week #2

Sarah Wennersten

September 20-26, 2010

Week in Review 2

Week two is almost over. Wow. This week has been pretty crazy. Every day this week from after lunch until dinner a group of us have been doing High Adventure training. Soon we will be certified HAGS (high adventure guides).  There are four elements included in HA: climbing wall, tree course, poles, and the Screamer. We have to be trained in all of those. So the other day I went off the Screamer since we were all training and to train you need someone to jump off the 50 foot cliff. So I went for the first time ever and ended up having to go off backwards. It was really fun but afterwards I felt my neck burning. Turns out the harness decided it would be fun to burn lines into my neck.  Quite a few people get a mark from it but it really dug into me for some reason. The cut/burn on my right side is especially bad, but thats ok. Besides that though training has been good...except that I hurt my wrist on Sunday and had to skip some training, but I am fully proficient now at dropping people off cliffs and belaying them up walls. Which brings me to Sunday. So on Friday and Saturday I worked in the snack shop and had a really great time. But on Sundays the snack shop isn’t open so the three of us workers were sent on Sunday to deep clean the giant  Ponderosa kitchen from 6am-3pm. We  worked so hard, two of us especially did some intense stuff. After scrubbing the stove, wiping down all the counters and stuff on the counters, and cleaning the warming shelves we moved onto the walls. We took mop handles and rolled up towels and went to town scrubbing down all the walls. It was tuff. Then came the ceiling. And we did the same thing. It was kinda painful but a very good workout trying to hold those heavy sticks up and scrub above your head. Then I was trying to get the grease off the ceiling from around the vent. In doing so I was sprayed with lots of grease bubbles. For as unpleasant as it may sound it was right up my ally. I love to work hard and get dirty. The only downfall was that my wrists were super sore, which was ok, until I woke up on Monday and my right wrist was screaming at me. I am thinking I just got a mild strain but it was sure hurting. I kept it wrapped for a couple days and by Wednesday I could bend it and by Friday I could twist it without any pain. But anyway on Sunday after we got off at three I was really struggling with whether or not to go to church. I was very tempted to just go back to my room and listen to a sermon from Piper but decided against it. I just couldn’t bring myself to skip church, it is just too important. I have no desire to skip church. So I hung out by the lake and read “Spiritual Leadership” by Oswald before church. During church we actually watch a live feed from a church called “The Well” down in Fresno. The pastor, Brad Bell, wasn’t teaching but another guy did a great job. Right now they are going through Galatians. It is kinda weird not hearing a live speaker though.

Monday began our first full week of being in the building. Classes started, chores started, and “grace week” ended(on Wednesday). I am excited to start to get into the meat of the program. A ton happened this week actually so I will just try to hit it in order:

Monday: first day of classes. High ropes training. Then the fun part. Kaylee and I organized our first official girls night. And boy did we have fun. All we told the girls was to wear 80’s clothing and tennis shoes. Then, oh yes we did, we rock out to Paula Abdul’s “Get up and Dance” workout. It was a blast. After getting our heart rates up and dance moves on we moved into the kitchen and had some cupcakes. Then Kaylee and I shared our testimonies. Kaylee and I tried to be very open and really share our lives with the girls. I think and hope that we set a good example for the year of Monday night girls nights.

Tuesday: first Moody class. High ropes training. And then the Etiquette Dinner! Everybody was assigned “dates” for the evening and we all got dressed up. We took fancy pictures and then took pics on our own outside. We were then instructed by a etiquette teacher and were taught how for guys and gals to properly do the arm hold when walking. As we moved into our decked out and very nicely decorated dining room guys were taught how to help the lady with her chair and the ladies were taught how to sit (ie only scooting after the guy sits down and scoots his chair in). Then we of course were taught how to hold our forks and knives and the rules concerning that. It was all very fun. My date was very sweet and did a great job at the stuff. Who knew there were so many rules on how to be proper at a nice meal? Over all it was a really fun evening.

Wednesday: end of grace week. More high adventure.

Thursday: high adventure- after classes

Friday: Had our first life skills class. It was so much fun!! The guy who teaches the class is named “Kip” and I did not expect what he brought out. He totally taught us some sweet self-defense moves. Every week he will teach us some more before moving onto other subjects. He is a very unassuming guy and I was not expecting him to be so highly trained. It was just plain awesome. Then I worked SS from 1-3 cleaning bathrooms and cabins. That was really fun. I enjoy working hard like that. Then went to work with Becky F helping her pack and get ready to move.

Saturday: slept in till 8. Worked with Becky- took nails and screws out of the walls, filled in with putty.

Sunday: went to breakfast at 8:20. Sat by lake and read SL till 9:30. That was pretty great. This cute little asian couple rented a row boat and was having a hard time. They had to stand up to be able to row it. They were laughing and singing and just having a great time. It made me really happy to see them have such a good time. Worked 10-4.

So overall I had a pretty good second week. The weekend was a little slow and work was not really work so that was kinda hard but I guess it’s good. Good to not always be moving 100mph, but that is how I like to work, especially when I am getting “paid”.  But I will have plenty of chances this year to work like a madman so I am not complaining.

The Sysco food has been treating me pretty good since I have been here but the last few days it has made me not feel the greatest. So for dinner Sunday night I had a little of the prepared food but then had 3 bowls of cereal. It was great. Coco puffs and cinnamon swirls. Mmm... I’m not usually a big cereal eater, and I don’t drink milk, but it was amazing anyway.

This week I am going to be praying for Afghanistan. There is so much going on down there and it is in so much turmoil. From the war to the persecution of Christians. Believers who minister down there face many unique struggles. I cannot imagine trying to reach hard core Muslims with the gospel. It’s ironic how it is harder to share the gospel with those who have religious backgrounds. And I cannot think of Afghanistan without thinking of our service men and women. They need prayer so much for safety and for salvation. The military can be a hard place to live out your faith but at the same time a great opportunity to touch those who may be facing death. Pray also for military chaplains that they would be strong.

