end of an era

two fridays ago i had exactly a week to get done an ammount of work which i could fill a month completing. i started working in the lab at chatt state and found that all the labs were locked for the weeked at 6. fantastic. my computer cant do these projenks start to finish, so i needed another. where do it turn? i went to covenant. on covenants campus are two MACs- both down in that infamous yearbook room that the wallballers camped out in for a month at the end of last semester. so, i loaded up the truck and i moved to ... er... the cave. ive been here for 9 days now. i got all the work done that was due on thursday and friday and now im finishing up the very last of it for monday night. the supreme irony of this whole situation is that i left the rolling grassy knolls of covenant college for the shabby community school just because i wanted to study design. so, here i am at the end of the semester needing to have access to the great facilities (seriously, they are really good) with which chatt state dragged me off the mountain, and they are quite literally under lock and key.

nine days of hard work and living off of ramen and food smuggled out of the great hall come to an end tomorrow afternoon. its been a blast. its been stressful beyond belief. but, its been good.

back to the real world...

long time coming

its been over a month since my last post. i figure its high time i did something about that. ive been very busy with school and work, but some things have happened. two weeks ago we had a friend from Nigeria come stay with us for a week and a half. that was good. his name is Gideon, and he is very encouraging and good to have around. its a bit strange, though, because i find myself speaking in a very deliberate way towards him, trying to weed out my American slang that he would find difficult to understand... after speaking like this for a few hours i was talking to everyone like that. Gideon was very encouraging to me and kept telling me how God had great plans in my life. im started to believe him.
in other news, i am very busy at Chatt State. i am taking 16 hours, including Production Art, Advertising Concepts, Intro to MAC Design, Illustration I, and Ceramics II. the last is modef my favorite. i spend between 6 and 10 hours a week working in the ceramics studio. i absolutely love it. its such a relief for me to make things with my hands after sitting in front of a computer for hours working on building some business card. its not that i dont enjoy my other classes- i really do. i just need to work with my hands. its the way God made me, i guess.
i started working at a company here in chattanooga as an intern- one of four. the company, named Sulzer, is one of the worlds leading producers of huge water pumps used to supply nuclear power plants with water. they build these pumps and supply plants all over north america and a few in central and south america. why am i there? they have 40+ years of paperwork sitting around in boxes and filing cabinets with varying degrees of organization. it is my job to organize all this paper, get it digitized and archived in multiple places with backups, and set up the finished product to be shredded. its a massive task. there are four of us working total 60+ hours a week (thats all of our hours put together) and we're projecting running into the summer with this. buts, thats good because i get $13/hr, and i get to listen to music and books on tape since it is such mind-numbing work. so, i sit there and download harry potter books (yeah, that right... i finally gave in and now im completely hooked) and shuffle papers for hours at a time. its great. sort of.
finally, Thanksgiving is coming up. i am very pleased with thins for a few reasons. the first is that i have off of school for a little bit. its not much, but every bit helps. the second reason is that ms Kinsey Nicole (thats her-->) has off of school too. its going to be nice to see her. third is food, and fourth is more food. i guess fifth through eighth would be sleeping.
so, theres a post. i hope you're happy, domekia.

heres another pic of the most recent steere family get together. the two non-steeres are (on the left in green) brotherdan's lady Jennifer Daniel. on the right (in green) is my lady, Kinsey Bolinger. well, i tried to put another picture up so it wouldnt look so obvious that i just wanted to post one of kinsey, but i think that it had the opposite effect, since she is now in the same blog post twice. sorry, kin. i couldnt help myself.

sitar

for the last few years i have been mildly interested in indian music, sitar specifically. j.fox got me into christian indian music like aadadhna. its an instrument which is complicated and difficult to get a hold of. sitar players study for the whole lives- its not a hobby... its a lifestyle. less than a week ago, i spoke to a number of people on how much i would like to learn sitar. last night i went over to a friends house who had lived and worked in India as a missionary. we were going to dread some hair. i walk in and the room is packed with different kinds of musical instruments- and sure enough, leaning against the piano, was a sitar.

i just about poo'd my pants. i played it for a while and asked a bunch of questions and she offered to let me borrow it. are you sure? i asked. she said yes. heck yes. so, here i am trying to figure out how to restring it with guitar strings when the neck is 1 1/2 the length of a guitar neck. also, there isnt really a standardized tuning for the instrument- its all relative to who is playing, what they are playing, and what other instruments are being played with. im trying to use the ravi shankar tuning. its simple. its the most lovely and fascinating instrument. im really glad to have it for a little while. i wont get anywhere, but thats ok. its fun to just fool around on.

i feel like im losing my mind

im in athens. i cant find my wallet. i do this often. its frustrating some times.

king of the scavengers

so a few weeks ago i saw a film with some friends from CovCol. when meeting a few new students, a good friend of mine introduced me as the "king of the scavengers." i thought this title was humorous at best, true at the worst. it turns out that is closer to true than even i realized. after lunch today, Brian and i went to the cocacola bottling plant. we have driven past the plant several times a week for the last few months. we had been talking for weeks about going by, beacuse, in our minds, they should have free cokes on hand. the plan was that we would walk up to the front desk, ask for a free coke, and if denied, we would tell them that pepsi gave out free cokes, in the hopes that they would fork over the goods just to keep two customers.
so, we walked in. there was a reception desk with a coke fridge behind filled with coke products. we walked up to the reception window on the side of the room and asked who we could see about getting some coke. "what for?" the lady asked. "research" i said. she gave us a number of a woman to contact. after she handed us the sticky, i asked her about the cokes in the cooler behind us. "what about those? can we have one?" "sure" she said. "really?" we asked in disbelief. "sure" she repeated. so, we walked behind the desk, opened the fridge, and grabbed a few cokes (in glass bottles... they somehow taste better). we walked out as kings. it made an otherwise borning and somewhat frustrating day one that would stand out in my mind as a victorious day. today i was the king of the scavengers.

at the bottom of everything

this song makes me happy. it has consistently for the last few days. the music video means much less than the song- the way Oberst brings life to words and doodles pictures in my head makes me want to scribble dreams down on napkins and lay on my back in a cornfield. anyway, this song never fails to make me, quite literally, laugh for no reason. it makes me happy just because.


death will give us back to God just like the setting sun

out looking for inspiration

i am always out looking for inspiration. here is some of what i found today:




"Images help me find and realise ideas. I look at hundreds of very different, contrasting images and I pinch details from them, rather like people who eat from other people’s plates."
- Francis Bacon

BIBLIODYSSEY

artists, archivers, collectors, collagers, Howards, all curious peoples, click here.
bibliodyssey is a collection of the strange, forgotten, and ancient prints, publications, illustrations, drafts, and sketches found in archives all over the world. it's materia obscura at its finest.

