South Carolina, Not South America

I'm sure that most of you know by now that I am going to Columbia Biblical Seminary this fall. It is official, I'll be moving in on August 16th. My home service will be complete as of August 13th and I'll be moving on to the next adventure God has for me. When I tell people that I am going to Columbia this fall, many people say, "Colombia, you're going to South America?" Rest assured, I'm not going that far quite yet!

I don't think that I am fully comprehending where I will be in a little over a month, the changes that will take place in my life, the new culture, back to school. Wow, life will change. At first the thought of going to graduate school did not make me excited in the least. I am not one who particularly enjoys homework or studying. I love the social aspect of college life, the friends, the memories, the homework I could do without. To be perfectly honest, the thought of graduate level work still makes me quite nervous! However, that being said, I am starting to get excited about this fall. I will soon be able to register for classes and as I looked at my options, my excitement grew.

I will be getting a Master of Arts. It is a general Masters degree, I need to take three core classes and the other seven classes I can choose anything I want that is offered that semester. Because I have 30 hours of Bible and Theology from Crown, it cuts my program in half and I will be done by May. It really is a good deal and the classes look so interesting. I think the hardest thing now will be choosing which classes to take. So many look good and would be so useful on the mission field.

I'm also getting excited about . . . buying school supplies!! I know, sounds strange right, but buying school supplies was always one of the highlight of my school year. I love getting new pens and pencils and notebooks... Ah, what fun! I'm excited about living in South Carolina - where it is warm! I'm excited about hearing southern accents and trying new foods. I'm excited about making new friends (also a little nervous about this one). God is changing my heart and turning something that I have been dreading for the last couple of years into something that I am actually getting excited about.

Life will be crazy for the next month and a half preparing for school and finishing things up here at church. This has been a great place to be and I will miss it in many ways. I thank you for your prayers for me during this time of transition in my life.

The picture at the top is my favorite picture that I took in the Boundary Waters. It reminds me that no matter where I go or what I do, God is there. It was a calm, beautiful place and every time I look at this picture I feel calm and God's care and majesty. May you find the quite place in your life today and take a minute to talk to your Father there.

The Trip Of A Lifetime

You will be happy to know that I made it safely back from the Boundary Waters without being eaten by a bear! I don't even know where to begin in telling you about the trip - it was so amazing. There were 12 of us that went total, we were in two groups of 6. We left the church Wednesday afternoon, May 31 and headed up to Pastor Tom's cabin. We spent the night there and left the next morning for the Boundary Waters.

We entered the BW around noon or 1:00 that day and the first part of our trip was a portage. For those of you who don't know, when you portage, you have to cross land carrying your canoe and all of your packs. This was our longest portage of the trip, but luckily it was almost all downhill. Once we made it to the water we loaded our canoes and took off. We were going along nicely and it was a beautiful day. However, on our last portage of the day we saw a thunderstorm in the distance and decided to wait it out on land. It was a good thing we did as what we thought would be a nice shower turned into quite a thunderstorm, hail and all. So we stood under trees (short ones) and got a nice head massage by the small hail. After that passed we took off again, looking for a campsite for the night. The storm must have led people to camp early as we couldn't find a campsite on the lake we wanted and we were too tired to go on. So we found a old campsite and used that. You are only supposed to camp on designated sites up there. You know it is a site because it is (usually) on the map and there is a fire grate and a path to a toilet seat. This had neither so we got to dig our own "potty holes" the first night and it was all a grand adventure!

Friday we got to the island where we made our permanent campsite and got to relax a bit. It was all so beautiful it was hard to take it all in!

The next day we went to see some waterfalls and they were amazing. We made it through the strong current where the canoes before us tipped and got some amazing pictures!

Sunday was a layover day where we got to relax. We did some fishing, and had the best tasting fish I have ever had in my life for supper that night. We climbed Warrior Hill that evening and came out conquerors!

The next morning we got up to go meet with the other group for the day. We started out and the wind was blowing and there were some pretty good sized waves out there. Needless to say we made it and got a really good workout besides! We fished some and had a mini church service with the guys and headed back to camp. Still windy on the way home, it had stormed that afternoon.

Tuesday we headed out. We made it out in one day and I thought I was going to die on some of those portages. But, we made it and were quite proud of ourselves. We spent that night at the cabin again and headed home late Wednesday.

We figure we probably went about 60 miles during our trip. It was an amazing trip. God's creation is so beautiful. If any of you want to see pictures, let me know, I can e-mail you a photo album.

For those of you who have known me a long time, you will be surprised to know that I got my first tan ever in my life (now I know I have to spend a week outside to get a tan!) and I even got a few muscles!!

So, that was the Boundary Waters. It was a trip of a lifetime and if any of you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it - if I can do it, anyone can!