In Which I Spend An Incredibly Pleasing Night in the Middle of Nowhere Observing the Comedic Efforts of Tim Hawkins (An Essay In Photos)

And now (finally) a church scene from Mid-Winter..

My Weekend In Videos

From the parade on Saturday-


From this afternoon at Toxic Smell....err...Taco Bell-

To Fund With Flocking Birds

Yeah, I know that was pretty corny/nerdy, but I was in great need of a title. Anyway, Bro. Holley asked what flocking is, so here's the gist of it.

Sis. Redmond ordered around 24 pink flamingos. there are 12 large ones and 12 small ones. The small ones are MUCH cheesier. I wish I had gotten a picture of the Dennison's yard when we flocked it. In fact, funny story about that first. The Dennison's have been remodeling their house for a long time. Probably at least since Canaan, their 6 year old, was born. So the foundation of their house was exposed and we could see there was a tire in the foundation (yeah, we didn't get it either) and their neighbors across the street are complete....er....white trash, so to speak. These people WANTED these tacky pink flamingos. It was horrible. We laughed so hard. They said that if the Dennison's didn't have them out of their yard by the time they went to bed, they would steal them. Way too funny.

Anyway, onto the fundraising. For $15 dollars, you can choose a person in the church to be flamingo'd. For $20 you can buy protection against the flamingos. Once you've been flamingo'd, you can pay $15 for the youth to come in and remove them, and for an extra $5 you can choose a person to be flocked.

We had raised $120 before we even left yesterday.

Yeah, I'm liking this fundraiser.

Flocking

Here's a fundraising idea I bet you never thought of. To raise money for youth congress, we're flocking people with pink flamingos. It's very complicated to explain. If you're really interested, leave me a comment and I will update with details.

P.S. That's my pastor's yard. Which we did indeed flock. Very well, in fact. Muahahaha....

Scream Team

Cedar Point yesterday was pretty much one of the most fun days I've ever had. I hadn't been there since I was 6, and I had only ridden one roller coaster before yesterday, so it was definately an experience.

My meanie of a cousin, Mistie, told me she was going to make me ride three roller coasters with her. The first of these was Iron Dragon. John, Mistie, Garret, and I didn't have a wait at all for the ride. We got right on, which was good, so I didn't have a chance to chicken out. We went up the first hill and I was freaking out. I mean just going insane. After that first drop, it was a blast. The ride has two hills and drags you through a huge cloud of mist. It only goes about 45 MPH, so it's more of a starter coaster. It was good for me though. It was great. I ended up riding it two more times.

I did chicken out of the Corkscrew the first time we got in line. Mistie said that her back hurt, so she didn't want to go on it. I used this as a great excuse to get out of it. So John and Garret went along by themselves and we waited on the sidelines. Later in the day, I ended up running into Rachel (what are the odds?) and we rode the coaster with her sister and step-dad. Anna, her sister, is scared of heights and speed. Yet, she rode on the ride. Genius. So we take off and after the first hill, we just started screaming. You go over 3, yes 3, loops in this ride. It was SO COOL! Terrifying beyond belief, but so cool.

Did I mention the throngs of Pentecostals there yesterday? I mean, I saw so many people from camp that it wasn't even funny. I saw Rachael Walters, Rose Pamer, Jared Condon, the Williamsons, and a ton of others. It was amazing.

The Cedar Creek Mine Ride is one of the most hilarious rides on earth. Seriously. Brittany McNamara, John, Mistie, and I rode it. Sis. Redmond thought it looked too scary and rough, so she chickened out. We mocked her to scorn for this. It is a hilarious ride. The first drop is a whole *gasp* one foot. The ride is so pathetic that it's funny. It's great.

Before I rode the Mine Ride I rode the most fun ride ever. This ride is simply amazing. I less than three it and rode it twice in a row. Snake River Falls is just so incredibly COOL!!!!! You drop 80 feet at a 52 degree angle so fast that it feels like you're free falling. And you get drenched. A tidal wave 30 feet long and 64 feet wide hits you at the end of the slide.

After I rode the Iron Dragon (yeah, I know I'm going out of order here) I went on Disaster Transport. There isn't really a lot to say about that ride. Pretty much just like Iron Dragon except for plummeting into darkness. And that Mistie didn't warn me to take my glasses off so I had to hold them onto my face the whole time. Good times (not.)

