Here's something that should be interesting. During a youth retreat (which I didn't go to because I thought I was busy, but really wasn't) all the kids were handed envelopes with "Kingdom Worker" cards inside. Each card had a challenge on it that the recipient was obligated to follow. Opening the envelope was optional however. I'm happy to say that all my friends opened their envelopes. One challenge was to set aside twenty dollars a month and on the twentieth of each month do something nice for someone else with it. Another challenge was to raise a thousand dollars and donate it to a good cause. The entire youth group is doing a challenge to raise five thousand dollars to help build wells in Africa. My good friend Jeremy has the challenge to memorize 2 Timothy. The entire thing. I decided, "Hey, that sounds like a good idea. I think I'll do that too." So now I am working on memorizing the longest piece of writing I've ever attempted to memorize. Here's how you can help:
Pray for me.
Pray for me.
Quiz me when you have the chance.
Pray for me.
Remind me to keep working.
Pray for me.
Memorize it with me.
Pray for me.
I think that's about it.
Interesting Fact:
Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks - otherwise it will digest itself.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
THE HELPED DOING SOME HELPING
Strange title, I know, but you'll figure it out soon enough. This post is about my week at HandyCamp.
Monday was boring as usual. Wake up early, go to camp, sign in, unpack, go through six hours of orientation, and only have play time before bedtime. Orientation is really boring the third time you go through it.
Tuesday the campers arrived. I had a guy named Steve, but he preferred to be called Buddy. How do I know? His name tag said so. Otherwise I never would have known. He hardly spoke a word and when he did speak, it was about going home. A bit different from the usual excitement the campers show when they arrive. I can't say a whole lot about him due to privacy, but I will say that he was mostly independent.
Wednesday. Still not speaking very much. Also, he doesn't enjoy moving around a bunch. He sat around for long periods of time and so of course I sat with him. Buddy was anti-social and always sat in the back of the room during bible study, worship, or special events. The only things we did during the day were planned events. No spontaneous things for Buddy. He did, however, smile and laugh during the clown show, although he was afraid of the clown. I guess as long as those creeps stay away from him he'l perfectly okay with them being stupid.
Thursday. Same as above, except he was especially anti-social during dinner and the dance. At least he was willing to color that day. Still, by then I was starting to get used to Buddy and actually understand some of his mutterings (most of which are about home or some people at his group home). Also, I was starting to understand why God sent me to this camp and paired me with Buddy. I believe that God always has me meet someone at camp who helps work out an issue in my life. It can't be coincidence because it happens every single time.
Friday. Best day yet. I finally figured Buddy out. We got through the day without being super anti-social and actually make more than one woodcraft. The Friday night service was awesome (more on this and the week's bible studies in the next post).
Saturday. Worst day yet. Buddy couldn't stop complaining about going home during the closing ceremony. Then came the frustrating time for packing, which is always annoying no matter what camp you go to. There's always some rush and frantic searching as you look for their lost belongings that end up exactly where you should have looked first but didn't because you weren't thinking straight. Then, after the goodbyes (actually, Buddy said he hated me and told me to go away-more on this later) I packed my own stuff, which involved more rush and frantic searching because there are some moms wanting to leave on time.
So that was my week. If it doesn't sound interesting or even remotely fun, don't be fooled. Although that week was the most trying out of all the times I've gone, it wasn't any less interesting or fun. See, I've found out that HandyCamp isn't really for mentally and physically disabled adults to come and be served all week. It isn't about volunteers giving up their time to make sure the adults have fun. While both of those do happen, they aren't the reason the camp is fun. In fact, if that's all the camp was about, it would be awful. No, HandyCamp is fun because while helping the disabled adults, you discover that they are also helping you. Yes, those adults who are laughed at and turned away by society, who struggle every day, who must live under the care of others, end up helping you more than you help them. Like I said, God always sends me to a camp and pairs me up with a certain adult to teach me something. I've learned more about how to truly follow Christ from those adults than I have from church, youth group, Sunday school, and bible study combined.
Interesting Fact:
In 2003, the personal fortune of J. K. Rowling- the author of the Harry Potter series- surpassed that of the Queen of England.
Monday was boring as usual. Wake up early, go to camp, sign in, unpack, go through six hours of orientation, and only have play time before bedtime. Orientation is really boring the third time you go through it.