Petition to Covenant Administration

dozens upon dozens of Covenant alum have been posting about the schools recent change in policy toward the oversight of the student newspaper, The Bagpipe. a petition to president nielson was drafted and is being signed. i signed it. if you are concerned with freedom of the press, academic freedom, and institutional trust within the Christian community of Covenant College, then i would recommend that you sign this document as well. the petition is specifically from alum and current students of the college. in order to sign it, you must log in, using the password "freedom" and click on "edit post" at the top of the next page. scroll down and add your name, graduation year, and email address (not using the "@" symbol) to the list. im not sure what, if any, affect this will have on the administrations decision regarding the oversight of The Bagpipe, but it sure is a lot more productive than bemoaning the current state of our institution.

sign of the times?

i went to Covenant College for two years. i loved it. im hoping to return some day. all three of my siblings went to Covenant. i have spent a lot of time and my family has spent a lot of money there. i for one, though grateful for the education i received there and extremely appreciative of the unique Christian community found there, am afraid for the future of the school. the administration seems, on the whole, to be much more concerned with appearances than with the heart- more concerned with quantity than they are with quality.
in a recent move, the CC administration has, in affect, taken creative control of the student-run publication on campus, The Bagpipe. this move more than hints at the growing obsession of the administration to control the image of the school by controlling the students.

"Covenant College is Dying"

long overdue part deux

so here i was at the end of an amazing summer at Ridge Haven. what was i to do? all the other counselors had returned home and/or to school, but i didnt want to go back to chattanooga just yet. dont get me wrong, i love home and my family and i missed everyone and my city, but i just wanted the squeeze as much as i could out of my time away this summer. so, i went on the appalachian trail. this wasnt as spontaneous as i make it sound- i hade been planning on it for several weeks. daddy b, the ministry director at RH, is an AT enthusiast. he lead the trip which included two counselors, meghan and myself, as well as the assistant ministry directors, andrew and laura kate lupton. we did about a 30 mile horseshoe-shaped section of the trail up albert mountain, and ending on the other side of standing indian mountain. we did it in two and a half days. it was a wonderful experience- we saw bears (i didnt... others did) and slept in shelters and had trail names for the log books and all that good stuff. for me, it was an excellent ending to my Ridge Haven experience this summer.
after we got back, i quite literally sat around for the rest of the week. i went into asheville on friday and on a whim called drew belz to see if he wanted to have lunch. he did. we talked for a few hours and i was invited to go camping that night with im and a few other ashevillians, including b.gill and jim-boy harrison. we hiked out into lineville gorge by torchlight- indiana jones style. upon reaching the summit we were to climb and camp on, we dropped out gear and hiked down the ridge to this massive swimming hole complete with natural waterslide and a 30 foot jump. we swam for a while, then hiked back up to our stuff. from there we proceeded to climb a rock outcropping in the middle of the lineville gorge named babel tower. the name fits. its about 400 ft. we hiked/climbed it and slept out under the stars that night. there was a meteor shower. we saw some of it before drifting off. the next morning i woke up and climbed up on a rock to pray and start my day, and when i returned to the camp spot there was one mean looking yellow and black rattler shaking his tail at me. i'd say it was between 3 and 3.5 feet in length and about 4 to 4.5 inches in diameter in its thickest spot. and, on top of that (quite literally) was james harrison sleeping in his hammock about three feet above this sucker. james woke up and yelled at him not to move. i was about 15 feet from the snake, so i bent down slowly and found a stone and hurled it at the rattler. i hit it in the head. he crawled off under a rock and we made little time in packing up and having breakfast elsewhere.this is what i saw when i woke up on top of babel tower. from left to right, the four peaks are sitting bear, hawks bill, table mountain (dead center), and laurel knob

the AT and my babel tower adventure was a perfect way to end my North Carolina summer. now that its over i wish i could go back and redo it all. but, school starts on monday, and im excited about my classes. its good to be home with good friends in my own city and my own bed and with my mom. dad is still in Ghana. he should be home next weekend. anyways, i guess this post brings an end to my summer blogging. the posts will probably be fewer now- just when something memorable or funny or important happens. anyways, thanks everyone for reading. stay classy.

long overdue (2/3)

