Purpose for the rain and pain... thoughts of a lazy Saturday afternoon

So the long week is over, and Saturday was a very lazy day for me. Which was just fine.... I actually fell asleep on my bed, reading a book, in the middle of the afternoon. And I went for a walk today, which I do a lot now - the area is really pretty and really safe, and its nice to walk around. And, as a point of interest, there are 14 streets in the IMMEDIATE area named after presidents. I live on Buchanan street, for instance. Just in case anyone cared.

About 10 minutes into my walk, it started to rain, and I took shelter in a church. You could say I found sanctuary in a sanctuary, but that would be corny. Like me.

ANYWAY, it was a Lutheran church, and I'd never been in before, because its a WELS church, and I basically think that they're insane conservatives who need a swift kick in the theological butt. But I was in flip flops, and I was having a good hair day, so I went inside.

And they had a grand piano. Enough said.

I met the pastor, and he seemed like a very nice man for someone who holds crazy beliefs about women in ministry. *I was so tempted to dash onto the altar and start dancing... I don't know what they would have had to do to purify it from such desecration, but it DID run through my mind...* Anywho, I played the piano for a little while, and then decided to walk home in the rain.

I really don't mind rain. We treat it as such an inconvenience, but its necessary for things to grow and live, and for us to enjoy all of the other things in life we love.

And as I walked home, I got thinking about how pain is the same way. We all think of pain as something to be avoided at all costs, as something horrible and even pointless. But pain actually helps us to grow as people. There is always a purpose for the pain, though we often don't see it while we are at our lowest points. In my case, I think its taken me years to find a purpose for the pain I've gone through, and I've so often cursed the very things that have brought me to where I am today.

And without delving into the whole story, I can say that I am happier right here, right now, than I have been in years anywhere else. Certainly, I have had periods of contentment over the course of the past years. But I have not known such peace and fulfillment, and joy and hope and growth - ever. And without having experienced all of the things that have hurt me so badly and made me so unhappy - I literally would never have made my way to the seminar which introduced me to Tammy Borden. And had I not met Tammy, I never would have hooked up with Life! Promotions. And I wouldn't be here now.

This entry doesn't really have a purpose, exactly. Except to kind of write about what's been on my heart and mind. And there is SO much more that I could write about. About Transformation, about surrender, about living vertically so that horizontal relationships are meaningful and loving. About faithfulness - mine and God's. But church is early in the morning tomorrow, and I will be going.

*next time I will write about the young adult ministry I attended the other evening "Crossings" - It was GREAT*

But for now, I just hope you are able to look for the purpose behind any pain you are or have experienced, and know that you are a work in progress. God isn't finished with any of us yet. Amen to that!

Why I loves boating, ice cream, and my Wisconsin family... ooh, and why I feel super important.

So, two weeks from tomorrow is the official start of LIFEST! This is both incredibly exciting and really really scary. There's so much to do between now and then, and everyone in the office is working like crazy to get it all done.

So I was supposed to be traveling to Creation East in PA this week, but that plan changed. Last Wednesday I was given the assignment "Artist Advancement Leader" for the Indie Band Talent Competition at Lifest. Basically, what I have had to do is write up emails and letters to the bands, send them out, then call every one of them individually and register them in our online database. They have to pay a registration fee, so I set them up with that, and then I get them hooked up with discounted tickets, parking passes, campsites and the like. Later this week I will be putting together packets of information for each group with all of their tickets, passes, an info packet, and a map of the grounds detailing where they're going to be performing when.... I've made spreadsheets, and judging rubrics for the competition, and have been on the phone answering bazillions of questions (yes, bazillions IS a word, and its spelled just like that) I've learned more about the music industry and backlining equipment than I ever thought EXISTED! You know how they say "knowledge is power"? I got the power first, and the knowledge second...haha.

So anyway, they needed an intern to stay back and help in the office, because as Lifest approaches, the phone rings more and more. So I stayed, since I have so much to do anyway, and someone had to do it! I was a little disappointed at first, but then I kind of realized that its all part of the ministry, and its all important.

OOh, side note. Since I got this important task, I GOT A COMPANY CELL PHONE TO USE! And its like, the most exciting thing ever. I feel so important.

