Home From Camp

I got home from camp last night.  I'm still processing everything that I experienced.  There were challenges through the week but different than I had expected them to be. 

The biggest surprise of all?  I miss it.  I miss camp.  I missed waking up in the cabin this morning with a breeze coming through the window and hearing the birds chirping in the trees.  And I missed seeing 5 sleepy-eyed, teenage girls dragging themselves out of bed to meet for the morning devotion.

Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime...

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Going To Camp

I leave for camp on Tuesday, which means I'll have a busy day Monday.  I'll be working in the morning to do any important office stuff that needs to be taken care of for a week.  Then the afternoon will be spent packing.  In the evening I'll be at another Word of Life training meeting at church.  It's definitely going to be a full day.

I won't have an internet connection at camp, so you won't be hearing from me for the next week.  I do have the option of mobile blogging from my phone, so if I have the opportunity and words, I'll attempt that once or twice.  Should that happen and my words are somewhat incoherent, please just take that as a sign of exhaustion.  I'm fully expecting to be T-I-R-E-D.

Prayer Requests:

• For physical strength to get through the week's activities
• That I will depend on God's grace
• To be prepared to be used by God for whatever His purpose is in putting me there
• For a tender heart that is ready to learn what God wants to teach me

See you guys next week.

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The Zoo

My sister needed a babysitter this afternoon, so I agreed to look after her 7-year-old twins.  The other two kids went to camp today.  I decided it might be fun to go on an outing, rather than me just sitting at her house all day while the kids played with the neighbors.  Or worse yet, invited the neighbor kids over.

So the plan was made.  We would go to the zoo.  I was told that my rating as an Aunt would go through the roof. We shall see how that plays out in weeks to come.

It was a fun afternoon.  We saw some cool animals.      

We were captivated by some very hungry fish!

At the Zoo from Liz on Vimeo.

They begged me to ride the train.

And I think we bonded a little.

You know what?  I'm pooped out.

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An Interesting Week

Hey!  Do you know what makes a really great time to write on your blog?  It's at 2:00 in the morning when you can't sleep.  {yawn}

I've been completely MIA for days.  Sorry.  Preoccupied with other things, I guess.  In fact, here's a brief run-down of my week.

Monday night we had our first training meeting at church for transitioning into Word of Life Bible Club for our children, coming this fall.  It's something I've been looking forward to, but it's a lot of information to take in.

Monday night I also started in with a dizziness episode.  Bent over to put something in a bag, and things started spinning in my head just a bit.  Spent the rest of the evening miserable.

Tuesday I went to work miserable, unsure which I was battling more... the dizziness or the Bonine hangover.  I slept for two hours in the afternoon, and finally after dinner I started feeling back to normal.  I think I'm ready to swear off those motion sickness products forever and just let the dizzy run its course.

Thursday I missed half a day of work because I had to report for jury duty.  The whole jury duty issue was a spiritual test for me, and I won't go into all the whys of that.  Long story short, we were dismissed after being there an hour.  The defendant arrived at court that morning and plead guilty.  So I went back to the church and took care of some work that needed finished up.

This coming week I start getting ready to go to teen camp.  Now there's something that you're gonna want to keep coming back for.  "Liz" and "camp" are not exactly two things that typically go together, but the Lord has provided an opportunity for me to help at our church teen camp.  I'm sure I'll have a story or two to share about that.

I guess that's enough for a middle-of-the-night update.  It's back to bed for me.  Hopefully my mind can shut off and let me sleep.

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Feeding My Book Gluttony

You may have noticed that I posted a book review last Saturday and then didn't write again until last night with yet another book review. Have no fear. I will continue to write about things besides just books. It only happened to be a week of muddled thoughts and zero creativity for me.

Speaking of books, I have become enthralled with the Goodreads website. I've put all my "to-read" books in an ordered list there to give me focus and a plan. I love how you can write notes for yourself on a book, enter favorite quotes, and then write a review when you're finished that can be easily placed into a blog. Thus, the reason for my two recent book reviews here. Reading other people's reviews and seeing their ratings has been enjoyable, too. I'm really getting into this reading thing.

The other site I just found because Dancing In the Margins had mentioned it on her blog is PaperBackSwap. You basically list the books you have that you're willing to trade. When someone requests your book, you ship it to them via media mail at your own expense. In return you receive credits to choose books, and then they are shipped to you at the other person's expense. I had requests almost immediately upon posting my books the first night. So far I've already mailed off 3 and have 2 more waiting to go out. It's so cool!

Let me know if you're into these websites, too. Are you enjoying them?

Happy reading!

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Book Review - "Experiencing The Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day"

Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day by Henry Blackaby

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Being the first time I've read anything by the Blackabys, I didn't know what to expect. Well, I wasn't disappointed. At the beginning it didn't seem as if they conveyed new information about the Holy Spirit. I already knew the things they were teaching about; it just seemed to be put into a fresh package.  That was fine, and I was content in just getting a little "refresher course" on the Holy Spirit.

As I got further into the book, though, that changed. I was convicted over my disregard for the Holy Spirit's work in my life, and I was challenged to take a hard look at the many times I've shut the door on God's assignments for me. God will not give us big things to do, if we won't do the small stuff. It makes me wonder what I've missed out on by saying, "No, Lord. I can't."

They discuss spiritual gifts and using them, the importance of relationship with God, what the Holy Spirit's work looked like in Jesus' life and in the disciples, and the need for our full surrender. I can't say that I am in full agreement with their position on determining your spiritual gifts, and it's something I'm still thinking about. All in all, though, I found it to be challenging and stirring. It's definitely worth reading a second time and sharing with friends.

View all my reviews.

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