The longest week ever!

This week was so long and busy!



Monday-
The first part of our day Monday was spent driving an hour and a half to Hartland Christian Camp. Hartland is a small camp near Hume Lake that we have partnered with to help them grow. Our task for the week consisted of removing all small trees and shrubbery that could fuel a fire for the first mile of the road entering Hartland. When we arrived, we were greeted with abounding gratitude and warm hospitality. After lunch we wasted no time in getting to work; right away I was assigned a chainsaw, Rich must have told them how much I loved chainsaw work. Total there were 4 chainsaws, 2 buzz saw brush cutters, 2 pole saws, 6 loppers, 5 wood chippers, and 56 able bodied students with great attitudes ready to get the job done. After dinner we had an intro video from Bob, the director of Hartland, and an insight to the plan he has for us when we come back to work with the camp in May. The evening discussion was followed up by volleyball, basketball, and Rich’s Human Slingshot. GET SLUNG!




Tuesday-
Tuesday was another fun filled day of working our tails off. We had few complaints and few injuries. However lumberjacking does not go without perils; our friend Tucker Was hit in the face with a log and received some pretty good cuts, but was fixed up and right back to work in no time. Tuesday evening we were reminded that we were serving so that we can learn discipline, work ethic and teamwork while bringing God glory.

Wednesday-
Wednesday morning I woke up and was feeling a little under the weather, but I didn't let that stop me from grapping my saw and getting to work! I worked all day with Calen, heading the group through the forest and cutting trees while Calen would pull them out of the way. I am so glad that Grandpa taught me how to use a chainsaw, I am very grateful for everything I have learned from him. Yet, I am never done learning, I learned new ways to fall trees and to sharpen and detail the chainsaw from an old lumberjack named Jeff whole was helping Hartland with tree projects while we were there. After lunch we finished clearing the rest of the forest. Looking back I saw the work we did; on both sides of the road were stacked tree limbs and logs six feet high for one mile. It took us the rest of the day to finish chipping all the remnants, but we ended up clearing quarter million square feet of brush and debris. At the end of the day I had no energy left to play games in the gym, so I headed to bed at eight o’clock.

Thursday-
I am definitely sick. I woke up half of the night coughing up phlegm, and could hardly sleep. Luckily we only had cleaning to do to turn the camp back over to the Hartland crew. Over the week I realized how supportive the staff are of each other, and how they don't hesitate to help one another out; this is one trait that I would like to help implement wherever I work. I was also proud of myself for keeping in any complains of tiredness or of being sick, because if I start complaining, it gives others liberty to do the same. So I took it with a grain of salt and kept up the good morale in the group. Finally after a long hard week of work we headed home. After finishing washing the vans I took the long awaited sleep I needed in my nice comfy bed, only waking up for dinner, then going back to sleep to get rid of my sickness.

Friday-
I think this is the longest day I have ever had…at least at Joshua. We had 5 a.m’s this morning because we did not keep the building clean the previous weekend. During 5 a.m’s everyone has to do their chore for the day for 2 HOURS! Luckily I was assigned the kitchen with about 8 other people and there was plenty to do, so the time went by relatively quickly. I just feel sorry for the people cleaning the corners of chairs with cutips because they couldn't find anything else to do. I applied everything I had learned at Hartland, about not complaining and keeping a positive attitude, and it made group morale better and the time move faster. I ended up taking a nap between our classes and heading off to work, probably the most well spent 30 minutes ever. I was assigned High Adventure again this week for the men’s conference! I definitely think that would be a good place to work over the summer. With such a bus weekend ahead of us, Jordan decided to run 2 High Adventure sessions, a paintball session and a zip line session. I was able to run one of the paintball sessions and one of the High Adventure sessions. At dinner I got to talk with Jordan again; he is a really great guy with a great attitude toward life. He sees the opportunity in everything and loves living life to its fullest extent; he would be a really great guy to work for and learn from. After dinner we went to listen to the speaker speak about being salt and light to our communities, showing them the light of Christ and causing them to be thirsty to know more. Following the speaker was an illusionist that blew my mind; he did so many tricks that seemed impossible, yet he always related it back to God.

