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Books, Books, and more Books!

It's Christmas break and what's better than sitting down with a good book! I love reading for enjoyment but I absolutely hate reading when I'm made to read at school! So, I have started early! I have read some book for a class I am taking in the spring with a few just for fun books. They are:

1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

The ending book to the Divergent Trilogy. I must say that I was not surprised by the ending, but I wasn't really happy with it. I won't spoil it for you, but Really! I cannot wait for the Divergent movie to come out in March. If you love The Hunger Games, you will love this series!

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Oh my bring on the tears! Such a heart wrenching book! It's about a girl with stage 4 terminal cancer who falls in love with a boy who has cancer. This book is coming out in theaters in June. I would highly suggest to either take tissues with you or wait until you can rent it so that nobody can see the ugly boo whooing that will be happening. Still can't wait for this movie!

3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Wow what a story! This book deals with so many hush subjects like suicide. The girl who commits suicide recorded tapes beforehand and passed them around to each person on the tapes. Throughout the tapes she discusses why she did what she did. Oh my goodness! This was one that is a must read for every teenager! I couldn't believe this was on my book list for my Young Adult Literature class, because I actually liked it! 

4. Sold by Patricia McCormick 

Oh man! This is another must read! For several years now, I have been able to attend the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Ga. There we have talked about the Sex Trade and girls that have been sold into prostitution. This book sums that up.  It is about a girl who is sold into slavery.  She thinks she is being sent into the city to be a house maid until one day she is locked in a room and a man walks in. Wow! This is also one that I couldn't stop reading! I have to admit, I read this in 2 nights on my Christmas Vacation with my mom.  

I am now on my 5th book of my break. It's is called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is also one that I have to read for a class. I'm liking it so far. I will have to wait and do a review of this one a little later. I still have a few on my list.

I know. This blog makes me look like a big bookworm, but I like to read Children and Young Adult books so that I know books to recommend to my students when I become a teacher. I'm just getting a head start!

Kristin

Christmas all month long!

Christmas is such an awesome time of year! I love Christmas! I love the weather (mostly because I have cuter clothes to wear in this weather 😃)! I love the gatherings with friends and family! But, most of all I love what Christmas represents! This little baby boy being born that has changed our lives. This person who died for me and saved me from all of the wrong doings that I will ever do. That is so crazy to think about. Christmas is more than presents and Santa. It is full of love and sacrifice. 

Today, I had the great opportunity to have my 2nd Christmas of the season. I had Christmas with my dad's side of the family here at my house. For many of you, this may come as a shock. Since Dad has passed away 2 years ago, our family hasn't been the same which makes our Christmas' not the same.  We asked my aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, and cousins to come up to Webb City because my brother has to work all through this week. We wouldn't have been able to do Christmas how we normally would have done it. We are so grateful that our family got to work with us to make today a Christmas that felt like we are headed back to the normal stage with many laughs. 

My next Christmas is on Christmas Day with Mom and Logan. I can't wait to open up presents with just my family and then play games all day!! If you know 1 thing about my family, we love games! All games! On Thursday, mom and I leave Mo for Tx which is my Christmas present from her. We are going to spend the week in San Antonio and we are even seeing a broadway show! Yay! I'm excited!!

This is making my Christmas last all month long and I'm okay with that 😃

Merry Christmas from the Huff's 

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

My letter

It's been awhile since I have been able to blog. I've been so busy with finals and last minute projects that I never found the time. The semester is over though and I also have things to talk about. :)

Today, I got a letter in the mail. It was a letter from CIY, the place I worked for this summer. I had no idea what it was until I opened it up. It was a letter that I wrote to myself at the end of the summer. It is letter of encouragement and a reminder of everything I learned this summer. I started tearing up just reading it. It really reminded me of what God was doing in my life and the things he taught me. I had so many memories just pop in my head from this summer that it made me a little emotional. It's hard to put into words everything that happened. God started teaching me so much about myself and what I'm capable of doing. I learned practical things that I can use in other teams that I'm involved in. 

This letter was a reminder that I can be used by God and that he does open doors. During my summer, I was offered the opportunity to be on our college age leadership team at my church. It was an awesome answer to my prayer of wanting to get more involved in my church. Now, I help lead 2 teams that I couldn't be more excited about. I absolutely love my church and helping them do ministry. This leads to the doors he is starting to close. I officially stepped down from the leadership team at the Baptist Student Union at MSSU so that I can focus on my school and other leadership teams that I am on. It was a really hard decision to make, but I know that it was the decision God was calling me to. Taking 21 hours, working 3 part time jobs (2 are kinda the same though), and being on 3 leadership teams seemed way to much for me to handle for 1 semester. I'm excited to what other doors God opens and shuts. 

God always seems to place encouragement at just the right time. It's crazy  to think that I wrote this letter and 4 months later I need to hear those words. God does some awesome things!

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Thankful

It's November and this week is Thanksgiving. This week is a great reminder of everything that God has done for me and there are so many things in my life that I am thankful for! 

To begin with, I am so thankful for my family. We have gone through many ups and downs together that has brought us so close together. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to get through many of the hard times by myself. They have been there to cheer me on when I'm excited or to sit and cry with me when I'm sad. My mom is the strongest person I know. I know if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be the person I am today. My brother well is my brother. Sometimes we don't get along, but we will always be there to support each other and tell each other who's the bigger one (that's me)! My brother also gives me great advice (most of the time) which I appreciate. I know that I can always count on him when I need advice on something. 

             Me and my brother

I am also so thankful for my friends. I am thankful for Gretel, Kassie, and Meredith and their support. I absolutely love getting together with them because it's always a time of so much laughter and fun. I'm pretty sure that we never actually do what we say we are going to do half of the time but that's why they are fun! I love having those long conversations that help me grow as a person. I appreciate that every conversation always leads to God. I have the best friends that I could ever have. I thank God for them regularly. They are such a blessing in my life.

My friends minus Gretel

I am so thankful for the jobs that God has provided for me. This summer, I had the great opportunity to work for CIY. I grew so much as a person. I learned many things and met many people that are incredible. I was surrounded by people who always put God first. They would never tell us to do something unless they would do it or help us with it. The leadership was incredible. I have met many lifelong friends and I am so thankful for that.

My teammates at CIY

I'm also so thankful for my job at Missouri Southern State University Child Development Center. I absolutely love walking into my room on Tuesdays and Thursdays and hearing my 1 year olds yell Hi to me. They are such sweet kids that will always help your day get better. I love seeing their smiles and helping them learn new things. I get to see how much they grow and it's fantastic. This job kinda just fell into my lap and I know it was a part of God's plan for me. I also love my next job. Working with Trachelle is probably the best job ever. I get to spend several hours a day for four days a week taking care of my beautiful cousin Trachelle. She always puts so much joy in my heart. She's always so happy and filled with so much joy especially when we blare the music. I thank God for her and that I get the privilege of taking care of her so often. 

I am also thankful that for the first time in my life I live in the same town as some of my family members. I can always call up Trey, Michelle, or Trent if I need help on something or if I'm at home by myself. I love that we now have the traditional Sunday meals with family. I'm also thankful that they are so willing to be involved in church and help me when I need volunteers. 

This leads me to the next thing. I am so thankful for my church. God truly knew what he was doing when he brought us to Carterville Christian Church. They have welcomed us with open arms and I love that about it. I also love the sermons that Robin preaches. He is never afraid of stepping on anyone's toes. He tells it like it is. I love that. I also love that I have the opportunity to head the guest services tent and be on the C3 College Age leadership team. Being involved in my church has been such a blessing. I look forward to it every week and if for some reason I have to miss, I am so bummed. God is doing some incredible things in the people of this church and I'm so blessed to be apart of it. 

These are a few things that I am thankful for. I know that there are many more such as my schooling (that I'm almost done with!!!). I could go on and on but I will choose to stop here.

Logan, Trent, and I after volunteering at our Easter service

God has been so good to me. He has done many things that have lead me to where I am today. I am so thankful for everything and what it has taught me. 

