final Mexico meeting

Last night we met at the Howell's for our final Mexico briefing and prep time. Amber reviewed some cultural things with us...children's games, interpreting tips etc. and then we broke up into our ministry groups to practice with our team interpreters. It is exciting to be at this point in the process. All the pieces have been pulled together, children's lessons, games, crafts are ready to go. The girls have done an AWESOME job preparing!! This by far has been the most prep for a youth trip that I have ever been on. I am proud of all the girls going. Now we get to look forward to meeting the people in Rosarito that I've heard so much about. A handful of people on this year's team have been one or several times before so they will be enjoying a reunion with people.

We are meeting tomorrow night, Friday, in Wasilla and then heading in to town to fly out that night. The plan is to spend Saturday at a water park in San Diego and drive into Mexico Sunday morning. I won't have computer access down there, but will update my blog when we get back after the 1st of July.

On a personal note, thanks to those of you who have mailed notes and cards or given me a card or personal word of encouragement the past few weeks. It means the world to me to know that there are people dedicated to praying for me and the teams I will be with this summer. You have no idea how encouraging it is. Thank you!! Blessings on you too this summer!

Mayor's Marathon

Last year three of my youth girls and I decided to start a "tradition." We entered the Mayor's Marathon Relay race in Anchorage. Yesterday we competed in it for the 2nd time and had a blast...at least I think we all had a blast...aside from getting up at the crack of o-thirty on a summer day!

The relay is broken into 4 segments, my leg 7.1 miles, Johanna ran 2nd for 8.1 miles (our endurance girl), Erin ran 3rd for 5.5 miles and Emily brought it home with 5.5 miles...total distance, 26.2 miles. The weather was perfect this year, slightly over cast and in the low 60s. The general course leads from Bartlett High to West High in Anchorage. During my leg we had a crossing with a moose and all the out of staters (New Yorkers) oooed and awed with excitement over it! It was a blast! I love talking with people on the way about where they're from and sometimes why they are racing...cancer sponser etc. You meet a lot of interesting people from all over. Only one more year left girls!!

reunion...

This past Thursday night we had a youth group reunion with one of our old leaders, Sarah. She moved a couple summers ago to NC where her husband is going to seminary. Blessing of all blessings, they are back all summer in AK working and interning. Ashley is working at WBC helping some with the construction of our new building along with leading the college group and preaching occassionally on Sundays.

Soooooo, the girls have been ACHING to have time with Sarah and catch up. They all came over to my house that night and we sat around talking, not hard for girls to do, and hearing everyone's stories. It was a natural fit to have Sarah back with us. We MISS not having you here Sarah!! It's great to have some time together though and I know that God is preparing your awesome family for incredible future ministry! You are dear to my heart! We love you!!

summer bridge shot...

Mom and I were in Anchorage this weekend for a Beth Moore conference. An excellent speaker/ teacher of the Bible. Beth has written books and several bible studies. I have yet to do one, but have heard great things about them. I hope to do one this fall called "Believing God." Her focus this weekend was from II Kings hitting on spiritual warfare that we battle daily and how to overcome it. There are SO many lies, doubts and fears we buy into b/c satan wants nothing more than to tear us down and destroy us.

One of the things that struck me the most was putting so much weight on "statistics." Whether it be odds of survival against a deadly disease, academic performance, self-esteem, overcoming an addiction, odds of staying married/healthy marrital relationship etc. One of the "stats" that has weighed on me the last several months is the percentage of divorce, extramarrital affairs and pornography. Sometimes I am bogged down by it and I think marriage is a farce. What's the point when the odds are likely a marriage will be destroyed by one of those stats. Really, though it's a fat lie from satan. Those things definitely DO happen, A LOT more than they should, but I don't need to throw marriage out the window b/c the odds are poor of having a healthy marriage. God is bigger than any stat, whatever it's in relation to and He has the power of ALL things...mainly over satan, who one day will be bound by all the havoc he is causing right now. Satan has NO power over God and that is FREEING!! As Christians we can live daily in VICTORY b/c sin has no stronghold over us! Praise the Lord for that!

So, that was a longer summary than I had in mind, but all in all it was a short, but good conference. She is a dynamic speaker and I recommend going to see her sometime if you have the chance.

The main reason I am posting a blog today is to share my latest Knik River bridge picture...summer time! Enjoy!

Curtis Menard Memorial Run

My dad and I ran the CCM Memorial run this morning in Wasilla. Curtis was a family friend that I knew through Wasilla Bible Church. I used to babysit their kids when I was in high school. Now Gabrielle is in middle school! Curtis was killed in a private airplane crash in August of 2001 leaving behind his wife of 9 years, Carole and four children. Sullivan at the time was 10 months old. A very hard hit for our community, church and family. Carole is an AMAZING woman and continues to be a good friend. I enjoy stopping by occassionally to see how things are going.

Today was the 5th annual memorial run. There was a great turn out and perfect weather! So dad and I ran it this year (5K) with personal goals in mind. And yes, Dean and Dale, he STILL beats me! The Ellers are little competative, particularly with running stats. I had a PR at 23:30 minutes and dad ran it in 22:48. I figure I have age on my side so I'll pass him up eventually. :-)

Eagle takes flight...

