Ma vie est bonne

Dear everyone, my life is good right now. I just thought I'd take some time to check in with all of you wonderful readers who I love. It is with relief of throbbing arms that I can say that I now have all of my necessary vaccines for Ethiopia. We have around six more days of school, which is absolutely exhilarating. Soon. Soon we'll be free from the loud and dark hallways of BHS. Summer will be here and the worries relevant to school will dissolve into the sunshine. I can't wait, folks! My only sibling, Walter, is graduating THIS WEEKEND.  We have a big party and tons of food planned, not to mention my wonderful grandparents from New York and Minnesota, as well as my fabulous Auntie and my cousin Cam, also from the great state of NY. This weekend is sure to be packed full of joy and sheer chaos. Next weekend are the dreaded spring finals, so in addition to trying to absorb every moment with my family I also have to pack my brain full of my second semester education. There might be a few late nights in my near future. Regardless, I'm so excited. I hope you all are doing well and biting your nails with excitement for summer (not really, nail biting is bad), because it's almost here so get ready to have some fun and enjoy your freedom!

Blessed

Greetings, everyone! About  three weeks ago I sent out some fundraising letters, and now donations are slowly starting to appear in my mail box. Today I was especially blessed when, after a long day at my dance recital and many hours spent on sore feet, I received another incredible gift. Thank you to ALL of you who have donated and/or prayed for me so far. I have reached the thousand dollar mark thanks to your loving generosity. I pray that God will bless you in return for how much you've blessed me.

To Get There

So, I took the first baby steps on my journey to Ethiopia yesterday as I waded through the puddles in my street with my fund raising letters, over to the mail boxes and sent up one quick prayer before I dropped them into the abyss of the outgoing mail bin. Here we go. The entire trip has now been set into motion. I don't have any other news to share right now other than if you're logging on and reading this blog for the first time, thank you and welcome!

Change of topic.

While it is certainly true that I have many funny and adventurous stories worthy of writing down here, Ethiopia is definitely my biggest and most important adventure. So, for the next four-ish months this here blog will be primarily about that. I hope this is ok with everyone, and I hope you'll be patient, keep reading, and possibly even enjoy it. Peace.

Ethiopia or bust

So, remember the Super-secret summer adventure I hinted at in my last post? It is no longer a super secret, because here's the story. While sitting in church one snowy morning in March, a video clip played on the large overhead screens. In this video, children in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia were shown living in a huge garbage dump. Most of them are orphans. The video also talked about how they had received scholarships to attend and live at a Christian school called the Bright Hope School, but only through the school year. In order for them to be able to attend the school in the fall, they must attend summer camp. There are around 400 children who will be attending. At the very end of the video it asked if anyone felt called to be part of the ten person team and help lead summer camp and bring God's love to these children. My heart screamed "YES!" but at the time I still had not heard from Clydehurst and my possible employment there. But I didn't stop thinking about those kids, the video played over and over in my head. When I heard from Clydehurst I was devastated but within a few days I began to think even more about Ethiopia. A week later I attended an informational meeting about the trip. The cost is $3,000, and if I wasn't destined to go, that alone would have stopped me, not including that I didn't have a passport and that except for a family vacation to Canada I've never been out of the country. But it didn't stop me, and immediately after the meeting I was at home filling out the application for the trip. That night I handed it in to the trip organizer, but I only had to wait for her to read the first pages for her to say "you're coming." I asked again and again if indeed I really was going but the answer never changed. So now, in August of this year we'll leave for the most life-altering three weeks of my life, and I couldn't be more excited. My entire summer fell into place in less than one week. Fund raising and working my buns off will consume my days, but I wouldn't have it any other way. God is surprising. Two months ago I wouldn't have imagined this, but tonight the team has their first meeting and I'm blessed enough to be part of it. I prayed for adventure, I prayed for a chance to help people in a big way, I prayed to be a part of God's plan, and I miraculously got all three at the same time. $3,000 dollars? It seemed impossible but now I know God will get us there. I know a lot of you wonderful readers out there aren't religious, and that I talk about God a lot in this post, but I have to write it because know that He's behind all of these miracles. But if you do believe in God, pray for me. Because I need your help.