Saturday-
Saturday was another fun filled day; full of paintball, High Adventure, zip lines and cleaning up the paintball field with stumpers and chainsaws. In my High Adventure session I was leading a guy across the balance beam, 30 feet in the air, when I decided to demonstrate how strong my tethers were. I sat back in my harness and heard a loud snap then fell onto the balance beam; I looked up to see my prussic cord hanging loose, luckily my security tethers were still attached. It turns out that my prussic, the cord that shortens the rope, was outside the carabineer and only attached by the small plastic rope stabilizer piece. Needless to say, I was freaked out, but I played it off well and Tim, the guy I was leading across, hardly knew something went wrong. The rest of the session went without a hitch, and we were able to finish the rest of the day smoothly.

Sunday-
Sunday morning I walked down to breakfast early and was fortunate enough to have some devotional time. This good start to the day made everything run smoothly, even though I was still a little sick. We had no sessions today, so Calen and I were assigned to clean out the stumps from the paintball field using the giant stump grinder and a chainsaw. This kept us entertained throughout the day and we hardly realized when it was time to go to dinner.

Well I am back at the building now ready to catch upon some sleep. We have a huge essay due this week, and our Phillipians test...so please pray for that!

Blessings to everyone!
-Eric

Just and update...

Monday-
Monday morning we were allowed to sleep in and get some much needed rest. Yet for some reason I could not sleep and ended up getting up at six, doing my devo’s going for a run, then eating breakfast; overall a fairly productive morning. We met our new catalyst couple today: Joey Webb, and his wife and son. Joey is a paramedic and has a wonderful family who is really great to talk to and hang out with. We had another Israel prep class where we watched a video on previous Israel trips; identifying many places we will travel, greatly increasing my excitement for the trip. We also had a new evening speaker: Mike Bogart, who spoke on world religions and how to have a proper conversation with those of another faith.

Tuesday-
After starting off the day with another solid devo time speaking to the LORD, I had another Elements of Bible Study class where we were assigned yet another paper on analyzing the context of scripture. EBS was followed up by our Old Testament class where we reviewed our readings from creation until Abraham. Our evening discussion was a video on the religion of Islam; we learned that Allah is the Arabic word for God, how the Islamic religion came to be, then studied the 5 pillars of Islam and many other facets of the Islamic faith.

Wednesday-
Happy Birthday Sheyenne! Our Wednesday classes we the grill, where we were allowed to ask Mike Bogart many questions; one of his best pieces of advice was to grow where you are planted, always showing the love of Christ no matter the situation, and to never turn down bacon. We also enjoyed our theology class where we watched a video on Mt Sinai, and how the traditional Mt Sinai is incorrectly identified. I went offroading with Andrew Lapp again today; we explored some of the other trails up near wildwood and had fun doing manly things in manly cars. Later in the evening I let something someone said get to me far to much, and realized that I am way to worried about what others think of me and am lacking self-confidence. I decided to give it all over to Him and understand that I only need to be confident in God because everything in this world is nothing compared to what I will have in heaven.

Thursday-
During our Thursday morning discussion we finished up our series on worldly religions with the study of Judaism and the many cultures and customs that follow. We started another book discussion series today as well: Mere Christianity, written by CS Lewis; I’m not sure what to think yet…I’ll get back to you. Thursday night we had a Harry Potter themed dinner. I dressed up as a dementor with a few shirts and a friend’s bed sheet, while most everyone else was some variant of Harry or Hermione. The dining hall looked just like Hogwarts, with floating candles and long banquet tables. Pictures are on the Joshua website.

Friday-
We had another Life Skills class today where we learned more self-defense and how to tie knots. Following life skills I trusted Samantha Guzman with hair clippers to trim my hair to its normal militant style. I worked at the Ponderosa Dining hall this weekend for the Lady’s conference, which was surprisingly enjoyable despite a few demanding women. After work the Joshua guys played a game of soccer at the ark, probably not the wisest choice since I had to get up in time to be at work by 6:30 the next morning.