Tuesday the campers arrived. I had a guy named Steve, but he preferred to be called Buddy. How do I know? His name tag said so. Otherwise I never would have known. He hardly spoke a word and when he did speak, it was about going home. A bit different from the usual excitement the campers show when they arrive. I can't say a whole lot about him due to privacy, but I will say that he was mostly independent.
Wednesday. Still not speaking very much. Also, he doesn't enjoy moving around a bunch. He sat around for long periods of time and so of course I sat with him. Buddy was anti-social and always sat in the back of the room during bible study, worship, or special events. The only things we did during the day were planned events. No spontaneous things for Buddy. He did, however, smile and laugh during the clown show, although he was afraid of the clown. I guess as long as those creeps stay away from him he'l perfectly okay with them being stupid.
Thursday. Same as above, except he was especially anti-social during dinner and the dance. At least he was willing to color that day. Still, by then I was starting to get used to Buddy and actually understand some of his mutterings (most of which are about home or some people at his group home). Also, I was starting to understand why God sent me to this camp and paired me with Buddy. I believe that God always has me meet someone at camp who helps work out an issue in my life. It can't be coincidence because it happens every single time.
Friday. Best day yet. I finally figured Buddy out. We got through the day without being super anti-social and actually make more than one woodcraft. The Friday night service was awesome (more on this and the week's bible studies in the next post).
Saturday. Worst day yet. Buddy couldn't stop complaining about going home during the closing ceremony. Then came the frustrating time for packing, which is always annoying no matter what camp you go to. There's always some rush and frantic searching as you look for their lost belongings that end up exactly where you should have looked first but didn't because you weren't thinking straight. Then, after the goodbyes (actually, Buddy said he hated me and told me to go away-more on this later) I packed my own stuff, which involved more rush and frantic searching because there are some moms wanting to leave on time.
So that was my week. If it doesn't sound interesting or even remotely fun, don't be fooled. Although that week was the most trying out of all the times I've gone, it wasn't any less interesting or fun. See, I've found out that HandyCamp isn't really for mentally and physically disabled adults to come and be served all week. It isn't about volunteers giving up their time to make sure the adults have fun. While both of those do happen, they aren't the reason the camp is fun. In fact, if that's all the camp was about, it would be awful. No, HandyCamp is fun because while helping the disabled adults, you discover that they are also helping you. Yes, those adults who are laughed at and turned away by society, who struggle every day, who must live under the care of others, end up helping you more than you help them. Like I said, God always sends me to a camp and pairs me up with a certain adult to teach me something. I've learned more about how to truly follow Christ from those adults than I have from church, youth group, Sunday school, and bible study combined.
Interesting Fact:
In 2003, the personal fortune of J. K. Rowling- the author of the Harry Potter series- surpassed that of the Queen of England.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
CAMPING
Okay, here's the adventure that happened before my trip to the Naval Academy.
So, at our old church we became really good friends with the pastor and his wife. Now every year she takes us camping, along with her nieces and nephew who are our age. This year we tried out a new campground and its number two on the list of favorite campgrounds.
Tuesday afternoon we went to Grandma Judy's house (not actually our grandma of course, but we call her that anyway) and discovered that instead of going to the campground to sleep, we'd stay at her house due to storms rolling in. the last five or so years we've had a bunch of rain. Sleeping in wet tents is not fun. So this year we stayed in a dry house playing card and board games.
The next day we went to the campground and set up tents. After that, we just did normal camping things. We went fishing, cooked awesome meals (hobo dinners are delicious), swam, hiked, took a tour of the historical part of the park, etc.
Before we left we had to stop by Dairy Queen, a tradition that started way back in the second or third year of camping. This was our tenth year.
So that's it. It's one of the things I look forward to the most because no matter what happens during our adventure, we always have fun.
I forgot to include a interesting fact in the last post, so here's two:
The steam rising from a cup of coffee contains the same amount of antioxidants as three oranges.
In 2005, the New York Times carried the headline "Good Smell Perplexes New Yorkers". The reported phenomenon was a mysterious maple-syrup scent wafting over the city. The smell's source was never identified.
So, at our old church we became really good friends with the pastor and his wife. Now every year she takes us camping, along with her nieces and nephew who are our age. This year we tried out a new campground and its number two on the list of favorite campgrounds.
