You Don't Wanna Miss This!

I (Amy) went and saw the new movie "Courageous" last night with seven dear friends. I have only two things to say about it: 1. Whoa. As in WOW. 2. Go. As in NOW. I mean it! Stop reading this blog and gather your family, your friends, your acquaintances, your enemies, your pedicurist, your bank teller, your grocery cashier, your milkman, your pastor and church elders, your hair stylist, your meter reader (or as many of these actually exist in your life plus any other living beings you know) and get to a theater as soon as possible. You WON'T regret it.

Things are cooling off around here...

...and last night I (Amy) was so cold I wore a winter coat and wrapped up in a fleece blanket to do my homework. I was feeling a little like the folks in the picture below...

...but I'm a stubborn Minnesota girl and absolutely refuse to turn my heater on before October, so I'll be modeling my Eskimo look for one more week ;-). Fall is definitely in the air in our neck of the woods. And I must say that while summer is undoubtedly my favorite season of the year, autumn has a beauty all its own. I'm loving my walks to classes on the sunkissed frosty mornings, the smells of cinnamon and nutmeg in almost everything we bake, and lots of good days to curl up in a blanket and read (I'm reading "Joyfully at Home" by Jasmine Baucham right now, and HIGHLY recommend it to any young ladies who are living at home with their families (like me!)).

I haven't been in the blogosphere much lately. Well, that's not exactly true. I still check my favorite blogs on a regular basis. I just haven't updated ours real often. Like, AT ALL. FOR THREE MONTHS--YIKES!!! Is anyone even reading this anymore?

Anyway, today felt like a good day to start the impossible process of catching up our blog, as I just handed in the most impossibly grueling history test of my life. Might as well make a day of attempting the impossible, right? Maybe after this I'll read Plato's Republic or the five Confucian Classics (Come to think of it, I might have done better on that history test if I had read those last Friday night *sigh*) Or maybe I'll go hang out with some wonderful friends and forget about that test for a while. Hmm...tough choice ;-). I'll let you know how it all goes down....

Have a wonderful weekend!

Seriously?

Good grief. It's been a month and a half since either of us posted. I could just put the first sentence from Amy's last post on this one, because we're still feeling that way. I suppose I should get us caught up. Let's see...Katie has been volunteering everyday with the Summer Kid's Program at the middle school, and she is a great help to the teachers there. Amy has been working every other day and most of her off days are spent at Camp Oak Hills. This week she is there for Adventure Camp, an annual outreach our church does for kids from the Red Lake Reservation. I'm excited to hear how it all went when she gets back. I don't want this whole post to be about me, but since I've been so delinquent in posting, I'll try to summarize the crazy roller coaster of a road God's had me on these past few months. When I got back from Poland, I began looking for a job. Everything in me wanted to be back at Kal's, making it very hard to think about working somewhere else. I think more than before I went to Poland, I felt acutely the loss of that stage of my life, because I no longer had my trip to look forward to. A week after I got back, a family friend of ours approached me about a job that sounded too good to be true. I went and interviewed for the job, and I really thought I was going to get it. I ended up waiting more than three weeks for them to make a decision and to find out that I didn't get it. I was quite confused, because it sure had looked like God was providing like only He can do, but I guess He was just doing it in a different way. Shortly after that, I got hired at a phone book publishing company here in town. It was 40 hours a week, and it had benefits, and everything. Shortly into this job though, I was already struggling so much that I knew I had to do something. The job was fine, the people were fine, but I felt so isolated sitting in my cubicle everyday with just my computer and a pile of papers and very little interaction with people. I gave it three weeks, which I know doesn't sound very long, but at that point, I was past the scariness and intimidation that every new job brings, and I felt a lot of peace about leaving. I gave notice, and my boss said I could be done in just one week, since I wasn't yet at the point of being too missed when I left. So I was done there on a Friday, and Monday, I was hired at Applebee's as a hostess. I liked working there, I couldn't say I loved it, though. But I was completely planning on being there for a while, then maybe going on a longer missions trip or something. I didn't really know what. Then three weeks into working at Applebee's, I got a call from the people at the business I had applied with in March, the job I didn't get. They said that the person that they hired didn't work out, and would I come in for another interview? I was so confused. But I figured I should at least go in for the interview. So I did, and they said I would know by the next week if I got the job. They called the next morning. I decided (kind of on the spot) to accept. I honestly had no idea what God was leading me to do. I didn't feel a huge sense of confirmation or direction. I will say, though, that I had an extremely strong sense of His presence, and I figured that's all I really need. I talked to my manager at Applebee's and even though I said I would certainly work all the shifts he had me scheduled for, he said he was having trouble giving people the hours that they wanted anyway, so he cleared almost all my shifts out, and I started the next week in my new job. It's at the TransCanada pipeline office, and my official title is "Office Clerk" (I'm serious, the nameplate on my door says so). I have been there 7 and 1/2 weeks now, which is about as long as my last two job combined :-). I work 30 hours a weeks, which is WONDERFUL. I didn't realize it til after I was done there, but the shift schedule at Applebee's was not something I wanted to do for long, since it was almost all nights and weekends, cutting into lots of family time. Now, I'm done at 3 every day, leaving lots of time to come home, help with supper (!!!), and enjoy my family. I can say honestly that I like this job, I don't know if I'm to the point of loving it yet, but I really enjoy the people I'm working with, and I like the challenge of learning new things (and believe me, there's a lot to learn). I know I sound like a broken record, but it's going to take a while to love any job after Kal's. I can't ever seem to find words powerful enough to explain what it was like to work with my dad every day, to be in the presence of so many wonderful Christian men, and to feel so secure in where God had me. But I can also see in these past few months, just how perfect God's timing is. Although I certainly would rather have gotten this job in the first place, I know that there have been many things that He needed to show me in that time in between. And I give all the praise for what He has done. It was certainly much more emotional than I am portraying here (I am a girl, after all), but I'll spare you all the drama. I am still working at the Sanford Center, though there have hardly been any events this summer. This fall, though, I will be one of the Guest Services supervisors, so I'll be putting in more hours there, which I couldn't be more thrilled about. My new job can be flexible with my hours, which will allow me to be at the Sanford Center for just about anything I want to be there for. I can't, can't wait. This summer, we've also been enjoying having lots of friends over for badminton, volleyball, and Kubb, as well as lots of sister bike rides along the Paul Bunyan Trail. I celebrated my 21st birthday on July 26th, which brings up the following pictures:Amy actually bought this salt and pepper shaker set for me in December, while I was with her, because I thought it was so cute. She said, I'm going to buy this for your birthday, so you have to forget about it by July :-). This would be number 23. Bop and Nanny found these for me in an antique shop. Our cousin Carson said they must have gotten bumped on the head. So these are #24. These are from Aunt Peggy and Uncle Shane. The coal pieces on the mouths are the holes for the salt and pepper to come out - #25. These ones I found at a garage sale...#26. Well, there's been a lot of other stuff happening lately, hence the severe lack of blogging, but that about catches you up for the time being. Summary of everything: God is God, and that's all I need.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just watching my life fly by. In the summer, when routines are thrown out the window and spontaneity is the only constant, I (Amy) eventually give up on trying to control my schedule and decide to just ride it out until September. That's how I'm feeling right now. Some days I get frustrated that I haven't accomplished everything I set out to do in these first few weeks of June. (One of these days I'm going to pack all those half-read library books up in a bag and send them right back where they came from, so that someone else can experience the mini guilt trip I endure every time I glance their direction ;-). Despite the craziness, though, I really am loving life these days. I love that there's always something to do, and someone to do it with. And I love being reminded that my life is way out of control.....my control, I mean. The peace I find amidst this busy-ness lets me know that my God is still in control. And that's exactly how it should be.