Late in the evening, I made myself a promise. I said "Self, you are going to ride one big ride if it kills you. And with all the rides breaking down like they have been today, that is a great possibility." So, my dear friend Rachel Fortner and I decided to go ride Magnum. Unfortunately, the wait for Magnum was 1 1/2 hours. So we pressed on to the Gemini. I have a terrible phobia of wooden coasters. I'm not big on going up hills as it is, but that whole creaking on wooden coasters gives me the heebie jeebies. But we went on Gemini anyway. It's 60 MPH and drops you 115 feet. Righteous. So, we get on the ride, which Rachel assures is an easy one, but then halfway up the hill she says, "You know, this may be the one that lifts you out of your seat."
"It what?"
"It may be Magnum, I'm not sure, but I think this is the one that lifts you out of the seat."
"Rachel, you better pray it's not. If it is, I'm going to hurt you."

Indeed it was the one that lifts you. I resisted the urge to push her off of the Mean Streak later on for this. I should have, and she knows it (muahahaha) She was laughing at me the whole time I was on the Gemini and the Mean Streak. I was visibly and audibly praying. I think we could have had a revival on those rides if we had stayed on there any longer.

Speaking of the Mean Streak, this was my favorite coaster that I rode yesterday. You will be perhaps-not-so-interested to know that yours truly has ridden one of America's tallest, fastest wooden coasters. Twice in a row. Booyah.

Honestly, I was terrified. Before we pushed off the hill, I screamed at the operators to "let me off this death machine". They didn't and after the first hill, I was fine. Rachel did indeed get smote. With a cloud of bugs. Which she swallowed. I told her it serves her right for laughing at me. We rode it twice. After this we had such a great adrenaline rush that we decided that we wanted to ride the monster and king of all coasters (except for the Dragster)- The Millennium Force.


Unfortunately, we didn't get to. Because we were good children at decided we were going to be back at the van at 9:30 as we were told and the wait was 45 minutes and it was 8:27 at that time, and the van was a good wait. I was quite bummed. We also decided to see what the wait for the Dragster was, but after seeing the line, I was scared to ask. So off to the van we went. And our feet almost fell off.

It turned out that with the time we got out, we could have probably ridden BOTH of the coasters. We had an incident with one of the kids getting lost, turning herself in, and calling her parents, which meant we couldn't get out until 10:30. I was so mad. I wanted to ride Millennium so badly. I will eventually.

Right vs. Easy

I would like for my life to be non-complicated. But unfortunately, apparently there was some kind of cosmic contract signed by me before my birth for my life to be unimaginably messed-up.

My dad has warned me that once you put something on your blog, it is fair game for anyone to see, read, and analyze. Against my better judgment, I am going to push publish anyway.

My dad also warned me not to e-mail MX to ask him to leave me alone. Unfortunately, he did this after I had already pushed send. I wrote a polite reasoning why we could not be friends and apologized. He e-mailed me back wishing me the best of joy and happiness in life and I thought that it all was over. I felt kind of bad because of how nice he was, but I knew I couldn't and probably wouldn't change any of it.

I got an e-mail later on from his girlfriend, asking why I had lied to her and said I didn't know her when she had heard from other people that I don't like her, which I never said to anyone. I've met the girl probably once, about 2 years ago, we didn't really talk, and so therefore, I really don't know her. I did not lie.

She asked me why I had flat out lied to her and told me I was ridiculous for not being able to forgive someone. She told me that if I wasn't going to be friends with MX and have nothing to do with him, then I shouldn't talk to her either.

I about cried. Ok, I did cry. I honestly believe that I did the right thing. I've tried to be friends with MX and it always ends up in a fight. I did this for my own well-being and peace of mind and so that neither of us ended up hurt at the end of it. I was hurt that, according to her, he and one of my friends had told her that I said that I didn't like her. It hurt to be betrayed like that.

I never tried to contact her. She contacted me. And then she tells me not to contact her, which was kind of a non-issue. This part made me mad.

The part that really got to me was when she told me I was unforgiving. In my opinion, just because you forgive someone does not mean that you trust them and also doesn't mean that you are their friend.

