A relaxing week in the life of me

Sarah Wennersten

March 14-20, 2011

Week in Review 22

This week was pretty chill. Starting on Monday we had our second round of preview kids come through. Julie and my preview kid was awesome. She was just a super neat gal who loved the Lord and it showed. She was an encouragement to me. Also on Monday we got all our Israel stuff!!! It was like Christmas!!! We got our backpacks, special study guide journals, sweet journals that have Joshua on them, plane tickets, travel documents, and flashlights. The study guides are so nice. I was planning on making something like that but now I don’t have too because this one is way better than anything I could have done. It has everywhere we will be, maps, charts, and anything else we could possible want all in one sleek little book. So cool. The backpacks are nice too and have quite a bit of space.

Tuesday I had SWEEPs for Joshua. Since the staff were doing interviews Josh Yee and I were sent on an SS run, to look for some keys, and to drop off and pick up mail. We got to drive the garbage truck which was really fun. He drove up and down the hill and I drove around camp. I love old trucks. As we were arriving back at the building some boys were outside about to go down and play disc golf. So I leaned out the window and one of them tossed a frisbee to me and I was able to catch it. It was fun. But then, from the other side of the truck, behind my back, one of the other boys landed a snow ball right through the window. It was super cold, but a nice throw non the less.

Wednesday was a pretty normal day. We had classes, lunch, and then book discussion. Book discussion was not as long as last week and I think we actually got more accomplished and talked about. I think something about having an hour to talk just made it hard to talk and concentrate. But 20 minutes was a good time. So we were all thankful for that.

Thursday was a good day. The morning hours were normal and then during the afternoon Emily Harer, Glenda Gibson, and I went on a hike around the lake. This was my first time to ever go around the lake and it was great. There was still some snow on the ground so we were falling and sinking in random places but it was fun. The lake is so beautiful. This was another one of those moments where I look and go “I live here”. I got to see “The Cove” which everyone always talks about and the dam. I really enjoyed my time with those girls. And it was neat to try out all my Israel gear. I wore the clothes I plan on wearing and the whole shebang. I filled my Camel Back and put two big water bottles in the side pouches, it was a bit of weight. After our hike we had a theme dinner. It was “Under the Sea”. So I dressed up as Ursula from The Little Mermaid and Derek and Emily H were my shark/eel creatures. They wore one white and one pink contact each. They looked super creepy and I looked pretty evil myself. During dinner Matthew walked up to me and said “you know Sarah, you don’t make a very good Ursula”. At first I didn’t know how to respond. I was about to call him a jerk when he said, “cause Ursula was ugly”. Ok, charmer. It was sweet though. After the theme dinner at 6:30 we had a Passover celebration. A guy came from “Jews for Jesus” and led the meal. It was really neat to see all the traditions and how they point to Christ. We sat at tables with 6 people who were our family for the night. We had bitter herbs, even more bitter herbs, yummy apple stuff, 1/4 of a hard boiled egg, and matza- the unleavened bread. At one point early in the meal the head of the household went and hid part of the matza, then later on all of us kids had to go find it. This pointed to the fact that Christ was buried, yet rose again, and the passover feast could not continue until he was risen. Overall it was a great night. Except I wasn’t a big fan of shooting glasses of grape juice. There are four different “cups” that you take part in during the feast. We of course used grape juice instead of wine for the cups, but it was a lot of liquid, especially for someone who isn’t real fond of grape juice. Super good feast though, I would love to do a real one some day, they take multiple hours.

Friday began another work weekend. When I checked the list my job was listed as “Rich Ferreira”. Which I found out meant babysitting. It was supposed to be Danielle and I working but since Lacy’s back is still really hurt they traded jobs. So Rich took Lacy and I down at 1:30 to watch the kids till around dinner time. Becky is gone so it was nice for Rich to be able to go to meetings and get a workout in. Then he took us all to the snack shop for dinner and then back up to the building. I finished the grey beanie I have been working on and started a new one.

Saturday we didn’t have to be in till 9:30. We were only going to be there till lunch time cause Becky was coming back so the kids just got to watch shows the whole time. We watched Finius and Ferb, Strawberry Shortcake, and Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses. So ya, basically I spent my Saturday morning sitting on a couch watching TV. The kids behaved well so the weekend was really easy. It was a blessing for Lacy to be able to rest like that. I was a little restless after sitting all morning. So when we got off after lunch I went and volunteered at High Adventure. I found them above the weight room and contractors building dinosaurs. Jordan has been working on making these huge dinosaurs for the paintball field, they actually look pretty cool. So I sanded pieces of dinosaur for a couple hours and then helped put the thing together. There were 5-6 guys and me all holding this thing up while we hammered and wiggled the “bones” into place. My arms were a little sore. But it is up now and looking good. After dinner I walked back up to the building and relaxed. I took a super duper long shower and studied Philippians. Then I got in bed and crocheted a little more.

Sunday I had the day off. I was not entirely sure what to do with myself, but it turned out great. So I got up at 7, went to breakfast at 8, hit the gym around 9 (got an amazing workout), went to my Pause families until 2 (had pancakes and coffee and then went down to the clothing store), came back up to the building, had tea with Sharon our Catalyst, got cleaned up, went down to Paul and Sarah Dixon’s for dinner, went to church, got a ride back up to the building, worked on my speech amidst the power going out, and then went to bed. It was snowing so much on Sunday. We got over a foot. I enjoyed walking down to breakfast so much. People didn’t understand why I would get up early on my day off but it made sense to me. I love walking in the snow by myself like that. It is so peaceful and beautiful. I love the morning hours. The whole weekend it was snowing, but Sunday it really started coming down, non-stop all day. Hanging out with my Pause family was really nice. They had two people staying at their house who left around 1. I enjoyed helping make pancakes and just relaxing. I bought a nice little zip up hoodie that I really like at the Clothing Company. Back at the building I came in and no one was here. I was on the internet when the power went out. But our Catalyst came out and we started talking. Sharon is a neat lady. She invited me to tea so we sat in her room and just talked and drank tea. It was very nice. After that, since I was still in my sweatpants and workout clothes from the morning, I went and took a shower and downed my snow clothes. I got to wear my snow jacket I got before coming up to Hume all day, I enjoyed that. So I put on my Neos and snow jacket and set out into the snow. The road was really slushy so I had a blast. I was just splashing along having a good time. Since my feet were totally water proof I didn’t have a care in the world. I was bundled up, nice and warm, slashing in slush and puddles. Doesn’t get much better. I made it to Paul and Sarah’s to find a feast laid out before me. Most of the other 8 girls were already there sitting around the table. There were three different kinds of sandwiches, four kinds of scones, multiple cupcakes, fruit skewers, fruit pies, no-bake cookies, coconut cookies, cheese, and tea. It was ridiculous, but so good. I got super full. After eating and talking we played Apples to Apples and then went to church. The whole day was very nice and restful. I needed a day of rest. I think I had the best Sunday I could ask for, or could get here. Only having my family here would make it better.

This morning I woke up at 6:30 even though it is our sleep in day and came down a few minutes before 7. I ate some breakfast and have just been writing. When I got up I saw all the snow, but when I came down I was shocked. By the soda machine where I was standing I looked out and the snow was almost eye level. Ugh. There is so much snow. Just a few days ago we were seeing green grass all over the place. Oh well, I guess having multiple feet of snow on the first day of spring is just how it is.

This week I am going to be praying for Japan. There is so much going on over there it is hard to know where to start. I will pray for the stability of the nuclear plants and for the safety of the people. Most of all that God would use this to bring some to Himself.