The Counselor's Perspective Pt.1

     What a weekend! We just finished our fourth week of Snow Camp here at WOLBI. Luckily I was able to counsel for my home church CFC. It was a great experience. Not only did I get to spend time with friends and family that I had been missing, but I was able to watch as 6 of our girls dedicated their lives to Christ. Follow me as I take you through a quick review of the weekend. Because there is so much information to share I will be posting the days one day at a time. 

FRIDAY

     I'm not sure what was wrong with me, but for some reason I woke up at the early hour of 5:20 AM. Since I had a LOT of time to kill I took a long hot shower. I hadn't been feeling well the night before and it definitely helped to relax my tense muscles. After my shower I went down to breakfast and studied for my Ezra quiz and Bible Survey quiz. Then it was off to do Quiet Time. That ended at about 7:45 at which point I had to drag my luggage for the weekend up the hill to the bus parked by the Health Center. Classes went from 8-12. I passed both exams, which was awesome, but it was really hard to pay attention knowing that CFC was on the road to NY. 

     After class we had a Snow Camp chapel until 1. They dismissed the counselors a couple of minutes early so we could get on the bus and drive to our cabins to drop off our luggage. CFC girls were staying in Town Hall all the way down by the Ranch end, which is a bit of a hike. I definitely have a greater appreciation for the location of my dorm room now. After dropping off luggage we ate lunch and then went to the lounge to meet CFC, who had already arrived. The girls had 9 counselors. They included 5 overnight counselors (Brittany Burke and myself) and 4 day counselors. The guys had about 9 counselors as well. Once CFC pulled up to the lounge we all pilled into the bus and rode down to Embers. There was a lot of hugging!!! Once we got to Embers everyone went inside and the couselors all got sweatshirts and T-shirts. They are AWESOME. Many thanks to Mr. Fabian! 

     After we were inside registration began. Mr. Landry gave me my care package (thanks Mommy and Daddy!) and I went to show my sisters my dorm room. When registration began we were driven to the cabin and the chaos began. None of the girls seemed to be happy about where they were sleeping. It took a while to straighten things out and we had to make a couple of room switches. However, all in all, it could have been a lot worse. After all the unpacking we went to dinner. After dinner we had Soccer and Flag Football competitions right away. I'll list the awards CFC won at the end. Then the rally was at 7:30 so we all walked in the cold to the meeting. After that was the main event, which in my opinion was a little lame. I will putting in suggestions to remove it for next year. It was required outside games. Some of the kids enjoyed it but it was cold and a lot of them asked to go inside, so I took a group of girls into the gym. At least it only lasted half an hour. 

     Right after the main event we had Dodge Ball and Speed Paintball. It was a lot of fun watching everyone play. I made rounds around the gym and got to talk to a lot of the leaders. Then we made our way back to the cabin for devos, showers and 'sleep'. 

     I was supposed to do devos on Saturday but because of certain circumstances I ended up doing them Friday night. It was really nerve racking. I mean it's hard to give your testimony to strangers but even more so to people you know. I guess they went ok. 

     I was very impressed at how quickly everyone went to bed. I didn't have to yell at ANYONE from CFC, but I made a couple of trips to the room down the hall. I think it was only about 1 AM by the time I went to sleep. 

Stay tuned for Saturday's Events tomorrow! :D

Back to the BI

     I love how I haven't written anything in about four months. Oh well. 

     Things are going extremely well for me here at WOLBI. The winter break was long but very relaxing. It was nice to go home and spend time with my family. I watched a lot of movies and played Monopoly Deal with Hollie almost every day. I also turned 18. I can now pay to kill myself with cigarettes, waste my money on losing lottery tickets, and vote for the lesser of two evils. Christmas was amusing. We had various people stop in during the day. Eddie Krauss came for a few hours. New Year's Eve we all went to the Boyden's. We ate too much and didn't get home until 2 AM or so. It was worth it though because I got to see Up and Toy Story 3.  

     January means one thing here at WOLBI. THE START OF SNOW CAMP! I have been working in the Snack Shack every weekend, except for when I counsel. Last weekend was my first counseling experience. Our girls were amazing and all of them were saved!! This weekend I will be working again. Hopefully I will be able to counsel when CFC comes. 

     I have already started the application process for next fall. Eastern is my top choice, but I also applied to Three Rivers, QVCC, Liberty and Tennessee Temple University. Now I just need to apply for scholarships……… Blah. 

     My goal is to try and keep up with this blog again. That way I don't have to call home all the time. Ha! Just kidding mom. :p 

     Well I'm off to make up a few quizzes and tests. Loving the cold weather. I don't think I could ever live in the south. I'd probably melt.

     

No Iced Tea For You!

