russell

THIS is the guy i tripped over. he was warming up to spike during sports time.

i know i haven't blogged in like two weeks. ugh. sorry. here are some things you missed:

1. i hurt my arm. we were playing this game called murder in the dark. it is like mafia but you actually run around in the dark either killing or getting killed. so i saw the murderer kill someone and start to come for me so i run down the dark hallway yelling "MURDER IN THE DARK!!" what i didn't see was russell dead on the ground. so fell over him and onto my arm. he said i kicked him where it hurts, but i ended up hurt instead. so i still can't straighten it. i think i sprained it. didn't get an xray cause i don't want a cast. not sure it would look right with the bridesmaid dress.
2. Air Force Academy graduation. i got to go! Jen asked me if i wanted to and i said oooh yeah. it was awesome! over 1,000 graduates. a lot of names. joe biden spoke.... he wasn't too impressive. but the THUNDERBIRDS WERE AWESOME!!! like for real. if you ever get the chance to see them don't miss it!!!
   
3. session 2 is halfway over. there are THREE clemson students here!!!!!!!!! i only knew sarah was coming, but there are two other guys! all rising sophomores. this session has been fun! but a lot messier than session 1. they seem to throw food everywhere.
4. i make desserts. today was carrot cake. i really love baking and just cooking in general. maybe i should have gone to culinary school...
5. baseball. clemson made the super regionals!! but they are playing Arizona State University. three ASU guys are on summer staff and their team is really good. games are tomorrow and sunday. hopefully we won't make fools of ourselves! but anyway. they are trying to get all their friends to wear ASU shirts tomorrow so me and Christy are trying to get people to wear clemson shirts or just orange tomorrow.
6. day off. i had a day off wednesday. i went to lunch at a local italian place with Jason and Tenley and then we went and saw UP. which made me laugh and cry. ryan dobson also spoke on wednesday and he was hilarous.
7. newspring. this past week's message read me like a book! and the music was awesome. that song all the way my savior leads me has been on my mind all week! i encourage you to go watch it www.newspring.cc
8. videochat. did you know i can videochat? yes i can. so chat me up cause i miss you. skype: kristin.ashley
9. friends going to work at camps. summersalt starts soon! and so does crossroads! and that camp evan is working at! sorry i don't remember the name. so many friends going to serve and give of their time and talents this summer. pray for them.
10. RUTH IS GETTING MARRIED TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you girl and i'm so excited for you :) send me those pics!
    

music music everywhere!

we have so many talented students at the summit... there is always music everywhere! so many people playing guitars, violins, and drumming on trashcans. it is amazing :)

i get to to go webcampus in about 15 minutes... makes my day!!

students finally here!

session one is officially underway and i'm working in afternoon kitchen again. i love the kitchen! it is such a fun place to be. i made black magic cake (chocolate cake with coffee in it) and apple bran cake today. both turned out AMAZING! at least that is what the students kept on saying :) since i'm on afternoon kitchen, i probably won't get to go to sports time tomorrow... oh well. i will eventually! i will have wednesday off work this week.

i got letters this week from two amazing young ladies :) made my day twice! now to write them back...

what are we shooting for?

so staff training is going well... here are a few thoughts we have been talking about...

"Ideas are like grapes... they always come in clusters."
"Non-Christians don't read the Bible... they read Christians."

Colossians 1:28 says "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ."

so what is maturity in Christ? some ideas people said were

• needing others less but loving them more
• knowing God's will
• glorifying God
• obeying - love Him & love others
• bear fruit
• confession

after talking about the answer to this question for a while, eric (the boss man leading the discussion) told us to go to luke 10:25-28 and he contended that maturity in Christ is loving God and loving others. he also pointed to Galatians 5:6 in which Paul was explaining how "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." did you catch that? the only thing that counts for anything is faith working through love(agape). one thing a lot of young Christians can get caught up in is faith working through knowledge instead of love. they forget that love is even a key factor much less the only thing that counts.

so faith breaks down into faith and trust and trust can be built up by both classic and cultural apologetics which we cover here at Summit. then what is love? we went to 1 Cor. 13 and lamented that this chapter has been hijacked by weddings and forgotten in life.

• love is patient. love is not impatient. being impatient is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
  
• love is kind. love is not unkind. being unkind is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not envy. wanting something that isn't yours is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not boast. bragging is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not arrogant. arrogance is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not rude. being rude is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not insist on its own way. insisting on having your way is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not irritable. being irritated is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not resentful. resenting someone or something is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
• love bears all things.
• love believes all things.
• love hopes all things.
• love endures all things.
• love never ends.

did you know we are supposed to be kind? did you know we are not supposed to be rude or impatient? what in your life right now is an area of immaturity in Christ that you need to work on?

staff are here!

i spent all of yesterday cleaning the well (powerwashing and hosing it down). literally hours. like from 9 to 4ish with a lunch break. sooooo much dirt! then we started staff training last night for a few hours after dinner which was Parmesan chicken. i'll post more later about what we are learning and talking about during training. today was making of the beds and such. i stayed in the kitchen and did random stuff. we are having brisket tonight :) which is always amazing.

opening already over?

so we are down to all the tedious stuff in the hotel... cleaning fans, lining trash cans, etc. i spent this morning scrubbing down every single trash can that is in the hotel. from the smallest ones in the bathrooms to the huge ones in the kitchen. it was pretty gross. mike helped and we decided there should be a "no gum whatsoever" rule because it was all over the trash cans! but once i realized i was going to get very wet and dirty, i made the best of it and practically took another shower in dawn. and the scotchbrite pads are great for exfoliating...

then was lunch and more tedious things. i am now the "sweet tea girl" on call at all times. when i walked into the honkens house for dinner, she asked me if i would mind making some for dinner. russell helped me. yay russell is back! and koryn! who goes to charleston southern and knows kristen b.

we watched american idol tonight after dinner and i LOVED kris's rendition of heartless. i'll probably buy it tomorrow :) mom said she wants danny to win and ruthann is pulling for adam.

lindi just came in with cinimon pretzels from auntieannie's :D

i don't know where my roomies went... should i be worried?