Need a Car Wash?!

Saturday, June 9 our youth group held a fundraiser for our mission's trip to New York. We had a car wash. It was so much fun!!

The fun began just a couple days before that, though. Thursday, June 7 I decided I wanted to go to the school and paint signs for the car wash. Unfortunately, the only person I told was Alicia Smith, because I did not think anyone else would be up at 9. You see, I decided to go at 9 so then I could go straight to my doctor's appointment after that. Well Alica and I had a lot of fun, even though we did not even finish 1 sign in that hour. We kept on fighting over who was going to paint the letters on the sign. Neither one of us thought we could paint well, but we both did some of it. Then at the very end before we left, we each added a bubble and I drew the outline of what was going to be a sponge. When I got home from my doctor's appointment I asked my sister if she wanted to come to the school with me and paint some more signs. She thought it would be a good idea if we waited a little bit and invited some people. Well out of a bunch of people that we invited only 4 showed up. So Jenessa, Cher, Jared DeNeui, Clay Carns, Ceagan Carns, David Levy, and I were the only ones making the posters. Well let's just say, that was a lot of fun! My sponge ended up looking like a peanut and everyone made fun of it. Jared and Clay both drew pictures on their posters. The pictures were hilarious!! Then Ceagan finally decided to help paint David's arrow, even though he said he wasn't really helping. Then I had to leave and pick up some things for my sister before my soccer game. So I went home, picked up some freezees, brought them to the people making posters, and went to get what my sister needed. It was a great day!

Then on Friday I went to go put some of the posters ,that Jenessa had made, around town. I started asking the Boldts and Mrs. Thompson where I should put them up around town, then I decided I needed to make more small posters. I went back to painting for an hour and a half. Then I was finally done, and went to put them around town. First, I put one up in the library. Little did I know that it was like the start of the summer reading program so I got free ice cream. That was pretty awesome. Then I went to HyVee and saw Bryce and Mrs. McGuire working there. At first, the lady said that I was not able to put up the poster, but then she saw that it was for a church so I was able to. When I got up to the board, there was no pins. I didn't want to take away anyone's pins, so I overlapped one poster's corner with mine. Then I needed one more pin. I finally had the guts to ask one of the ladies working. She went to her own bulletin board and took 2 pins off just for me. How sweet of her! Then I went to Cash Wise and had them put one up, too. I think it was a pretty good day.

Then came Saturday, the day of the car wash. I was so excited I woke up at 7 just so then I could hang up some more posters and still be at the church at 8:30. Well, my plans were demolished because I forgot my dad took the suburbun, the car I normally drive. So I waited and finally we got to the church, but we were 1 minute late. I looked around and the only other person there was Mr. McGuire. Then, my sisters locked me out of the car because I was the only one that knew we had to be here at 8:30 and they did not think I was right, but I was. Finally, some other helpers showed up just a couple minutes after. We started hanging up posters on the side of the road. Then, our first 2 cars came. Anne Levy and I got the special privilege of drying the windows of the cars. Then, Pastor said we should get some signs and someone should hold them up on the side of the road. As soon as he said that I saw Alexis Duruji. In my head I said "light bulb". I brought Lexi inside and told her she had to do it. Unfortunately, Ceagan did not finish David's sign, so I had to glue on all of the letters on the back. It took me so long, but finally it was done. Then Alexis, Anne, and I all held up signs on the side walk. We were saying, "Come to our car wash and help support our mission's trip to New York." Anne thought the people were staring at us weirdly, but they were just looking at the sign. It was a lot of fun! After 2 hours though, we kind of wanted to switch with someone, but no one wanted our job. Then this one dude came by and talked to Lexi and I. Then he walked to where Anne was and talked with her. Then, he picked up Lexi's flip flops and started taking them away. When he got to us Lexi was like, "Thank you for finding my flip flops." He was going to carry them to the clothes and shoes drop off box. It was so hilarious! Then finally after another hour Sarah switched places with me. So then I started washing the windows. It was a lot of fun! Then after like an hour of that, I switched places with Anne so she could do that. Then I held up the sign with Marta. The whole day was a lot of fun! We washed many cars including Mr. Sorheim's huge truck. When it was all said and done, we earned $1000! That is so awesome!!