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

What A Week

Have you ever had the week that you just wanted it to be over? That was definitely last week! I had many moments of tears but also moments of laughter. 

These moments mostly started on Wednesday but before I start there I need to start from the very beginning. 

My college career has been full of ups and downs. I started out as a freshman at MSSU. It was that year during the spring semester that I found out that my dad had cancer. So the following spring semester, I decided to transfer back home so that I could help my mom out and take care of dad when she was at work. I only had a few classes in class during this time and the rest were online so I didn't have any trouble there. After he passed away, I transferred back to MSSU. When I did that, I lost a year of classes and ended up back to where I was before I transferred. That was just an awful feeling. It now pushed me back a semester and me changing majors pushed me back another semester. So now I'm on the 5 1/2 year college plan. When telling people that when they don't know the back story makes me feel about 2 feet tall, but I know that there was a reason and it doesn't matter what other people think about my schooling. It's annoying but I got to spend time with my dad and I wouldn't trade that time for anything. 

Well, I found out a few weeks ago that a few of my classes conflicted with a few of my other classes. I was very worried about it because if it wasn't fixed then I would be here another semester. That would now make me be on the 6 year plan and that wasn't going to happen, but they said that they would work on moving 2 classes so that I could take the other 2 classes at the same time. Well, now its Wednesday. I got news at 10:00 at the beginning of one of my classes that they were not going to change the classes they told us they would change. I was so upset. I couldn't help but tear up and I definitely was not paying attention in class like I should have been. I left class a little early that day because I wanted to go talk to someone to see if there was another way to help me out. We also were done with the lesson and he was just asking if we had any questions and I didn't. That helped me feel a little bit better about leaving too. So, I walk back over to the teacher education department and the only information I could find out was that the professors I needed to talk with were all in class. So I called  my aunt. (Let me pause for a second and thank her and my uncle. They helped me so much with this entire process. I couldn't have made it through it without them.) So I decided that I would go into my next class and wait for it to start. I had about 15 minutes so what did I do? I played on my phone of course. What else was I going to do? I decided that I would look up stuff for school and while I did that I checked my email. I had just gotten an email with a major paper attached to it. I opened the attachment and the paper that was there was not the paper that was supposed to be turned in. Actually, it wasn't even half of the paper. Instead of being 10 pages long, it was only 2 pages. So that was another thing that I had to deal with during my high emotional state. I had many comments from my professor that basically said I didn't do the assignment when in fact I did do it correctly but the email didn't send it correctly. I had no idea how she got the version she had. So I ran down to her office really quick with the correct copy in hand (good thing I had it). I caught her right as she was walking out of her office. As I talked to her, she wasn't as understanding in that moment as I would have hoped. As soon as I turned around with her, here came the tears. I couldn't stop them so I ran to the bathroom for a second. I couldn't believe that within 30 minutes I had 2 terrible news in my eyes. I had my last semester turn for the worst and now in one of my classes my grade was going to suffer because of a technical glitch. I wasn't sure what to do. I went back to my class, gathered all of my stuff again, and headed out the door of course still in tears. I was so embarrassed mostly but also completely crumbled inside. How could this happen? I headed straight for the daycare where I work. I knew that one of my friends was just getting off work. I wanted to catch her because I just needed someone to talk to and to cry to. We talked and I got to where I wasn't crying anymore. We even made it to class on time and with minutes to spare. 

I realized that even in these moments that God puts people there to help you. When you feel alone like I did, he still helps you through the situation. God also provides people to encourage you that do not even know that you are having a terrible week. I had many encouraging texts from people and it just made my day when I got those texts. They were reminders that God is taking care of me even during the terrible times. 

Friday, I had an appointment with the department head about the conflicts and we got them solved. They were not solved how I originally thought they were, but I'm just so excited that they are solved and now I have that huge weight off my shoulders. I walked out of that appointment with all smiles. I was so relieved and I knew that God had answered my prayers by helping everything to work out just fine. I could not stop thanking her. She even asked if I would feel much better if she enrolled me instead of my advisor (I wasn't sure if she would be back since she was off on medical leave). 

The next situation was solved because I still had the peer edited version of the paper that I had in class the day of the due date. She looked over that and still took it. I was so relieved.

Thursday night was Halloween night. I got to spend it handing out candy and playing Quelf with my brother, his girlfriend and one of my good friends who was not having the best week either. It was great to just put all of our school problems aside and just have some fun with lots of laughters. We also had a great talk after the game about what we were going to need to do for each of our problems at school. It was a great night of just relaxing and venting that we both needed very much.

On Friday, I hosted a BSU girls night here at my house. It was a lot of fun and I got to cook soup for all of them with the help of my cousin, Hannah. We played several games and talked. It was such a great night. It was here that I found out about the shooting at the Joplin movie theatre that I would eventually find out was our offensive line coach here at MSSU. Not only was this quite a shock to everyone. We were not sure what was going to go on because our Homecoming football game was the next day. Although I did not know Coach Moore myself, I know that our campus was entirely shocked at the whole thing. It really has brought our whole campus together. #MOSOstrong Today as I walked through campus, many students were wearing the green and gold.

Continue to keep our football team in your prayers.

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Kassie playing Quelf Halloween night!

Blessed Be Your Name

Every one has heard the song "Blessed Be the Name of The Lord" by Matt Redman. We have all sang it at church or heard it on the radio at some point. It's an oldie but a goodie!! 

If you listen to the words, the song is all about how we should be praising God and giving him glory in the good times and the bad, "in the land that is plentiful" and "when I'm found in the desert place." We should always be turning our heads back to praise him. 

My dad did a whole sermon about this once. I still remember it vividly. It was before he got diagnosed with cancer. He showed this video with people singing the song that were in different places in their lives. Some were sick. Some were in financial trouble. Some were pregnant. Some were joyful. They were all saying "Blessed Be The Name of The Lord."  I couln't fathom it. My dad talked about how difficult that could be. How difficult being in a hard time and still praising him. He didn't realize that a couple of month later, he would be in that boat. 

After dad got diagnosed, a guy from our church went to my dad and asked him to say it. My dad was slightly confused. "Say what?" He said remember the sermon and that's when dad remembered and he did say it. My dad lived a life that I still look up to today. I still think that nobody could top my dad. He praised God even until the end. 

In the song it starts talking about "when you give and take away." This part of the song gets me every time. He gave me my dad and he took him away. We sang this by Dad's grave. It was so hard for me to get the words out because I was crying but I knew that I had to say them. 

This song was my dad's favorite song. Every time I hear it, I always think of my dad and how he lived his life. I always think about what God has done for me and my family. He has done so much for us. I cannot not say it. 

Here I stand, through everything, and say "Blessed Be the Name of The Lord."  

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Joseph

It's crazy to me to think that even though I spent everyday this summer hearing the story of Joseph, I still learn something new from it tonight during my reading. 

This summer, I was blessed to be able to listen to many different speakers give their take on the Joseph story and it was awesome!

Tonight what stuck out in my mind was God sent Joseph to Egypt to save the family from the drought. He turned such a bad thing, the brothers selling Joseph into slavery, into such a good thing, Joseph saving their lives by giving them food to eat. 

It just makes me think. What in my life do I see as such a bad thing but is going to be such a great thing later?

Right now, I can only think about what has happened that he has used as good. My dad passing away is the only thing that is coming to mind. That was such a horrible time. My DAD passed away. I will never have the experience that all girls dream about of their dad walking them down the isle and I will never hear one of his corny jokes again. But you know what, if my dad wouldn't have passed away, I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't be going to Carterville Christian Church where I love my church family and being able to serve every Sunday at the new guest services tent. I wouldn't have had the awesome opportunity to work for CIY this summer and listen to the Joseph story every night. I wouldn't be still in school and be able to minister to other college students. I wouldn't have the relationship with Christ that I have today. 

