Hello all,
I am aware it has been some time since my last blog. This is due to the MADNESS that has unleashed in the lower hemisphere. The students arrived last Saturday...and I've hardly slept since. The day before they arrived, we were in a staff meeting going over job descriptions and Pastor Chet, without even looking at me, says, "Beth's going to be writing a book for me on discipleship." It took me four days to get an interview with him and understand what this meant. One chapter per week. Write in his voice. Write from his classes all the information that he has been studying for years!!!
So now I sit in class all day and type at full speed just to get his words down as much as I can. Then I stay up past midnight, compiling it. Then at the end of the week, I go back and rearrange everything and add fillers so that it makes sense. BAM! First chapter was turned in this morning!! It is difficult for me to describe how exhausting it was to write. And I have eleven more to go. I am so incredibly humbled to think that I am writing this book. He hopes to use it as a promotional tool and get it out to young people through the Calvary Chapel system. When I first got the assignment I didn't understand quite what it meant. A few days later I was overwhelmed, crying on the lap of my roommate as she prayed for me. She reminded me of Moses, and how when Moses kept insisting he wasn't qualified that God raised up Aaron. She prayed that I would walk in faith, and God would not take this opportunity from me to give to someone else. I've been praying that prayer ever since. This work has to be from the Holy Spirit. I feel like I am writing a doctorate and sprinting at the same time. Usually there aren't enough hours in the day. At the same time, I am so spent from the first week that it is tiring to think of so many more. So please pray!!!
Sleeplessness. Well...week one is like that anyway...and writing a book on top of that left me with barely any sleep. The good news is I got more last night, and hopefully I'll get more this week as things settle down.
So it begins. Not only have the three monthers been here for a week, the one month students (all 7 of them) arrived Sunday morning. So now our staff is split, running around like chickens with our heads cut off. They have class, we have class, they have late night challenges, we have early morning challenges. I think we are all extremely weary and strechted right now. Pray for our endurance and hope and that the Lord would sustain us no matter what. We have a whole summer (winter) ahead of us.
I love you all, and would love to hear from you!!!!! Pray for my lungs...they seem to have been inflamed the last two days.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Brasil Part 2
The students arrive next weekend. We have been busy unpacking supplies, cleaning up the property, preparing Pastor Chet's house, and all the other mad responsibilities that are required in preparing for another term. It is cold here, like Idaho in the late fall/early winter. I am very grateful for my scarf and beanie and other goodies you sent Mom :) The only frustrating thing is that although the mornings and nights are cold, midday can get warm. So I find myself constantly putting on and taking off layers.
The buildings are heated or insulated, so we've had to adjust to that, and make our beds warmer. The nice thing is there is no shock of change in temperature when you walk outside. It's all equal.
We had our first workout as a staff yesterday morning. Praise the Lord, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (with the cold and higher altitude) and I did quite well. Every morning I love to watch the fog rising up from the river on the other side of the property. It reminds me of Bokindini. In fact, this whole place reminds me of Bok. The way the light sifts through the luscious green trees interspersed over the grassy property is beautiful! I'll have to get pictures.
I was on KP this morning. The kitchen is two stories, situated on the side of a hill, at the bottom of the long building that is in the shape of a cross. The staff is very patient with all of us as we stumble through communication. They teach us everything by demonstration...and I am far less efficient with a knife than I should be :( We have to wear hair nets. There is a retreat in, the last one until Patmos leaves. The rest of this summer (winter) the property is entirely ours. Every meal is quite the ordeal here...it took 4 plus hours to prepare, serve, and clean up from breakfast. Of course, lunch prep started in the morning too. The kitchen is very efficent with what they do and they are professionals at timing everything perfectly! I was ecstatic when I saw the baker coming up the steps from downstairs with his fresh baked french bread!!! Unbelievably soft, melts in your mouth, crunchy crusty goodness!!!!!
It is beautiful here, but I feel so restless. I have been praying a lot and waiting on the Lord. I know that when the term actually starts everything will look different--pre and post student Patmos is always so different. Our schedules have to be flexible and we have to be available to do anything. It is my least favorite time of the term, because there is little order, and I rarely know what is expected of me. Plus Meredith is not here yet, and it is hard for me to assist her when we are on different continents.
Pray for my health: I have the feeling that if I get sick here, it will be a battle to get well again. The last day or two I've been feeling funny--almost malaria funny, but they don't have malaria here much. I had a headache, then nausea, then something like chills and fever, but it was all very very mild. Just enough to make me want to sleep for two days. I hope it's really nothing--just my body adjusting to everything here. Who knows.
Tonight we are having pizza cooked out of our very own brick oven!! We did it once when we were here last term and it was amazing!!! So I am excited.
Love and miss you all!!!! Would love to hear from you every chance you get :D !!!
The buildings are heated or insulated, so we've had to adjust to that, and make our beds warmer. The nice thing is there is no shock of change in temperature when you walk outside. It's all equal.
We had our first workout as a staff yesterday morning. Praise the Lord, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (with the cold and higher altitude) and I did quite well. Every morning I love to watch the fog rising up from the river on the other side of the property. It reminds me of Bokindini. In fact, this whole place reminds me of Bok. The way the light sifts through the luscious green trees interspersed over the grassy property is beautiful! I'll have to get pictures.
