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