God does use bad things for his greater good. I still think about and miss my dad everyday but I also know that because he is gone, God has been able to use me for great things. 

I know my dad is looking down on my mom, brother, and I telling all of the other angels how proud he is of us. I just can't wait until I'm one of those angels with him.

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Coincidence?

It has been a little over a year since we have been attending Carterville Christian Church here in Joplin. And, it seems like we have gone there forever. 

This week, I had the honor of starting the guest services tent. I am team lead which just means I have to make sure I have workers every week. The guest services tent is key. The statistic is that within the first 7 minutes of arriving to a new church a guest has already decided whether they will be coming back. The guest services tent is made to where we will be parking them in a special place, we will be introducing ourselves from the very beginning. We want to give them a gift and a packet all about Carterville and then walk them in to their seats. We want to make sure we ease the process of checking in their kids by walking through the process with them. It's not a very hard job but its a great one. 

Now I've been sharing my struggles with everyone and I'm not going to stop now. This is another job that is getting me out of my comfort zone. I have to introduce myself to someone I have never met before (most likely). I have to show them around everywhere. I have to talk period. I have to not be shy. Crazy how that seems so easy and I'm beginning to learn that it takes work. I'm learning that its not hard but that I have to make an effort to just do it. Just talk. I think God has something big in store because this is my second job like this. The other one being CIY. Two jobs where my primary function is to talk to people I don't know. Hmm... Coincidence? I'm not sure yet. We will see.

This Thursday begins C3collegeage. This is a bible study where I am on the student leadership team. This week we are just going to get to know each other and play games and what not. It will be at Robin's house which will be exciting. In the future, we will be doing a bible study and I will be leading small group and facilitating questions to people. My prayer for this is that Southern students and Ozark students begin to mesh. I pray that there will not be any segregation in our group. We live in the same town by golly. We need to work together to further God's kingdom. 

One common misconception from Ozark students though is that there aren't any Christians that attend MSSU because it isn't a Christian school. This is not the case. There are many students on Southerns campus who are there because they want to be missionaries on that campus. I,too, have this feeling. I didn't want to go to a Christian school. That may be a shocker to some people but I wanted to go to a secular school and make a difference on that campus. I didn't want to go to a Christian school to stay in a bubble. There isn't anything wrong with that. Some people need that. I just wanted to get out of my comfort zone. We have 3 great campus ministries on our campus that are doing great jobs at bringing in lost students and building relationships with them. I'm honored to be involved in this. I'm blessed that I get to be apart of something bigger than me. Ozark is a great place. Many of the professors over there are awesome people that I love to listen to preach. When my brother said he was going there, I wasn't opposed. I just knew that it wasn't a place for me. 

I'm excited to start meeting the students over there and start building relationships with them. When it comes to this bible study, I will not build my relationships on what school you go to, I want to build them upon that fact that we have a common bond and that is Jesus.

Kristin

Weekend!

This was a much needed, relaxing weekend from a tough week. I started school again. I started 2 jobs. I'm starting a new routine. 

School is going to be tough. I'm taking 19 hours that consist of mostly teaching classes but I'm also taking Physical Science aka Physics. I was really worried about the class but so far I remember everything from high school. Thank you West Plains High School for teaching me these things already. Many of the students in my class have no idea how to do any of it and right now we're doing basic conversions. I want to say if you are having trouble now then you may want to think about taking a different class. 

Work is going to be different. At the daycare, I'm working Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. Last year, I opened everyday. So it's strange not seeing the kids everyday and working in the afternoon. My first day I didn't know what to do because I had never done nap time before. It was just really strange. I also started working for Trachelle. Now it's more of a consistent thing. I'm working for a new company. So this is all new also. It's mostly things I already do but now I have to be here 4 times a week and its more paperwork for me. It's something I enjoy though. 

 As some of you know, Friday was the 2 year anniversary of my dad's passing. It's hard to believe that he has been gone for 2 years already. Friday, I, as well as my family, lived our lives normally. Not only did I go to school. I was able to tutor in a math class. I also went to lunch with one of my friends and just hung out for the afternoon. I then went to a meeting at my church. Dad wouldn't of wanted us to skip everything and stay at home and mope around. He would of wanted us to live life like he taught us how to do. Lately, my mom has told me "that is exactly something your dad would have done." That is what I want to hear because my dad was such a great guy and if I'm doing things like him then I learned well. 

You're looking at the new team lead for guest services. I'm really excited! I think it's so cool that I became this on Friday. This was something that my dad was very passionate about. He was always looking for better ideas on how to welcome guests to church. Some of the stuff that my dad taught me or showed me is what I'm using for our tent. It's cool that I get to act on what my dad had in visioned for Lifeline. Right now, my team consists of my family. As Trey put it, I'm their boss now! Haha! They have to listen to me for once. :) We start this coming Sunday and I'm so excited!

Anyway after I went there, I went to one of my CIY boss' house to babysit for them. I had so much fun. I babysat 3 boys. 7,5, and 3 were their ages. They were so funny and talked the entire time. They explained to me all of their toys. They helped me make cookies. They watched "Black Beauty" with me and narrated the entire thing (it was hilarious especially when the horse was being born lol). Then, I put them to bed. I read them a story which they also narrated. Then they told me I was the best babysitter and that they loved me. It was awesome! They were such sweet boys. I can't wait to do it again!

The next morning, I got to do some homework and watch Trachelle. I'm not used to doing homework again, but I'm getting back into the gist of things again. It's just hard for me to get back into the groove of things again.  Then that night, we had a family dinner where we smoked meatloaf and potatoes. So yummy! It was a fantastic meal! Then I went to bed at 9:30. Yes, 9:30! No, I'm not ashamed! I didn't actually go to sleep until 10. I was reading "Charlotte's Web" (homework) during that time. But still, I felt like an old grandma. 

Today, we went to church. Their were several new people. I even got to talk to some Southern students that came for the first time. As now I am on the student leadership team, I have to talk to people I do not know. I have to get out of my comfort zone like at CIY but this time I will see them again. At CIY, I knew I wasn't going to see the youth pastors again. These college students, I will see at school, I will see at bible study, and I will see at church on Sunday mornings. It's going to be a very different type of communication. 

Tomorrow, I go back to school and work. I start another week. We are also trying out something tomorrow and having a jam session to try and get more people involved with the BSU. I'm hoping we find another keyboard player because I really want to step down. I'm just want to put my focus on the mission trips. But, I'm excited for this semester. It's not going to be an easy one but its going to be a good one. 

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Tomorrow, the chaos starts all over again!

Tomorrow starts my life again. Tomorrow, I start my next 19 hr semester. Tomorrow, I start my 20+ hr work week in 2 different jobs. Tomorrow, I start being on two different student leadership teams. Tomorrow, I start my chaos all over again. Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way.

My life is full right now. I just got off one of the best summers/jobs I have ever had. I don't know how to put into words how this summer impacted me. I've tried. The only people who completely understand are the people I got to work. Every morning, I got to start my day off with a worship set and then I got to end it the same way. How crazy is that?!?! I got to meet and work with some awesome people that challenged me to do things that I would have never thought about. God showed me and opened doors for my life that I am so blessed to be apart of. This is the reason that I am on 2 leadership teams. One for my church. One for my school. I learned that I can and am good at communicating/problem solving with people. Who knew a shy girl could get out of her comfort zone? I had so much help with people stretching me to do this and I'm so thankful for them.

 I also just got off a week full of me catching up on my sleep and resting for this week. With this summer came a lot of weeks in a row with little sleep. My body was/is wore out. It was nice to just sit in one spot for more than 10 min and watch tv. Yes, I went almost 12 weeks without tv. Even though my week was also full of preparation for this coming semester, it was still restful for me. It was just full of the normal stuff: buying books (which were surprisingly cheap this semester, I'm not complaining though :) ), making sure my schedule works for school and my jobs, catching up with friends, making sure everything is ready for the BSU (one of the student ministries I'm on the leadership team for), etc. I've also had to go through training for my jobs again and get all of the paper work in. (Not the best time I've had this week.) Its been a little hectic to say the least. 