well, its been just packed these last three weeks. after my previous post, i was in senior high camp for a week. i had seven guys- five from IN, three from FL. it was a good week- my first with a group of campers closer to me in age. it was nice to not have to dumb things down and wonder whether or not basic words i was using made sense to them. it was a very different kind of camp, though. we had alot of free time. we split up and had options as far as what we did for morning activities. i went where i had the most guys. also, the meetings were different. we werent in shepherds hall like they had been the whole summer- they were in robeson hall. and, we werent leading worship. the evening guest speaker brought in his own praise team. they were a worship team lead by a christian hip hop artist. it was a dry week for me in worship. none of the songs that had grown to mean so much all summer were played. the tunes that were played were void of content and repeated sometimes 2 or 3 times in one day. the messages were great, and guest speaker chuck ryor hit the 5 points right on the head.
something funny happened on tuesday of this week. i keep a sewing needle on the outside of my pack weaved into one of the outside folds (the reason for that location is so i know where its at whenever i need it to mend my chacos or when mikey rips a giant hole in the butt of his only swimming shorts). in the morning meeting on tuesday i sat down in my seat, and lifted my pack and set it down in between my legs. i felt something scrape my calf. i look down and see it was the needle. i thought it was just a scratch, so i grabbed the needle to weave it back in its place, and it wouldnt go in. there were two dull ends. it took me a second to figure it out, but the needle was about 4 to 5 mm shorter as well.
you guessed it. it went into my leg.
i immediately went to the camp nurse, Dr. Powell, with my unique injury. we dug and dug and picked at the wound for over an hour, even making an additional incision with a razor blade to open up the skin above the needle. (oh yeah, no pain killer) it was no use. we bandaged it up and did our best to keep it from getting infected. it didnt get infected. the prosaic ending to this odd tale is that its still in my right calf, just on the inside of my leg directly under my knee. i guess my body blocked it off and my immune system kept it from doing any more damage. i was fully expecting to have to spend my weekend in the hospital trying to get it out. the wound healed and, if you like, when i see any of you, you can feel it under my skin. eww. gross.
also on tuesday i lost a several hundred dollar walkie talkie, puked up two chili dogs and a bag of fritos after an aggressive game of british bulldog, and lost a few straggling campers on a hike. despite all this, the Lord kept me from getting discouraged. at the end of the day i just told my floor-mate / prayer partner kieth "wow. what a weird day. i guess i'll give it another shot tomorrow." the Lord really game me strength that week.
on another note, the big senior high week was stash week. the beard i had been grooming all summer was minimized to a thick handlebar stash that connected at the points of my chin to some thin but long chinstrap sideburns that ran the length of my jawline. it was intended to look sketchy, but it actually turned out to look ok on me. i kept it for an extra week.
i made a few new friends senior high week. i had good guys, and some of them are interested in coming to RH next summer to be a CSI (Camp Service Intern). it was a good last week as a counselor at RH. or... at least, so i thought.
i was expecting my last week to be a cake walk- its Covenant Family Week. the kiddies stay with mommy and daddy and all we do it babysit them for a little while, and then run the ropes course or tubing or climbing wall. as it turns out, thats what most people did. but, a fraction of us counselors were chosen to be teachers for the week. teaching? seriously? my cake walk week turned out to be a full-blown VBS-type week. it was myself and Brynna in charge of the 7-8 yr olds. Trey and Abigail were in charge of the 5-6 yr olds. we created this massive secret agent story and system of activities and teaching. the kids all had to go through an "obstacle course" the first night as the start of their training for the week. once they completed this, they became Beginning Agents In Training (BAITs) and got their secret i.d. (it was a series of numbers and letters written on the inside of their left middle finger. it was kept hidden and secret from all others not of secret agent status, with the exception of parents and maybe siblings) i was AT88 (points to anyone who knows where thats from). Brynna was B12. i liked that one. it was funny.
so, all week long, we snuck around with these little kids "training" them in the art of espeonage, how to spell espionage, keeping themselves alive in the dangerous tricky world of being a secret agent, and many lessons from past agents like the mother of Moses, and Joshua, Ester, and Daniel, to name a few. this was all a marvelous thing that we got to do with them, creating i.d. cards and using clothes line pins as trackers and going on recon missions to find so-and-sos parents who are late to pick her up from the morning lesson. this is what we did in the morning and in the evening. in the afternoon we had to lead tubing trips or teach archery or help families through the low ropes courses. these things would not normally bother me, but this week it was impossible to plan for our next meeting and make ready our activities when the only free time we had was between 11 pm and whenever we could go to bed. oh, by the way, after the evening meeting, we all had a big group activity till pretty late. but, thats an aside. the finaly for the week was the head agent, "Z," contacting the BAITs to tell them that i, agent Scotch, had been captured by the Soviet Ninjas. yes, thats right, the Soviet Ninjas. they're dangerous and socialists and skilled in the art of fighting with a katana and blending in very well with their surroundings.
so, friday afternoon, i donned the darth vader mask and voice modifier and filmed myself as "Z" in a dark room. i told the FAITs (they had previously graduated to Field Agents In Training) what had happened to Scotch. i played some tape from a "security camera" of me sitting on the porch reading, when a masked figure dropped from the rafters above and puts me in a sleeper hold, knocks me out, and drags me off screen. it was up the the kids to find me and rescue me and detain the soviet ninja. they were armed with clothes line pins that would literally freeze whoever it was pinned to. they did this. they found me, captured the ninja, and completed the mission. i found out after i had been recovered that many of them were scared out of their wits by the video- dark creepy voiced figures and ninjas dropping from rafters hurting someone they know. looking back, i didnt make it with a "G" rating in mind. oh well. alls well that ends well. its actually good that some of them were scared. the ones that werent upset by the video consoled those who were and comforted them with the things that we learned in our Bible lessons that week. they encouraged them to save me because the things that God asked Joshua and Daniel were hard, but they did it because the loved God. and, since they love agent Scotch, they had to help save him. it was really touching. it was so worth it because the kids actually learned the lessons we taught them.
and so, camp came to an end that Friday. we cleaned up things around camp, and i wend to Asheville to pick up the counselor t-shirts that i designed. traffic was terrible. i lost 5 pounds between Brevard and Asheville because it was so dadgum hot and i was sitting on the interstate moving a foot every ten minutes. buts its all ok. i got back and we had the first annual counselor reunion weekend, which turned out to be just 2/3 of this summers counselors and no one from previous summers. its ok, though. it will pick up in the years to come. that night we went back to Dales (where we have eaten and worshipped every sunday night for the last month) and had pizza. people started trickling out saturday and sunday. it was a bittersweet time for me. it was the end of a long summer of sweet and incomparable fellowship, but the start of a new fall at a new school and an eventual return to chattanooga, my beloved hometown. but, on saturday, it would take me still some time to get home. had a few more adventures ahead of me.
those are two of the last three weeks. more later. oh yeah- cliffhanger.

ridge haven counselors summer 2007. i love them and miss them already.

the silence is broken

two weeks without blogging. sorry. i have not had much time. but, i have a little now, and i have my grilled cheese and my cherry coke, so here goes nothing...