 I am so excited to see how God works in our lives during the mission's trip. It will be a blast! There is not a better group to go with then these people. I love them all!

I Have Truly Been Blessed!

My sister Cher and I have grown a lot closer in these last couple of years. I love spending time with her. On Christmas day, Cher and I went outside on top of our suburban and just sat there singing songs while star gazing. Don't worry we had blankets on, yet it really wasn't that cold. I saw my first shooting star that night, in fact I actually saw 3. We enjoy doing many numerous things together. She is a really great person. Her love for others and her passion to serve is amazing, but her relationship with the Lord is even more amazing. God is definitely number one in her life. I have truly been blessed to have her in my life.I love you!! 






Even though I only knew the Burggraffs for 3 short years, they sure made a huge impact on my life. Pastor Burggraff came, about 4 years ago, to become our new Pastor. I have learned so much from him. He was an amazing preacher and an amazing Bible teacher. I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing him preach. Mrs. Burggraff was my volleyball coach for 2 amazing years. The first year I was really scared of her because she was a tough volleyball coach, but then I grew to love her.  But she wasn't just worried about teaching us the different skills in volleyball, but more importantly she was worried about our relationship with the Lord. She wanted our relationship with the Lord to be the most important thing in our life. She wanted us to focus on glorifying him. Whether we won or whether we lost we would praise Him. I will never forget those 2 years of volleyball. She also helped me with my first solo. I was so nervous, but I knew I could do it, besides the reason we sing should be to bring glory to God. I have learned so much from her. I look up to her greatly. Her passion to serve God is just amazing. She has helped me grow so much in my relationship with the Lord. I can talk to her about anything. She is just one phone call away. Even though this family has moved over 1,000 miles away, they are still very near and dear to my heart. I look forward to and love getting texts from Anna, she is such a sweetheart. And I absolutely love getting phone calls from them. I love that family so much!!!






I am so very thankful for the Dows. There are so many wonderful memories that I have with the Dows. Like Wheel of Fortune during Health Class! That was so much fun! When I first met Mr. Dow I thought he was the coolest person just because he hit Kari in the face with a dodge ball.  The next year he became our teacher. The Dows had it very rough the first year of teaching and I am so thankful that they stayed. The next year was a year that changed my life. That year our whole high school and junior high went on a camping trip. This camping trip was a time for us to get away from school and grow both in our relationship with each other and in our relationship with God. That was a life changing year for our whole secondary. After that, you could see a difference in our attitudes. It was amazing. Mrs. Dow was also my Sunday School teacher. We did a couple Bible studies and everything. I learned so much from her. It is really amazing how God can bring so many amazing people into your life to help you and then in God's timing He will take them away because there work is done in that place. The Dows are definitely another family that I will never forget.

 Kari is also one of those great friends of mine. I have known Kari since I was 4 years old when my mom first started doing Day Care for her. At first her and I were friends yet enemies at the same time. She would always break my things or be mean to me. For instance imagine me, Kari, and a toilet, not the best thing ever. Then again, even though she was mean to me, I was also mean to her. I always tattle tailed on her. As I got older I started feeling worse about that because I would see her get her mouth washed out with soap by her mom. In fact, once she knew she was going to get in trouble so she just washed her own mouth out with soap. I felt terrible, but at least her mom felt bad because she did it on her own. Well even though we were not the nicest to each other when we were young, Kari is definitely one of my closest friends now. I love her so much!!

 I love my family so much! They are the ones who have been there for me all of my life. My Dad is someone I look up to very much. I absolutely loved going on bike rides with my dad when I was a little girl. And I still love going fishing with him out on his boat. Once we were fishing at the Griffins cabin and I dropped his favorite fishing pole into the water. I don't know how, but I caught part of the line. Well my dad got his fishing pole back after like 10 minutes of pulling the line out of the water. That is something I will never forget.

Then there is mom. When I was little my mom would try to give us spankings, but I don't even know if you could consider it a love pat because it was so light. She was always afraid she was going to hurt us. My mom had it ruff because she got stuck with Jenessa and I. Supposedly when I was like 2 Jenessa and I ran out onto the road. One of us went one way the other went the other way. I don't know how she survived, but I am glad she did. The other day one of my teammates in soccer said, "I wish my parents came to my soccer games." Well my mom has always been at like every sport event whether it was soccer, volleyball, or basketball so I felt really terrible for them. Well they actually said this when my mom was in the hospital so she was not able to be there. My mom was so sad that she had to skip my first soccer game and my second one. In fact, she cried every time. It shows how much she cares.

