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.