Quick Update

Wow. I just realized it's been over a month since we last posted. Sorry about that. This past month has been really fun and really, really busy. We've been enjoying some beautiful sunny days by inviting lots of friends over for bike rides and yard games. I (Amy) have also been working every other day at the university I attend. I love my job! I do secretarial work, and there's rarely a dull moment. The people I work with are wonderful! I am so thankful for this position. And since I'm only working every other day, I have time to volunteer at the camp I worked at last summer. It has been such a blessing to reconnect with the old staff and meet the new summer staff. I have had so much fun working in the kitchen and helping kids in the craft shack! There's so much more I want to write, but I have to get ready for work tomorrow. I will try to write more before another month goes by...

Spring Happenings

What is spring in Minnesota without a few surprise snowstorms? Katie turned 17 on April 4! Kyle and Ella were at our house that day, and they were happy to help celebrate. I think this was when they were helping Mom wrap Katie's presents. See, there's a good reason I insist on saving all those boxes! We also got to take care of Lyndi again for a day - such a sweetheart! Our church is sending a team of people to Bangladesh in November to minister to missionaries there at a conference. Mom is helping raise funding and support for the team, and one of the things they did was put on a fundraising meal with traditional Bengali food. I had a bunch of fun cooking up these really thin tortilla-kinda things. Only in Minnesota can Easter be the latest it's been in years and still have snow piles. This was Easter morning (the picture got put on out of order and I didn't take the time to reload it). We figured we were past due for an updated picture of the three of us. Some of the cousins after the Easter egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma's. Amy and Katie are in the back, left to right in the front are Taylor, Carson, Hannah's boyfriend Addison, and Hannah. We had the choir finale at our church. Pies for dessert after the concert! Dad doesn't often make it on the blog, mostly because he rolls his eyes and gives us "the look" every time we try to take a picture of him, but he didn't mind getting his picture taken on this particular day. I couldn't tell you what kind it is (Amy could though, if you really need to know), but he's pretty excited about it. He's ridden it to work every day since he got it last weekend, and I think he's going to until he gets icicles on his beard during the ride over. Katie went to Alternative Prom at the Hampton Inn. Doesn't she look beautiful?

Let Me

Whispers from God. Don't you love them? I know I do. This past year has been full of them, if I quiet my anxious heart long enough to listen. Sometimes it's obvious what He's saying. Trust me. Go here. Do this. Love her. Other times I have a hard time figuring out the message I'm supposed to be getting. I usually know the message I want to hear, but I've discovered, and I'm sure you have too, that God doesn't play by our rules (thank goodness). Lately I've been listening to the song "Beyond Words" by Tenth Avenue North often. My favorite lines are God speaking, saying, "Let me wrap my arms around you, let me take your breath away." Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Who doesn't want to be held, captivated, amazed at Someone so powerful, so truly awe-some? Better yet, to be completely unworthy and yet receive the promises all the same? "Let ME." That's the God-whisper I've been hearing and loving lately. Sometimes He fills in the blank at the end, "Let me comfort you. Let me be your strength. Let me take your cares." Sometimes it's more important that I only hear those first two words. Sure, I would like to know the rest, to know what He's going to do, but I'm learning that "Let me" is enough, even if I have no idea how the sentence could end. I know the gist of this is the same as saying "trust God" or "believe God," but to me, the visual in "let God" is so much more powerful. Because to let Him, I have to un-let myself. I have to let go of my grip on my situation. How often do we want His miracle, His solutions, but not His working? We want the end result from Him, but we think we should probably keep the reigns for the process, because who knows what He's going to do? He won't demand that we give it up; it's our choice. He'll let us struggle as long as we will in our stubbornness. But He'll be right there the whole time, whispering, "Let me. Let me, my child, let me."