I was so excited to get to have meetings and get the BSU started at school on a good foot. On the BSU leadership team, I am the missions coordinator. I love this job because God has laid missions on my heart and its so cool to get to serve him in this way. Having this job is huge during spring break and summer. This year our group is going to Texas over Spring Break and then right after school gets out we are going to Africa. Although it is unknown where we are going at this time, I'm excited about planning this trip. At this time, I'm not sure if I will get to go on the trip due to the possibility of other conflicts. This means this year, I am planning 2 trips!! Yes, I am doing this on top of school, work, ministry work, etc. Its going to be a crazy year for me!!! I not only have to plan the trips, I have to plan fundraisers on how to get my groups there. Africa is such an awesome opportunity but with that comes a lot of money! Mostly the plane ticket and transportation while we (the group) are there. Plus of course while in Africa, you have to go on a Safari! It's just a must right? 

I'm also on the worship team at the BSU. I have the honor of singing harmony mostly and playing the keyboard on Tuesday nights. We had our first practice this past week and I'm so excited for this year. We sounded great. I can't wait for Tuesday night! 

So as I start tomorrow, I simply ask one thing. I ask that you pray for me that I can serve with my all in every area. As you can see, that may be a challenge. I pray that I won't get tired. I also pray that God doesn't stop the chaos in my life!

Thank you for everything! Thank you for all of your support for me and the ministries that I help out! I couldn't do it without all of my family and friends! 

Don't stop the chaos! 

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Last Team Time

Tonight was our last team time. It's so crazy to think that 3 months ago I was walking into the CIY office nervous as everything and tomorrow we walk out not wanting to leave. I can't even imagine life now without knowing my team. Courtney, the one who can always find something funny out of a situation, is my partner in crime. She was always there when I needed her. I can't imagine going through Registration day without her. Austin, the most selfless, humble person I know. He was always going off of what Courtney was saying. The two of them would always make me laugh so hard!! Morgan, the most positive person! The best team leader I could have ever had! Then there is Jake, the energizer/ dreamer. The little brother of the group. These people helped me so much. I have learned so much from them and it has made me grow as a person. Tomorrow, I have to say goodbye to these people. It's making me tear up as I think about it. It's going to be so weird for me to go back to my life without these people there. I have spent 24/7 with my team since May 20. I always knew which person to go to if I needed help with a certain thing. I think more than anything that we have gone through so much these last couple of months together, it's hard for me to imagine not having them here when I need them. Yes, I will have my awesome friends here in Joplin but they will not understand everything that I did this summer. It's hard for me to understand sometimes. 

Another person that God has brought into my life was Audrey. She is not my teammate but she might as well be. She helped me through so much this summer also. Every time I needed to vent about something, I would FaceTime her. Yes, FaceTime. My teammates made fun of us for it but whatever. Lol. She is like a sister I never had. Someone who would always have the best advice at just the right time. She would always send me encouraging messages when I needed them the most. She is my best friend here at CIY and nobody understands why. They all laugh so hard about it. Audrey and I are pretty much opposites but that's why we love each other so much. 

Today was our last day of work. Tomorrow we head to the "lake party" which is really at white water. Yes, we know. It's suppose to rain all day. It's so weird that we don't have to go back to the office at 8am anymore. We don't have to fold t-shirts or do inventory anymore. That will be such a relief for awhile. 

Will there be a next year? Quite possibly. If God leads me to do this internship again, I will absolutely take it again. I have never worked for a company that treated their interns so well! They were always looking out for us. I think God has a plan for me with CIY but I'm not sure what it is yet. It could just be helping Carterville go to Move or Believe every year. It could be working at CIY as a PC. Either way, it was such a joy and a honor to work for CIY and the people that came with it. I can't put into words what I'm actually feeling right now. I had one of the best summers and it would be so hard to top it off.

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

We're back!

We're all back. All 26 of us. My best friend is now back!! I'm so excited to spend time with Audrey it's crazy!! Not only are we all back in Joplin but we moved out of the dorms at OCC and now we are back into the Candlewood Suites hotel. Tonight reminded me so much of our first night here. We came in. Tried to get our rooms. Went to dinner. Came back and played games. Our games were similar but totally different. We were actually playing because we love each other not because we were trying to meet each other. We were playing because we wanted to. It's so different when we know each other. 

It's so weird talking to people about their summers. They were not like ours. Even though we were doing the exact same job, they had different experiences, met different people, and had different strengths and weaknesses. It's hard to not say hey remember this. No because they were not there to experience that. 

I'm so glad to be back but I'm not ready for it to be over. 

Kristin

Home Sweet Home

We made it back to Joplin late last night. We had so much fun on our long trek home! We got to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon plus we got to eat at 4 different places that were on the tv show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives! All off them were so good!! It wasn't an ideal drive because we had 2 vehicles instead of 1 but there were lots of great conversations and great memories that were made on the drive. 

On our drive, I couldn't drive. Since I'm from Missouri, I do not have a license that let's me drive a vehicle bigger than a truck. So I was in charge of getting us where we needed to go, paying for gas, food, and hotels, and being the designated passenger to keep the drivers away. So since that was my job, I had many questions that I had to ask to keep conversations going. I had a whole list of them in my head. These are my answers to the questions:

Throughout this summer, what attribute did you gain the most of?

Patience: not sure if this is the best word to use but its the only word I can think of. I learned to be patient with the youth ministers when they had a problem so that I wouldn't become overwhelmed and so that I could fix it easily. 

For each team mate, tell me something that you learned from them that you can take away from.

Courtney- I learned that being personable with people is a great quality to have when working with others. She did a great job at knowing when to be serious and when to have fun.

Morgan- I learned that being positive during stressful situations is key. Being able to be positive helps others not get overwhelmed. She always had a positive outlook on everything.

Austin- I learned that building relationships with the people your working with helps you work with them easier. He was great at this with the college reps that we had.

Jake- I learned that being focused helps people get things done. He was always very focused at the forgiving tree when we were cleaning it out and it helped us get to bed quicker.

What was your favorite moment of this summer?

By far my favorite moment of this summer was when Jonathon (a guy who was disabled and in a wheelchair) was cheer for this kid. Cheer for this kid is when a student gets picked to be king/queen for the day. The students are suppose to cheer for them whenever they see them and they are allowed to cut in line whenever because they are royalty. His friends treated him like royalty. They carried him up on stage so that he could be crowned. They pushed him everywhere. He was so excited! It was just an awesome thing to see!

All of us are exhausted! Going 3 straight weeks without a full nights sleep is so hard! We never had a break during the weekend. It was nonstop tearing down one event to putting up the next event. We are excited to sleep mostly. I can already tell that I'm going to miss this. I'm going to miss being on the go 24/7. It's just not going to be the same. I'm going to miss being around my teammates 24/7. I'm going to miss going to a worship session every morning and night. I'm going to miss making new friends every week! I'm going to miss everything about it! It's crazy how much God has shown me throughout the 6 weeks I was on the road. He really knew what I needed. He knew the people that I needed to become in contact with. He was with me every step of the way even when I was frustrated. I still have 2 weeks of working in the office. I will mostly be unloading trucks and doing inventory of the trucks. Our last day, we are going to white water for the day which will be fun but sad at the same time! It's going to hit me hard that day!

It's good to be home! It's a little hard because I'm going to go another week without seeing my mom as she is on an Alaskan cruise with my aunt. I haven't ever been away from her this long and when she gets back it will be 4 1/2 weeks. I think God is preparing me for something though like being away for a much longer time. It's weird to be back in Joplin and not have her here though. Oh well, I still have my brother and my team.

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Team picture at the Grand Canyon!

The Hoover Dam!

The Coffee Cup! One of our breakfast stops that was on Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives.

Mad Greek Cafe at midnight!

Ingrid's Kitchen in OKC!