The next morning-
I hate myself. Saturday I woke up asking, “what the heck was I thinking playing soccer till midnight?” I stumbled down the hill to work and spent the next few hours waking up with various energy drinks and caffeinated beverages. The servers got to work a triple split, which sounds like a great ice cream dish, but really means you get to work from 7a.m till 9p.m with a couple of breaks in between. But I refused to complain, because I am tired of hearing it from everyone and if people saw me griping it would give them liberty to do the same. The façade lasted throughout the day and eventually I fooled myself into thinking I wasn’t tired and was really enjoying my workday. (Funny how the mind works) After work Josh Yee and I decided we hadn’t had enough punishment and went to the ark for another game of soccer, followed up by a fish fry up on inspiration point with a couple guys and the remaining fish from the draining lake. Isn’t fellowship and community more important that sleep anyway?

Sunday-
I definitely didn’t learn my lesson the first time. Sunday was spent in reminiscence of a time full of bed sheets, my pillow and David’s Snores. We finished up the last two meals for the women’s conference and dove straight into our deep cleaning of the kitchen. Grandma and Grandpa came up from there friends house to say hello and give me some snacks; it was unfortunate to learn that they would only be staying long enough to get a tour of the Joshua building, but it was nice that they could see the area in which I have been living and see everything that they have helped me achieve. I took my first shower in the dark when the power went out at the building and understood what a blind man feels like trying to put on his clothes; only later did I realized that most everything was inside out or backward. I took a trip down to Fresno with Andrew Lapp, Josh Yee, and Lacey Michaelsen to pick up Chen Chen from the train station and have dinner with Josh’s amazing family.

This week we are taking a trip to Heartland: a sister camp of Hume about 20 miles away. We l be doing service projects, learning how the camp works and growing as a team. Please pray that God will make us stronger in our faith and our relationships with each other and that we will be safe while doing the work of God.

For His Glory,
-Eric

another long post.

Well here I am, another week of Joshua! Just as you think you have things figured out, you get thrown for a loop. I have to remember to be flexible.

Monday-
We had another Israel prep class, still one of my favorite classes! We studied geography about the holy land and where Jesus did most of his teaching. Being one of the first rains of the year, many of us went outside for an awesome game of mud football. After cleaning up and eating dinner we were introduced to our new evening speaker- John Saltee. He asked us: “what is choking you in your relationship with Christ?” This really got us thinking about our distractions.

Tuesday-
During devotional time I read 1 John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” It made me remember that no matter what I have done God will always forgive me. In our Old Testament class, we studied the land of Abraham and what the culture was like in that era. John Saltee spoke Tuesday night and gave us a clear picture of how we are justified through Christ, and really defined what the gospel should mean to a Christian.

Wednesday-
During devo time I spent an hour in prayer; first I prayed for myself and things I wanted or needed, then my family and friends, finally moving on to those around me and the rest of the world. I was surprised when I finished and realized I spent an entire hour talking to God, I’m well on the way to completing one of my goals! We had one of my other favorite classes: Theology. In Theology we learned bibliology, or the study of the bible and its validity. We learned how to defend our faith when someone asks us, “How do we know the bible is true?” Rather than simply saying, “Because the bible tells us so?” Our evening Discussion from John Saltee was interesting; he spoke on predestination vs. free will and was saying that it is written in Gods book of life that there are an elect that are going to heaven, and the rest are automatically going to hell. This is a view that only 10% of christians have, and has been a debated issue for a long time. I found it hard to believe that the God who loves everything and can sacrifice his only son to save us from our own sin will automatically send everyone who is not written in the book of life to hell. Regardless, I believed what he was saying, and was upset for a long time because it wasn’t something I wanted to believe in.

Thursday-
Solo time was difficult because I was mad that my faith had turned into something I didn’t like. During our first class Rich Ferierra came in and asked us about the speaker the night before. He then told us that they brought John Saltee in on purpose, because he believed in that controversial issue that only 10% percent of Christians believe. He said they did it because they wanted to make us realize that we can’t believe everything that is taught to us, and the only real way to know your faith is to study the Bible. We need to question everything and make our faith our own, not simply believe what others tell us. If anything I would believe that we have complete free will to make the choices we want, but God always knows what we are going to do before we do it. We should simply live our lives to reach others, and let God worry about the rest. Because the one thing that I know for sure is that I don’t want the people I love to go to hell, and that God gives me the joy and strength that I have, and the fulfillment I get in everything I do.

