Holding Down the Fort!

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope this blog finds you pleasant, rested, and smiling! The reason I entitled this post "Holding Down the Fort" is because Scott Boss - JH Mentor extraordinaire, is in West Virginia with a group of High Schoolers doing a missions trip! That's right! I'm in charge! Buwahahahahahahaha. *sigh* Sadly I'm too responsible to actually take advantage of this moment. ;0) I've actually been discovering that most of the work I've been doing has been out of the office types of work. I think I might try organizing Scott's desk while he's away... it might help...it might hinder. Who knows? Could be fun.

p.s. could anyone tell me where the saying "Holding Down the Fort" came from? Just a random question.

Well last week was a jam packed crazy week full of crazy craziness. and I LOVED it! VBS was held everyday from 9 to 1, and we then held VBS After Hours at various awesome places around Glendora.

Final Tally =
Taco Tuesday (Del Taco) - 93 kids, 336 tacos consumed.
Pack Out In-N-Out - 115 kids
Golden Spoon Take-Over - 83 kids
Night Game "Sponge King" - 135ish kids

Needless to say, it was pretty EPIC. The best story comes from Thursday's Golden Spoon Takeover. At 7:00pm it started thundering and we saw lightening. I was all - Dude this is California, in JULY. Then it rained. It rained in July, and it was so awesome. Kids ate frozen yogurt and played in the rain. I was reminded of our time in the Philippines a few summers ago...it rained almost every other day and it was hot! haha. It was a nice reminder, a comfort to think about the people we met there and the work of the Lord that's continuing even today.
After Last week's epic-ness, we're taking it easy this week on the ministry front. Doing a Pool Party on Wednesday and that's about it! Woot woot!

Sunday School has been an interesting beast to tackle. Leaders, as I've mentioned before, are scare over the summer. There was one sunday where it was me and 25 Jr. Highers for 25 minutes before my friend Hillary bounced heroically into the room to save my life. hahaha. I have a new respect for Jr. High Teachers, to say the least. Depending on who's in the group on Sunday it's either easy to get through the lesson...or it's easier to give up and play tag. Such is Jr. High ministry. I'm a firm believer that the curriculum should come second to relationships. So if they kids wanna talk about something, or just need some time to hang out - that's just as fun for me as teaching a pre-planned lesson. Kids learn by observation and by asking questions, if we don't give them these kinds of opportunities they aren't being challenged to grow. Hahaha, I say "Kids" like I'm not still a Kid myself silly Jen...I guess it would be better to say that: People (all kinds) learn by observation and by asking questions. Some of these Jr. Highers are asking questions Socrates wrestled with. I love it.

I suppose I'm just rambling now - but whilst I ramble, might as well mention that I've been reading the Anne of Green Gables series. How many people out there remember those? Heck yes, they are amazing. For those of you unfamiliar with these books, they are the story of an orphan girl taken on accident to a family who wanted a boy. They end up keeping her, and the stories follow Anne through school, friendship, love, and loss - her imagination prevailing the whole way. Anne and myself are twins souls across fiction. Her imagination is just as big as mine, she has a quick temper that I used to be able to call my own, and a fierce love of kids and peers. I love those books...they are addicting. What I most love about Anne is her understanding of God and Heaven, and the contrast it provides in the narrow minded town of Avonlea. At one point in her childhood - Anne looks at a picture of Jesus, and says, "I don't think this is what the Lord should look like." Her guardian is aghast at her blasphemy and says, "Of course that's how the Lord is supposed to look." Anne looks all pensive and says, "Shouldn't he be smiling?"
I also love when she is trying to explain Heaven to a little boy who thinks Heaven is in the attic because when he asked where it was his cousin pointed to the ceiling and said, "Up there." Anne corrects this by saying that heaven is a place where you can eat 10 kinds of icecream and wear whatever you want, a place to be happy all the time, and that it certainly wasn't in the attic.
Though she is a fictional character, she's a role model of mine. hahahaha. I'm pretty sure if she were real, we'd be extremely close friends. This is probably why I like reading about her life!! Hahahaha. What can I say? We all have our guilty pleasures.

On the Wedding Front -
Not much has been accomplished or changed since my last blog. But I am super excited for next monday cause we are going for Bridesmaids dresses! GAH! I'm so excited. I love dress shopping, especially for girls I love so dearly!
Oh yes, and my dear little cousin Hailey Haldeman is gonna be our flower girl! She's basically the cutest thing on the planet. And I love her. She'll be an absolute darling. :0)

Well I believe that's about all for now. It's weird to think that school starts up again in about a month... when did that happen? I have to start thinking about Books, and tests, and...and... cafeteria food. Yuckie. hahaha. Only one more first day of college!

Love you all, and I pray lots of peace and rest and love into your life!
Love,
Jen