Almost Over

Today is the third day of our last week out. We are starting to do things for the very last time. It's very bitter sweet for me. I am so going to miss doing and being around this job and the people around me. I'm going to miss doing ministry 24/7. I'm excited the most about getting to sleep and sleeping in comfy beds. We get to sleep in hotels for 2 nights on our way home. I'm a little excited about that. No more cafeteria food. No more awful beds. But also no more great conversations. No more being around my awesome teammates 24/7. It's going to be crazy and weird at the same time. 

I have so much that I've been reflecting on. I've been reflecting on my struggles and what God's been teaching me this summer. I've been reflecting on the awesome experiences that I have had this summer. I do realize that it's not over. I still have 2 days left. I can't even believe that I'm saying that right now. It seems like just yesterday I was just meeting my team. My team has now been my family for 7 weeks and I can't even fathom what it's going to be like without them. It's going to be so strange.  I'm not really ready for school and being done. 

Last night, our team just sat around a hot spring (they have 20 of them around this campus) and reflected on our "pit" for this summer. We have been talking about the Joseph story all summer and about how he rose up out of his pit. I would say my pit would be trying to be perfect at my job. It's a constant struggle for me. I hate getting my work wrong. I hate making mistakes. It kills me from the inside out to get something wrong. I fell back into that pit this summer. If I made a mistake, I just wanted to sit there and cry about it (which is never a good solution). I would fix it then cry later. It's so hard for me to fail. I absolutely hate failing at anything. It was such a great conversation to have with my teammates though. It gave me more insight into my teammates and how their summer has gone.

Thanks for all of the prayers over me this summer! 

 

Excitement is in the air!!

Tomorrow starts our second week in California. This is a little bitter sweet!! I absolutely love this job! I'm going to miss all of the people that I'm working with and the work that I get to do! It's so awesome that I get to do what I love which is serving others and the exciting part is that I'm good at it!

Last week, my partner and I had a challenge given to us by our boss. It was to see who could learn the most names. I (without a doubt) won too! I not only knew their name, I also knew the church name! It helped me out so much!! I got to get to know some of them! It felt more personal when I knew their names! 

This week was a bit tough for us as a team. We hit a hard spot and our director noticed. I can't put a finger on what exactly went wrong but my team as a group started to slip. By Thursday morning, we were all so frustrated with ourselves and each other. Some of us were not in great moods but by the end of the day we were back to where we needed to be. It made me realize that even through our hard times, we can still come through. We don't need to sit and wallow on what's going wrong. We need to move forward and do our best. 

God has been doing awesome things in my life. He keeps opening doors, having me meet awesome people, and revealing things to me throughout this summer. I have had some great conversations with people throughout the summer which have lead to another door opening. It has been my prayer thatGod will continue to open doors that should be opened and close doors that need to be closed. I pray that God will give me the strength to close the doors that I need to close also. 

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10 

This is my view for the week! It's so hard to be frustrated or angry because every time you walk outside you see this! God's handiwork is breath taking!!

California!

So I'm officially starting my 2nd half of the summer! I can't believe it! I'm in California! I'm in LA! It's so cool! 

Today, we have travelled all day. I woke up at 4:30am central time. Now, I'm going to bed 10:15 pacific time. I have been up for almost 20 hrs! That's insane! I have had some interesting things happen to me. On our first flight, we didn't get to sit by each other. i was thankful that a little skater dude switched me spots so that I could sit next to my PC for the next two weeks. On the flight, the turbulence was awful! The landing was extremely hard and after we had just landed, I got extremely sick and almost threw up everywhere. I recovered though. I'm so glad too! So I made sure and bought me a Mtn. Dew before we got onto our next flight. (You know I had to have my Mtn dew to make me feel all better.) Anyway, I also had bought me some Dramamine before the drive to Tennessee and I hadn't taken it out of my bag so I took one of those. We boarded our second flight, Denver to Orange County. We all got to sit close on this flight! I started to get really hot again and my stomach wasn't having it. Courtney had just happened to look at me when I started fanning myself with the little pamphlet that gives directions on how to put a seatbelt on. I just figured that nobody reads that anyway so if I do happen to blow chunks, nobody would miss it. Anyway, she's like you look so bad. You need to drink some Mtn dew and breathe. So I did and I felt so much better plus I think my Dramamine kicked in because I think I slept the entire rest of the flight. Besides me waking up to get my sprite and pretzels which also helped so much!

Today was Austin's birthday. It was kind of a weird way to spend a birthday since we were traveling but he got to have a 26 hr day instead of a 24 hr day. Anyway since it was his birthday, he got to pick the places we ate today (with the help of Chase of course). So for lunch, we went to Bruxie. It was soon good. It's a waffle sandwich place. I got the turkey club and instead of using bread they use a Belgium waffle. Amazing!! Who knew! Then for dinner, we ate at Bucca de Beppa which is one of my favorites anyway! Yum! A great way to end our first evening in California! 

This week is going to be awesome I can already tell! I'm with great people! Tomorrow we are going to spend all morning at the beach then go to an Angels vs. Red Sox game. Even though I don't enjoy watching teams play that I know nothing about, I think we will all have a fun time. I wish we were here at the beginning of the week when the Angels played the Cardinals! I actually semi know what's up with them. 

Below is what we do when we find random creepy things and in this case birds in the CIY vans!

From the outskirts of Hollywood,

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

We're Back!

Well we made it back to Joplin!! I have some of the best teammates let me tell you! On our long trek back, they let us go about 20 minutes out of our way so that I could stop by and see Dad's grave. I hadn't been down to the big ole city of wp for several months so having that experience was awesome! I got to reflect on how much has happened and how much i have grown since Dad's passing. I would not be where I am today if that incredibly difficult experience had not happened. 

I wrote a poem last year that sums up what I have been thinking lately.

I, too, am an American

I can be looked as someone to be sorry for

My father passed away with cancer 1 year ago

Never will I be able to be walked down the isle

I'm the one people don't talk about their dads too

Or change the subject when I try to talk

I will never be the same

Today I live

I walk to class, work, live

I pray nobody goes through what I saw

I trust that my creator will bring me through

Happiness is where I can stand

I struggle

I pray

Yet,

People question why?

I can still be happy

I, too, am an American 

All I can say is Blessed Be The Name of The Lord! My God knew he had great things in store for my life and that I needed to experience a great tragedy in my life for me to overcome and do them. God is good and knows the best things for us even if it is taking away one of my loved ones. 

Reflecting

As I sit here in the van on our long trek home, I'm reflecting on my last 3 weeks out on the road. God is really teaching me so many things. As I have stated before, God is really starting to push me into going into ministry. I think this theme has continued throughout my time with CIY MOVE. He keeps pushing me out of my comfort zone and you know I'm ok with it. My job here at MOVE is customer service. I basically do all of the housing then help to make sure all of the adult leaders feel welcome and do whatever I can to make their week as great as the students they bring. When doing this, I have to talk to people and answer phones almost constantly. If you know me at least a little bit, you know that I can be really shy. Just having this job has pushed me out of my comfort zone so much. I know don't mind making phone calls. I don't mind answering the same question multiple times. I know that doing this I'm helping youth pastors feel special which helps them pour their lives into their students. My communication skills continue to grow too. It's easier for me to put into words what I need to say. 

Doing this job, I'm usually the last person to get recognition. God is showing me that being in the background is sometimes one of the best places to be. This week during session, we sat in the balcony. The students couldn't see us but I got to see the students. It brings me great joy to see the students praising God and being totally overwhelmed by his presence. I get to see this daily!! I have the coolest job on the face of this planet!