And speaking of exciting things, I have been told that since I am missing Creation East, I will be traveling to Creation West in Washington State. I'm so totally psyched about that, because where I am right now is as far west as I have ever been. So in the end of July, I will be hopping in the good ol' RV and traveling West to Washington for one of the two largest Christian Rock festivals in the world. How cool is that?

Other big news... I went boating and tubing on Father's Day with my family here, and it was awesome. It did rain a little bit... does anyone know what rain feels like on your face when you're traveling at 60 miles an hour? Its kind of like little pellets of pain. But it was a lot of fun, and I didn't really mind. The tubing was AMAZING... I'd never been, and the day was hot and the water was cool, and I have never clung on to anything so tightly as I did to that inner tube. And let me tell you - I went flying around on that sucker... My knees and hips are bruised from bouncing around, and my entire upper body hurts. But only when I move or breathe. Its totally awesome. I am feeling a bit better now, but still rather like I lifted the Liberty Bell.

I went shopping on Saturday with Kim, which was a lot of fun.. we got some awesome sales at Bath and Body works... so thats good news for all of you who will be in close proximity to me in the near future. Just kidding. And then she took me to Coldstone Creamery.... awesome ice cream!! I had Chocolate Peanut Butter perfection, and it was just that... Chocolatey, Peanut Buttery Perfection.

Hmmm.... pressing news, pressing news... Nope, I'm not coming up with anything major.

Will write again whenever I get my act together again... you never know! :)

AS promised, I return with another post about our trip to Ichthus in Wilmore KY. For those of you who are interested in completely irrelevant trivia, it might interest you to know that I was born about 20 minutes from Wilmore, in Nicholasville, and that my sister graduated from Asbury college which is IN Wilmore. There now... don't you feel smarter, or more fulfilled or something?

Right.

Anyway, our caravan departed Appleton at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday last. Now, I would like to make a note about how I feel about this. If I ever see 2:30 a.m. *which I do quite often*, I see it because I haven't gone to BED yet. Not because I think I'd like to leave on a cross country trip while its still dark out. But I didn't make the itinerary, so I just got in the RV and went.

Another interesting tidbit. There were four of us in the RV: Myself, Joyel, Cole from Alaska, and Jeramie from Montana. Would you like to know who drove? Joyel took the first 5 hours, into Indiana, and I took the second 5 hours, into KY. The boys were copilots part of the time, except for when Cole was supposed to be helping me drive and he fell asleep. Really appreciated that one. But he did have a good excuse. Jetlag from Alaska.

At any rate, we arrived and got all settled in-ish. there were some organizational issues on the part of the festival, but we all ended up with the correct name badges and clearance levels, and we had a sign for the window of our vehicle saying we could park backstage. Yes. Backstage.

Now, allow me to expound for a moment on how these amazing little passes work. You wear them around your neck, like a fancy ID necklace. And the letter on your card determines where you are allowed to go. A's go anywhere, B's go almost anywhere, Cs, etc. We got A'S! Which meant that we could quite literally go backstage to any concert we wanted to, eat in the tent with the artists (which we did), and use their fancy potties.

Which I also love. You may find it odd that I would talk about potties on a blog. But these weren't just ordinary potties. They were PORCELAIN potties. In a little trailer that looked like something a horse would travel in... you go inside, and there are dark wood floors, walls that look like marble, and fancy paintings. Like, imagine going out to one of those fancy restaurants where there are attendants waiting to hand you a plush towel to dry your hands on, and erase the attendant, put wheels on it, and BAM! Porcelain potties. I took pictures *WHEN NO ONE WAS IN THERE*, which I will load when I get my act together.

Anyway, back we go. SO yeah, these passes let you do just about anything. Its like being a police officer without the gun. Just flash your badge and doors open for you. Magic.

Probably the most exciting personal news of the entire trip was the fact that I got to meet and have my picture taken with my favorite band, Skillet. It was totally amazing, and I nearly lost my ability to speak. But I regrouped, I swear. I'll put those pictures up too. Honestly though, I was seeing all of these stars all over the place. The band Fireflight got their tour bus stuck in the mud about 100 feet from my window, *pictures*, met the guitarist from Kutless, Hawk Nelson, Justin Lookadoo, and man. It was just incredible.