Tuesday afternoon we went to Grandma Judy's house (not actually our grandma of course, but we call her that anyway) and discovered that instead of going to the campground to sleep, we'd stay at her house due to storms rolling in. the last five or so years we've had a bunch of rain. Sleeping in wet tents is not fun. So this year we stayed in a dry house playing card and board games.
The next day we went to the campground and set up tents. After that, we just did normal camping things. We went fishing, cooked awesome meals (hobo dinners are delicious), swam, hiked, took a tour of the historical part of the park, etc.
Before we left we had to stop by Dairy Queen, a tradition that started way back in the second or third year of camping. This was our tenth year.
So that's it. It's one of the things I look forward to the most because no matter what happens during our adventure, we always have fun.
I forgot to include a interesting fact in the last post, so here's two:
The steam rising from a cup of coffee contains the same amount of antioxidants as three oranges.
In 2005, the New York Times carried the headline "Good Smell Perplexes New Yorkers". The reported phenomenon was a mysterious maple-syrup scent wafting over the city. The smell's source was never identified.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
AYE AYE SIR!!!!!
So I'm going to start my string of posts with my latest adventure and work backwards.
My recent at the Academy was very tiring. We woke up at 5:30 every day and got yelled at by actual drill Sergeants. Then we had to eat breakfast in 10 minutes, ran a couple miles, took classes with tests at the end, then lights out at 10:00. Actually I'm joking, none of that happened. Okay. Here's a the short version of my adventures. Details would probably overload this computer.
Monday- Flew in at 9ish. Taken to the Academy where I sat around until five to have dinner. Played some capture the flag. Unpacked. Went to bed.
Tuesday- Met my group (I was in Blue 1). Our leader was 2nd Class Midshipman Jack James. That means he was going into his third year at the Academy. His job was to take our group to all the activities on time. He was pretty cool, especially since he enjoyed pranking people at breakfast. There were 5 other people in my group. 120-140 kids were at camp all together. We went to the Air and Space museum in DC. Watched an IMAX about the Hubble telescope and then walked around for a bit. The WWII exhibit was awesome. After we went back, we took a tour of the Academy. Had a delicious cookout and played ultimate frisbee for three hours. Then had free time and lights out at 11:00.
Wednesday- Took two classes in the morning:Forensic Chemistry and Control Systems.
Two in the afternoon: Cryptography and Sound Waves and Light.
Played sports. Had free time until lights out. Also had Blue and Gold, during which we all gathered and gave comments on the day and had announcements.
Thursday- Classes: Airplanes/Rockets, Fluids Lab, Boat Building, and Brittle/Ductile Metals.
Played sports. Ice cream social after dinner. Blue and Gold at 9:45. Free time until lights out at 11:00.
Friday- Classes: Robotics, Photography, Biometrics, Lie Detector (this was my favorite set of classes).
Played sports, had a talent show (no, I didn't participate because I had nothing to show). Blue and Gold at 9:00, lights out at midnight.
Saturday- Pack, another Robotics class (in which we used a calculator to control a chassis- I know, cool huh?), present our robot at the science fair when the parents showed up, had the awards ceremony and got a certificate of completion, then left for the airport immediately afterward. Immediately as in, get out of my seat, say goodbye, and leave.
One more thing. On the way from Baltimore to Detroit, for some reason I still don't know, I got moved up to first class! It was pretty exciting. Kind of wish I hadn't spent all that money on snacks to take on the airplane because they offered some pretty good stuff.
That's it. A long post, but much shorter than the version I told my parents, which took about and hour and a half to tell. Next post will probably be this afternoon if I have time, which I probably will.
p.s. I probably have a ton of typos and punctuation errors, so please excuse me. I was trying to do this quickly before I left to take my written test for my drivers license. I passed my driving test yesterday (YES!!!!). Hopefully I'll be coming home with a license.
My recent at the Academy was very tiring. We woke up at 5:30 every day and got yelled at by actual drill Sergeants. Then we had to eat breakfast in 10 minutes, ran a couple miles, took classes with tests at the end, then lights out at 10:00. Actually I'm joking, none of that happened. Okay. Here's a the short version of my adventures. Details would probably overload this computer.
Monday- Flew in at 9ish. Taken to the Academy where I sat around until five to have dinner. Played some capture the flag. Unpacked. Went to bed.
