed to you for the development of a certain trait within you. Patience. Courage. Trust. Compassion. Hope. Faith. Perseverance. Insert any trait you want, life trials are meant to produce character. Give praise to God when you enter and when He delivers you from them.

God, thank you for your infinite wisdom and desire to be a part of our lives. Allow us to see past ourselves and our emotions to gaze into your eyes and know that you are God, and You are in control, no matter how out-of-control we think our lives are. Give us the courage to endure the rough times and give all the praise and glory back to You as we continue on and through them. Grant us the patience to see Your reasons for placing us under such circumstances. Whether it be to reveal Christ to another person or being us closer to You, whatever it is, we praise you for the opportunities you present to us to give you glory, because you deserve it!

Love you all,

WAH

PT Thursday and Retreat Hosting

I saw a heron yesterday. Every Thursday morning we meet Matt at the gym for some physical acivity. You know, calisthenics, stretches, a quick jog, a short game of half court 3 on 3 and knockout. A good way to pass an hour in the morning. I stayed after a little bit to refine my volleyball skills and, let me tell ya, I've lost my game. Its a good thing most of the interns have a volleyball background (maybe we can start a team in a league or something?). Anyway, after I got tired of chasing the volleyball around I went for a short walk to cool off and refill my water bottle at the kitchen when, all of a sudden, I see something with big wings swoop down and land near the bridge leading to the classroom. It was a heron! A big gray one. I always thought it was good luck to see a heron so close, and boy did I feel like I needed it.

You see, yesterday I support hosted my first retreat (well THE first retreat any of us interns could have help host.... I feel like I am the first to have a go at everything here... ...not that that's a bad thing). Anyway, we had a little coaching from Matt about what to expect and some responsibilities, but that doesn't mean I remembered any of it. I got the chance to follow Zig around (he was hosting) and be his shadow. Zig's real name is John Zigenfuse (might have butchered that) and he's an amazingly athletic guy. Him and I might be doing P90x together at some point =D. Anyway, the retreat was for over 100 middle school students with a few chaperones. Zig and I met up with them at the Buffalo Lodge (a large meeting room on the campus) to greet them and introduce ourselves/the camp. It was a real cool chance to see yet another facet of camp life and take my crack at it. I got to help out with the meals (and actually host dinner last night) and be the face of the camp with Zig for this group. If they needed anything, they would call me over the walkie-talkie and I'd help them out.

So that pretty much explained the past two days in a nutshell, but now for the specifics. While I was working the retreat, I got to help catch people on the zip line with Sarah, Taco, Beth and LaDessa (Ryan was working paintball), help support the snack shop workers (also the interns) and belay people on the indoor climbing tower with Matt and LaDessa while Ryan, Sarah and Taco helped detail (or clean, but Matt likes to use a different word) and Beth helped with the horses (we interns do a lot...). All in all it was a real exciting first experience in hosting a retreat. Taco and Sarah have their first shots at it today through Sunday morning. Taco is the support host and Sarah is the TNT (teens in training) host (they help serve the meals and do random stuff around the camp... basically little interns that aren't here all year long). They're going to do great!!

Anywho, Ryan and I bought Rock Band for entertainment purposes. It'll give us something to do come winter months and an excuse to have people over the house. He's been far more active in it than I but I am moving closer to being on Expert for all the instruments. I just need to get used to Hard drums and I'll be set!! (maybe.... O_o). I'll be coming home for a little bit on Sunday to grab a few things and then head back to camp. Ryan's taking the trek with me, for which I'm grateful. I love taking trips with people in my car; some of the best conversations I've ever had have been from rides like that.

I'm running out of things to say so I am going to say goodnight and until next time.

Love you all,

Wah