rappelling

my first decent

second time down - practically a pro (ya right)

i'm freeeeee free fallin'

thankfully not really.

with a major amount of cheering and encouragement, i rappelled my first cliff yesterday. it was a crazy awesome experience.

we took the UMA leaders out to "raven's roost" on the blue ridge parkway, a very popular spot for outdoor climbing and rappelling  our hope is to be able to take the kids out sometime soon but i didn't feel quite right encouraging them to do it until i'd done it myself!

i'm so thankful i had the opportunity to go with people with whom i've built a trust - i hope the kids will feel the same way.


i love adventure but this silly little thing called 'fear' keeps wanting to get in the way. fear and trust are major topics that we talk with our kids about. not only do us leaders all have a passion for the outdoors and adventure, but we love how vividly they parallel the believer's walk with God. trust is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult. learning to trust these things that we can see (i.e. harness, rope, people) can help our hearts to learn to better trust our God, especially when we are afraid. 

when i got to the bottom i practiced climbing a little bit but really need to work on those skills! i repelled a second time and even braved an extremely quick glance at the ground, 80 feet below me.

i saw a harness on sale this morning and actually almost bought it but talked myself out of that craziness. praying that lessons learned from this experience will stick with us all and the Lord would use them to bless others with the gift of trusting in him.

amazing friends

passport peppers

The peppers I used to make dinner last night were from Holland, like me :)  Well kind of.

I haven't been able to go to the farmers market for the past two Saturdays and this is one big reason that I miss it: while I'm in Lynchburg I want to eat peppers that came from Lynchburg. When I go to Holland I'll eat peppers from Holland :)

stepping out

My life as a Christian has never felt so right until I stepped outside of the 'church bubble.'

Just to be a little more clear, here is how I define 'church bubble': attending every service and event that the local church opened it's doors to, sitting next to the same Christian friends always, cringing inside when the special music makes a mistake, serving by holding babies in the nursery once a month, saying I loved every body but looking down on people who weren't like me or my friends, appearing to do everything right so no one looked down on you, making the mistake of thinking that our church switching from pews to chairs is actually a big deal. 


What's wrong with that picture? 


Well, nothing really, but there is a whole other half (or maybe more) to this puzzle. There's so much more to Christianity than church and I really hate how narrow minded I had become. I didn't know how to love or serve any non-believers because I didn't know any. I took my salvation for granted. Everyone I knew and talked to was saved so why learn to defend my faith?

Something big was missing, I thought I knew everything it meant to be a Christian until God opened my eyes to the world. You know, the real world, the world that lies outside my bubble.

God's wonderful grace has never sounded more wonderful than singing next to a new believer whose past decisions have given her a true appreciation of grace. God's loving, protective hand has never felt more real than hearing a child you love confess their fear of family abuse. I've never felt His presence more than listening to someone tell their story of never being wanted or accepted by the people who should love you unconditionally. Seeing a family move to an inner city neighborhood because of their passion to show Christ's love to their neighbors. I can't totally undermine the church because it is a beautiful thing (when functioning correctly) but these situations that I've just described have been so much more beautiful to my soul. God really does love the lost and He really does ask us to love them as well. He really does want to help the helpless but He wants to use me, He wants to use you to do it.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

random life updates

I dyed my hair this weekend - I like it a lot. Well I dyed the bottom half, I know enough to leave the top half to the professionals. I supposed I just enjoy the change!

I'm trying to write a commercial right now. It's for a new client of ours, this 'top of the line' steakhouse that's been around for like 40 years. I've never been because it's really $$$$ but I might try and go now that they are opening for lunch - the menu looks great! I like learning about the city I live in, that's probably my favorite part of my job. One of my least favorite parts? Coming up with commercial scripts that don't sound exactly like every other commercial on air.

So I was writing a script yesterday, I added the website to the end and because we have to word count for timing sake and spell out numbers and such for our voice over people; instead of writing 'www dot', I started trying to spell out 'W', like as if it were a word to be spelled out. Oh boy.

My roommate and I put in deposit today on a new apartment to rent. We tried the house thing for a couple years and while I enjoyed the square footage it offered, we are downsizing a roommate (by her choice, we didn't kick her out) so we wanted to move somewhere a little cheaper plus we both had an area of town that we've been wanting to move to for a while now. It's really close to my work as well as downtown which is a big plus for me because that's where the gym and farmer's market are - two of my favorite places in Lynchburg. Another really big plus for me is that I am now only exactly two miles away from the street where all our UMA kids live. I'd been praying for a while now about moving into the neighborhood but if this is as close as the Lord takes me for now, I'll be thankful. I want to live there to be able to invest more time into these kids. Our goal is to spend quality time with them more often than buying them things or doing things that cost money so I dream of having a house that they can walk to... we could sit down and play games and chat or do crafts or work in the garden. I can still do all of those things, I just have to arrange the time, set aside the time and go pick them up and drop them off.

Well I better get back to writing - I have 30 minutes to finish it before a meeting - the pressure will be good.

Oh yeah, my work is taking us all to Charlotte, NC this weekend to the U.S. National Whitewater Center! I am uber stoked (in the surfer talk words of my dear friend Jen)!!!

