There's pretty much no stopping until our day off.
So much has happened in the past week though,
and I'm falling more and more in love with Tahoe City everyday.
Saturday afternoon we had our first afternoon off since we'd been here.
Some of the
girls made the hour long drive to Reno to get our groceries,
and some of us stayed in town, and didn't know what to do with ourselves with so much free time on our hands. So. after getting out and getting something to eat, Craig, the youth minister here asked us if we wanted to go
hike, and we MIGHT see some snow.
After some convincing, 5 of us girls ended up going.
It ended up being one of the funnest experiences since I'd gotten here for sure.
aaandd I saw and played in the most snow I think I'd ever seen.
Here is a video at our attempt of a 5 person sled :)
Coming to California, I figured that I was about to be burning up everyday,
and getting the best sun tan of my life.
The temperature hasn't been much over fi
fty degrees yet,
and night time is freeezzingg.
Apparently that's only supposed to last a couple more days though, and then WARMTH!
Sunday, I got to help out with Camille at church.
She is a little girl who is almost two years old with Cerebral Palsy.
This was SUCH a blessing. Everytime I seem to need that extra bit of encouragement,
or reminding that I'm here working for the kingdom, this seems to
do it.
She is an absolute angel, with the most precious smile I think anyone's ever seen.
One of my teammates and I are taking turns working with her during church
each week.
I am praying to be able to build a stronger relationship with this family over the summer :)
Sunday afternoon, Sarah and I went trail running with Pastor Dan and his daughter Dannie.
This man is 63 years old, and could probably outrun me if he tried.. such a motivation.
We ran about 6 miles up into the mountains, and halfway through stopped at an overlook of Lake Tahoe. God's love through his creation is written all over this beautiful place.
This was such a good experience, and Sarah and I both really enjoyed it.
Monday was more orientation.. yes, still..
Haha. I figure it's important so I'm hanging in there.
Monday night we got to relax a little and Sarah and I made dinner for the team :)
Tuesday was My Morning Out. like Mothers Day Out in the South. A little bit crazy, but good at the same time. I spent time with a little boy named Jody. He is a special needs child with TONS of energy. I chased him arou
nd for 3 hours, and was absolutely
beat, but even more blessed.
I had been praying for some families in the area to minister to that had children with special needs. God answered that prayer times about four. haha. Tuesday afternoon, I was absolutely beat, and actually started dozing off in our seminar. OOPS. Tuesday night, we had
dinner at a couple named Kelly and Aaron's home. It was alot of fun, and we enjoyed spending time with them. Aaron came in from outside at one point and said I think some kids said they saw a bear.. in about 10 seconds all 13 of
us were out the door running down the street.
This picture is a little blurry, but its proof!
We DID see a bear in the neighbor's backyard, and now thinking about it.. 13 girls running after it wasn't the brightest idea.. but it was fun :)
Wednesday. I worked with a group of Charter School kids who are already out of school so they have been at our program all day. What I thought was going to be one of the longest days of my life ended up being a ton of fun. These kids have SO much energy, but I've never enjoyed running around playi
ng tag, acting like a kid again, so much. However, from this day, I'm learning to be a little sterner with the kids to make them listen.. that didn't take too long. haha.
Thursday, we spent the morning working on our lesson plans to get ready for NEXT WEEK.
Our summer program begins next W
ednesday, and apparently that's when everything will be even more extreme than now. PRAYERS FOR REST AND ENERGY WOULD BE GREEAATTTLYYY APPRECIATED :) In the afternoon, we did some work projects around the church and Leslie and I had to go and stomp the dumpster down. What seems disgusting, we found entertaining. haha. (Pictures below) Thursday evening, we went to a couple named Bill and Helen's house for dinner, and they took us on a little hike afterwards. The view was abso
lutely beautiful, and gave us time to stop and think about just how amazing our creator is once again.
Yesterday, I had to open for our morning program.
Needless to say, 655 comes REALLY early here. It ended up not being too bad though,
and the fact that my first kid didn't show up until about 730
, allowed me to spend some time in the word and start my day off right :)
We had personal growth time with Debbie after our morning devo. I am starting to enjoy these times so much. It forces us to open up about things we never thought these "strangers" would ever know about us, and is really truly a time for us to reflect on ourselves, and just GROW.
I spent the afternoon with my precious preschoolers, and then onto Parents Night Out where I helped with 1st and 2nd graders until 10 PM.
VERRRY long day, but I never seemed to run out of energy. Maybe that prayer begging for it at the beginning of the day helped out :)
Its so crazy to think that I've already been here 17 days, and SCARY to think how little time is left. As I put it when I was talking to a family this week, 17 days ago these strangers and I became family. Our team is growing closer and closer, and I'm learning to love these girls so much. I'm learning SO much about God's love lately, and my biggest struggle seems to be learning how to love him back. What's hitting home for me is that when i learn to really love God with all that is in me, I will be able to love my teammates, my children, and their families just that much easier.
So some prayer requests would be. LOVE. and more than I can stand of it. and ENERGY. next Wednesday will be here fast, and I have no doubt that I'll make it. but only with Christ's help on somedays Im sure. Thanks for reading guys, and I'll write again before too long. :)
The Tahoe Family
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