I really believe that I did the right thing. It's not easy, like I had hoped. It hurts a lot. But I would not ever change it.

Seriously?

This is a phrase that I have said so many times the past couple of days. Here's a journey of the insanity of my life. These are some things that really did get me thinking "What the muffin?"


Yesterday, my friend Maggie came up to me and said, "Rebecca, you're my future doctor friend. Is my nose infected?" First off, just the question 'Is my nose infected?' is enough to get you going 'what?'. Maggie knows that I no longer want to be a doctor, but she also likes to torment me because of my love of diagnosing my friends through middle and elementary school. So I digress. I looked at her nose and, sure enough, the right nostril was swollen. "What did you do, woman?"

"Oh, I was bored so I pierced my own nose."
"Seriously, Magz? Your nose? Seriously? Go see a doctor. And find a hobby."

I was on EC last night, which I love, and before I signed off I saw that my inbox had a 1 next to it. I've been getting e-mails interrogating me as to why I didn't accept links to people. So, was thoroughly expecting the same thing. What I did not expect was an e-mail from MX. This alone was enough to make me go, "Seriously?" Then I read it. It went on to say that he had just been looking through my site to make me mad and how he wasn't trying to pick a fight and was sorry that I didn't want to talk to him but wanted to be friends again. He wants me to e-mail him back.

Oh. No. He. Did. Not.

After recieving this e-mail I immediately pressed reply, but then realizing that I was shaking with anger and I was gritting my teeth, I did something which I am very proud of. I deleted my heated e-mail which I had written in a fit of anger and frustration in a grand act of self control. I was proud of myself. I still will reply eventually, I just haven't figured out how to be nice about it yet.

Awkward MySpace

This is boring, except for my rantings, which some of you seem to like...

The Survey was about your first person listed as a friend on MySpace, which happens to be my best friend, Deana.

FYI, I'm turning this into a meme about your significant other (which you should enjoy, Liz. I know that 's your favorite blogging subject!) Or best friend, because that has the potential to be funny.

So umm... Lizness, Sis.Jewel, Sis.Theresa, and Deana....TAG!!!! You're it!

1 What is their name? Deana

2 What pet name do you like to call them? EDNA!!


3 How long have you been together? We're together?

4 How did you meet? BQ

5 What do you like the most about them? she's fun



6 What do you like the least about them? she doesn't call back sometimes


7 What is the best thing they have ever done for you? This summer at camp, putting up with depression from me...and providing chocolate


8 Have they met your parents yet? Yeah


9 What would your kids look like if you had kids? ummmm...awkward question.....we wouldn't.......*vomits at awkwardness of question*

10 What is the worst argument you have had? Have we fought?

11 Do you still kiss a lot? *Throws up*

12 Who asked who out? OH DEAR LORD!! THIS IS A COUPLES QUIZ?!?!?!?! Stupid MySpacers! Not all of us have a significant other! Or one who is the first on MySpace! *mumbles under breath*


13 Do you think you will get married? *rolls eyes* I'm beginning to hate the creator of this thing.

14 Can you see yourself growing old with them? Well, she's my best friend...



15 What is the one thing you would like to change about them?
Nothing at all

16 What do you think they would like to change about you?
Hmm...I dunno


17 What is the first gift they ever bought you? I don't know that any


18 Do you have a favorite song together? well we both like Steven Curtis Chapman, Switchfoot, and Sanctus Real


19 Which famous person do you think they look like the most?
I dunno


20 Would you say the two of you are a good match? She's my very best friend!! OF COURSE!!!

Mid-Winter Report

This weekend was the glorious Mid-Winter Youth Retreat. A complete and total blast, I must say. My favorite preacher, Rev. Mark Johnston, was the speaker, and the music was coordinated by IBC Praise. On Friday night, service began at 8 PM, but Bro.Johnston didn't get into the pulpit until about 10. He preached about "Jacob's Passion", taking his scripture from the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau. (I say this because I don't remember the exact text)

Before their birth, Rebekah could sense that something was wrong with the baby she was carrying. The way Bro. Johnston put it, he said that things became so bad that Rebekah probably wished that Isaac's prayer that her womb would be opened (she was barren for 19 years) had never been prayed. She went to the Lord and asked her why this was happening to her. God answered-(Genesis 25:23)

The LORD said to her,

"Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you will be separated;

one people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger."