Closed Doors, Open Windows

So, my dear friends and readers, it has been awhile. In my earlier posts I wrote about my dream job at Clydehurst Christian Ranch (CCR), and how amazing my summer there would be. I thought I was perfect for that job and that it would be crazy if I was not accepted. Well, Crazy has a way of following me around because I received word from them last week. In my application there was a Beliefs section, which asked our thoughts on controversial issues such as drugs and alcohol, abortion, and homosexuality. I answered with candid honesty, that drugs were wrong, and that I abhor abortion unless the baby was predetermined to be born with a life-crushing disability (such as head-to-toe paralysis). As for homosexuality, I wrote that while it says it is a sin in the Bible and I agree with that, but I have friends who are born homosexuals, and since they cannot change the way they are, I don't try to change them either, but I love them anyway. Anyway, CCR emailed me to tell me that they were looking for older staff this year. I had no issue with that, and actually agreed with that decision, but they then went on to say that my "thoughts" about said issues did not align with their [conservative] views. I can understand why my belief about abortion could be wrong, but they told me that they believe that homosexuality is an unacceptable sin. They even suggested that I talk to my parents or pastor about these issues. Really? Do you think that some homosexuals haven't tried to change the way they are? Sure, some are just plain messing around where they shouldn't be, but some have truly tried to be heterosexual. What do we tell them if we are living in that narrow-minded frame? "God doesn't love you"? Or even simply "go to hell"? I think not. God loves everybody, and I know that for a fact. So, the lesson I learned here was that if I'm going to be a spectacular individual, I need to know what I believe and stand by it, even when it takes away an incredible opportunity. There's a phrase that says that when God closes one door, he opens another. In this case, He closed a door in my face and instead of opening another one, he opened the window instead. I have a Super-secret Summer Adventure possible, but I'll have to climb through the windows to get there, because it's not nearly as easy as walking through a door. I will update you with my plan as soon as I get a few questions answered. Until then, remember to do crazy things, smile, laugh, love, and take the high road in your life, because that's where the sun is.

Quicksilver life

Life is rushing past at such a rapid pace, It almost scares me. I registered for classes of my junior year. It seems like class of 2013 was just walking through the halls as timid freshman. But next year we're all juniors. Then, after that, is the fantasized and glorified senior year, and after that... Our futures are no longer guided by the parallel lines of public education. Our fragile high school friendships will fizzle out until we can no longer remember the sound of our friends laughter or understand why those things we said were so funny. We'll all grow up. This seemed like something that will never happen, like driving towards the horizon but never meeting the edge of the earth. But it will happen, and I probably will be too grown up and preoccupied to even notice. What will happen if every moment is not acknowledged and stretched to its full potential? Answer that on your own, because it may not bother you. But it bothers me; I feel like I'm constantly wasting my own time along with that of everyone around me.  I want to travel around the world a thousand times over, because I know that if I do, I still won't have even come close to seeing and experiencing and knowing what life is about, no matter how temporary life is. That is why I must constantly reinvent myself, because life is far too fleeting to remain the same through it all. I decided to write about this today not only because it has been  lodged into my mind, but also because I want to remind you all that everything matters. Every moment, either wasted or used wisely.
Here is a list of things to do in order to start making every moment count. Choose something off this list, or make your own list, do it, and make some memories.

• Get up early, watch the sunrise 
• Give someone something (money, food, encouragement, time, love)
• Build a monument to something or someone
• Stand up for someone
• Take off your shoes, run around
• Sing in the shower
• Make a fort
• Tell a secret
• Conquer a phobia
• Leave a love note
• Climb a mountain (or a hill)
• Discover something
• Watch the sunset, all of it