Then there is Jenessa. Oh my! Jenessa is my twin and will always be one of my closest friends. When i was 4 years old I fell off the side of the bridge and cracked my head open in the dam. When I got up I still had my bag of cookies in my hand, but I had lost one of Jenessa's shoes. She did not care that I almost died (well actually she did), but she was really upset for me loosing her shoe. She claims that she has never forgiven me for that, but I think she really has. I will never forget that. When we were little we were always partners in crime. It was either that or we would be fighting each other. Even though we used to fight all the time, we really do love each other. She is such a great sister and I love her so much.

I would write about how i have been blessed to have Jessica and James in my life, but I already have in my posts about them.






What is the reason for you to go to church? We go to church so we can fellowship with other believers and grow together as one in Christ. Christ should be our main focus while we are at church. Church is a place where we can learn more about God and share how God has worked in our lives. We pray for each other and we have a relationship with each other. We build each other up when we are sad. We help out each other. For instance, when my mom was in the hospital people brought us meals. That was such a wonderful blessing.  The Bible says in Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We have a chance to witness to people and to disciple others through our Awana program and through our opportunities to work at camp and go on missions trip. I love my church. Ever time I go to church I am encouraged by the wonderful people there. I don't know where I would be at if I would not have trusted Christ as my personal Savior and if I wouldn't have such a wonderful Church to help me grow in my relationship with Christ. I have truly been blessed to have such a wonderful Church.

The Beginning of an Adventure

Well my "adventure" started May 24 when I got my license. Getting my license was the step to a new beginning. I did it, I finally did it. I was so afraid coming up to it, but I just prayed that God would help me and if it be his will that I would pass. Well, I did.

The next part of my adventure is soccer. When it came up to the date of registration for soccer, I did not want to play. I loved the team and everything, but I was afraid that I would let the team down because I would miss a whole month of soccer. The night of the deadline for soccer, I started getting this terrible feeling that I made the wrong decision, to not play soccer. Well, I looked in my prayer journal and one of the prayer requests was for my decision to play soccer. Whenever there is an answer to prayer, I write the date it was answered. Well, there was a date next to it. I realized right then and there that I had made the wrong decision. I had promised God that I would try my best to witness to those girls, and playing soccer was part of the God's plan. Somehow God opened the door for me to still be able to play soccer. I hope that I will make a difference in their life, and if it is God's will that some of them would get saved. I have missed so many opportunities to witness to them in years past, but I am done making up excuses I will not lose another chance. After all, I may be the only who plants a seed in their life.

The next part of my adventure is VBS. I am going to teach a Bible lesson for VBS. I am so excited for it. I love the kids there, even if they may get a little rowdy every once in a while. They are good kids.

After that, Camp Shiloh will be the next part of my adventure. Once again, I have the opportunity to be a junior counselor at Camp Shiloh. I am greatly anticipating this because it is a great way in which I can disciple others for Christ, and grow more in my relationship with God. Camp Shiloh is so much fun. I enjoy the various activities like the watermelon race, capture the camper, capture the counselor, swimming, and Zub-Zub.  The food is also great, but if I worked there all summer long I would be fat. They make desserts for every meal! These activities and the food are really wonderful, but the best part of camp is chapel and being able to do devotions with your cabin every night. Each day we have 2 sessions of chapel. This is a great chance for the kids and myself to be able to learn more about God. Then cabin devotions are a time for us to be able to share our testimony and how God has been working in our lives. It is also a time for us to share our wisdom and knowledge about the Lord. I remember last year I talked to them about Philippians 4. The main verse that I shared was Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” I used the example of volleyball and how Mrs. Burggraff worked us so hard that sometimes I just wanted to quit because I did not think I could go any farther. Well, that year Coach Burggraff also told us that “can’t” was not a word; it is “I am currently struggling with.” That is very true. Sometimes life throws different “adventures” at you, sometimes it is rough and sometimes it is not. All we need to do is ask God to help us and He will. All things through Christ.

