2/1 - Thursday - 10:00 AM - Somewhere between San Diego and Apple Valley

So far so good. Still know what today is. Leaving San Diego. Andrew and Jenny are so cute. [For those of you who don't know, Andrew - the director of our trip - and Jenny are longtime AIM interns/staff members who recently started courting.] Especially Andrew. Yesterday we were sightseeing in this historical outdoor mall thing [Old Town San Diego] and Andrew said he needed to go into the candle shop. "Jenny loves candles," I whispered to Courtney. Sure 'nuff, Andrew picked out this big turtle-shaped candle. Hmm... wonder who that could be for. He gets red in the face when he's around her. It's kind of fun to giggle with the other girls about it, but I'm still trying to treat it with seriousness. Being in love is not all silly!

I'm now the official talker for our presentations. So far I've done two intros and several transitions in a long presentation. I was really scared at the beginning, but now I'm getting used to it. Great fodder for the public speaking class. Andrew says that at the beginning of the trip he was hoping I'd feel so guilty about the small team that I'd decide to present. He says now he's really glad that didn't happen, and I'm doing better than he would! Wow! [Looking back, I'm not sure how much of that was flattery and how much was actually the truth, but it was really encouraging either way!] Personally I think my transitions were pretty good, but intros definitely need some work. Plus I need Mr. Brown to be able to run the mp3 player for me. So far I've had to rush back to start the song just about every time. [As sound person, I sometimes had to do an intro and then run to the back of the room to start the music. I taught Mr. Brown how to do it, but there were a couple times when he couldn't figure something out and I ended up having to do it.]

Presentations. Tuesday evening - Teen Challenge. A girl who went on the Alaska Mission Trip with Amber - Amanda - works there. We presented for 30 minutes for a group of kids, and an hour to a very receptive group of young men. That's when I did the transitions. We closed with I Will Follow Christ and Jessie says that if she ever talks after that song she'll copy me! I really feel glad that I can be such a big help in this area.

Yesterday we had a morning presentation at a Christian school and an evening one at an AWANA - actually the one Andrew grew up in. I think he really enjoyed that. I think he's really loved showing off San Diego to us. Yesterday we did a lot of sightseeing.

I really want to be more of a mentor with the younger girls. Jenny challenged me to do this. She also said I should try to think about details for Andrew, because he's a big-picture thinker. I really want to do that too. I'm more convinced than ever that my strength is as an Aaron/Hur [a helper that comes alongside a leader to help them accomplish their mission - see Exodus 17].

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Thurs 2/1 - 5 PM - Somewhere near Apple Valley

I kind of had to stop in the middle of my last entry, because it was lunchtime.

I'm kind of concerned about my mp3 player. The battery is running out faster and faster every time, and we have a 2 1/2 hour presentation with CIA tonight! I sure hope it makes it. It's 3/4 full. It charges fast, but I don't know if there will be a place to charge it wherever we're going.

Worked with CIA today. Taught Does Anybody Hear Her and worked them into several of our songs; we're going to present with a combined team. I had to teach Take You. Mrs. Doemner (CIA director) tried to let me do as much as I knew, but that wasn't very much and she ended up teaching a lot of it. I think I did OK, though. CIA is a very mature team. Easy to work with.

Back to my thought about Aaron and Hur. I've been thinking about that more and more lately. I see so many leaders who need that. [Especially in AIM.]