Benediction

Today was our last day at Palm Valley Church. =^(

I think that the reality that we are leaving Phoenix in a few days is finally starting to hit me, and it definitely made it hard to get through all of the good bye's today without bawling my eyeballs out in front of people. While I hate saying good bye and I'm sad to go, I think God really spoke to me through the services and my quiet time today, and I am feeling a bit more at peace.

This morning's sermon at church was about our Unstoppable Savior. One of the associate pastors spoke this morning. His name is Mark Olmos, and he happens to have done a lot of mission work with people in Japan. Coincidence that he would be speaking on our final Sunday? I don't think so. ANYWAY, he talked about how it's a fact that Jesus died and rose again, and how the power of the one who conquered the grave lives in us so we are an unstoppable force here on earth. It was a very motivational sermon, and got us all excited about going out into new territory and doing big things for God!

After church, we attended our last big youth mentor meeting and said good bye to our friends from the youth ministry. I had a hard time swallowing my tears as we all talked about the incredible things God has done through us this year, and talking about all that He has in store for our students in the future. I'm so sad we're going to miss out on all that they have planned! But everyone was so encouraging and, although I know that what we did here at Palm Valley was not for our glory, it's nice to hear people say how much we will be missed.

On the way home from the meeting, I was really struggling to keep my composure. I knew that we have so much work to do tonight to get ready for the move, but I felt that I really needed something to help keep my mind focused on the good rather than the bad side of this move. So I popped in the final DVD session of the Bible Study I've been working through by Beth Moore called The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the study that my women's small group chose to do this semester, and it has been SUCH a blessing to really dig in to what God has to say about his promises in the midst of traveling and trials. Because it was the final session of the 10 week study, Beth immediately jumped in and started talking about how much she hates good bye's, and why we all hate endings. Incredible how God can use something random like this to speak directly to you, huh? The topic of the session was how God will eventually tie everything up nicely at the end of time, but until then he is more interested in tying things together. Well, I wrote down what she said after that and am keeping it as a talisman against my sadness, and to help me get through the next few weeks as we leave the familiar and go where God's leading us.

"Any time He brings us to the end of anything, it's because there is a new beginning."

Now it's time to go and pack everything up, leave my home and my friends and everything familiar and head out to the land that God has shown us. I am confident that He will bless us there, but have no idea what that blessing will be. I'm glad those of you who read my blogs will be able to join me on this journey!

Please pray for us as we're traveling - that He would keep us healthy and safe and that we would keep a good attitude while we are trying to get established over there. I want this to be a good experience but, like Beth Moore, I hate saying good bye and enjoy being comfortable and know that I will struggle very much to stay positive when the homesickness inevitably sets in. Also pray that he will lead us into good Christian fellowship so that I can establish a good support group before James deploys in May. So much is changing and big things are on the horizon!

Good Bye Party

Well, we've come to our final week in Phoenix! How crazy is that?? It seems like just yesterday that we were settling into our new house and I was telling you all about how excited I am to have a Chipotle AND an In-N-Out AND a Target nearby. Now it's time to pack up and move on.

Since so many of our friends are getting ready to leave at the same time, we decided to throw one big joint good bye party at a local coffee house/bar called Ground Control. It's one of our favorite hang-outs because it has a fun atmosphere with really great food and drinks, AND it's owned by an AF guy so the pilots feel right at home. (The name was specifically chosen because it brings both airplanes and coffee grounds to mind. ;^)

It was a really laid back night. In a lot of ways it seemed like just another night with our friends rather than a farewell celebration. Many of our AF friends, as well as a few people from church, came out and we spent the night talking and laughing together. I took a couple of pictures but honestly, it was more about just spending some quality time relaxing with people we care about.

As we drove away I realized that the fact that we aren't going to see most of those people again for a really long time hadn't hit me yet. We said good bye without any tears, and left without really feeling sad. I suppose that's a good thing, because now I can look back on last night with nothing but happy feelings.

Youth Preview Service

Right now our church here in Phoenix is getting ready to move from their rented space at a local high school into their own building. It's been really exciting watching the whole process unfold, and we are very sad that we won't be there to see the grand opening in May. However, we did get a taste of some of the awesome things they will be able to do there last weekend.

One of the big changes they will make is having one big youth service on Sunday nights in the main auditorium, instead of having four Sunday school classes throughout the weekend. That way we can have all of the junior and senior high school students together all at once, and focus on having one incredible service instead of stretching our resources out over four smaller services. The leadership recognized that this will be a big departure from what the church members have been used to, and so they decided to give the students and their families a preview of what the big youth service will be like.

We invited the students to show up to the church an hour early, and set out a bunch of free pizza and games to help entertain them and their guests (we had 31 new students that week!!) There was also a big white wall set up where we asked them to write down what holds them back from telling their friends about Christ. James and I helped check people in so we could keep track of how many people attended. There were SO MANY students, and it was exciting to help greet the new people and welcome them to our church.