The Doors Are Opening

Have I said enough that I love my job? I love my job! It's coming more and more apparent to me that God wants me to work in ministry whether that be missions or something else I'm not sure yet. This experience is amazing and it continues to get better and better! The people I'm meeting are incredible. The memories I'm making are amazing. The things God is starting to reveal to me are life changing. I'm so excited for it too! I'm not sure what the future holds but so many doors are starting to open that "it's almost like there's a higher power" as my dad would of said. I sat down yesterday to have breakfast with my PC for the week and we talked about all of this. She just told me that God will open the doors that he wants me to walk through and that I just need to trust that God knows what he is doing. Here at MOVE, we are going through the story of Joseph. He had to trust God whole heartedly. He spent 10 years in prison and was still faithful that God knew what he was doing. I need to do the same. god knows what he is doing. Next week, I'm going to have lunch with my pastor and the outreach director. We are going to talk about what it would mean for me to be on a team. I'm excited for what's to come. CIY has given me opportunities that I will never forget and I'm excited that it isn't over yet. Saturday we are headed back to Joplin then the next Friday we head to California. We have 3 more weeks of opportunities ahead of us! 

Here is a picture of the smoky mtns. 

TN 3

I can't believe we have started our 3rd week. We will be half way done when this week is over! Crazy!! As a team, we are starting to get a little loopy because the lack of sleep is starting to get to us. Next week, we will be back in the office and will be able to sleep a lot more which we are all excited for. We are extremely excited about going to California for 3 weeks! We cannot wait! We continue to talk about it all the time! 

Today, we got to do an element that we haven't been able to do the other weeks because of the location. It was awesome to see it and be apart of it for the first time. Again, I cannot say what it was until my tour is over in August but it was so much fun. 

Last night, we all went out to Sonic/ Taco Bell to get some food before we had to do security. Only a few of us went to Taco Bell but pretty much as soon as I walked in a guy was asking me about my shirt, wristband, and name tag. Ya, that's right! I'm official! Anyway, I got to tell him about CIY and what we do. It was cool to see that we are also impacting the community around us. Also while we were there, Courtney decided that her vocal cords would go bye bye and not talk. If you know Courtney at all, you know that this task is not easy for her to say the least. Anyway, we got to wear I could understand her gestures and talk for her. Ya we're twins in the group. Lol we had a whole lot of laughs and fun to say the least. 

Here is a photo of us trying to take our band photo!!

We continue to do weird things like this but we are making so many great memories along the way!

We are starting to do a video blog as a team so you might start seeing random videos start to appear here on my blog. We have a few that may make an appearance. 

Anyway, it's nap time now. So good day!

Kristin

Winding down!

Week 2 is coming to a close. Tonight we are packing up the truck so that it can head to Florida. Tomorrow, we are heading to Milligan College to unload our truck and get that week started. It is going to be a very busy weekend with lots of exhausting work to do with lots of sleep deprived people including myself. We will get it done and start another in flexible week of Move on Monday. 

I can't hardly believe that today is the end of our 2nd week! Time has flown by so fast!! My job is so exhausting but so incredibly rewarding! Last night was one of the best nights here at Move. It not only hit home with so many students, it hit home with some of our staff too. We have the best job in the world. We get to see lives changing. It's amazing. Today we handed out kingdom worker cards. Students have a choice to open these and if they do they have to do whatever is on that card. Some are things to do for a year. Some are just a one time thing. It's so cool to see the students that did complete their cards from last year and how excited they are to share about it. 

Night 2

Man! I wish all of you could experience night 2! It is incredible. I can't give out specifics yet but it is crazy how God is using night 2 to move in the students lives. But God isn't just moving in students lives, he's moving in our staff's lives to including myself.

God can do incredible thing and that includes taking people out of the hard spots. This also includes bringing new opportunities to us. I told you before that I have been given an amazing opportunity to help with my church. I don't have a response at this time but my senior pastor will be with me next week so I will be able to talk with him about it also. I would like to ask for you to pray for this situation. I pray that God will put me in the place I am suppose to be in.

I'm not sure I have included some of the crazy things that have happened here in Tennessee. Last week, we had to deal with a water main break and was out of water for about 10 hrs. We also had a fire alarm go off in the girls dorm at 2 in the morning. The bad thing was that we are staying in the boys dorm because we are in the staff wing and didn't hear our phone go off. (They didn't call us. They just sent us a text. It dings once and it's over so that is why we missed it.) This week I have had to deal with bed bugs, mold, and stinky boy rooms. (Don't be offended boys but ya'll stink!) 

While being here at CIY, I have been told that I sound like Violet off The Incredibles. I also have caught myself sounding more hickish. Ya, didn't even know that was possible. I'll blame my teammates lol. Except they like talking in British accents and I can't do that at all. Not even a tiny bit. I tell people it's because I'm from hick town USA aka West Plains, Mo. Lol 

Anyway, it's time for this girl to go to bed. I don't get a lot of time to sleep while during session. I've been told that I have to take a nap tomorrow by one of my directors. Who knew that a boss would actually tell someone to go nap! I love my job!! 

From stink heaven,

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Father's Day

I'm going to start off this post by this: if your looking for a sad, depressing post, then you need to look elsewhere. Ok, I'm glad I got that over with.

Today is Father's Day and I couldn't be anymore happy! Are you asking "why? Kristin, don't you realize that your dad past away and you don't have any one to say Happy Father's Day to." Yes, I realize this. This is my take on my situation.

My dad is with my Heavenly Father. Now not only do I get to say Happy Father's Day to my dad but I get to say it to my Heavenly Father also and it's at the same time! Why would I sulk and ask "why God did you take my dad away?" My dad is in a much better place than I am and it would be incredibly selfish of me to want him back here. I will get to see him again when God says that my time is finished.

My dad was a great man. He not only lived for Jesus. He loved those around him. He truly showed me and my brother how to live like a Godly person. I couldn't be any more proud that God wanted him in his kingdom now. God wanted my dad in heaven with him. That sounds so crazy to think about.

Today as I was sitting at church, I was thinking about all the different things that Dad used to tell me. The dumb little jokes like the "what do you call a constipated china man? Hung Chow." Or the I woke up and my pillow was gone. Ya if you knew my dad, you heard these jokes a lot. My dad would always give me the best advice. I was also thinking about all the things that God has done in my life after Dad was taken from us. God has blessed me so much because of my dad's passing. I now have one of the best jobs in the world here at CIY. I would have never even known about it if he was still here. I have been given leadership spots at different organizations that I wouldn't have had. I have gotten to meet incredible people. My Heavenly Father knew what he was doing. He not only blessed me in these ways, he has also blessed my brother and mom as well. I have also got to help people through the cancer process because I know exactly how they are feeling.

So here is my suggestion for everyone out there. My dad would be so sad if he saw those he loved still sulking from his passing. He would say that you were missing opportunities that God is bringing to you. I'm praying that you don't miss the opportunities because they have been some of the best things that have been handed to me. 

I still miss my dad so very much. I think about him everyday but I know that God is doing great things in my family's life because my dad is gone. My dad would be extremely happy with my mom, brother, and I.

1st week!

My first week is officially over! It was an awesome week! My team did a fantastic job and I'm not just saying that lol! Our bosses told us multiple times that we were doing way better than expected. We had evaluations yesterday and they told us that most people get mostly 3's on their first week which means that they need to improve on several different things. I got 4's and 5's! 4's mean that we did exactly what they were expecting and 5's mean that we went above and beyond. Most of our team did just as well. 

I have had several things happen during this week that has been very encouraging! First of all, I got to spend the week with one of my pastor's from back at home. I had never really met him before so it was great to actually get to know him. Well not only did I get to know him but by the end of the week, he offered me a leadership position on our college outreach team! This is so exciting because I will actually start getting more and more involved with my church which I'm extremely excited about. The bad thing is that I'm not sure if I can still be on leadership at the BSU. I'm hoping that I will get to do both! I want to do both but I'm not sure how realistic that is. The difficulty of it is that my church leadership team could be a long term thing and the BSU is only another year. I'm praying that God will lead me to where and which way he wants me to go. 

I had many favorite moments of the week. Here at Move, we try to be encouraging to everyone. Doing this, we have something called "Cheer for this Kid". This is when one student each day wears a crown, cape, and has a stick thing that I can't remember the name is right now. Every time students see the "cheer for this kid", they have to cheer for them. Well one day the student was a student in a wheelchair. It gave me a glimpse of Camp Barnabas again! It was amazing at how the students treated the boy. It almost made me cry at several times during the day. 