Week #1

Sarah Wennersten

September 12-19, 2010

Week in Review 1

Well so far I have really been enjoying the JWI program. Me and my roommate have been getting along great even though we completely opposite in most ways. I am praying that that will continue.

Probably the thing that has had the biggest impact on me in this first week was Monday morning. Not only was the getting woken up at 4:30 kinda cool but I was really impacted by the an aspect of the hike. Before we started our hike a little after five in the morning our leader had each of us pick up a rock. Then we were to think about all the stuff that we wanted to change or let go in our lives. Be it sin or just plain baggage. I wasn’t thinking about it a ton because I was helping my roomy hike cause it was hard for her with her torn MCL but it was on my mind. Then a ways up the trail we stopped and the leader talked about putting all that baggage into the rock. I stood there in the dark pouring out everything “into” that little rock. I actually became a little attached to the rock because I like to keep special things like that. So I prayed and I cried silently to myself as I really tried to let go of things from the past that have been holding me back. In high school I really struggled with trying to fit in. It was mostly in JH and my first three years of HS that were just not fun. I was trying so hard to fit in with a certain group of kids who I really thought should accept me because we went to church and school together for so long. But by the end of my Junior year and my whole senior year I had a great time because I stopped trying to fit in and just hung out with those people who were my real friends. It was so great. But I still carried with me the fact that I didn’t know why the kids didn’t accept me. There were/are many reasons I could think of... from them viewing me as the immature kid I was when I was younger, thinking I was a self-righteous suck-up, or thinking I was really prideful. Even though I really was none of those things, at least not any more. So I had been carrying that with me. When I met new people I feared they viewed me the same way and that fear kept me from being me, the person I really am now. Anyway all that to say it was a big burden. So in that little rock I put all the things that I perceived people had ever thought about me, I put my worry about people seeing me as something I’m not, and I really let go of my fear of man. After throwing that rock onto the pile of other rocks I felt so free. This week has been great because I have really been being me. I have caught myself a couple times thinking “those people over there seem to not like me very much”. Then I remember. I remember that they don’t know me at all. How can they not like me if we have never talked? I remember that I will not be best friends with everyone, because of personality differences. I remember that it really doesn’t matter if they like me or not. This week has just been so freeing it is a little hard to describe. I never want to lose my focus, I want to always remember how this feels right now and never let myself be afraid of what my peers think again. Ok Sarah? DON’T forget. Let it go. It makes you sad and act like the whole world revolves around you. It’s plain selfish that’s what it is. But good job so far.

On another track one thing I really want to work on this year is my bass playing skills. Right now all I can play is what is written on the page in front of me, simple worship music. That really isn’t that bad because that’s all I play my bass for but I  do want to get better. So I want to take advantage of all the great musicians I am surrounded by. One guy has helped and offered to help more to teach me and another guy some stuff. I am excited. Also I have to relearn sheet music, which I have flash cards for, so I can study the bass book I bought which uses sheet instead of letter notes. And another thing I need to do is just get my bass in my hands and play. Just play even though I don’t know much yet. So learning a little more about my bass this week has been encouraging.

Yesterday was my first day at work. I worked the snack shop this weekend and it was tons of fun. I love the ladies in there and we had such a good time goofing around, joking, and working hard. I am excited though to do some of the physical jobs like HA and working with the outdoor stuff. Seeing as at this point in my life I am looking at pursuing a career in fitness... but we will see what happens.

I realize this week has been a “honeymoon” week and that it will get a lot harder but I am still excited. I am excited to devote a year of my life to growing closer to God. I hope to instill some good habits. I have never been a rebel and I am used to lots of rules and actually enjoying following them for the most part so that is probably not going to be my biggest area of struggle. But I am pretty sure my struggles will come in the form of interactions with other people and staying strong in my values and in my personal “rules”.  I need to pray for focus and a willingness to set friendships and myself aside to let God draw me closer to Himself and let Him use me however He wants. I think another area may be patiences with certain people. I am usually very patient but when it comes to certain people I have found myself a little irritated. I knew in the first days who the “thorns in my flesh” were going to be so now that I have identified them I need to work extra hard at loving them. And I need to pray for them, pray for them good things. You can’t not like someone you pray blessing on.

A place in the world that has been on my mind a lot lately is Turkey. I haven’t been praying for it so much but I think I will start praying more. My brother is going to be stationed there in November with the Air Force so I have been thinking about it and him a lot. It is an interesting country in its religious beliefs from what I understand. While in Texas this summer we went and listened to a Turkish missionary talk and it was great to see the way they have been able to reach remote villages and small groups of people. There is persecution for Christians in Turkey. On your license down there who have to claim which religion you are. If your card says “Christian” then most employers will not hire you. But at the same time the government is slightly tolerant even though it is a predominantly Muslim country. There is a lot going on there and I need to study it more so I can pray more specifically.

It's almost hard to believe that I am here and that Joshua has started. So far it has been a really good and I have experienced growth already. One of my favorite things so far has been work on the weekends. Every week we do something different around the camp and usually it is pretty physical stuff, it has felt great to work hard.
So the way this blog is most likely going to go is that I will post my WIR (Week in Review) every week. It is an assignment we have to do every week that is kinda like a journal entry about our week. By the end of the year we will compile all our entries into one book. I can only be on the Internet for 15 minutes at a time so that limits what I can do as far as posting, but I will try to get my week summaries up (they will be a page or more long).
I would love for all you people back home and all others in my life to be able to know what I am doing here and maybe experience it with me a little. And please do keep me in your prayers! I am going to need it!