Anyway, back to what we were supposed to do there. We had merchandise that we were supposed to set up in a booth in the merch tent. However, we arrived to the news that the tent had blown down in a storm, and wouldn't be ready until the next morning. So we pretty much hung out and got to know each other in the RV for the rest of the day on Wednesday. Not all bad.

We were supposed to set up early on Thursday, but guess what? Another freak storm, and the tent that they had just erected blew down too. SO we didn't get our stuff set up until Thursday night, a full 24 hours after we were supposed to. Which, I might add, means that we didn't really have to leave t 2:30 in the morning...

The entire grounds were a muddy mess, and so were we. Wet and muddy - but then it got super hot and humid, and so then everything in the RV smelled funny. At least, they boys said it was the humidity making things smell... I'm not so sure.....;)

I have never consumed so much water in my life. 90s and humid all the time, working in a tent without ventilation... yeah. Hot and nasty. And SOMEONE neglected to fill our RV with water before we departed, meaning we couldn't take any showers. I took the shortest and coldest shower of my life on this trip in the public showers. Ugh. We can skip that one next time.

BOB didn't speak until Friday night at 6:00. It was his first time down at this festival, so most people didn't know him. But he had an excellent place on the program, right after Stellar Kart, and before Kutless and Skillet. All very popular groups. So a huge turnout. And he was amazing, as always. And over 200 people raised their hands at the altar call. And more than 300 Compassion children were sponsored after he finished his talk. It is always amazing to see and hear him. But to be backstage, staring out at the crowd as their hearts are moved and their lives change - it was just incredible.

I spent the rest of that evening as the official runner for the group. Bob was in a small tent near the main stage, signing books, and talking and praying with people. We were selling books and shirts there, as well as in the main tent at that point. So Joy and I were there, while the boys were in the main tent. Up the hill. Seemed to get longer and steeper every time, because I went up and down that sucker probably about 12 times.... running. Things like, "we're out of 5 dollar bills for change, go change this with other vendors," or "we need more Large shirts, go grab 10" up and down, running, because the line was long and people were waiting. I think I'm going to lose weight this summer.

Anyway, when I met Skillet, they invited me backstage for their show. But I couldn't go in the end, because of the pyrotechnics... they were making people sign something saying if you were killed or maimed, you weren't going to hold Ichthus or SKillet responsible. I've grown rather fond of most of my limbs, so I opted for the front row instead. It was A-mazing. AND I have like, 4 other chances to see them this summer. TOtally psyched. They put on a show that you never get tired of seeing again.

We ended up leaving the grounds Sunday morning at about 2:00, and we drove straight through. THis time the division of driving was a bit more equal, because we were all so tired. Though I will say that the girls were awake more than the guys.

I got home to the Romenesko house at 11ish, took a WONDERFUL shower, and went to bed. Which is where I'm headed to now.

A few people have asked for my address here, so it is:

920 Buchanan Street

Little Chute, WI 54140

care of Dave and Kim Romenesko

And that would be all for tonight. Thanks for the prayers, as always. :)

Golf Carts and RV's

Okay, so as I begin this second post, it occurs to me that I stink at blogging. In my defense, I have been on the road without a computer for the past 5 days, but nonetheless. So I shall just start typing, and see where it leads us.

I think an appropriate place to start would be last Monday. Monday was the annual golf outing at Life! Promotions. The deal is, each golfer registers and has to send letters to people telling them about the ministry that Life! does throughout the year, looking for supporters. The money raised allows Bob Lenz and the other speakers to travel to schools around the country and speak to the students there, without charging a huge price to the district.. Because lets face it - the higher the price, the less likely the school will bring them in. You can't change lives if you can't talk to the kids. So the golf outing is one of the things that Life! does to help make the ministry possible.

That being said, last Monday was a miserable day. It was about 45 degrees outside, and raining. Anyone ever spent a day on a golf course in these conditions? Not cool. Well, I mean, really cold, but hey.