I'm adding some fantastic eagle shots Carrie took while we were down in Seward this past April. Incredible shots Miss Photographer! Eagles are such a majestic bird. They were all over in Seward. An awesome sight!

Knik River Bridge

My favorite local scene again, but in spring. Knik River bridge is one I drive across to and from Anchorage. I took a picture of it in late summer years ago before I left for college and kept the picture on my wall all through college. I decided this year to get a picture of it every season. Fall and spring are the most challenging b/c if you blink you miss the season. Literally we have about 2 weeks of each. This was our "spring" taken about 2 weeks ago. We are now in full on summer with the past seven days being in the upper 70s low 80s! Thank you Jesus for SUNSHINE and warm weather! For a peek at the winter bridge click back to my January posts...so far that's my favorite season picture. Gotta love Alaska!

Gold Nugget Triathlon

I competed today in my second GNT (Gold Nugget Triathlon) and had a blast! A couple of things made this race particularly fun this year. One...I got to train with a team. We dubbed ourselves team "Surf 'n' Turf." It consisted of myself, one close friend, Katie Conover, and three new friends, Wendy Bredburg, her sister Natalie and their sister in law Brandie. The second great part about today was the weather. It was INCREDIBLE!! Probably the nicest spring day we've had yet this year! Last year I recall rain, wind and chilliness!! This year was awesome! I don't know my ranking or times yet, they come out online tomorrow, but I felt great and had a blast...that's what matters most!

The GNT is one of the largest all women triathlons in the nation. Women of all ages, ablities, shapes and sizes compete...from age 10-80. There were 1100 women registed this year! The race consists of a 10 lap swim in a pool, 10 mile bike and 4.1 mile run. Swimming is my toughest and running is my best. Woohoo for running!! I enjoy all three, at least my interest in swimming is growing. I figure it may be the only thing I can do when I'm 80 so I better learn now! :-)

The picture is of me and Katie post race at her sister's house. She had a birthday BBQ with a bunch of people afterward. Happy birthday Conover! Thanks for introducing me to something so fun!!

A giRl tHinG...

Monday the high school girl youth leaders put together a full day retreat for all 9-12 grade girls. There were several girls from WBC and a handful of girls from other local churches. All in all about 35 girls came and it was...AWESOME!!

We broke the day up into four main sessions covering the following hot topics, Friendship, Faith and Life, Dating and What about Me?? It got going at 9:00 a.m. and went until a little after 8:00 p.m. The day started with a time of worship, singing and then broke into a quite time alone...prayer stations focusing on four areas of prayer: confession, thanksgiving and adoration, suplication and submission. After that the sessions began! Carrie Lambing headed up the session on friendships and went through "seasons," spring, summer, winter and fall friendships. Janeen Maxwell and I headed up faith and life touching on worship, fellow-SHIP (different than cruise ship), and the BIBLE. Jen Howell and Tammy-wa headed up a totally fun session on guys and dating. Then Sarah Novak and Amanda shakin' Bacon wrapped it all up with "What about ME??" A session that focused on healthy habits, eating disorders, exercise, time management, stress etc. A LOT of ground was covered!

In the mix of all that Brianna did a crafty key chain deal and another break led to the true Alaskan craft session...making purses out of duct tape! Talk about creative juices!! There were some stellar purses designed. All in all it was one of the most fun days I have had in a long time. It was a blast preparing and doing. An incredible group of leaders and an awesome group of girls. I'm thankful I got to be a part!

MExiCo oR buSt!

Tonight we had our 2nd Mexico meeting...just the children's ministry team this time. Each girl is going to be leading a lesson/Bible story one of the 5 days we are there. Tonight they reviewed their lessons and we talked about songs we're going to attempt to learn...in SPANISH, woohoo!! We decided, after listening to our CDs that having a copy of the lyrics would be most helpful. I don't know if you've ever listened to music in another language, most of you probably have, but it's hard to hear the words when it all blends together in a melody. You can memorize just about any music if you listen to it long enough...just the way music works, but it's nice to know what you're saying!

Why the mug shot look you ask? We're a serious group...strictly business. Actually that's not even close to the truth. They were posing as a interview committee, but it came out to be more of a mug shot look. Nice ladies! !Buenos noches!

Phrase of the day... "Dios le bendiga." Leave a comment if you know what it means.

(girls from left to right: Natalie, Mayerly, Emily, Diana, Cathy, not pictured: Elizabeth)

Merge

Woohoo! We had our first Merge meeting tonight with the sophomore gang that is going to Chicago this year. It was an awesome training night at the Parker pad! Tammy-wa, you are the hostess with the mostess bar none! Thanks for opening up your home during a busy season.