I was on KP this morning. The kitchen is two stories, situated on the side of a hill, at the bottom of the long building that is in the shape of a cross. The staff is very patient with all of us as we stumble through communication. They teach us everything by demonstration...and I am far less efficient with a knife than I should be :( We have to wear hair nets. There is a retreat in, the last one until Patmos leaves. The rest of this summer (winter) the property is entirely ours. Every meal is quite the ordeal here...it took 4 plus hours to prepare, serve, and clean up from breakfast. Of course, lunch prep started in the morning too. The kitchen is very efficent with what they do and they are professionals at timing everything perfectly! I was ecstatic when I saw the baker coming up the steps from downstairs with his fresh baked french bread!!! Unbelievably soft, melts in your mouth, crunchy crusty goodness!!!!!
It is beautiful here, but I feel so restless. I have been praying a lot and waiting on the Lord. I know that when the term actually starts everything will look different--pre and post student Patmos is always so different. Our schedules have to be flexible and we have to be available to do anything. It is my least favorite time of the term, because there is little order, and I rarely know what is expected of me. Plus Meredith is not here yet, and it is hard for me to assist her when we are on different continents.
Pray for my health: I have the feeling that if I get sick here, it will be a battle to get well again. The last day or two I've been feeling funny--almost malaria funny, but they don't have malaria here much. I had a headache, then nausea, then something like chills and fever, but it was all very very mild. Just enough to make me want to sleep for two days. I hope it's really nothing--just my body adjusting to everything here. Who knows.
Tonight we are having pizza cooked out of our very own brick oven!! We did it once when we were here last term and it was amazing!!! So I am excited.
Love and miss you all!!!! Would love to hear from you every chance you get :D !!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Brasil!
We landed at night, and I was in the center of the airplane, so I didn't get to see the city. But I remembered the airport as soon as I stepped off the plane. There were six of us who overstayed our visas last time, so we had to go through an extra process at immigration and pay a fee. Thankfully, the lines weren't as long as they could have been. The wait wasn't too long, maybe half an hour. Then we got our luggage and were off. I was reminded of our Dawson family furloughs...when I was six, pushing a cart full of luggage up that ramp in LAX and Mom wasn't allowed to come back to help me! Flashbacks of long trips through international airports made me nostalgic. God has given me another family for this season.
Our bus arrived pretty shortly. All I can say is: posh. We went up a short stairwell to our seats after loading our massive amounts of luggage. Across the street the motorcycles were all lined up :) Yes, this is a land of motorcycles as well. The seats were big and spacious...they have semi-recliner leg support and leaned back to something like a 20 degree angle, without hampering the person behind you. It was wonderful. My only complaint was that it was rather cold. I was grateful that I had brought my TAM airline blanket on board. In the morning, we in the back found out there were blankets and pillows up front. :( Oh well.
In the back it was stocked with water and guarana :) My new roommate Adonis got her first taste of it. It was a winner! She lives in Tustin, and has worked at Disneyland for some 15 years. I figured out I probably saw her in the Lion King Parade in 96, AND she knows exactly where the Tustin Salvation Army Branch is. We figured we should have met long ago.
The bus ride was 10 hours, but I slept for most of it...waking up every couple of hours because I was cold, but other than that it was so comfortable! We arrived here at Campo this morning around 9:00 or 10:00. So far it has been so good to see the grounds again! This past semester I have been reviewing my Patmos experience, but it has been incomplete until now. It was good to see the staff here, they are so excited to see us!! We ate breakfast and then moved into our rooms--our names were on the doors! We live in two hallways that branch off the main building, making the structure look like a cross from the air. The girls are on the right and the boys on the left. It's a bit like living in a dorm again ;) But better of course. We have our own bathrooms, and we are all like family. I unpacked and showered, and now I have a few minutes before lunch. After lunch we get straight to work.
I love the family environment here... and the giant living room that we all share. It feels like a large house. Right now I am upstairs in the coffee shop section that overlooks the center living room. I think I will spend a lot of time here :D Well, gotta go! I love you all!!
Our bus arrived pretty shortly. All I can say is: posh. We went up a short stairwell to our seats after loading our massive amounts of luggage. Across the street the motorcycles were all lined up :) Yes, this is a land of motorcycles as well. The seats were big and spacious...they have semi-recliner leg support and leaned back to something like a 20 degree angle, without hampering the person behind you. It was wonderful. My only complaint was that it was rather cold. I was grateful that I had brought my TAM airline blanket on board. In the morning, we in the back found out there were blankets and pillows up front. :( Oh well.
In the back it was stocked with water and guarana :) My new roommate Adonis got her first taste of it. It was a winner! She lives in Tustin, and has worked at Disneyland for some 15 years. I figured out I probably saw her in the Lion King Parade in 96, AND she knows exactly where the Tustin Salvation Army Branch is. We figured we should have met long ago.
The bus ride was 10 hours, but I slept for most of it...waking up every couple of hours because I was cold, but other than that it was so comfortable! We arrived here at Campo this morning around 9:00 or 10:00. So far it has been so good to see the grounds again! This past semester I have been reviewing my Patmos experience, but it has been incomplete until now. It was good to see the staff here, they are so excited to see us!! We ate breakfast and then moved into our rooms--our names were on the doors! We live in two hallways that branch off the main building, making the structure look like a cross from the air. The girls are on the right and the boys on the left. It's a bit like living in a dorm again ;) But better of course. We have our own bathrooms, and we are all like family. I unpacked and showered, and now I have a few minutes before lunch. After lunch we get straight to work.
I love the family environment here... and the giant living room that we all share. It feels like a large house. Right now I am upstairs in the coffee shop section that overlooks the center living room. I think I will spend a lot of time here :D Well, gotta go! I love you all!!
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