Israel trip!

Dear friends! I am going to Israel! (Notice the new look?)

I mentioned this trip in a previous entry, but now I will give you more details! I heard about this trip through Chris Shea, a friend of mine at Kensington and the leader of the trip. It is for a group of "Quarterlife-ers", roughly college aged. Being 26, I barely count, but that is more of an attitude/state of mind, right?

Well, we'll be leaving May 13 (one month from today!) and it is getting intense! We've been having meetings to watch documentaries and check up on our preparedness for several weeks. The trip is very experimental, the first of its kind at Kensington. It will be very relational. Chris went on a scouting trip for this mission trip a few weeks ago and talked to the people in that area and found that they wanted to be understood. I found, rather regrettably, that I had ignored Israel thinking "Jesus was there. Surely there are lots of Christians!" When in fact less than 2.5% is Christian (and that number is dwindling). But in a place tired of war and hurting from decades of it- people STILL need Jesus! So, we get the opportunity to share the hope of Jesus.

We have a really good group of people- I'm pretty stoked for this trip! God is going to do amazing things! Please be praying for us.

If you are interested in helping me raise the $2600 that I need for the trip, you can give online at www.kensingtonchurch.org/global/israel_may12.php (Just create a username/password and you're set!). Just let me know if you have any problems!

Love you all!

Hey Friends. Sorry I've been MIA... again. As a quick update, I've still been working in Troy at Kensington Community Church. Like any job there are good days and bad days, but I didn't think that this point in my life I would be doing a job in my field and enjoying it! I am so blessed.

So I'm going to Israel! A buddy of mine is leading a mission trip and I'm going with him. I'll post more details later, but I'm pretty stoked.

I wanted to post a photo, so here it is. Sadly I've been putting a lot of money into the Raider lately. This weekend I came home to my parents' house to get a little work done on her, but it has been considerably more than I expected. But she'll be all the better for it.

Dear Blog, I have not forgotten you. I apologize for my ever problematic absences! I have been living life here in Troy, I haven't taken pictures though!

But quick update: I've moved and I'm living with a couple of great guys north of Troy. We live in a house out at the edge of the woods! It is a great situation in most ways. (We don't have internet yet though!)

I'm working hard at the job, still enjoying it for the most part! I am looking for a new car... which is a post of it's own.

But I'll update again soon, and I'll try to have pictures.

So here was today for me: Slept in too late, went to the NOON service at Kensington Troy- it still amazes me that there is a noon service! Got myself a toffee coffee frappe and went into the service, actually sat with my supervisor/boss, Karl. Great service- the series is called "Things they never told you about ____" This week was "God", revealing common myths about God, it was really a great service. Lots to learn. Then Karl took me around Detroit, he told me I was going to have a "real cultural lunch experience", and he was right. Sort of.

We went to 2 coney island places, in order to decide which was best. The first was American Coney Island, the second (next door) was Lafayette Coney Island. Both were very good! I was impressed, however, Lafayette did have a heartier chili and I would say it was the better dog. But both places were famous to some extent- apparently the new Detroit cop show (Detroit 1-8-7) was filmed (partially) in American Coney Island- I was impressed! The other place, Lafayette, had been visited by Man Vs. Food! There was a picture of the guy and everything! (the second had also been visited by various political dignitaries who interest me far less, haha).

So then we were on to the Detroit Institute of Art. I love art museums and had been to this one before, but it was great going with Karl, who it turns out actually took classes through Wayne State at the Institute itself. He is quite the art historian. But we spent some time there before moving on and driving around Detroit a little, he was attempting to help me understand the area (which didn't work).

So then back to Troy, where I went to Kroger and got some dinner stuff- Italian hard-crusted bread, marbled cheddar cheese and some red grapes- it was a feast! Anyway, I felt very artistic. So to end the night I watched Sherlock Holmes, which has become one of my recent favorites. Next is some reading then to bed. But that isn't even why I was going to make a post.

I am really looking forward to having a place of my own. So that I can do things like have an art area set up- my easel, some paints and a drop cloth. Having a big comfy chair to sit in and read... I'm excited for it. Also singing loudly. Anyway, I am looking forward to that. This is all that my post was really meant to be. Goodnight!

New job, new life

I am in Troy now, living with a couple whose kids have all left the house and who very charitably offered their home to me. I'm going to live here for a short time while I find an apartment and possibly a roommate. I'm liking the job, there is something amazingly satisfying about doing the thing I went to college for! And the people I work with are great as well. I "moved in" on Monday night, and have been here for just about a week.


Troy and the surrounding area seems very nice! I'm liking it here, but (as expected) it is tough starting over in a new place. It always is- for sure! I'm excited for the day that I have a group of friends here with whom I can do stuff. That day will come soon enough!

Here are a couple pictures of my cubicle on the 3rd floor at Kensington Community Church:


The "Fall Fest" poster design there is my first design series- it was originally a folding mailer, but was easily changed into a 11x17 for around the church. I had someone tell me that the stuff I design (which goes out to all 6? of Kensington's campuses-5 of them mobile) will be seen by roughly 5000 kids per week. Isn't that ridiculous?! Awesome though.

So, my office/cubicle needs some decoration, I'm working on that. But I'm pretty excited about it all.

Also, on my second day of work, I got rear-ended by a van, while at a stop waiting for traffic, roughly 50 feet from my destination. This was the damage:

Sad day, huh? Truthfully, it isn't a huge deal. Could have been a lot worse.

In other news- with the new job coming, I decided to get an eye appointment and some new glasses- a LONG time overdue! I also got some new clothes, which make me feel very artsy. Observe:







Pretty excited for things to come.
God has been so good.

For real this time.

I stand (figuratively) before you with an announcement. As of this morning, I have accepted an awesome job as Student Ministries Designer at Kensington Community Church in Troy, MI. And I'm pretty excited about it! I have been praying, along with much of my family, that something perfect would come along, and here it is! God has really come through! I don't know when I start yet, but it will be amazing. I have my own cubicle! I'll also be either sharing an apartment with someone else from the church or getting one of my own- but it is a for real career! If you want more details, let me know!

In other news, I've been busy Nannying for my brother/sister in law in Grand Rapids. They've been trying to get a Home Daycare ( http://www.sweetpeadaycare.org/ ) set up for some time now, and it is finally coming together.

I've also recently picked up Sailing a little bit. At the end of last summer (2009), I was given a small sidewinder sailboat from a friend at camp. It needed a little cleaning up, but it is a great little boat. So my dad and I have been working together on it in our spare time, and just this Labor Day we took it out- for our 3rd time on the little lake. The wind was stronger than our first 2 encounters, and at first we were doing well, really moving across the lake, then disaster struck and we tipped over. Everything was fine, we got it righted eventually, but it was certainly an experience! I'll post pictures soon. So much has happened, I'll do what I can to be better about regular updates! More to come soon!

Okay, FINE.

So it has been a month since I updated. My bad. I've been planning on putting some pictures up, but haven't gotten around to it, I'll get to it soon though! Be ready for a sizeable update as well. I have not forgotten you, dear blog, so calm down.