We actually had to change the location of the golf course THE MORNING OF THE EVENT, because the other course was flooded. So I drove back and forth between the 2 carrying box lunches and the like for the golfers for a while. Let us all take a minute to thank the Good Lord for GPS.

So I was led to believe, or at least I THOUGHT I was told that I would be working inside on registering people and whatnot. However, that didn't take too long, and rather than staying inside, I was given the assignment of Hole 3. Hole 3 was a par 3 hole, and any golfer who eagled it got 40 tickets to enter in the raffles later on, birdies got 20, and pars got 12. So myself and another lady got in a golf cart and drove to the 3rd hole, where we sat for 3.5 hours, handing out tickets to very soggy golfers. It was nice and windy too, adding to the joy of the occasion. Thankfully, the other woman had a blanket with her which she was kind enough to share. Eventually, golfers just seemed to stop coming. We found out later that a good number of them dropped out when the rain got really bad. But no hard feelings, really.

By the time we were called in from the hole, I was totally and completely drenched - every single article of clothing I had on. Not the most comfy feeling ever. So I drove back to my house in Little Chute with 2 other girls in a similar state and we changed our clothes for the lovely dinner in the evening.

That evening I got to sit with Tiffany Thompson, another speaker with Life! Promotions, and one of the people working with the interns on the spiritual portion of the internship. We had an awesome conversation after the dinner about many different things, but particularly about me and some of the things that I've struggled with, or still struggle with. She was an incredibly inspiration and source of comfort and hope to me, and it was such a blessing to have been able to be there with her.

Later that same night *this was like, one of the longest days ever... or so I thought until we did our first road trip...* We were given our "crash course" in how to drive the RV that we were going to be taking on a 11 hour road trip. Note: RV's are approximately 3 times longer than the car I drive, and none of us had ever operated one before. Inspired a great deal of confidence in all of us about going to KY 2 days later. Really, we were totally cool about it.

Well, none of us cried, and no one was killed or physically injured in any way. White knuckles, OH yeah. Bumps and loud exclamations? mmhmm.. But we lived. And after having each of us drive it for 10 minutes, we were declared experts and sent onto the interstate.

Basically, yes. Just the interstate part came 2 days later.

I could keep writing on this one, but I think because of the length of the next bunch of stories, I should probably cut it off here, and start a new post. Cheerio :)

First Days in Wisconsin.. whirlwind

Well, HELLO all you East-coasters! So this is officially the first post in my first blog, so that's the disclaimer, if it should be necessary.
I have officially arrived in Wisconsin, moved into my room (NOT unpacked), and started work. And then some... It's going to be quite a summer.

The trip out was fairly uneventful. FYI, Ohio drivers are the most inconsiderate, and Chicago is quite possibly the most frightening place I've ever driven past. But we made it out with no major catastrophes.

Mom got to meet my coworkers and the family I'm living with while she was here... we arrived at 1:00 central time, and her flight left Appletons airport at 6 - so there wasn't much time to do anything. She did make it back safe and sound though.

Now to the fun stuff. I am staying with Dave and Kim Romenesko, their 16 year old daughter Melanie, and their 20-21 year old son Nick. Isn't that awful? I can't for the life of me remember...shucks. They also have a 23 year old daughter who lives a little south of here in a city I can't spell. Oh yah, fyi, I can't say OR spell half of the places around here. Pathetically depressing, but humorous to those around me. Oh, and a dog named Tigger.

Interesting point of information: everyone here says "aboot", rather than "about". Some more pronounced than others. Kind of funny. But it appears that I talk funny too, so we'll call it even. I am incredibly uncultured, having never eaten a cheese curd, visited Culvers, or shopped at a PigglyWiggly. *which I have done now. they had hats and I almost bought one just for funsies.*

First day I met Bob Lenz - he's a lot of fun, quite chatty, if you can believe it. I'll be traveling with his lovely daughter, Joyel, this summer while we're touring. I also met the other staff members - I didn't count, but there are probably about 20 of them. Best part - I get my very own cubicle, email address and phone extension. Not that anyone is ever going to call me, but hey. I'll take what excitement I can get.