two weeks ago was MTW week. the M.T. Dubbs are the missionaries coming back into Amerika from overseas and they swing through RH for the debrief. we take care of their kids and also facilitate many of the activities, like high ropes and climbing wall and such. its a really different week than what we are used to- but in a good way. most of the counselors had the evenings free (though we were technically "on call" 24/7) and so we just hung out. we watched alot of office, did a giant puzzle, stayed up late, and watched all 6 star wars movies in 5 days. yes. it was epic in every sense. as soon as the title page came on we all went nuts screaming and hollering and we read the beginning scrolling part at the top of our lungs. it was thoroughly enjoyable.
another thing happened that week. at the end of the week, i checked my bank statement, and partly from my own fooling spending habits and through someone getting ahold of my check card online and stealing money from me, i was $200 in the hole. thats alot of money to me, especially considering that its 10% of the max amount of money i will be payed for my work here this summer. so, needless to say, i was concerned. but, as it timed out, i had a camp to be in the next week, so the Lord gave me a peace about it and i did what i could with the time and resources i had at the time. i told my leaders and the other counselors in the junior camp i was in last week and we prayed about it and my family and close friends were also praying for me. and, on top of this, my support has been looking rather thin this summer. i need to raise $1000 of my total salary for the summer, and last weekend i was just under $400, with just three weeks left in the summer. half way through the week my camp leader came up to me and handed me a check for my support. this is the guy i work under helping with support. it blew me away. then, this weekend i checked my bank statement and i was $20 in the positive. also, earlier in the week i was handed a $50 bill. Praise God for how He provides for His Covenant people! time and time again the Lord has provided many things for me this summer. if nothing else, what i will come away with at the end of this experience is a surety that all i have- from energy to patience to personality to time to money- everything i have has been graciously given to me from my Heavenly Father.
alright. so, i was in junior camp the week after the M T Dubbs. i was under wes and hope parsons again, and it was phantasmagoric. thats right. that just happened. this week i had six boys and we were down in the dungeon again (formerly the "crows nest"). man, these boys were a handful. somehow, in Gods providence, i always get those ones. i had one who was a food waster, one who was a genuinely oblivious to everything going on around him, one who had all the answers, one with a speech impediment and a penchant for all peanut butter all the time, and another who was the younger brother of my boss, andrew. it was a challenging week. wes and hope's philosophy of junior camp is that whatever you are doing, whether its an activity or cabin devotions, or crafts (blegh), or just walking from one thing to another, THAT thing is the MOST EXCITING THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE!! the reason behind this philosophy is that kids this age catch on to your moods so easily. they are shaped by their counselors attitudes. so, even if the activity sucks, if the counselors makes the very most of it, then its great to them. needless to say, this is extremely exhausting. but, wes and hope are good to their counselors and we got happy nappys several times throughout the week. anyway, bigfoot was back this week and so was Granddaddy's "Nature Anthem," which cannot be explained in words, other than to say that it unified the junior camp, and provided many an activity and a fun and catchy song to sing wherever we walked. also, it supposedly lured sasquatch out of the woods, and he came and danced for us on the last night.
the biggest thing that happened this week was that the crazy star wars enthusiasm which the counselors caught the week before came with us. we were star wars nuts all week. the kids caught on to it and we had light saber duels with flashlights and all the campers were "younglings" and any counselor whose name could be fit into a starwars name was called by that name. becca was chewbecca. mary jett was boba jett. (those two were my creations). mikey was mike windu. trey was trey-gone-gene. scott was obi-scott-kenobi. i, being prone to the dark side, was darth scotch. my master was emperor wespetine. when we played games we renamed them with some star wars name. and, of course, we played the most epic game ever, simply called: star wars. dark room. strobe lights. two teams. tin foil balls. whoever has the most loses. epic.
at the end of the week my parents came to Ridge Haven. it was such a blessing to see them and to be able to spend time with them. they came friday night and saw me in action when me and all my boys dressed up as a pack of Tuscan raiders for dinner and then a bunch of counselors got up and did the star warz rap. saturday mom and dad and i went to twin dragons, the nations largest chinese buffet, found right here in Brevard, NC. we stuffed ourselves and they sat there for an hour or so talking. it was so so good. it was such a respite for me to be able to see them and talk with them about whats on my mind and to let them see what the Lord has been doing in my life through this summer. we went to the antique store, after stalking the local legend "fannny pack boy" who power walks all helter skelter around Brevard with a fanny pack and discman, shredding some serious air guitar, lip sinking, kicking down imaginary doors with the jack Bauer B.A. kick of authority, and occationally doing a little two step at a pedestrian crossing- all while balancing the discman in one hand in front of him and pumping something fantastically inspirational into his head through those old school head phones. yeah. fanny pack boy is one of my favorite characters. anyways, mom and dad and i went to asheville and swung by greenlife for some dread soap and hippie food, and strutted on over to Shindig on the Green, a massive bluegrass hootenanny. it was alot of fun. at said festival, i ran into none other than snake bite mike and his roomy danny mcpickles. they said james harrison has a bonfire at his sweet pad up in the mountains, so we headed over there. we snuck up on the party through the woods and literally made out entrance from under a snack table. no one saw it. all of the stealth was for naught. but, jonathan cate was there and peter griff was there and alex was there and a few other soon-to-be CovCol peeps. it was sweet fellowship. we sat around the fire till 2 talking and laughing and passing around a guitar. pickes house was good too. it was great to spend time with him and mike windu.
things to pray about this week:
- Praise that the Lord has provided funds for me. please pray that he would continue to, and that i would be satisfied with the portion which he has appointed.
- strength for me. its my last week of camp this summer. it has been exhausting and exhilerating. thats spelled wrong. i like it, though. the summer, not the misspelled word.
- wisdom for me. i am in senior high this week. i dont have time talk down to little kids. i can challenge these campers and expect some thought process to go into their answers. thats going to be difficult and equally challenging for me to engage them in this way.
- please pray for all the counselors here. this is a HUGE week. we have close to 200 campers coming.

anyways, ill try and upload some pictures from last week and this past weekend some time during this next week during a happy nappy or something. i love you all. thanks for the mail and the posts and for your thoughts and prayers. this ministry would fail if it werent for the people of God faithfully bringing it to Him in prayer.

black crows

40 junior kids + tubes + the french broad = 3 hr nap in the water

last week was the first ever Junior Great Adventure Week. my cabin was the black crows. we kicked butt. it was good, but very tiring. actually, nothing too significant happened... which was a little disconcerting. i fear that i have started relying on my own strength to make it through the week- kind of going through the motions. please pray that i would not become comfortable in my position here. i was under wes and hope parsons, and they are just great. it was a real pleasure to work with them. i got slimed, tossed in the pool, but avoided the pie. that last time i got pied i was wearing this sweet bandanna tobi sent me, and four weeks later, it still smells like sour milk. bummer. my boys were very hyper and it was difficult to get through to them. but, we had a lot of fun and we tried to learn about Jesus. i tried to teach them. despite my inadequesies (ie not being able to use the english language properly) the Lord got the gospel through to them. MTW has a retreat here this week and thats what ill be doing- helping out with that. i get a break from cabin life for a week... just in time too. i am getting weary. i appreciate the packages and letters from you all- kinsey, kyrie, sienner, maryann, tobi, mom and dad, krista and anna... its great. i really love getting mail. thank you all. ok. picture time.


building shelters with the boys. this one was alot bigger than what you see here- it would have fit all seven of us... and it had some serious blackberry patches right next door. location location location.

left to right: jake, wes, and lupton competing to break the camp record of 27 french toast sticks. lupton got 30.5 ... intense!

matt and ashton, two serious troublemakers

andrew lupton masquerading as an old man on July 4th. priceless.

more mudpit action. note the bag on the head. its essential.

breaking down camp out at the wilderness site. by the way, thats the pack i found at looking glass outfitters used for $60. retail, it is about $200. its an osprey pack. i like.

oh- ps- brooks and reeva got married. it was fantastic. yes, maryann, fantastic. me, dan sause, kieth, davis the carney, anna, and huh-lexis went to virginia to attend. crazy state. careful- speed limit enforced by aircraft.

gabe irby. not one of my campers, though. he and caleb were there. i grew up with these kids but havent seen them in over 10 years. its good to see how the Lord has brought them up to be good, Godly men.

a little tube tossing

another

coaching marshall on the bouldering wall

jr high great adventure

junior great adventure week

so this week i am a counselor in the first every junior great adventure. we will be tibing down the french broad, doing a little survival skills, and some other mild "adventurous" things. there is only so much you can do with kids this age. last week was good. the Lord blessed me with four boys who were believers. one of them was the son of John Linville, the man i lead worship with every day. JT is his name. he plays bass in the priase team, and it was a blast to have him for a week in my tent. i got very wet and very tired. GAW's are very different for regular camp. we walked miles and miles every day just to get to meals or meetings. it is a completely different pace, and i am still trying to put my finger on exactly how i feel about it. anyway, the Lord was good last week in revealing Himself to me in various ways, through His word and also through His creation. i am the leader of Cabin Black Crow this week, and i am very excited. i was a little bummed that i didnt get a senior high this week, but i trust that this is where the Lord wants me. more later.