When the service began, different youth mentors and volunteers helped lead some fun and crazy games that related in some small way to the night's message. Then our worship band rocked the house with some very loud but moving music. Because the service was held in the big auditorium the tech people got to go crazy with the different colored lights so it was quite an experience!!

Then, right before the main message was delivered, the Jr. High pastor got up there and talked about how we need to ask God to help us break down the walls that prevent us from sharing our faith with others. As he was talking, two people brought out the big wall with all of the writing on it. Then at the end he got out a giant hammer and punched some holes in the wall, and finally knocked it down.

After our youth pastor Darius gave his sermon about how important it is to be going out and fulfilling our purpose in life which is to help people come to know Christ, he asked anyone who wanted to commit their lives to Christ (or recommit, as the case may be) to come forward on their knees and pray silently as some music played. It was by far the most moving part of the service as dozens if not hundreds of students silently walked forward and got down on their knees and committed themselves to living as they have been called. There were very few dry eyes in the house as Darius walked out and prayed over them and blessed them.

Clearly, it made an impact on the students because there were a lot of new faces in the crowd this morning at youth group. These kids are beginning to step out boldly and invite their friends to church, and lives are beginning to change! I am so excited for all that God has in store for the church when they move into their new building. I am confident that they will need the extra space for all of the new people that will come there seeking God, and I am also confident that this is a church where they are sure to find Him. =^)

Operation Write Home

Right now the youth group at church is doing a series called "The Biggest Loser" (playing off of the title of the popular reality TV show) centered around the idea behind Luke 9:24:

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

We've talked about giving of your time, money, and talents, and then planned fun service projects for our small groups to do while the kids are on spring break this week. Darius asked us as youth mentors to think about a cause that means something to us as we were brainstorming ideas. Since James is in the military, we looked for things that might benefit the troops, and help us share a little more of our lives with the kids. I had seen something a while ago about an organization that collects hand-made cards for troops who are deployed over in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since several of our kids are pretty creative, I thought that would be a good option.

After a bit of research, I found the website for Operation Write Home, which is exactly what I had in mind. As they explain on the website, soldiers serving in the middle east are often away from home for months if not years at a time, which means they miss out on a lot of holidays and important parts of their families' lives. They would love to send greeting cards to help celebrate, but there is no such thing as a Hallmark store in the desert! So, volunteers make beautiful, blank holiday cards and send them to the people at Operation Write Home, who organize them and ship them to their military contacts for distribution. They strongly encourage schools and girl/boy scout troops to participate, so I figure this would be perfect!

We collected all kinds of decorative papers, stickers, ribbons, and other art supplies and got together at our normal time to make as many cards as we could. Some of the boys were not very excited about having "arts and crafts" time at small group, but still made some nice cards. The girls really got into it though, and by the end of the hour and a half meeting we had a stack of 35 unique artistic creations! Below are a few of my favorites...

Friendship Photo Shoot

Since we are going to be moving in a couple of weeks, I've been trying my best to connect with all of our friends and find ways to meet up and make a few more memories before we go. We've gone out to dinner, had game nights, and seen movies with people from the squadron and church - but a few of the people I care most about are the girls from my small group. SO, I decided to take them out for a complimentary photo shoot yesterday morning - both as a fun bonding experience, and as a means for creating a special good-bye gift for each of them. Now we'll always be able to look back and remember each other!

Each of the girls are special in their own way, and I hope I was able to capture a bit of that in their group and individual portraits. Paige and Haley Prielipp are both awesome girls. Paige is in 9th grade and attended our small group to support her friends even though her dad hosted another one at their house the night before. She is one of the most spiritually mature young women I've ever met, with that special "it" factor that draws everyone to her. Her younger sister Haley has come to some of our social events and helped me out with my David and Goliath video back in November. She has a big personality and heart just like her sister, but has a bit more carefree spunk, which makes her a lot of fun to be around. I am positive God has big things in store for the two of them.

Carly Starr was the host of our small group last semester. She and Paige are best friends and pretty much inseparable. She is also very spiritually mature and is completely dedicated to her faith. I've been very impressed with the way she has taken each Sunday's challenge to heart, and continues to stand up for her beliefs at school. She can be a bit audacious, though, and is very into finding unique methods of self-expression. So I tried to give her some more edgy and "artsy" shots to display on her facebook profile. B^)

Sarah Williamson is the dark-horse of the group, and a girl that is very close to my heart because she reminds me of myself when I was that age. She is very sweet and has a rare sensitivity to the needs and desires of those around her. Every week her prayer requests are for others - and not only for their physical and temporal needs, but their spiritual well-being as well. While she is athletic, smart, and has a great sense of humor, she is also pretty shy and soft-spoken so she sometimes gets lost in the crowd. But I think that the friendship she's forged with Paige and Carly through small group has opened some doors for her, and I hope she'll continue to grow and progress in her involvement at church. I'm excited to hear about what she does in her future!