When Esau and Jacob were born, Esau came out first, very red and hairy. Isaac and Rebekah named him Esau because of what he looked like. When Jacob came out, he was clutching onto his brothers heel. This showed some form of struggle. Jacob saw an opportunity to take advantage of the chance to get out first. This is because he had a purpose. He didn't know what it was, he might not have even been very aware of it yet, but he had a purpose and he was eager to get to it quickly. Bro.Johnston continued to go through the different trials that Jacob faced, showing his passion to see God, until he finally wrestled with God. The big difference between the two brothers was that Jacob was named for his passion, he sought to see God, he was not appeased by the status quo, and strove to do more than was needed, while Esau was named for his appearance, sought to maintain for the moment, was happy to remain in his comfort zone, and was happy to just squeak by. There are plenty of Christians out in the world today who are Esaus. They look the part. They are so focused on the outward appearance that they have lost their burden for the lost and all they will ever be known for is being "the girl with the long hair and skirt", their appearance, and never reach their full potential. Then there are the Jacobs. They strive to make a difference. They have a passion, a calling. They will do something great for God. And the thing about them is that they are the person that you would least expect to be used greatly. They are the ones who don't have the money to dress right, or don't look the part. They are the outcasts, the ones everyone makes fun of. They don't care. All they know is that they have a passion and will do whatever it takes to achieve it. The alter call was amazing. People deep in prayer, crying and worshipping. There was such a great presence of the Lord in that place.

After service was over, we headed off to the Chiller for food, fellowship, and ice-skating. I love this part of the retreat because it is the one time between camp and camp that we get to see all of our friends. The guy I have like for ever (hence known as 9-year-guy or 9YG) was there and much to my dismay, had decided to attempt to grow a goatee. Ew. It looked like he had seriously missed a spot shaving. I felt like going up to him and saying "9YG, you know, you look like a weed-hacker decided to attempt to eat your face." But I refrained. And his dad made him shave it off before this mornings service. I knew I liked him.

We got back from the Chiller at about 3 AM. We went to bed at 4:30 AM. I got up at 7:45. Not good times. I took a shower, and made myself look beautiful (I actually think I looked semi-cute, too IMNSHO) Bro. Johnston preached again on a similar topic. The title was "Where is the next Shamgar?"

Judges 3:31
And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.

Shamgar had been told from the time of his birth that his people were worth next to nothing. The Philistines had encaptured his people and disarmed them. They took their swords and spears but allowed them to keep their ox goads. For those of you (like me) who don't know what an ox goad is, it is a stick with a pointed end, for prodding oxen, and an end shaped into a shovel, for planting. The Philistines only allowed these people to keep the things that allowed them to make their living, to maintain the status quo. They were able to go down to the Philistines camp and sharpen their goads once per year. The Philistines probably thought when they saw Shamgar coming to get the goad sharpened, "Look at that worthless little lazy Israelite. What could he possibly do." And Shamgar took the little that he had, the only weapon allowed to him, and wiped out the Philistines. The signifigance of this, Bro.Johnston said, was that God took something seemingly meaningless, meant to serve a minor purpose in maintaining the norm, and used it to do a mighty work. Because of this, nobody has the excuse to say that they don't have what they need to do something great. God can take the most insignifigant detail, use it, and make it great. It was yet another amazing service.

In short, I highly recommend buying the DVD's or CD's or tapes of the retreat. They are so encouraging and uplifting, and definately worthwhile.

NAYC

I just returned from North American Youth Congress. This year it was in Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena. It was such a great time! There were about 15,000+ Pentecostal Teenagers there. It was amazing! The speakers in the evening were awesome! Bro. Mark Johnston preached on Thursday night. He preached at Senior High Camp this year and is one of my favorite evangelists. He preached on "Apostolic Dew" and illustrated how our lives and witnessing to people should be with Mountain Dew. The three parts to his message were,

1. The Dew is True- this is pretty much self-explanatory, God's word is true!
2. The Dew is New- the generation of today has new and creative ways of bringing non-believers and backsliders into the church
3. The Dew is You- the last generations power in the church was great, but this generation is the greatest power thus far

The service after that was amazing and the response was unbelievable!