Junior High Great Adventure Week

my assignment for this week is in Junior High great Adventure. we will be sleeping and living out in a tent camp site, cooking all our meals and walking everywhere we go. we will be doing more climbing wall, high ropes, rafting mountain biking,and orierentering. i cant spell that. its going to be a blast. i have four boy, and already know one of them well. he is the 13 year old bassist in the praise team. anyways, thats about to start. it should be a good week. thank you everyone for your prayers. oh- ps- mom and dad, my dreadlocks were very helpful in bridging a gap between myself and my african american campers last week. the Lord used my hair... man looks on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. also, dad, i preached alot last week. im a little bashful to say it, because my father is a 4th generation preacher, so im sure the 5th will land on me or my brother. ok. bye.

tough week

i really dont want to do this right now. its the last little bit of time i have with the other counselors before more kids show up tomorrow. but, it needs to be done.
this last week was difficult. i have talked to some of you about it already. i had a cabin of seven guys. three of them were fairly time consuming. one especially was difficult. for the sake of privacy, he will be called J. from day one J and i were battling for control of cabin devotion time. he was constantly talking and interrupting and drawing attention to himself. J is very self centered and manipulative and he doesnt follow rules, he is rebellious and disrespectful to authority and, to top it off, he is a whiner. so, needless to say, J was being corrected often during the week. things came to a head about midweek wednesday night when walking back to the cabin after playing red light green light. J had refused to play by the rules and was running around ruining the rules and playing his own game and inciting other campers into his rebellion. on the walk back i told him that the rules are there to make the game fair and orderly and fun for everyone. he stated rather matter-o-factly that he had plenty of fun breaking the rules, and he didnt care whether or not he ruined the game for others. he attempted to get some of the other guys in the cabin to agree with him that i, and ridge have, were far too strict and the camp generally sucked. no one would agree with him. he started sulking. one of the other boys informed me that another counselor had requested that we scare her cabin on the walk back, so we ran ahead to hide just off the road to jump out and scare the girls. J refused to come. once he caught up with us, he stood on the road right in front of us, giving away our hiding spot. we urged him to get off the road and get down, but he would budge. one of the other boys, D, took his arm to pull him towards us, and J pushed D. D punched J in the face. i broke it up, told the other boys to wait there for the girls, and J and i went on to the cabin.
the remainder of the walk J was crying and very angry and making threats against D and generally very upset. he thought that he was in trouble when he was the one who got punched. he had, by this time, developed a serious victim complex from being "picked on" by being corrected when he frequently broke rules. J wouldnt hear a word i said. he told me he didnt care what i said. we got back to the cabin and sat in the commons area to talk and he positioned himself with his back to me and fingers in his ears. i have never come into contact with someone so completely closed to anything other than himself. his pride was more hurt than his face. do him, this was a showdown with me about who was in charge. i called my camp leader, Christy, and she called my assistant ministry director, Andrew. andrew sat and talked with him while i was out of the room informing the other guy counselors in my building of the situation and praying about it with them. i came back into the room to see J on the couch pretending to sleep and andrew sitting in silence beside him. andrew and i stayed up with J till 1 telling the gospel. we laid into him with it. we went to ephesians and told him how he was dead in his sins apart from salvation in Christ. it was intense. these are serious understatements. we sent him to bed after that, and stayed up a little longer and prayed for him.
the next morning J acted like nothing had happened. if it were not for the night before, where i had seen him at his core, he might have fooled me like he probably does his teachers and family. his fake semi-concern with spiritual things and his suck-up good works for the rest of the week were just a sad reminder of his lack of Christ. during quiet time every morning J and i were in the Bible, and i was telling him the same things andrew and i told him that night. he was dead in his sin apart from Christ. he walked around and talked and did things, but he was dead. every day i laid into him with the gospel. this last week i preached the gospel to these boys over a dozen times. i never saw anything from J that lead me to believe that anything got through to him.
needless to say, it was a trying week. that was just one boy, and one event with one. i have several others who were closed to the Gospel. but, i had a few that new Christ, and they were a great encouragement to me. this last week the Lord was faithful in that, for every difficult closed hear i faced, He showed me kids that got his. He showed me kids that knew him. that was wonderful. that was my week.

please pray.
i love you all.

week two pictures

here are some pictures. text to follow. too tired right now.

junior high camp

NO TOUCHING! (A.D. fans, you know what i'm talking about)

doing the trust fall with my cabin

me and the boys

climbing tower

gorilla man gun final contestants

pizza boy. this kid was such an encouragement to me this past week. during worship times he would be in the front row dancing and singing at the top of his lungs. its great to see one so young who understands so well what it means to praise the Lord

some pictures from last week

here are some pictures from last week. my team was the leviathans. i made up a pretty sweet cheer that caught on really quickly. the other counselors were jealous. the bag on my head is because of the mud pit. somethings dont come out of dreads.


me and my boys doing the leviathan chomp, dan goble (the roomie) and me getting cole in flour tag.


i lost at jenga roulette, so my boys got to pie me. the last one is jake going "around town" with the pie: full face, top of the head, ears, neck... everywhere. i was smelling sour milk for days afterwards.

the new week starts in mere hours. more kids, more music, more games, more pies.
till next weekend- i love you all.

i put this off, but now im out of time

this last week is hard to describe. four boys: nick, jake, cole, thad. morning meetings: the six "no one" statements of Jesus in the book of John. evening meetings: five points of calvanism. thats alot for 8 - 11 year olds. a whole lot. it was a difficult week because of just endurance issues. up at 7, to bed at 11 or so. one of the most difficult things was that i never really saw any fruit from the boys. they didnt ask questions. i never saw them really getting it. the last night was good because during our devotions the spirit of the Lord came over me and guided me thoughts and words as i was reading from hebrews 11 and 12. (read it. it will blow you away) they got it a little bit then, but its not my job to conver these boys. thats ultimately out of my hands. all i can do is help plant the seeds; thats what the Lord has called me to right now. anyway, i need to go take a nap. please keep praying for me. i need it very much. the Lord is doing great things in my life here. i pray for all of you as often as i think of you, which is alot. pictures will be posted later. okbye.

scotch

4 boys

so last night i got my assignment for the week. i have a cabin of four boys. thats pretty small, so im really looking forward to it. they're juniors, which means they're somewhere in third to sixth grade. its going to be nuts. im still helping lead worship this week as well, so please continue to be in prayer for me in that. the Lord is doing mighty things here. ill be out of touch all week, but as far as i know, i wont be dead, so dont worry.