The next favorite moment was last night. The speaker at the end of the message said who is going to rise up and paused. Random students started to stand and by the end everyone was standing. It was awesome! Then, the students gathered around their small groups and prayed with each other. It was such an awesome moment! I know that I'm not explaining it well enough to give it justice. It was incredible!

I'm excited to get this week rolling, but this weekend so far has been so refreshing! Not worrying about anything. Not having to think about what's my responsibility next. It's so great! 

For those of you praying for me and my team, I just want to thank you! I know that I couldn't have gotten through this week without those prayers. Specifically the whole only getting 5 hrs or less sleep every night. Last night, I was nearly a zombie I was so tired. I was so tired it was so hard for me to actually go to sleep! Anyway, thank you so much and I appreciate you so much!!

Week 1

We have officially begun! Yesterday was registration day. It wasn't as stressful as I was expecting which was definitely a good thing! I also got to know some of the college reps a little bit better which is always a good thing! 

This week I am the customer service assist. I help the lead, Courtney, do whatever she needs help with plus some of my duties are answering many questions at The Hub which is set up outside the gym door. I get to talk students into having a dodgeball team for our tournaments along with basketball and ultimate frisbee. I also get to help the youth leaders with any problems that they have. Yesterday, I had a youth leader ask me if we could get her extra bedding because one of her girls forgot hers. I said that I will try. So I did some asking around and I got her some bedding and towels. When I delivered them to her, the leader was so excited! She had to know my name and she gave me a sucker. Lol. Then I got to chat with them a little bit and it was just a good conversation! Also during registration, I got to take our Ping and Pong mascots out. It was so funny the experience I had with them but I'm not aloud to share it until the end of the summer. Sorry guys! It could ruin some of the surprise!! 

I'm starting to absolutely love it. I'm starting to really understand why people love CIY! Today, I got my housing for next week done! That is like a huge wait is lifted off my shoulders! Now next week, I will start the process all over again. It will be good though. Hopefully. 

Today, I was in charge of putting on an elective. Electives are required for our students to go but they get to pick which elective they want out of the five. The one I did was a video called Becoming Sons & Daughters. CIY made it for last years Move event. Well anyway I was also watching it while trying to finish my housing and my cousin, Trachelle, was in the video! I was so excited! I wanted to yell out that's my cousin but I didn't. It was only for about 3 minutes of the movie but I felt like I was with her and back at home for a few minutes. It was great! 

I've been so busy the last several days that I haven't been able to blog any about my other days. Load in went very, very slow! It was pretty much just because it was our first one but oh my! It took us 2 days when it should have taken us 1. Friday, we had a 15 hour drive. Saturday, we had a 15 hour work day. Sunday, we did our own church service than got right back to work than Monday was registration day! Crazy week!!

Anyway, I'm about to do more work stuff so I will try to blog later this week sometime!

I'm having a blast so don't worry about me!

On Tour!

Today, I'm with 10 people jam packed like sardines in a 12 passenger van. Thank goodness we love each other! We will be on the road for 12 hours! I'm so excited to be finally on the road putting on these events! 

For people who don't know, these events are similar to church camp. When I was in high school, I went to something very similar called Area One. Basically, the events is for high school students and our main objective is to rise up kingdom workers. These could be students who potentially go into ministries or it could be students doing good in whatever career they choose. 

We had our first week this past week. It was awesome! I got to just sit back and enjoy each session. It was great! The music was awesome! The speakers were amazing! CIY really knows how to do everything! The students had a blast! The one thing that I missed was one of the girls that is like my best friend on event staff was on the team working. So my last week in Joplin for awhile, I didn't get to hang out with her. She did a great job working though. It was awesome watching her work. I'm becoming to realize that the people I work with are incredible people. I know that we are going to be great friends for a long time. I love that all 26 of us have become like family within the 3 weeks we have known each other. 

Being on the road means that I'm about to start my job. I'm so excited but incredibly nervous. I've been trained on so much. I pray that I remember everything! It has been so much information. I'm so glad that I have a partner to work with. I pray that we will be able to get along and not get annoyed with each other because we will be around each other 24/7 for 3 weeks. 

I will be away from my family for 3 weeks straight. I do think I've ever been away from my mom for that long at one time besides when I lived on campus but even then I'm not sure it was even a full 3 weeks. I know it's going to be great. I know that I'm going to have so much fun. I just really like being able to go home and get away for a little bit. I won't be able to do that. I will miss my family a lot. My mom has been so good to me and my group. Not only did she almost do all of my packing because I didn't have much time to do it. She made us brownies and cookies and she gave us cards for certain days of our tour. I'm so lucky and blessed to have her. 

Well, I'm not going to be able to write as much now that I'm on tour. I'll write for sure over the weekend to let everyone know how I'm doing but I'm not sure if I will have time to do anything during the week except work. Our event starts Monday and ends Friday. Be praying for our students that they will be lead to be a kingdom worker. I also ask that you pray for me this week that I won't be tired and that I will remember everything that I'm suppose to be doing. It is my prayer that even while I'm working during our events that I'll be constant in what God wants be to do and that I won't take anything for granted. I also pray that my team and I will just have a lot of fun together while and while we are not working! 

I've officially been!

I've officially gone to a CIY MOVE event! It was so amazing! It will be even better when we have several hundred students. I can not wait. It feels so good to start and end my day with a worship service. My day feels so much better and I get to do it all summer long! It's just so exciting! 

Today, I've been doing final touches to stuff for next week. We've been ordered to not help the other event staff this week. It's hard! One of my best friends here is on that team and I can't help her. I just have to "observe". Also, keep all of the event staff in your prayers. There is a viral infection going around where people are throwing up. I pray that I don't get it because we hit the road on Friday. It has effected one of my teammates so hopefully he will be feeling better by Friday!

Tonight's service was absolutely incredible! I can't even explain how much I got out of the service! The music was dead on. All of my favorite worship songs were played. I could really feel God's presence right there with me. He was saying I have you here for a reason and its just the beginning. I'm cannot wait for what God has in store for me this summer. The message was awesome! We're still talking about the story of Joseph. What an awesome story! 

I love my job if you haven't noticed. I also love the people I am with. My teammates are great! The other event staff are awesome too! I can already tell that I have met some of the best people that I will ever know! It's so cool to hear everyone's story too! It's my goal to hear everyone's story by the end of the summer! 

Tornadoes and more tornadoes

We're getting down to the nitty gritty. This morning, I continued to call youth pastors for housing and get donations for the youth pastors. Then, this afternoon we went through the programming meeting. It was awesome! We got to watch the videos they made and they were so good! I'm working with such talented people! I'm so excited for what's to come this summer. I'm excited for next Friday when we hit the road. It will be so great! I cant wait for that first night of camp! The students are going to flip out. 

The first official camp starts Sunday. I'm not in charge of it but its here where I'm living so I get to go to all of the main sessions. I'm excited about this because I will actually get to see each session and how everything fits together. I won't have to worry about that when I'm on the road. I think it will help me with my job too because I will get to answer questions about what's going on.

Monday, I get my shirts that I have to wear all week. I'm so excited about it! It's becoming more real to me. I got my first name tag today. It's awesome! I'm an official CIY Event Staff! 

Tonight has been an interesting night. First, I got to go to dinner with my customer service partner. It was great! We went to Hackett's Hot Wings! So good! We had such a great conversation! It was awesome! Then we came back to the dorm and hung out because a bad storm was coming. The sirens started going off. Let me tell you. The people I am with are not from here. The people here have no idea what to do when the sirens go off. It was kinda funny to me. They were asking me questions like "can you hear a tornado coming." Well ya but I had to stop myself from saying stuff like that. I was teaching the girls something new. They were freaking out. They had no idea what to do if a tornado would actually hit. As the sirens were going off, I told the girls to grab their pillows before they went down stairs. That is an obvious thing for me to do. They were like why? Are we going to sleep down there? They had no idea that you are suppose to use your pillow to cover your head. It's like this. If I was in Florida and a hurricane was coming, I would had no idea what to do. I would probably freak out too. But a girl on ES is from Florida and she thinks they're no big deal just like this situation. I got another perspective during this experience. It was cool to get that perspective too.