     I am doing really bad at keeping up with this blog. So much has been happening here at Word of Life! Last week we finished Genesis with Dr. Whitcomb and took his exam the following Tuesday. 50 true and false questions...... I almost punched the guy who sits next to me in the face. The exam was HARD. I second guessed myself on every question. At least it's over. You'd think that after studying Genesis for over a year in Sunday School I'd have somewhat of an advantage. I got a 90, which seems really good, but according to WOLBI grading my effort equals a B+. Lame.
     After the exam I had lunch, then practice until 3. I think we are really improving. The songs are all well known, but altered with gospel flare. It's been really good for me. My range is being expanded as well as my breath control being challenged. I also love everyone in the group. They're all a lot of fun and extremely personable.
     I had work on Tuesday evening. It was unusually busy and we were out of EVERYTHING. Someone ordered a pizza and we didn't have any sauce, the cheese for our burgers was completely frozen, and the cups for coffee and tea were mysteriously "gone". At least we got out earlier than usual. After work I was thirsty so I decided to buy a drink. It was late, so trying to be good I decided on iced tea instead of soda, which is in a separate machine. Now, this machine is different because the soda comes out the side and not the bottom. There is a pole with a cup holder that catches the drink, which avoids the bottle getting shook up, slides the drink across and then drops it in the side. Well, I put my money in and didn't notice that there was another drink that had fallen to the bottom of the machine. Instead of my drink falling into the side slot it plummeted to the bottom. No drink for me.
     I spent most of yesterday sleeping and finishing up my maps for Bible Survey. Most of you know how much I hate drawing..... It was not a fun assignment. At least they are done now and I can focus on other homework that is being neglected, like reading my Hebrews book.
     Well, I have practice in an hour so I think I am going to go and eat lunch. Then after practice it's Walmart time!!!!!!! Yea for having supplies again! Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!

Singing and Snuffles

     And the cold season has officially begun. All of my roommates have been sick for about a week and now it's my turn. Blah! I would love to not go through another box of tissues today.
     It's been a nice week here at WOLBI. The weather has finally gotten better and we haven't had rain in a few days! The trees and lake look especially beautiful today. I was tempted to go and sit outside on a blanket, but the cold probably wouldn't help me very much.
     In other news, I made it into a student run gospel choir called Our Declaration. There are 11 of us. We do a lot of traveling during the school year to different churches around New England. We're hoping to sing at a church in Albany in a few weeks. We just have to keep practicing and taking care of ourselves. About four of us in the group are sick. But, I'm looking forward to an awesome year together.
     I failed a quiz on Flag Football this week.... I hate sports so much. The good news is I have a GPA if 3.6 so it didn't affect my grade very much.
     Classes have been going pretty well. We finished Personal Evangelism with Larry Moyer last week. Now I have an exam on Genesis Chapters 1-11 on Tuesday. Dr. Whitcomb taught the class. He is a very intelligent speaker, but his voice in a bit too soothing. He makes you drowsy!
     I think I am going to go and make some tea and go back to bed. I have work tonight so I'm going to be up late. Lame. I love and miss you all!!!!!!!

    

*Insert Creative Title Here*

     D points are probably the dumbest things ever created. They stink. Yesterday I was extremely tired after class so I decided to take a nap. I slept from 2-4 then woke up and read for Personal Evangelism. Well, I realized that I had missed my gym class. I have gym on Fridays for an hour in the Field House. Apparently I not only have to make up the class, but I have 5 D points. That means I have to work 2 extra hours, which is ridiculous. I'm planning on going to the Ministry Department to try and talk myself out of it. Wish me luck......
     Today has been pretty nice. Last night I worked until 11 so I came up and went right to bed. I woke up around 10 and then went to do laundry with my friend Sarah. I was in the same room as her this summer at the Inn. While our clothes were washing we ate lunch and then went back to put them in the dryer. In the meantime I went for a run and tidied up our closet. Then I went back to grab my clothes and now I am attempting to set up my printer. I feel like a call to the Boyden's is inevitable..... Why couldn't I have been good with technology?
     Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!

Snack Shack Chaos!!!!!!!

     I would have written about this last night, but I used all the energy I had left to climb up into bed. The day didn't start off badly. I took my first exam on the book of James (Wendell Calder thought this), had another boring Theology class (I just can't seem to get into the subject) and then started Personal Evangelism which Larry Moyer is teaching. I think he is one of the most talented evangelists I have ever met. His class is dripping with energy and I find myself enjoying taking notes. He has developed the "Bad News, Good News" witnessing method which is practical and very easy to learn. It was even better than the Way of the Master program I learned about in Sunday School! (I will put both links at the end of this entry). 