ss

this past week

so today the campers leave. i was support staff this last week, so my responsibilities for this morning are whatever the directors tell me to do. so, im in the office answering the phones. its mostly parents calling to say they're going to be late in picking their kids up.
this past week was fantastic. im exhausted, but it was so worth it. we got our assignments on sunday night and mikey, trey, abigail grace and i were chosen to get together the music and drama for the summer. it was really providential that we had this last week to organize that and form it before things get really crazy up here. mikey and i worked with john linville this week. john was the worship leader when i was a kid here several years ago, and its a real privilege to be able to work with such a Godly and fun guy. he is such an enthusiastic and infectiously passionate musician. i sang and played accordion with the praise team. mikey was on keys. JT, johns youngest son, is the greatest 13 year old upright bassist i know. some may know jonlynn linville, who plays violin in the CC orchestra. anyways, that was what a spent much of my time doing in the morning and evenings this last week.
one of my other responsibilities was to help out with the skits. trey and abigail grace were in charge of those. we had five skits, each focusing on one of the fruits of the spirit. obviously, we didnt touch on them all, but we got some of the one especially applicable to a group of wild kids. i was in most of those skits, and man was it fun. i have been doing skits for kids for a really long time with VBS at my old church, but nothing was like this. we had an idea and got up there and it just happened. trey and mikey are really funny guys, so the others in the skits just feed off their hilarity. i played a bear named bear-bear, a slow motion moving pizza delivering ex-pillaging pirate, and crazy woodsman who was controlled by a psychotic rabbit. yes, it was a ridiculous as you think. the skits were about the adventures of this fictitious character named "John F Youth." one of the trails up here at Ridge Haven is the youth trail. some time ago, counselors started telling campers crazy stories about this fictitious character for whom the youth trail was named. it turned into a tradition among the counselors, and this year the skits every day "documented" the blazing of the youth trail. it was really great. the kids called me bear-bear all week. it was alot of fun. also, Ridge Haven, in years past, has had a multi-purpose gorilla suit. it died a few years back, but a generous man here at the camp felt that a new one was a necessity. it came in on tuesday, and i was the obvious candidate for the gorilla. i didnt have a cabin, i am built like a gorilla, and i do a fair sasquatch walk. so, a few times this week "big foot" made appearances at dusk or in the middle of the night. we scared (literally in one case) the pee out of some kids. by the end of the week most of the kids were just itching for a chance to get at me, and i was mobbed last night several times. its difficult to hide shoulder length blond dreadlocks in a gorilla suit, so when the kids started pulling at me, i was revealed. it was alot of fun all the same. allthesame. that should be one word, like nonetheless.
so thats some of the fun i had this week. oh yeah, on thursday night we had counselor hunt, which is exactly what it sounds like. counselors have about 10 minutes to hide within a designated plot of land and the kids have to find them. caught counselors get pushed into the cold pool, fully clothed, execution style. i didnt get caught. i climbed up into the rafters of the outdoor recreation shelter, and laid on a board on my back and folded up for close to an hour. i was about 30 feet above a concrete slab. climbing down was less fun and more fearing for my life. at that height, if i fell, there is no chance that i could keep my bragging rights of having never broken a bone.
there were many difficult things i encountered this week as well. the most difficult is that i was tempted and distracted by the accuser of the brethren. this may be difficult to believe, but spiritual warfare is a very real and relevant thing here at Ridge Haven. im not just talking about satan distracting me when i am leading worship. there are heavier things that have happened and probably will happen again. but, the Lord is good and He has given me strength this week. i really feel the presence of the spirit of the Lord when i am helping with worship. its an encouraging and empowering thing. however, i am sad to say that i quickly forget it. often, after our meetings, satan attacks me with burdening thoughts. i understand much better now how my father, when he was pastoring a church, would struggle all day on mondays after the fellowship of the previous day with the doubts and burdens places on him by the evil one. its real. its powerful. but. BUT, we are not afraid of it. when doors open by themselves and lights start to flicker and surge and the temperature drops and your kids are screaming in their beds, we do not have to fear it. that which is in us is so much greater than that which is in the world.

friends, family, RCF brothers and sisters- please pray for us who are serving the Lord here at Ridge Haven. i know you are, but please continue. i need your prayers every day. we all need your prayers.

i dont mean for this to end on such a dark note. in other news, i finished my summer kickoff book, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and i started another of his works, Travels with Charley. this guy is my favorite author. he has such a passion for life and a gift for crafting words. i just cant get enough of it. my devotions should be going as well as my pleasure reading, but im getting there... im getting there. take care, all. i think of my family and friends often and i am in continuing prayer for you in your endeavors this summer.

week one

ok. two things.
1. i shaved my beard. i woke up sunday morning in a strange mood brought on by strange dreams and i looked in the mirror and said "that has got to go." so, im back to the fu-man. its nice to be able to see skin on my face again, but a little weird. i didnt realize it, but i apparently have had some kind of facial hair for the better part of a year now. i guess time flies when you dont ever look in a mirror... or something like that.
2. this is the first week of camp. no, i did not abandon my kids to sneak off and post this. i dont have a cabin this week. its a small group- mostly because NC public school are still in session. things will pick up next week and they'll pick up big time the weeks after that. mikey and i are playing music this week full time and helping out with odds and ends. it will be nice to have a little rest this week after such an intense last two weeks.
anyways, i just wanted to give peoples a little update. im doing well- im getting over this sore throat and congestion thing that went around last week, and im eating well, but not too much... the food here is great. anyways, more later. much love.

scotch

oh- and everyone here calls me scotch. there is another scott, and since i had a decent nickname, that became my title. thanks, david. i miss you and love you all. write me. ill try and write back. i have wacky white squirrel post cards. they exist. i fought it, but i had to admit it when i saw one up close in the flesh. ok. bye.

just a second

i only have a sec to post this because we are about to head out on a hike and ill be out of touch for a while. the day before yesterday i got in the mail three sweet action pieces of mail. one awesome letter/post card from bee-off-a-koff, a radical package from the howard sisters, and one massive eye-popping package from tobi. i want to thank every one- all of you girls- for making my week... nay- my summer. the contents of these pieces of mail were so thoughtful and timely. tobes, LOVE that shit and bandanna and the jerky. the shirt fits very well, and the bandanna will really go to good use. also, thanks for the head hunters and the excellent swiss bottle. i look cooler than i am with that thing. kyrie/sienner, thanks a ton for the tennis balls and mixed cd. it kicks. serious. butt. beeoff, that collage was fantastic. i cant believe you worked that thing up. i loved it- im glad you like my work enough to borrow it and change it. quite flattering. everyone- i loved the cards and quotes and ties and snacks and wrapping and labels and everything. EVERYTHING! thanks so so much. ill post pictures later when mikeys camera/computer stop being a little hoe. tobes, the front of the package with the mondrian painting- i died. it was fantastic. how did you remember that? you're a great friend. you all are. thank you so much everyone.
on another note, i had a bear encounter. im ok. i was in a vehicle. its a black bear that lives here at the camp. his name is timothy. i think that he is really the grounds chief, dale, in his natural form... like beorn. enjoy that one, tolkien lovers. tolkein? yeah. tolkein. ok. hiking. till later- pace.

