Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set the example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. I Timothy 4:12
Jun. 16, 2009
Browned to a Crisp
OK, so I guess I have to try to figure out how to sum up the past few weeks. That's constantly my problem, it seems. Well, I've covered all of the AK raining camp I'm going to, so I suppose I'll move on. The main parts of my life for the past few days have been: Browns, group, school, Cardinals baseball, and time with Katie. AIM is in there somewhere too but we haven't done much with it except for training camp. I've actually seen the Brown girls almost every day for the past week and a half. Last Sunday we had group, then Tuesday I went over to their house and we played in the sprinkler. We set their sprinkler up under their square trampoline (with a net) and bounced while getting wet. And when Emily wasn't wet enough we rolled her to the "floor" and held her done while the sprinkler went back and forth. Then we had water gun "wars" but the water guns were really pathetic so whoever had the hose had a distinct advantage, so that didn't last very long.
After our wet afternoon we went inside, ate pears, and Courtney and I talked for 45 minutes or so. Trying to get in time with her so we can get closer. I sense that her friendship is going to be very important as time goes on.
Wednesday I was sick . I ran in the morning but then went back to bed feeling cruddy - I was nauseous, congested in the head and draining in the throat, and my throat really hurt. So skipped piano lessons that day and laid in bed feeling cruddy all morning and drinking water. When Mom got home from the grocery I had to eat a banana plain. Gross. Ate some real food for a late lunch, canceled working at the nursery that night but ended up going to church anyway.
Then of course the next day we had training camp ALL day from 8:30 till 5:00. SALTeam got there at 8:30 but of course we didn't really start until about nine. Jorge is directing this session but he's not actively directing (like Ryan did), so things are more back to the way they were back when Tess was un-directly directing. We talked about Bible study - we're taking the team through the James 3:17 study the SALTeam did last session - SALTeam Bible study - we're going through the fruits of the Spirit, same format as last session - mentors and mentorees, and the schedule for the day. Of course the schedule for the day took us forever, but thankfully Tess typed it up and printed it out. Un-thankfully, though, we weren't able to follow it.
Alex and Maria thought the training camp started at one and by the time we were ready to start practicing at 11 (we did Bible study and mentorship first), they were in Ava, doing some kind of cleanup to help a grandparent, I believe. I appreciate their helping out, for sure. However, it was slightly inconvenient to us because they were the people that had the most to learn and they weren't there - they didn't get there until almost two. In the meantime we put together songs that they already knew, but felt like it was somewhat of a lost effort since we already knew said songs very well and would have to have to put them into the songs once they arrived. We were also rather abruptly informed that James Roten was going to be participating in this session but that he wouldn't arrive at training camp until three. Needless to say, these gaps made training camp a very frustrating and discouraging affair.
We went through nine and a half songs. Well, I guess it was nine but I consider Freedom Battle to be two songs even though it's in actuality one. Here's what we "learned":
Forgiven
Courtroom
Champion
America Again
Virtuoso
In the Light
Freedom (I am SO SO SO excited about learning this and Restoration! Started working on it three years ago at a two-day training camp at the old HQ and haven't touched it since, but it looks like it could definltey be a possibility for this session!)
Washed in the Blood (AHAHAHAHA! so much fun with this country, crazy song and the rope technique that goes with it)
Always Been (1/2)
It was basically Katie, Courtney and I teaching. As of right now, all the girls have been on the SALTeam longer and are therefore usually more assertive and take more leadership. Which of course means that we leave the guys to just kinda watch. Which isn't good. And Jo felt pretty bad after traning camp. So I asked him to take more leadership and said that if he didn't than we would. It used to be like this - mostly KT and I teaching - two sessions ago. I thik I liked it a lot better when there was solid guy leadership. It feels right... bettwe to be under authority and teaching than over authority. And that's something coming from me. Maybe I did learn something from that submissive Bible study after all.
Well, after training camp - and we scheduled in a cake break in the middle of the afternoon to celebrate Emily's b-day - it was rush home for a quick dinner and then tear back to the baseball field where the Promise Keepers were pitted against The River, the team that we're tied with for first place. When we got there the Browns were already there and the game was just starting. By the time the score was 7-0, River, the Madrigals (!!!) were there too! Then, by the time we were finally making some runs - we played EIGHT innings, which is saying something for church league - the Duncans had arrived. After a nail-biting game, Mr. Brown scored the winning run and most of us went to the Duncan's house for ice cream to celebrate Emily B's birthday. While there, Josiah saved Courtney from Kyle. She was very grateful.
On Friday, I lounged around some, did a few productive things, and wrapped Madison's presents before heading off to her house for her 16th birthday party. It was EmilyD, Courtney and Emily B, Lauren and Caitlyn, and KT and I. The party was slow starting, but we eventually started playing that game that has no name but has something to do with random information and switching seats. Well, most of us played it. Madison didn't because she was on crutches because she'd banged her heel against something and was concerned that it was infected.
We ate dinner, opened presents, watched a movie, and tried to go to bed. Tried, of course, is the operative word. Lauren, Caitlyn and Emily D were all on the rollaway bed and it was chaotic. They were all very hyper and acting like toddlers. It was actually qutie amusing but got a bit annoying once we actually set about trying to go to sleep. For an hour, of course, we were just pretending. The next morning we all eventually woke up, ate breakfast, and started to watch a movie, but I had to leave because I had to do schoolwork.
Then Sunday we had group... but I'm tired of staring at a screen, so I'll have to write about that later.
And I trust in You / Lord, I trust in You / I believe You're my Healer / I believe You are all I need / I believe You're my Portion / I believe You're more than enough for me / Jesus, You're all I need
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Jun. 18, 2009 - Freedom and Restoration