Tonight after that, the girls in my team went through our goals for ourselves so that we can keep each other accountable. It was awesome to hear our goals and what I can do to help my teammates. One girls goals were so similar to mine that it will be easier for me to keep her accountable but the other I will have to work at and it will be cool! 

If you haven't noticed already, I can hardly contain my excitement for this summer. I know that I will have struggles and that I will get stressed or one of my teammates will but it will be one of the best summers of my life.

       My awesome name tag!!!!!

        Hiding in the storm shelter!!!!

Frustrations

Have you ever been around 25 other people for so long you start to get frustrated? Well it's starting to happen to some of us here. Hanging out with every event staff is starting to be overwhelming for me. Everyone is having their own conversations while also trying to talk in the conversation beside them. Everyone is fighting for attention because we are still trying to learn things about each other. It's just getting to be too much. Me, being the shy one that I am, gets overwhelmed really easy and I just start to shut down and get in my cocoon. I will start to not talk to people anymore. It's so much easier for me to talk to someone one on one rather than group on group. I'm definitely not saying that I hate the group. I love the group! It's crazy how much these people are beginning to mean to me even though its only been 10 days since we have known each other. I'm just saying that I start to get frustrated with something's people start to say when they are trying to grab attention. It starts to be hurtful. I absolutely love my job! I also love my co-workers but I also know when I need my space. Working with them for 9 hrs and then hanging out with them for sometimes 6 more hours afterwards is too much for me to handle everyday. Maybe twice a week but not what's been happening. Anyway, that's what has been going on. I was lucky today that I got to get out by myself for awhile and do laundry at home. It was a great time for me. Even though when I got back I found out that the girls were freaking out that I went home because they thought I went because I was scared of the storm that is headed our way. I was like girls. I have been in many storms. I wouldn't go home because a storm was coming plus the dorms are the safest place for me to be because it has a basement and my house does not. It made me laugh. FYI the storm is going to miss us anyway. Anyway I was slightly chuckling to myself when they told me what had happened. I didn't say anything to them when I left about the storm. I just said that I need to go home really fast. So funny. 

Fun Filled Day

Fun. That's what today's word should be. I got to test many of the games the students are going to play during the move events. They are going to have so much fun with them. I also got to test out one of the things the students are going to do on day 2! It's going to be super exciting! Students: be prepared for day 2! It's going to be awesome! I also got to work on housing for my second event and get donations for different locations. I'm excited about what I'm doing. I'm excited for what I'm learning. I'm excited to get on the road and get started. I'm excited for what's to come! It's going to be an awesome summer! I know I keep repeating that in these blogs but it is so true. I'm around some of the best people who are so creative and so God centered. It's amazing. I wish I could video tape my day for everyone. 

Memorial Day Fun!

Today, we got to sleep in a little but today. It was great! Then we went into work for a couple hours. I got to go to the office and help organize PC cases. These are cases that holds everything that I will need for the week. I really got to talk and get to know a PC and another event staff. It was one of the highlights of my day. Then we went back to Ozark to take down some sets so that we can load them into the trucks this week. I felt a little useless while over there just because I had no idea what was going on and what needed to be done. I would ask people and they would say go take this to the trash so basically all I did from 12:30 to 3 was take stuff to the trash and paint.  You know that was a little hard for me. But I think it was something that God has been working with on me. You see I'm someone who likes to do big ideas. I like doing something that actually makes a difference but really the small things are also big things too. If I didn't take the trash out, it may have not been done and the auditorium would be full of trash that would get in the way of everything else. I didn't do much of taking stuff down. I didn't do much of the big stuff that a lot of the other people were doing but sometimes the things we consider to be small are not small. Our boss for today asked 6 people to take the trash out and they didn't. This was probably because they had many other jobs that needed to get done. He then asked me to do it and then every time after that he would come to me and tell me this needs to go to the dumpster. It's something that needed to be done and it was the perfect job for me because I could actually do it. Anyway, we finished with that then went to happy hour at Sonic for some drinks and snacks. CIY then had a big Memorial Day party for us and the staff. We ate and played whiffle ball. The whiffle ball game was staff against event staff. Of course we did not win but I actually hit the ball and it was a pretty nice hit. It was awesome! Lol I got a kid out but that's ok. We then came back and a girl and I decided to go on a walk. The walk was a little scary but we had some friends come rescue us and we played sand volleyball to end the night. Today was a lot of fun and I'm beginning to realize that I'm making some lifelong friends and I've only been here a full week today. It's so cool and I can't wait to see what it looks like at the end of the summer.

I'm feeling like I'm 22!

       Today was the last day of my first week at CIY Move! It's crazy at the amount of firsts I've done these 5 days. I can talk about that a little later. Today was my 22nd birthday. Yes, I listened to the new Taylor Swift song 22 4 times today but multiple people sang it to me. The other event staff here at CIY have been awesome to me. I got two cards from all of them. Yes 2! We ended the day by going to my aunt and uncles (Thank you Trey and Michelle for letting all 22 of us come!) to eat and play games. We had a lot of fun and I got to be with my mom on my birthday. 

     Ok now about this week. My specific job here at CIY MOVE is to be a customer service event staff this summer. I will be traveling to 2 locations in Tennessee then 3 locations in California. My job is to do everything I can to help the youth pastors throughout the week. I have a partner helping me throughout the summer, Courtney. We do the housing for the entire camp for the week. We also help a little but with registration. This week I have done a lot of firsts. I have made official calls. I have to answer the phone CIY Move this is Kristin. Isn't that cool! I've had to call local businesses to ask if they will donate stuff. I'm making local rounds next week to physically go to the businesses and promote CIY. I drove a 15 passenger van full of people today. These are only a couple that I can think of right now. It's crazy how much I'm learning. Today, I got a phone call asking if their group can be moved because a student pretty much sliced off his toe. WHAT?!? Lol it was kind of an experience to talk with him on the phone. Anyway, I'm having so much fun and I cannot wait until I get on the road and actually start meeting these voices that I know now. 

       These other event staff are amazing people. They go out of their way to help out whoever needs it. They truly want to know your story and everything that you are. I've had so many great conversations. I've already made so many long time friends! This summer is going to be an amazing summer. 

       2013 CIY Move Event Staff

My awesome cards!

Kristin

Isaiah 41:10

Team time!

Tonight was great! We got to have our first "team time." It was great! We went out to dinner and just got to know each other. Before, we would just go to dinner with a big group of people. Some of our team went. Some did not. It just depends. I really got to know my teammates more tonight. We had to answer specific questions that were prompted by our team leader. What our most embarrassing moment is? How is your home life? What is your story? As many of you know, these questions aren't the easiest for me. First, the only embarrassing story of me is a junior high cheer leading dancing move. Ugh! Not even going to talk about it. Second, first conversation with my team I had to tell my story and all about how I lost my dad. I didn't want to feel like everyone was feeling sorry for me. But, it was actually really good. Everybody's story is so different. Some grew up a Christian. Some didn't. It's awesome! We then went to Walmart and that was an experience in and of itself. People talking in accents (task complete), finding coffee machines, buying kids cups, riding Tamone in the arcade, you know the normal Walmart experience for every normal human being. We are playing a game where every person has a certain task that a certain person has to do. Many are really outrageous like mine. I'm going to try to do mine tomorrow. But shh... the person can't know yet. My roommate though did hers tonight. She had a guy talk in a British accent for at least an hour. It was great! Well Day 3 is coming to a close and I can already tell that this summer is going to be awesome!

Jake riding Tamone!