UMA July Camping

I just sat down to watch 'Date Night' ... alone. Ironic?
Kelsey and I were able to take our UMA girls camping this weekend. Eight girls came, including two sisters who have recently moved back to the neighborhood. Whenever I start to wonder if God answers prayers, I think of UMA in recent months and how Juli and I used to ask God for girls when it seemed that they were all leaving the neighborhood. He has provided and I am confident that each one has been hand selected to cross paths with UMA. If that doesn't make you giddy inside, I don't know what would! Even though that's only a small glimpse of a miniscule part of His eternal plan, I'm thankful for it.
We took them to a state campground about an hour from Lynchburg. We set out our tents (the girls are great helpers) and quickly got the fire roaring for spiderdogs. I was introduced to spiderdogs a few years ago by some friends and these girls have loved them ever since I showed them. After dinner we walked to the lake to check it out and had a little devotional. With the recent storm and massive, disruptive power outages we talked about our own power source in our lives. After listing off things that made life difficult with no power, we then talked about how life can be difficult. How we get stressed, worn down, and frustrated and don't think we have enough energy for one more step... there's someone who has promised us He would be our refuge, strength, provider, protector; our power source. I gave the girls verses to read like Psalm 32:8 and 34:5, also John 15:5-7. 'Do you believe the words of the Bible are true' I asked them. They answered yes and we read each of these verses a second time just to allow God's promises to sink in a little deeper... for all of us. I want these young ladies to believe, to really believe, that God's Word is truth. To believe it even when another way seems brighter or someone lies to them. It was a great lesson for me as well.
Alright, this movie is too funny... Steve Carell and Tina Fey-excellent combination. More camping stories to come :)
Movie is over and I'm back! Did you miss me? I thought so.
The rest of the trip went pretty well and was a great experience of taking charge and calling the shots. Following other people comes way more naturally to me than leading ever has; decision making isn't my strongest trait. I guess you might compare me with Moses in the Bible. God had a sovereign plan to make a leader out of that timid, behind-the-scenes man... a leader for His purpose and glory. I don't know why He's placed me in this position with these girls but maybe you'll wonder as well and then be able to give Him glory for all that He will do!

howdy cowboy

     If 'seeing the Grand Tetons in person' isn't on your bucket list will you add it? Please? It's for your own good.
     I love being able to visit the area. Last Saturday I flew into the Jackson Hole Airport (another must do) for a week with friends and family. My cousin was getting married in Casper, WY the following weekend so I took that week off of work and extended my trip a little to visit some friends on the west side of the state prior to the wedding. My good friend, Esther, lives with her husband and four kids in Driggs, ID which is just over the mountain pass from Jackson. It was so nice to spend a few days with them. Esther and I keep in touch pretty regularly but it's hard to compare that to actually being able to see and experience their daily life.
     Last time I was able to make it to the Idaho side, they only had the foundation of their house built so it was great to see it completed and lived in! Her husband is an architect and builder so he and his father and brother built the house which makes it extra cool! Recently, they also prayerfully decided to purchase a natural foods store in Driggs. We spent a good amount of time there and I enjoyed being able to meet their employees and friends who regularly shop there. That region is way into healthy, holistic living - every time I am there I learn something new about the nasty toxins that I put into my body and resolve to never do it again...or at least say that I'll start that 'way of life' once I have children to feed. I learned a lot about kefir, whole body cleanses, milk alternatives, rapeseed oil (no, I didn't misspell that one), and pretty much everything organic and GMO free. It's all very interesting to me and I'm glad to have learned a little more.

     Her children are the sweetest and we had a lot of fun playing together while Esther completed orders and did paperwork for the store. One of the days she borrowed a road bike from her neighbor so her and I could go for a ride. We dropped the kids off at her wonderful in-laws and we did an approximately 27 mile loop through the towns of Victor and into Driggs (stopped by the store of course for a little energy snack) and back to her in-law's. Seeing the Tetons from the Idaho side is incredibly different, yet just as awe-some as from Jackson. The Jackson area is called Jackson Hole because it is entirely encompassed and surrounded by mountains and buttes making it literally feel like a 'hole' to get into. Compare that to the Idaho side which has a large, flat-as-Florida valley yet is surrounded by mountain ranges. Flat is great for biking and it was so awesome to be able to look straight up at the Tetons without anything blocking the view.
     After a great 3 1/2 days with the Jacoby family, Esther drove me just north of Jackson to meet up with my aunt and uncle and cousin who were just driving out of Yellowstone on their way to Casper. That was a huge blessing that it worked out that way, plus I was able to spend a little extra quality time with them! I had an awesome time in Casper with my extended family as well as my parents, brother and sister! My bestest friend, Jen, also drove over from Chyenne to see me one night! Her and I went to dinner and she stayed with us at the hotel, so even though most of our time together was spent sleeping, it was still so great to see the big buff beast in person!

     We did a little to help with the wedding set up but most had been prepared before we got there so we had some free time to spend as a family eating, chatting, swimming, hiking, and just catching up! The wedding was great and we even got to spend a little time dancing at the reception before Annetta and I had to head out. We had a flight out of Denver for the next morning and my cousin had to get back to work in Denver by 6am so we all decided to drive through the night. I was the only name on the rental so I had to drive the whole way which was really rough but we made it in time to get Nick to work and Annetta and I could get a couple hours of sleep before our flight.