Later Thursday afternoon I was introduced to a new feature of Joshua I was not aware of called sweeping: Student Work Experience Excellence Program; we get to work under someone in camp as an apprenticeship for a month and learn something and help out around the camp. For example you could work in the auto-shop one month or the kitchen and learn how it runs. I worked in the Joshua Kitchen, however was not busy long and went into main camp to help with the activities going on this weekend. We also had our Pause Families again who cooked us pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was an awesome time to relax and hang out with my pause brothers and sisters from Joshua as well as get to know the family a little better.

Friday-
After having another Elements of Bible study class all of the Joshua Students went into the Hume main camp to help turn it over for the weekend women’s conference. I got to work High adventure this weekend again! Definitely one of my favorite Jobs. We practiced on the ropes course to get ready for the women’s session on Saturday, also helping Jordan Sonerholm(the guys in charge of High Adventure and similar activities) with a few projects. After work, Jordan took us bouldering down by quail flats. We hiked around and found many different places to climb; we even saw some old Indian paintings that the elements haven’t washed away. All in all, a pretty awesome day.

Saturday-
After arriving at high adventure at 8 and practicing a little more, Jordan took us out to the snowboard run to trim trees and get ready for winter, I was just happy to use a chainsaw again. We had our first women’s session for High Adventure after lunch, it was run completely by the Joshua students, and I thought we did an excellent job. Afterward the majority of us went to the snowboard run to finish up what work we could before we called it a night. Saturday night was busy for Hume Lake; many people were here for Paul’s wedding(One of the cooks at Joshua, who i've known for a few yaers). We played soccer at the ark with all the previous Joshua students, and had a good time with our community.

Sunday-
We finished up work with Jordan, completing the small tasks he had lined out for us. After lunch he let us off to go to Paul’s wedding. It was a good time full of tears and laughter, watching our friend get married to his first love. The Joshua students weren’t allowed to eat at the reception because he wasn’t sure if he would have enough food for all of us. So instead I and two other guys took our trucks off-roading up in the mountains by Wildwood- one of the things I’ve wanted to do since I got here. We finally made it back to the reception, just in time to see Paul and Sarah Dixon’s first dance. After the reception we went to the Ark for another fun night of soccer and community. After soccer, most of the Joshua guys went up to Inspiration point to cook the fish they caught earlier that day, and have a good time with just the guys.

Its been a busy week!

Well this week has been full of awesome new and exciting things. The Hume lake community has been great to us, I feel like I belong here already.
During the 9 month portion of Joshua we have "pause parents." A family that works or lives up here adopts us and every thursday or so we get to go over to there house, eat, talk and relax. My pause family has an 8 year old son, a 17 year old son and a 21 year old daughter. The dad, Andy Mathers is in charge of ponderosa dining. so that means more food for me!!!! =]

We have a new speaker this week name Rob Williams (funny enough) he is pretty funny too. He is an awesome guy, and he loves to hang out with all the students and his son Grant. But he has been speaking on how we need to spend time with God, and not just go about doing work for him. He had a great analogy of a dad and son; if the son is always working for the dad, the dad doesnt get what he wants most: to spend time with his son. I really took this to heart and am trying to focus more on a relationship, rather than study time with God.

This week was a week of firsts:
We had our first rain today!
We had our first essay: an in depth bible study of the story of Jonah(very exciting...)
and also our first theme dinner!!!
the theme was Mulan, and all the guys dressed up as ninjas( because thats all we had) and the girls as gaeshas. The guys hid around the building and snuck into the dining hall and had a huge battle. Just about the most fun thing ever.
One of the guys also dressed up as the sacrificial panda(with the Gants panda hat)and we ran around Hume Lake as ninjas chasing the panda, inticing screams from the Junior Highers on a retreat.

Its been a pretty fun week, hopefully I'll get better at posting more frequently so its not so long.

But my 15 minutes on the computer are up!
We have been learning so much on discipline. We are given time limits on just about everything, and we cant be late for anything. Its a great learning experience.

Oh yeah! I forgot to add we had our first life skills class. We got to learn self defense and the basics of art! woohoo!!

Until Next time!
For His glory.
-Eric