Tuesday- Met my group (I was in Blue 1). Our leader was 2nd Class Midshipman Jack James. That means he was going into his third year at the Academy. His job was to take our group to all the activities on time. He was pretty cool, especially since he enjoyed pranking people at breakfast. There were 5 other people in my group. 120-140 kids were at camp all together. We went to the Air and Space museum in DC. Watched an IMAX about the Hubble telescope and then walked around for a bit. The WWII exhibit was awesome. After we went back, we took a tour of the Academy. Had a delicious cookout and played ultimate frisbee for three hours. Then had free time and lights out at 11:00.
Wednesday- Took two classes in the morning:Forensic Chemistry and Control Systems.
Two in the afternoon: Cryptography and Sound Waves and Light.
Played sports. Had free time until lights out. Also had Blue and Gold, during which we all gathered and gave comments on the day and had announcements.
Thursday- Classes: Airplanes/Rockets, Fluids Lab, Boat Building, and Brittle/Ductile Metals.
Played sports. Ice cream social after dinner. Blue and Gold at 9:45. Free time until lights out at 11:00.
Friday- Classes: Robotics, Photography, Biometrics, Lie Detector (this was my favorite set of classes).
Played sports, had a talent show (no, I didn't participate because I had nothing to show). Blue and Gold at 9:00, lights out at midnight.
Saturday- Pack, another Robotics class (in which we used a calculator to control a chassis- I know, cool huh?), present our robot at the science fair when the parents showed up, had the awards ceremony and got a certificate of completion, then left for the airport immediately afterward. Immediately as in, get out of my seat, say goodbye, and leave.
One more thing. On the way from Baltimore to Detroit, for some reason I still don't know, I got moved up to first class! It was pretty exciting. Kind of wish I hadn't spent all that money on snacks to take on the airplane because they offered some pretty good stuff.
That's it. A long post, but much shorter than the version I told my parents, which took about and hour and a half to tell. Next post will probably be this afternoon if I have time, which I probably will.
p.s. I probably have a ton of typos and punctuation errors, so please excuse me. I was trying to do this quickly before I left to take my written test for my drivers license. I passed my driving test yesterday (YES!!!!). Hopefully I'll be coming home with a license.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
WOW
Wow. That one word sums up my week. There is way too much stuff to tell you guys in one post, so I'll break it down into at least two, probably three. Unfortunately, I can't write very long tonight so this will be a short post.
This week I was at HandyCamp. This camp is for adults with physical and mental disabilities such as autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc. For one week a camper is paired up with a volunteer. Activities include singing praises to God, praying, dancing, doing woodcrafts, swimming, bible studies, and art/crafts. I first went to this camp two years ago because my parents made me. We knew some people who'd gone and they thought it'd be a good idea for me to go. I didn't exactly agree with them. God, however, used that week at camp to change my life. This year was my third camp and God continues to teach me and I always come out of camp with a stronger relationship with Him.
That's all I'll tell you for now. I'll get into details later.
By the way, I decided to scratch the idea of including a joke per post. Not that the jokes were bad, but I don't want to spend the time looking through to find good ones.
Fun Fact:
Unlike other fruits, cranberries do not show their ripeness with color. Instead, they are sorted by bouncing: good cranberries bounce and bad ones don't.
This week I was at HandyCamp. This camp is for adults with physical and mental disabilities such as autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc. For one week a camper is paired up with a volunteer. Activities include singing praises to God, praying, dancing, doing woodcrafts, swimming, bible studies, and art/crafts. I first went to this camp two years ago because my parents made me. We knew some people who'd gone and they thought it'd be a good idea for me to go. I didn't exactly agree with them. God, however, used that week at camp to change my life. This year was my third camp and God continues to teach me and I always come out of camp with a stronger relationship with Him.
That's all I'll tell you for now. I'll get into details later.
By the way, I decided to scratch the idea of including a joke per post. Not that the jokes were bad, but I don't want to spend the time looking through to find good ones.
Fun Fact:
Unlike other fruits, cranberries do not show their ripeness with color. Instead, they are sorted by bouncing: good cranberries bounce and bad ones don't.
Friday, June 4, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS!
Today was an excellent day. I first went to get my power chain on my braces hooked back up. It slipped off two days after it was put on about three weeks ago. Plus, not long after that, the end of a wire started poking holes in my cheek. Now I have this spot that's all calloused and hard and it feels weird. Anyway, it got fixed.
