the oversized enterprise

Week 1: Progress Report

Posted by rachel.Lyn , Monday, May 31, 2010 11:24 PM

One week is already gone!! whoa!
So here's this week's sixteen fast facts. Yippee!

1. Kathy Crabtree is the most amazing woman in the world. : Kathy is a woman on our entirely college age team, who's late 50s in age. She's also more energetic than everyone else there. She's been EVERYWHERE! She can lead a group of unmanageble children with ease. When asked what she was afraid of, she answered, "nothing." She fits right in! The other night she baked the most delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. greatest smell ever. Kathy Crabtree is Chuck Norris in woman form. She rules. Really.
2. Once you go watch, you never go back. : pretty sure i will never not wear a watch again.
3. Showers are valuable. : One house. 15 girls. One shower. It's all a gamble anytime anyone wishes to shower. I love it. and i love living in community, something I wasn't sure about. I guess there's going to be 21 girls here at once. IN-tense.
4. First Kayak paddle = sorry trapezius muscles. : so we went for a very short Kayaking trip to learn all the rules and such. Thought I was doing great, until the next day. The trapezius muslces are the ones that run down the back of your neck and back. It feels like someone punched them. darn these woman arms!!
5. Cell phones are dumb. : Yep! Never use my phone, and it's wonderful. There is, in fact, cell service here, but my phones floats around the bottom of my backpack. I love feeling so totally free from the outside world. What's happening in the news? Don't even care.. :)
6. I haven't even started working with kids yet! .... ? : week long training.
7. Note to #6. I'm terrified of working with kids. : We've been taught this childcare program called Love and Logic. It puts the kids in control, by giving them choices in everything they do. Tell them the things that they CAN do, instead of drilling what they can't, and a bunch of other things. Seems easy right? wrong. It's so much to remember! But i'll do it. I'm actually looking forward to learning this system. I think it'll be awesome in the end. Embrace the fear!!
8. Packing job = 80% effective. : How was my packing job? how do you pack for 2 months? Actually, i'm pretty satisfied with how I packed. I pretty much have everything I need, without too many leftovers. It looked like i was taking my entire house with me (that's for you mom), but really i sacrificed a LOT of things. I backed startingly light compared to other, shorter trips. Great.
9. Pure joy can still be achieved. : So the other day, Erik, Tanisha, Hannah and I decided to go down to The Kodiak Crab Festival after training. A friend gave us tickets to ride The Tornado with her. Four people sit in square around a turn table, where they can spin their section at will. The whole ride lifts these turn tables up and moves in a large circle. We literally just laughed like fools the entire time. Pure childhood joy. It was so so amazing. I love how something so simple can be so awesomely fun. Pretty sure I haven't felt that pure of JOY in years. Years.
10. Judgement is the root of unhappiness. : One things that makes KBM (Kodiak Baptist Mission) so great, is that everyone loves everyone. No matter what. 20 insta-best friends. I've realized that I haven't been this happy in months, maybe even years, because I get so worked up about people judging me, as much as I try not to. Don't judge, people! It's a problem in culture today. People are blinded by judgment and may not ever see the real person. These are the greatest people to be around because you know exactly who they are, and vice versa. I feel like i've already known them for months. I love you guys!!
11. Hands down, I love church/church gatherings. : Frontier Baptist Church had a BBQ last night! WOOOO!!! so much great free food, and great free(?) people! ahhhh.. AND we got nametags. it was great. they had a huge birthday cake that said "Jesus Lives!!!" So much love in that place. Jesus rules. The potluck was followed by a "no talent-talent show." ohhhhhhh High School Musical sing alongs..
12. I don't miss much. : Yeah... i'm super surprised. Only cried once! right as I leaving my mother and step-father in the airport, and that was only for like a second. God has given me such bravery that I didn't realize I was capable of. I love Kodiak so much. I still don't really believe i'm here. I already know that I will live here at some point in my life. I do miss my family, friends and cats though. oh yes.. and heat. i miss heat. it's mid 50s and rainy. It rains every day. more about rain later.
13. Living in Community. : Living in community rules. Three girls in my room! The Lovely Tanisha Bush from Texas, and the dashing Candalina Rivas from southern California, and me of course. Were in room "awesome." And were awesome.
14. Movie nights. : We've been watching a lot of movies at night. weird, i know. But Erik, who works here, is house sitting the most amazing house. Huge and open and cabin-like. It has a home theater in the basement. The sreen uses a projector, it's so huge. Great! we watched Avatar. Good, but not as good as 3D. Mr. Clay Burrows from Alabama (said with a southern accent) and I have also had some Office marathons. I'm so glad someone else can watch six hours of The Office straight like me!
15. First two camps. : So each week is a different camp. One in the morning, and another at night. my first two camps are Treasure Hunting, a.k.a. Pirate Training Camp, SOO excited. ARRH! and Sand Engineering. Sand castles! Yay!
16. Rain. : Kodiak is actually considered a temperate (?) rain forest. It rains every day, but that stops NO ONE. it doesn't even slow people down. I love how everyone here embraces the rain. They love Kodiak and with Kodiak comes rain! Just more to love! We thank God for the sunshine, when it's here. and we thank God for the rain.

16 + 1. Me. : I love being so incredibly free of everything and letting God guide my every move completely. Through this week i've began to relese selfish wants and put it all on God. I'm beginning to see just how much, and in such great detail God's decisions are, even the people we end up sitting next to at lunch/movies/walking were put there for a reason. It all means something. God is sooo powerful.

Yay! you should all get a certificate for reading that whole thing. Novel Blog!!