Merge, formerly known as SEMP, is a week long experience geared for high school students to "merge" with God's mission of love and restoration. What in the world does that mean you ask?? Basically, it's a week for kids to be inspired and trained to live and love like Jesus did in their OWN communities...it encourages them to be able to go home and serve where they live and be confident to share their faith. We had three leaders speak on outreach and give some general info on how the week will be laid out when we get there. There are 16 sophomore students going and 6 leaders. Dan, Steve and Sean will be leading the guys and driving us around Chicago. Sarah and Brianna will be leading their girls and I will be overseeing the logistics part of it all.

The team will be flying out July 15th and will be spending a week on Wheaton's campus. We'll be there with several other youth groups from all over the country. Last year there were about 1,000 youth participating...not including all the leaders! Most days we do service projects and outreach with other youth groups. It's a great opportunity for our students to connect with other teens. Merge ends on Friday, but we will be staying an extra day and half to hang out, bond as a group and check out some of the Chicago sites...Six Flags is our big Saturday shabang before we head home on Sunday.

I am very excited about going again this year. I feel somewhat bonded with this group already b/c I was able to go with them on their 8th grade campout a couple years ago. They are an AWESOME group of teens! The leaders going are incredible too! Stay tuned for more later on Merge!

Mexico training #1...

We had our first Mexico team meeting yesterday out at the Howell's (youth pastor's house). It was a packed day (3-9 p.m.) with lots of information, intro stuff and great fellowship! Our team consists of 6 Junior girls, 5 guys, myself, another girl leader/interpreter, and 3 guy leaders. The girls going are Mayerly, Natalie, Diana, Emily, Cathy and Elizabeth. The guys going are Alan, Nate, Shane, Cameron and Jeremy Burris.

There can be up to three ministry teams on this trip but b/c of the smaller group size we'll be focusing on two: children's ministry and sports ministry. I am excited that it is a smaller group b/c I think it will allow for more intimate bonding with the whole team.

Cody is in charge of the sports ministry team and Eddie will be helping out. Amber Shea will be the interpreter for that ministry. I am in charge of overseeing the children's ministry with my girls. Mayerly, one of my girls, will be our group's interpreter. Mayerly is from Columbia and speaks Spanish fluently. She actually volunteers at my school 2 days a week workingin the Spanish Immersion classes at Larson. Mayerly has been to Mexico a couple times prior as an interpreter and she is excited to be going this year with her own group. Kris, our youth pastor, will be overseeing the group as a whole.

I loved having yesterday with the team to get to know some of the students better and their desires/expecatations for going on a trip like this. There are a handful of guys AND girls that are interested in possibly seeking missions in some form in the future. I am EXCITED to see how God will use this trip to stir in their hearts and plant seeds for future ministry! He has gifted them all in unique and awesome ways!

We will be meeting 3 more times before we actually take off for Mexico. Hence the "training #1" title. :-) Stay tuned for more...

snow in April...

I got up Monday morning to go to work and I hear an ever so familar sounds outside... scraping of snow shovels. My dad is outside shoveling the driveway b/c there is a fresh 5" covering of SNOW!! This was on April 24th!! I don't know if it's global warming, freezing or just weather schizophrenia, but this is crazy! I keep telling my track kids, when the fields dry up a little we'll be on them...that may not happen until the season is over at this rate. Hard to do hurdles, long jumping and softball throwing when your jumping in SNOW and balls are buried!! Makes for an interesting month and creative training. Gotta love Alaskan weather!

Seward

Last week Friday and Saturday I had the opportunity to go to Seward with two of my closest friends, Carrie and Kari. My old college roommate from MN, Kari, came up for the Easter holiday and following week to visit and hang out. I was a little concerned about the timing with work, track and youth group being so busy right now, but the timing couldn't have been better. I ended up being sick most of the week, but a blessing in disguise b/c I took a couple sick days and was able to lay low and have that time to just talk and catch up with her. Friday the three of us drove down to Seward...through the rain, sleet and yes SNOW. We were pretty fogged in Friday, but Saturday was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Clear skies and SUNSHINE!! Thank you Jesus for sun! We toured around the area, walked on the marina, checked out the Sea Life Center and soaked in the scenery. A double blessing of a weekend b/c Carrie (current youth assistant at my church) is moving in June and Kari (my old roommate) got to see more of the beautiful state I live in. I am thankful for that time and memory with both of you!! Thanks for going!

Junior Prom...

Saturday was Colony High's prom and Amanda and I had the honor of helping four of our youth girls get bee-yoo-ti-fied for the great occassion! The festivities started at 9:30 a.m. at Natalie's house. We filled up on homemade chocolate chip sourdough pancakes, compliments of Jinks (her mother), then the curling, toe painting and primping began. Amanda does AMAZING hair styles and fixed Johanna's and Natalie's hair while others of us painted fingers and toes.

Later that afternoon a second round came out to Amanda's...Erin and Elizabeth. Both girls had GREAT hair, perfect for a Pride and Prejudice movie! The second round was a blizt because they had just finished a science olympiad and were heading into Anchorage for the dance shortly after. The day was a blast! A memory that won't be forgotten and a tradition that needs to continue next year! My youth girls are BEAUTIFUL!!

Elizabeth...