Then this summer I am also going to be going to Northland Camp. This will be an adventure for me. It is far away and the only person I know is my twin sister. Still, I know that this is a great opportunity for me. It is a time in which I have to myself and that I can grow in my relationship with Christ. Instead of helping others with their relationship with God, others are helping me. Northland Camp’s main focus is not for us to have fun, which is just a little extra. It is to train us to be disciples for Christ and to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord. I am greatly anticipating be able to go there. I pray that God will help me that week to become a better testimony for Him.

           

This summer I also have the opportunity to go on a mission’s trip. I am so excited for that. I have always wanted to go on a mission’s trip, and now is my time. This is a great opportunity for me to use the skills that I have learned from counseling at Camp Shiloh, VBS, and Awana. I love to help people, and this is a grand opportunity for me. For our mission’s trip we are going to Long Island, NY, and we are going to be helping West Hills Baptist Church with their day camp for a week. Right now, we are preparing for our ministry out there. We did a Sunday school class about it, and now we are learning how to teach a Bible lesson. Teaching a Bible lesson will probably be one of the best opportunities we have to plant a seed in these kids’ lives. I am so excited to see how God works in their lives and in my own.

The last part of my  adventure is going with my grandparents to Colorado. A couple years ago we went with my grandparents  to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. We had a blast! I never realized before how funny my grandparents were. I love them so much!! I am greatly looking forward to spending time with them on this trip.

Jess Is Home!!

 I am so blessed to have such a wonderful sister like Jessica. She has been there for me all along, and I know she will always be there for me. She was there for me when I had to go to mayo for a medical issue, she was there for me comforting me when some very special people in my life, left, and she has been there for me when nobody else has. She truly is such a wonderful sister.









 I greatly enjoy and look forward to those days in which we are able to spend together just talking with one another. Learning more about each others life and the friends we have met, the things we have done, and how God has been working in our lives. I love spending time with my sister.








I also greatly look up to my sister. She is a great influence on me spiritually. Whenever she called home from college she would ask me what she could pray for me about. Praying for people actually helps you love them more. Then through her whole situation of looking for a job, she taught me about trust. She had to trust God to take care of her through all of this, and that He would show her the way He wanted. It proves just even more that she wants to live God's life God's way. Through all of this she wanted God to be glorified. She trusted Him to take care of her and show her which way to go.







Now Jessica is leaving this Wednesday to go work at a Camp. I am so thankful that God opened another door for her. I pray that God will be glorified through everything that she does.

I love my sister so much! She means the world to me. I don't know what I would do without her.

Nothing But The Truth

So this year our school did the play, "Nothing But The Truth" by Phip J. Anderson. It was a lot of fun! The scene was set in 1913 on a boat. The play was about a man named David who was on his way to England and eventually China with his sister. Along the way he met a girl named Kate. David thought that in order for Kate to like him, he would have to lie about his life. He told her that he was an American spy tracking down a German agent. Well as the play went on, he found out that there actually was an American spy and a German agent aboard the ship. Also aboard the ship was a lady named Mrs. Elias. Boy is she a character. From the minute Mrs. Elias got on board she was looking for a boy who Paullete could marry. She tried many different things to get Paullete a husband like talking to every young man, asking for a list of men on the ship, and writing a love letter to her. Unfortunately David ended up with that love letter, so Paullete ended up liking him. In the meantime, David and Kate were trying to find out who the German agent was. At the end he found out that Kate was the German agent. And through everything thing that they had done and talked about, David ended up finding the bomb on the ship. Unfortunately he threw the bomb into the water saving the ship, but killing Kate. After that, he continued to lie to Paullete about being a detective, and they all lived happily ever after. The End.

It was so much fun being able to perform this, even though at the end we started despising the long practices and the hair and make up. However, I don't know if it would have been as fun if it were not for the people who were in it. This was Andrew's first time being in the school play, and unfortunately his last. He brought a lot to this play. Whether it was his whining and complaining about getting makeup on, him refusing to get lipstick on and then trying to take it all off, or him attempting to do a British accent. Sarah was also in the play this year. Oh my, so she had to do the quickest scene change out of all of us and the last performance the rod fell from where she was changing. I ran to where she was, lifted up the curtain, and I am pretty sure she has never changed that fast in her life. Kari was also in it again. I don't know how she did it, but she never dropped Wes, not even once. Cherilyn, Cherilyn, Cherilyn. I loved her character. She was absolutely perfect for it. She was the hysterical character that made the show. Daniel was the actual American spy of the play. For dress rehearsal I don't know how many times he changed Rachael and my phones to spanish. It was terrible, especially when you don't know how to change it back. Rachael was the stewardess. That girl is always fun to have in a play with you. Then the waiters were also awesome!!