I met with my spiritual mentor-person today for the first time. Her name is Tiffany Thompson, and she is also a touring speaker affiliated with Life!. (Yes, the exclamation point IS supposed to be there) She's really nice and easy to talk to. We're going to be working through a book this summer called "Dangerous Wonder - the Adventure of Childlike Faith"... there are journal projects and discussion things to do, so I'm looking forward to that.

I am one of 4 interns for the summer. Jeramie has been here since March, Alissa arrived last week, and Cole will come on Monday. Jeramie is from Montana, Alissa from Wassau, just an hour or so away from here, and Cole is from Alaska.

I got thrown right in on my first day, introduced to the operations and technology stuff... Then was given my very first task.. Oh boy! A TASK! I was so excited to have something of my very own to do, and not have to follow anyone around and look like a lost puppy. This coming Monday is the annual golf outing that Life! organizes, and they needed a sponsorship board put together to recognize all of the organizations that made the event possible. So I spent the day working on design and layout, followed by good ol' cut and paste, cut and paste, cut and *snap, start over*, cut and paste... Finished that up this morning, and had my picture taken with it, out of sheer pride that I accomplished something that turned out like they wanted it to. It was a happy moment.

I was also taken to the nearby city of Oshkosh *great name* to pay for an RV that the group just purchased for us to drive around this summer (to be continued....) It was quite a rip though, because about 5 hours into my first full day working in a Christian Youth Ministry organization, I find myself in a bar, paying the manager, who just happened to be the person who sold us the RV. I got a kick out of that.

Then I got a tour of the Lifest grounds, to give me an idea of where the grandstand and other stages are going to be, and where different campsites and rides and vendors will be. Lifest is July 8-12 in Oshkosh, and if you want to check out the site, its at www.lifest.com.

This weekend is Cheesefest. No, not kidding. Honestly - not even I could make something like that up.... okay, yeah, I probably could, but I'm not. Cheese curd eating contests, games, prizes, concessions... I can think of so many things to write, but instead, I think we'll just skip on to the next paragraph.

Tour schedule! I have a *loose* idea of when I'm going places. I know what trips I'm going on, I'm just not sure when they leave/return. My first trip starts next Wednesday morning at 3:00 a.m. (the only time I ever see 3a.m. is when I haven't gone to bed yet...getting up then is just totally WRONG) We (myself, Joyel, Cole, and Jeramie) will be heading to Icthus in Wilmore KY.

Interesting fact for those of you who have stuck it out thus far and are still reading. I was born in Nicholasville KY, just one town over from Wilmore, and Becky graduated from Asbury college, in Wilmore. Aren't you glad that I shared that with you? I knew you would be.

The end of June we leave for Creation East in Pennsylvania... then comes Lifest HERE, a 5 day festival during which we do not apparantly sleep. I will be calling you all on day 4 just to show you how happy I am about not having slept in all that time. :)

Then we have Sonshine, in Minnesota, and I think there's one that I'm skipping, and then we leave on the 23rdish of July for Pennsylvania for another festival, and head directly from Penn to Kingdom Bound, NY. So I will officially be gone from WI from the 23-7th. Wahoo!

Best part? The interns are apparantly driving the RV. No, I'm not making that up either. Now see, this presents only the slightest problem. I'm not much for backing up my little Corolla, which is like, I don't know, 10 or 15 feet long? Apparantly this sucker is 29 feet and we're going to be pulling a trailor with the merchandise in it. I called dibs on NOT driving Chicago for ANY trip, and have told everyone that if I don't want to change lanes, I'm not going to change lanes, and they can suck it up. So there. And there is the fact that Jeramie cannot assure me that the shower works. Now, this is a problem on so very many levels. Primarily, I am a fan of personal hygeine, and try to be clean, or at least SMELL clean, at all times. Second, I am a fan of clean air, and living on an RV in close quarters with two BOYS who haven't showered lately does not sound like a rousing good time to me either. So a remedy must be found. The shower must be fixed. And if Jeramie is lying, he will pay.

There are so many other things I could write about right now, but the truth is, I'm totally exhausted, my room is not unpacked, I have some reading I'd like to do, and I need sleep. So that shall be all for this post.

Until I come up with a clever way to sign my posts, we'll just leave it at that. Keep me in prayer, as I keep all of you.