"You are special!" - I am reminded of Brian Schulenburg's famous sermon! This morning started off really well. I was picked up from my residence so that I could go to breakfast with Christine, one of the associate program directors. We talked a lot about life and decisions.. and then she read me the book "You are special" by Max Lucado! There were some wonderful lessons within the book... some that I definitely need to learn to apply. I would recommend reading it if you have the chance!

THEN..

It started to rain right around the time I got off work.. what a bummer! As Julia and I were walking home, we were enticed by the puddles. I innocently dared her to jump in a small puddle in front of her. She did after a little persuasion. Then.. she challenged me to jump in a larger puddle near the soccer field. I did. THEN.. we came across this HUGE puddle. We both jumped in it and our pants were completely wet. Seriously, it was the largest puddle I have seen in quite some time!

I've realized some fun things about myself these past few weeks...

1. I really really really like laser tag.. and I'm mildly competitive when I play.

2. I still enjoy jumping in puddles!

3. I want to ride in a hot air balloon

4. I don't know God nearly as intimately as I want to

Anyways.. it is time to do laundry!

I can't believe I'll be home in a little over 2 weeks! crazy!

Too many things to share.. not enough time!

The first pictures are from my time at the Glen this afternoon. As I was walking home from work I took these pictures (of the flowers). The first is my favorite! :) Liz, I thought you would appreciate my attempts at being photographically artsy! :)

The other pictures are from our Imbizo on Thursday night. We received our "GSP" shirts earlier that day, and so we all wore them and took a group picture! :)

Susan Nantongo is doing the "typical American" pose. As for the others.. I'm not sure why the cookie ended up in the pictures. I guess we thought it would be funny! :) These are just some pictures of the lovely women who have touched my life this summer! I'm so thankful for each one of them.

Shopping adventures...

Every friday night we have "team time" with our bible study groups. Tonight, one of the women who works in the Dining services lent us her car so that we could go out and do something. We ended up going to the mall. :) It was nice!

We all split up for some amount of time and decided we would meet back at American Eagle at 9:00 when the mall was closing. However, Liesbeth conveniently lost track of time. How in the world are you supposed to find a dutch girl in a mall in the U.S. when she doesn't have a U.S. phone.. We finally decided to go search for her. We walked into a store and she was still shopping away, even though the store was attempting to close. Oh man, I am just so glad that we found her!

We went to a candy store tonight.. I can't believe it! I spent $2.72 on like 8 malted milk balls! How crazy is that?! What is worse? My friend Julia from Canada spent over $7 on two small bags of candy.

Oh yes, every friday we also have a seminar. Today's topic was on witnessing to the Muslim world. The man who spoke was a Christian from Egypt. Since he is from the middle east, he has a more accurate idea of the Muslim worldview. He told us some of the stories in the bible through a Muslim worldview.. such as the prodigal son. Instead of focusing on the paradigm of guilt/righteousness he focused on shame/honor. I guess I have been blind to how much the father was shamed in that story. The way he presented it had a lot more depth. wow. It amazes me when my eyes are opened to just how cross-cultural the bible is. So often I see it through my American lenses.. but I am not understanding the whole truth.

One illustration he shared is that we often take the gospel and then we wrap it with all of these "conditions" that people must first accept before they can accept the gospel. However, the speaker said that the gospel is Jesus. No more, no less.

Interesting things to talk about.. the same speaker is coming back next friday for part two! I am excited to hear what else he has to say!

Hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Krista

No guilt in life... no fear in death... this is the power of Christ in me.

Dear friends,

It has been a while.. sorry for the delay. I guess my stories from everyday life have begun to seem relatively meaningless... I value them, but it seems silly to type out every interaction that I have.

Anyways.. last night was "America night" which consisted of North America, South America, and everything in between -- as was quoted from our show last night.