James Is Home!!

I am so blessed to have a wonderful brother like James. Even though he has work and friends, he still makes sure that he spends time with us. Even if the time he spends with us is playing video games with him or even watching him play video games, it is still fun. I love being able to spend time with him.

We all look forward to him coming home each time. We always wait for him to come home, looking out our kitchen window 24/7. Once we see his car we run outside and we run out to him before he even stops the car, eagerly waiting for a hug. One day we even layed out on blankets in our driveway. Unfortunately it took him an hour longer to get there because he was showing his friends Pillsbury! That kinda made us mad. =)

I love my brother, he is the best brother in the whole wide world. However, spending time with me and my sisters is not the only part I like about my brother.I love how my brother has a great relationship with the Lord. It is so much fun watching him and someone else debate about the Bible and many other things. It is also nice to have a brother who is not only good at math, but is willing to help me in math. And I think it is just amazing how my brother stays up till 5 in the morning the day he comes home because he is helping his friends finish their monopoly project for accounting. His heart to help others is just amazing. I look up to my brother so much. He is a wonderful person. I love you James!!!!

Things I have learned this year

As the school year comes to an end, I begin thinking of what things I have learned that year and what great memories have been made.

This year we ended up winning MACS for volleyball. It was a blast! We had so much fun and you could tell by the smiles on our faces. We had the best fans in the whole world! We had everyone in the gym cheering for us, except for the team that we were playing against. In fact, one person who went to the other school even converted to cheering for us, probably because his cousin was on our team, but still. =) My sister, Jessica, and Kassie (practically my sister) cut classes and drove all the way from Northland just to watch us. And our previous coach, Allyson Burggraff, flew all the way from NC to watch us. So basically we won the first place, biggest fan section , and the team who had the fan who traveled the farthest.

This year we also had the opportunity in Biology to dissect many, many, many different creatures. That was a lot of fun, yet it was a little disgusting. I mean would you really want to dissect a cat with hair all over it's body, or a baby pig that reminded you of Wilbur. But then it was really cool to dissect a cow's heart and a cow's eyes. Did you know that when you come across a deer at night and it gives you the deer in the headlights look, the blue or greenish look of the eyes is from the light reflecting off of the tapetum lucidom in the back of it's eye? We also got to dissect a rabbit, crayfish, fish, worm, frog, sheep's brain, shark, rat, chicken, and a cow's lungs. Oh, and the chicken dissection was super fun because Marta's mom laid the egg.

In our Bible Study we have been learning about the book of Jonah. Through this study we have learned how to take a portion of scripture and really study it and figure out what it is truly talking about so you can apply it to your life. After all, knowledge without application is useless. Through this we have also grown closer together. However, one of my favorite parts of the Bible Study is the very last thing we do, prayer requests. We take time to truly listen to everyone's prayer requests. This is the time where we can spill our hearts out to each other and know that these girls will honestly pray for us about those different things. It is amazing to see how much each of these girls care, and how each of them want to serve God and honor Him in everything they say and do.

Before each game in basketball, Coach Boldt would give us a little devotional. He also would tell us some John Wooden quotes. It is just amazing to have a coach who really loves the Lord and wants to see his players have a good relationship with the Lord, also. This year I also had the opportunity to lead a Bible Study for the team. This was a really good opportunity for me to really step up as a leader, and I think that I learned more leading it than everyone else. It was amazing to see how we really grew as a team this year and "held the rope." And the coolest part of this basketball season was that one of the Coaches from another team sent my principal an email saying how she really appreciated our team's attitude both on and off the court. She also liked how she saw us talking to the team who beat us and having fun with them. Its amazing how big of a testimony your team could have.


There are so many more things that I have learned this year, but I don't want to write a book. =)