bluegrass

so last night we had some free time. all 24 of us loaded up into the vans and took off for the local community center for this massive bluegrass event they hold every friday night. wow. it was like stepping back into a time warp or something... a good time warp. we got there around 8:30 after getting a little mixed up on these back mountain winding roads. we stopped at a double wide and asked for directions.
once we were there we walked into the building, which was pretty much this old gym that had a huge stage on one end and chairs and tables filling the rest of the floor. i had brought my guitar and accordion because i was told that it was the kind of thing that people just pick up instruments and walk up on stage. its bluegrass... 1,4,5 kind of stuff. its the original hillbilly jam fun time. so me, my roommate (one sick harmonica playa), and the assistant director stepped up and played some tunes with the old timers.
the old timers- these guys had been playing these same old songs on this same stage for the last 30, 40, 50 years. they new their stuff. it was really cool, actually. its a little piece of old appalachian culture thats slowly dissapearing. [i know im misspelling words, but i dont have the time to relearn the english language.] so this one feller, whose name was clarance (no kidding), was most excellent. he stood about 5.2 because he was so far hunched over. he had a huge 5 gallon black cowboy hat. they called him over to the mike to play a tune and he just went at it. the thing is, you couldnt understand a lick of anything that came from his mouth. it was all vowels. any consinent [again with the spelling] you could hear were the whistley "s"es. honestly, imagine that character from napoleon dynamite who shot the cow and talked about the arrow heads. thats what he looked and sounded like. it was so great. man, i want to go back. some of these guys, despite the fact that they were playing very simple music, were fantastic musicians. some of them were passing around instruments all casual like, just transitioning between them in the middle of songs. it was great. no pictures. maybe. ill write more later. take care, all. i miss you all. oh- thanks for calls and notes on my birthday. it was a good one.

teenager

so today was my last day as a teenager. i turn twenty tomorrow. another milestone passed. i love you all.

RIDGEHAVEN.TRAINING

dad and i drove from chatt to brevard, NC yesterday, and got to Ridge Haven around 4. i met pastor curt, the director, and some of the other counselors, and got my stuff moved into the counselor dorms. my roommate, dan, is from NC State. he got a speeding ticket on his way here. he was pretty torn up about it. at 6 all the counselors met upstairs above the dining hall. we did a little brief introduction thing, and heard some from the director and the assistant directors. we had dinner and met the board. mikey and trey eventually showed up. after dinner we went over to robeson and did some team building exercises and then watched the season finale of 24. it was good times. we went back to the res halls and some guys sat around and we played music. i read a little and then went to bed...
morning meeting was at 7 this morning. curt gave his testimony. pastor curt has had an interesting life. alot of his connections are people i am connected to as well... like my sisters roommates father, and my parents pastor. anyway, after breakfast, we went back upstairs and met for a while. JD spoke and gave the intro presentation to the talks he is going to give to the campers this summer. we also took a tour of RH. after lunch we went to the climbing wall and high ropes course. we took our time there, learning the courses and belaying and coaching and things. we spent all afternoon there, and then went to dinner very tired. there was a group of kids at the low ropes course while we were on the high, and i found out later tonight that they are from Harvester Christian Academy, a school i attended from pre-K through 5th grade. my father was the headmaster of that school for 7 years or so. we are running the high ropes course for them tomorrow, so ill try and talk to some of the adults that came with them. anyway, after dinner we got our shirts for the summer, and all headed out to this spot on one of the peaks here in the blue ridge mountains called devils courthouse. we watched what was left of the sunset. mikey and i took alot of pictures. he doesnt want me to have any. so, go look at his blog for pictures. punk.
family, friends, and other supporters: i am well. im tired, but well. one of the things i need these two weeks and for sure the rest of the summer is that the Lord will give me strength. i need physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. im so sore right now. ill be posting more later this week. look at mikey's blog for pictures.

http://michaelkendall.blogspot.com/

off to live in the mountains

so im leaving in about 5 hours for ridge haven. but, before i go, i want to post a part of the support letter that i sent out, just so my friends and others who drop in here can read it. i really need prayer this summer- for a lot of things. please continue to pray for me in my personal struggles, as well as other difficulties which i will face. some of these things are included in the following letter. read this:

Dear Friends and Family-

I am going to North Carolina for the summer to spend two months as a camp counselor at Ridge Haven Camp, the official camp and retreat center of the PCA. This is not my first time at Ridge Haven (RH); I was a camper over the course of several summers, and also attended several weekend retreats there. I understand first hand the impact that just a week at this camp can have in a young person’s walk with the Lord. My time at RH and the counselors who shepherded me had significant and lasting effects in my life. In the church, there has recently been a very real and frightening lack of interest in spiritual things in the minds and hearts of the youth. Many are falling away from the faith. A week at RH immerses campers in the teaching of the scriptures and challenges them to conform their lives to those teachings. It changes lives. For that reason, I am returning to RH as a counselor.

My responsibilities at Ridge Haven this summer start with watching out for my group of young men, shepherding them and challenging them spiritually. This is probably the most frightening thing to me. I remember how much I looked up to my counselors. This position is no small thing- I am not just baby-sitting for a week. Some of these campers have serious issues and questions about the nature of God and His plan in their lives. Please pray for me as often as you think of me. I need the Lord's strength this summer. Other things I will be doing with the campers include archery, climbing, high ropes courses, and rafting. Please pray that all of these activities go off without injury or incident. Also, I will be ministering to and serving my brothers and sisters who help run the camp. This includes other counselors, kitchen and grounds crews, those over us, and also the musicians and speakers.

We all need prayer- this camp is a powerful and relevant ministry. I believe that the Kingdom of God is being advanced at Ridge Haven. And, we know from the scriptures that anywhere that is happening, Satan and his forces are trying to stop it. I know right now that this summer I will be attacked with weariness, anger, frustration, hopelessness, self-centeredness, and many other weapons that the evil one has used against God's people. Please, begin praying for me that the Spirit of the Lord would renew in me every morning the fruits of the Spirit- that the Lord would be fresh to me every day. I cannot stress this enough. Your support through prayer is the most important and powerful thing you can offer this ministry.