Our ethnic nights usually consist of a meal and a presentation from the countries that are represented.. Our menu was as follows:

Brazil -- Empanadas

Mexico -- Enchiladas

Bahamas -- Mac n Cheese

Canada -- Maple Fudge

USA -- PB & J, Ants on a log, Apples and PB, and Root Beer Floats!

It was a very fun evening.. but my friend Josh didn't have such a good time. He broke his collar bone yesterday while he was free-running. Which basically means... running where there are obstacles and trying to avoid them. I'm pretty sure he was jumping off a bridge when he landed on his collar bone.. (it was a rebrake.. not the first time he had done it). Hmm... reminds me of someone else I know.. hahaha.

For my day off today, I spent my time relaxing. I have been digging deeper spiritually. Many questions have been brought to the surface. I'm sure I will write more on the matters later, but I am still figuring things out. A lot of it has to do with my experiences deciding between going to Bethel or doing YWAM. I think that is about the time that I shut God out of my life. I decided what he wanted for me instead of consulting Him.. Therefore, I am realizing that I have guilt and shame in my path. It is an obstacle that is keeping me from intimacy with the Lord. If you guys could pray for that, that would be wonderful. I'm definitely feeling too prideful to go running back right now. I know my time will come.. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the tears.

That is where my title comes from.. "No guilt in life, no fear in death.. This is the power of Christ in me". I want that to be true in my life. Such great lyrics. :)

I also read from the book "The Search for Significance" today. There was a chapter on shame.. and it mentioned that God's answer to shame is regeneration -- new life. That because we have new life in Christ, we have no need to be ashamed of our past. Whether it be past actions.. or past decisions (in my case, to ignore God) God desires to give us new life in Christ. All of these things make perfect sense in my head, but I need to move it to my heart.

Anyways.. there is a little more of my journey. I am hoping to go run off to a beach volleyball game soon. :)

I'm missing Minnesota more than ever.. It is crazy. I love the mountains, but I have never realized how much I miss the lakes. And of course I miss all of you! :) No worries though, I will see you in a short 5ish weeks!

Love,

Krista

Old memories...

When I woke up this morning, I was reminded of some good memories from my summer camp days at Wooddale........

A couple years ago, during the counselor hunt I stepped on a bee's hive. The bees flew up my pants and I was stung about three times. My foot swelled up like a balloon!! I remember how people would laugh at me as I limped along.. Oh man. I tried running once, and my friends just lost it.

This morning... I woke up with quite a similar experience. Yesterday, while taking pictures on top of Pikes Peak (about 14,000 ft above sea level), I was stung by a bee. I had a small little bump yesterday, but during the night my ear swelled up. It now sticks out really funny... unlike my other ear which likes to stay covered by my hair.

I went to Urgent Care today just to make sure that I'm not allergic... turns out that the swelling is staying local which is good news! However... I still look like Dumbo the elephant! :)

I'll post a picture so you can see... because I know you are DYING to know. Especially my summer camp friends!

Besides my ear... things are going very well! I have been learning so many lessons.. Not necessarily all biblical but some very important practical lessons. I'm not remembering what I have previously written, but I am starting to see that God has big dreams and plans for my life. This is just the one of the first steps of the adventure he has for me.. :) One area that has been particularly important for me has been the area of guys. I feel like God has been slowly changing my ideas about guys through the godly men that are here. They have been so respectful and kind, and I am starting to see that if God desires for me to be married, than He will provide me with a man that is seeking after God's own heart. Don't get worried... I'm not getting preoccupied with the guys that are here.. I am just enjoying their presence and their respect. They have been such an encouragement, I am just so thankful for all of them!

If you want to see some more pictures, check out facebook! :) I have pictures from our pikes peak adventure! We took a Cog Railway up the mountain. It was beautiful! Such a wonderful adventure, and I got to have many great conversations with people on the way up and on the way down!

I'm missing you all, but enjoying what God is doing here in Colorado!

Love,

Krista