I'll have a few more opportunities to hang out with them before we go. I'm having breakfast with them on Saturday morning, as a part of our discipleship stuff, and then Paige and Haley's parents have invited James, myself, Carly and Sarah over for dinner the night before we leave town. It will be very hard to say good bye, but at least I have some pictures to look at and remember them by. I'm also going to try really hard to keep in touch with them through email and facebook so we can continue pouring into each other's spiritual growth. =^)

(There are plenty more pictures from our shoot on my photography blog. =^)

Spring Training

One of the things James has been looking forward to most about living in Phoenix is getting to watch some baseball. Several of the major league baseball teams (including his favorite - the LA Dodgers) have their spring training facilities here in Arizona and so, every March, people get to go out and watch their practice games at a discounted price.

Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers were playing the Texas Rangers (which is our good friend Caleb Cienski's favorite team) and so we got a bunch of our friends together and spent the afternoon at the ballpark. The guys sat in one row and talked about sports, flying and all other manner of manly things, while their wives sat behind them, chatting about things unrelated to baseball, and sunning themselves. B^)

It was a lot of fun, and half of us were very excited when the Dodgers won at the end. I was just glad that James got to see his team play one more time before we move over seas. I know it was special for him to share his favorite past time with some of his best friends.

Boxes Away!!

Well, our first shipment of household goods is on its way to Japan!

We spent a lot of time last week trying to figure out what we will need immediately upon our arrival in Japan, since all of the stuff that is going to be sent over in our big move may not arrive until 6-8 weeks after we do. =^/ We put together quite an inventory of "necessary items" like dishes, bedding, towels, cold weather clothes, and exercise equipment. We also included my old laptop so I will be able to use Skype to talk to family after James leaves for Korea (as it is likely he will deploy before our stuff arrives, and he will need to take his laptop with him). Finally, we threw in some things to keep us entertained for several weeks, like books, movies, and board games.

We piled it all up in the living room on Thursday night, and sure enough - early Friday morning two movers showed up and boxed it all up for us. On the one hand, it was kind of exciting to finally be entering the moving process. However, it was also a little scary because it made everything real. I had a moment right before they loaded our two containers onto the moving truck where I panicked and realized that our stuff is really being shipped to Japan, and if I want to see it again, I'm really going to have to go too. =^O

Ah well, time to suck it up and get ready for the adventure of our lifetime!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

A couple of months ago, my mother-in-law sent me a book with a very strange title in the mail, and attached a small note saying to read it and pass it on. I noticed that on the back of the cover page, she and my sister-in-law Claire had signed it with rave reviews. It seemed like a fun idea to pass a book from woman-to-woman and keep a record of all who loved it, so as soon as I finished the other 3 books I had already started, I picked it up.

I'm happy to report that I couldn't put it back down, and only consented to do so when I really had to... but soon rushed back to hear more about the endearing people and places within its pages and, generally, to figure out how it would end!

Here's a synopsis, for those who are curious about this unusually-titled book:

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends --- and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society --- born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island --- boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Juliet is a fabulous protagonist - funny, creative, impulsive, honest and willful to a fault, and full of gumption! She reminds me a bit of some of my favorite female literary characters - Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice, and Jo March of Little Women. I suppose I also see a bit of myself in her, as a young woman with big dreams who can't quite seem to figure out how to channel her creative energy into something productive. I think anyone who is a lover of literature will thoroughly enjoy this book, as it's highly diverse cast of characters will make you laugh, cry, and start to think about how your favorite stories have impacted your life.

I won't say more than that - just read it and tell me if you liked it. I'd love to gush with you through our own literary correspondence!!

Star-Studded Party and Oscar Dreams

Last Sunday night, in honor of the Academy Awards, James and I threw a little Oscar party at our house. We invited several of our friends to come over, eat, and watch with us. I don't think many of our friends really care about award shows like I do, but they humored me and sat through all four hours of star-studded drama. Some of them even dressed up for the occasion! We had fun keeping score between the heavy contenders, commenting on people's terrible fashion sense, and laughing at the antics of co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. By far the best part of the night was the impressive spread of food we collected. Amazingly, it was almost all gone by the end of the night (and there were only 8 of us!)

One bitter sweet moment was when Katherine Bigelow, the driving-force behind The Hurt Locker, won the award for Best Director. It was a really big deal because no woman had ever won for Best Director - so she'll go down in the record books as the first. I was a little bummed out after that because that was my big dream all through high school and college. I told anyone who would listen how I wanted to become the first woman to win the Academy Award for best director, and how I'd revolutionize the process for making film adaptations, and inspire the world with my work... High aspirations indeed. I'm not really sad that I'm not out in Hollywood trying desperately to find work like some of my college friends... I'm enjoying life right now. But it does kind of make me sad to know that, if I ever do find my way into the movie industry, that particular dream is no longer achievable. Oh well, life goes on...