Then I went over and babysat. I usually babysit three kids, but today I only had the two younger kids (by younger I mean that the toilet is a foreign object to them). It was great. I got paid seventy bucks for six and a half hours of work. Not bad. I think I might have to go shopping again soon.
Finally, I went to a friend's graduation party. He goes to my youth group and just got out of torture school (High school). I have a lot of respect for him. He loves God and has a great personality that shows it. He makes it into the top ten people I respect the most. I hope that he keeps his faith during college because that time in your life is like a faith killer. I've seen and heard of so many people going into college a Christian and coming out believe all this junk about evolution and atheism. It's really sad to think about it.
One last note. My grandfather got me a book of jokes for my birthday. A late gift, but a late gift is better than no gift at all, am I right *wink*? So expect a joke at the end of every post. Plus, I'm going to try and post an interesting, not so well known fact. It's to further your education and it's good for you.
I haven't gone through the joke book, but I do have a fact for you:
Gregor Mendel, "the father of genetics," twice failed the certification exam to become a high-school science teacher.
Then I went over and babysat. I usually babysit three kids, but today I only had the two younger kids (by younger I mean that the toilet is a foreign object to them). It was great. I got paid seventy bucks for six and a half hours of work. Not bad. I think I might have to go shopping again soon.
Finally, I went to a friend's graduation party. He goes to my youth group and just got out of torture school (High school). I have a lot of respect for him. He loves God and has a great personality that shows it. He makes it into the top ten people I respect the most. I hope that he keeps his faith during college because that time in your life is like a faith killer. I've seen and heard of so many people going into college a Christian and coming out believe all this junk about evolution and atheism. It's really sad to think about it.
One last note. My grandfather got me a book of jokes for my birthday. A late gift, but a late gift is better than no gift at all, am I right *wink*? So expect a joke at the end of every post. Plus, I'm going to try and post an interesting, not so well known fact. It's to further your education and it's good for you.
I haven't gone through the joke book, but I do have a fact for you:
Gregor Mendel, "the father of genetics," twice failed the certification exam to become a high-school science teacher.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
THIS SUMMER
Summer should be a time of relaxation. A time to just chillax (relax and chill at the same time) and enjoy the freedom. For me, however, this is not how my summer is going to roll. In June, I'm going to three different camps: One three day camp, one five day camp, and one week long camp. I'm excited about all of them, but it is kind of depressing that I have to wait until July to stay home and do nothing. I'm sorry, did I say do nothing? My bad. I meant have friends from Mexico stay for a week and do stuff with them, have four football practices a week, have youth group events every Wednesday night, and whatever else my mom decides to sign me up for.
Back in my last post, I mentioned that I was going to take some placement tests. I'm trying to get into a physics class at Ivy Tech, but I have to score high enough on a math test to take the class. Well, supposedly almost no one tests into the class. Guess who did this time?! Nope, not Hitler, guess again. Nope, not Santa Claus. Me! Gosh, took you long enough to guess. I tested high enough that I not only can enter the physics class, but I also got a high enough score that I could take their Calculus class if I wanted too. I feel like Einstein, minus the crazy hair.
So expect a lot of posts from me. Since I'll be gone most of June, the posts will be spaced out, but I'll probably spread each camping adventure into several posts so I don't bore you with a post so long it'll make the Lord of the Ring Trilogy look like a children's book.
And with that odd metaphor still messing around with your brain, I shall end this post.
Back in my last post, I mentioned that I was going to take some placement tests. I'm trying to get into a physics class at Ivy Tech, but I have to score high enough on a math test to take the class. Well, supposedly almost no one tests into the class. Guess who did this time?! Nope, not Hitler, guess again. Nope, not Santa Claus. Me! Gosh, took you long enough to guess. I tested high enough that I not only can enter the physics class, but I also got a high enough score that I could take their Calculus class if I wanted too. I feel like Einstein, minus the crazy hair.
So expect a lot of posts from me. Since I'll be gone most of June, the posts will be spaced out, but I'll probably spread each camping adventure into several posts so I don't bore you with a post so long it'll make the Lord of the Ring Trilogy look like a children's book.
And with that odd metaphor still messing around with your brain, I shall end this post.
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