Another challenge of Ridge haven this summer is raising a portion of my compensation for the summer. It is my responsibility to raise $1000 as a supplement to my salary. One of the most important reasons for doing this is that, in helping raise my own salary this summer, I am cutting down on the costs of running the camp, which in turn keeps the costs down for the campers and their families. And, since this is literally a little mission field right in our own back yard, it is only fitting that I have a responsibility to raise support to spend my summer there ministering to those needing the gospel, and to shepherd those who already have it.

It is of the utmost importance for both the ministry and for me personally that you faithfully pray for the camp, the counselors, and the campers. Please commit to pray daily that the Lord would watch over all involved in this endeavor and that He would bless it. This ministry needs your prayers. Please remember us all as we are serving the Lord at Ridge Haven.


Scott Steere

"Happiness

is often just being content
with where you are"
as the falling snow
pattered like pop rocks
on the skin of our tent
and we four shifted drowsily
in the shelter built for two


i have been feeling the need today to be happy. it doesnt come to me easily sometimes. i went to a bonfire last with with about a dozen other kids from my class, whom i was never very close to. i was always on the fringes of practically every clique in high school... i could have done any one of them, but only partially. i never really committed to one, because not one really fit me. case in point: lunch was eaten outside when the weather was nice, in a little cafeteria-like building when it was rainy. i ate lunch alone every day either in the art department or backstage while playing piano. i had friends, but i was not a part of really any group. i drifted into a few after high school, though. i got closer to some guys after we graduated. anyways, i have been feeling like a loner alot these last two months or so. its a definite change for me. i had someone for over three years, and then within a very short time, i didnt have someone. i was alone again. i spent alot of time leading up to those three years alone. i spent my senior year alone (mostly) because that someone had graduated the year before. here i am again alone. and, the thing is, no amount of friends, no matter their caliber, can completely erase this ache in my heart- this reminder in the back of my mind that im a loner again. its a pain and a pleasure. its cool and at the same time it hurts like hell. days like today it hurt like hell. last night, while sitting with friends and watching the embers drift into the dark canopy above, all i could think of was someone i used to know. all i could think about was how much they would enjoy that moment. its been like that for two months. im so used to thinking of someone else all the time- im so used to thinking for two. i think about what they are doing then or about how they would enjoy something im doing at the moment. those things didnt just vanish when i turned back into the lone ranger. this apparition follows me and its a part of everything i do- this specter of a relationship past haunts my every moment. i dont know how long it will stay. i hope that my activities this summer will give me some relief from it.
i need to be content with this situation. i need to be content that this is where the Lord has placed me and i am here for a reason. i am here to learn something and to grow. maybe happiness wont come out of this contentedness, but at least peace will. the Lord has given me peace at times these last few months, and days like today i need it. happiness is sometimes just being content with where you are.

tennessean

so dad and i went to the DMS today to get new licenses. i am now a registered Tennessee resident. this is only the third state i have lived in, despite the fact that i went to school in TN from 7th to 12th grade. i was born in New York in 1987, moved to Georgia and lived there from 1990 till just a few days ago. this may not seem that big of a deal, and it probably isnt, but i think its kind of cool. i wanted to scan a copy of my old license from GA that i got when i was 15 and then the new one i got today, but they took my old one. and, i dont even have a scanner or camera to speak of, so scratch that. anyways, thats where i spent most of my day. cheers.

"One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet. But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace. This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity. The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her..."

and in this corner, weighing in at 165 lbs, straight from Salt Lake City, Utah...

monday. its the first day of moving into our new house in hurricane creek. we borrowed a huge trailer from the lazors to haul our big stuff. we traded the white car for the gaines' van for the week. we hag a huge amount of stuff. we had beds, dressers, a big kitchen table, the hutch, couches, my grandmothers old organ, coffee tables and bedside tables, and one giant stereo cabinet that we dubbed "the beast." we pull up and park the van and truck on the street in front of the house and got out to survey the massive amount of work which lay before us. it took me, dad, and grandpa jack something like two hours to get this stuff out of the old house and into/onto the vehicles. as we are standing there, who else but two Mormon "missionaries" walk up the street. "Can we help?" they ask with two grins, each setting down their blue weathered Book of Mormon on the lawn next to the curb. i gave dad this "are you serious?" look and he just shrugged. if they wanted to help, we weren't going to stop them. grandpa was a little more on the offensive. he said that they way he saw it, the longer we kept them, we would be helping keep them from talking to other people. they were a tremendous help on the big stuff like the beast. it was really nice to have four extra hands carrying our furniture into the new house. as they helped us move, the whole time dad was putting in little plugs about how he travels to Africa to teach pastors and how i traveled to Romania to help in an orphanage. Jack would talk about how, during the depression, the Mormons took care of their own and not one Mormon was on welfare. all of these things put together added up to them not even trying their spiel on us. when it was all in, they had a glass of water, rolled their sleeves back down, picked up their heretical book, and were on their way.

the Lord sent Mormons to help us move in. if anyone says that God doesn't have a sense of humor, i would point them to situations such as this. they came just at the right time. honestly, it was quite providential that they showed up. it would have been much harder to get some of that stuff inside without their help. so, this week, i have been thanking the Lord for Mormon missionaries. if nothing else, they make good movers in a pinch.

party in 3 months... this guy's hosting

this guy is now located at one of the sweetest pads this side of the mason-dixon. feast them eyes:
so now that my family has moved into our new house, i decided that we need to have a back to school partay some time in late august / early september. this is not an option for wallballerz, but others can opt out if they wish. honestly, guys, this neighborhood is ridiculous. everyone is so crazy nice. we are living on this street with like 5 other families from my parents church (Covenant Prez) and we live in between tom schreiner and one of the pastors at the church. also on our street are herbereichs and lazors. i mispeled all that and im ok with it. anyway, all these people are so welcoming and helpful and so fellowship-oriented. i cant believe it. this street is going to be a great place for my parents. ill post more about that later. back to the topic at hand: COOKOUT! / CAMPOUT! (if we can find a good spot nearby we'll just roll over there and set up camp). look at these shots and pick that jaw up off-a the ground. the bottom floor of this house is my pad for the next year or so. i have a door to the main floor, a door to the garage, and french doors leading outside to the back porch with a swing and steeply sloping yard. (im trying to convince my parents into letting me have a dog... finally after 20 years or longing). but, one of the best features of this crib is the HUGE deck compete with rocking chairs, enough room for a limbo line, an excellent view, and soon a grill. right now the guest list includes, but is not necessarily limited to: mikeymike, pickles, david, drew, luke, jonfen, kyrie, siennr, be-off-a-koff, dubie, tobes (we'll all chip in and fly you out just for a cookout), and some other peoples connected, like heidi, maryann twitty, maybe my parents, and prob some neighbors will stop by... yeah. i live here.rocking chairsmore pictures and stuff to come... im as serious as a heart attack when i say that we are having a cookout. so, keep it in your plans. keep it secret. keep it safe. ill see some of you soon, and others later. take care all.