     The James exam was awful. I had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning (BLAH!) to eat breakfast so I would be able to focus during the test. When I got to the JWC everything seemed to go wrong. I had to go to the bathroom and was late getting to my seat, I dropped a book on the floor, and I realized I had left my umbrella at the dorm. To top it all off I had a headache. I wasn't sure of some of the answers on the test, but I did my best. (And made good educational guesses).

     After classes I went to lunch and then ran a few errands. I had to buy a hat from the bookstore because they are required for work. Then I went to the mail room to pick up a package and, SURPRISE! It was from my mommy. I found this amusing because the day before I had told her I had a package and had no idea who had sent it. She 'didn't know either'. Ha! But it was full of delicious chocolate which will make me gain the infamous freshman fifteen.......

    The rest of my day was spent in the dorm because it was pouring out. I didn't feel like ruining a pair of shoes. Dinner wasn't very good. Some sort of chicken parmesan thing. The salad was really good though. At 6:30 Study Hours began but I had to leave at 8 for work. And this is when the fun began......

     My shift starts at 8:05. For the first hour we only sold an order of fries and some candy. Then, at 9:15, after study hours ended, about 25 people showed up. Now, there was only two of us working. The third girl didn't show up and the girl who was there, her name is Jenna, had been away during training. IT WAS INSANE. We had about 7 orders for fried food and you can only make two at once. I didn't know how to make pizza because during training we had only been shown how to use the grill and frier, we couldn't find mozzarella sauce, the chocolate ice cream was as hard a a rock, we ran out of change for twenties and a shake I was making exploded when the machine was mixing it. Luckily, an RA showed up around 10 and helped us finish the orders. By 10:45 the windows were closed and we began the clean up process. I was assigned to clean the grill, which is easy enough. However, after the grill is cleaned, we are required to empty the grease tray. When I dumped it in the trash the bag leaked, so I got to clean the garbage can out too. 

     I finally made it back to the dorm at 11, jumped in the shower and then crawled into bed around 11:20. It was a fun night.... I even get to do it again on Friday! 

    Today was not a very good day. I was really tired and hadn't been able to study enough for our Theology quiz. All during classes I was fighting sleep and trying to pay attention. After class I went down to eat lunch but ended up coming back to the room to take a nap. Before going to sleep I decided to quickly check my grades online, even though I knew I wouldn't like what I saw. (I didn't mention this before, but I got a 75 on my James QUIZ, which in WOLBI's eyes is a D+). BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS!!!!!!! I got a 93 on the James class and then an 85 on today's Theology quiz, which puts my GPA at 3.4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh Happy Day!

      And now that I have shared this wonderful, wonderful news I am going to bed. 

Links to Evangelistic Websites:

http://www.evantell.org/ (Larry Moyer)

http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ (Kirk Cameron)

What I Did For Today

     And so passes another boring day at Word of Life.... Well I wouldn't say boring. Just, rather uneventful. I only had three technical classes this morning. First, we had an overview of Word of Life policies/ the Standard of Conduct. That was followed by Theology, which was followed by my walk outside where I started screaming "Why God, why?!?!?!?!?" Haha. Just kidding. But it was pretty boring. Bible Survey was AWESOME! Dr. Wicks taught us an overview of the Old Testament in 5 minutes. It was really cool. Then we had a free period so I came back to the dorm and took a nap. 
    For lunch we had taco-like things. I was able to eat with my RA Ruth and have a really nice conversation. Then I came back to the dorm, studied, cleaned my desk and listened to music. For dinner we had Shepherd's Pie. It was OK, but I like my mom's much better. 
          NOTE TO MOM: We should have that at least twice over my winter break. Please. Ha!
    After dinner I went up to the mail room and found a letter, a post card, and a slip saying that I had a package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get it. I'll probably go after classes.
     Speaking of class, I have an exam on James....... that I should probably be studying for. Well it's to the shower and then back to the books! 


Awesome Song that I listened to today: What I Did For Love from A Chorus Line 

Kiss today goodbye,

The sweetness and the sorrow.

Wish me luck, the same to you.

But I can't regret

What I did for love, what I did for love.

Look my eyes are dry.

The gift was ours to borrow.

It's as if we always knew,

And I won't forget what I did for love,

What I did for love.

Gone,

Love is never gone.

As we travel on,

Love's what we'll remember.

Kiss today goodbye,

And point me t'ward tomorrow.

We did what we had to do.

Won't forget, can't regret

What I did for

Love

[All]

What I did for

Love

[Diana]

What I did for...

[All (adding more voices each phrase)]

Love

Love is never gone

As we travel one

Love's what we'll remember

Kiss today goodbye.

[Diana]

And point me t'ward tomorrow.

[All]

Point me t'ward tomorrow

We did what we had to do.

Won't forget, can't regret

What I did for love.

What I did for love.

[Diana]

What I did for love

[All]

Love