Suncreststudentlife’s Weblog

Deep River water park registration deadline is Sunday!

Attention all middle school students and parents of middle school students!!!!  We have a great trip planned and it is right around the corner.  On Tuesday August 11^th we are taking students to Deep River Water Park.  We will meet at the church at 9:15 AM and return by 5:00 PM.  The cost of the trip is $15, students will also need money for lunch.

The registration deadline is August 2^nd.

I started writing this blog post yesterday.  It began with one of those introspective analogies that bloggers use so often.  My plan was to mold it into a commentary on life and struggle, hope and passion, struggle and strife.  Yes I used struggle twice, and yes it made for an awkward sentence.  Bloggers are whinny and talk way more about struggle than anything else, get over it.  Anyway, I deleted it.  After the first paragraph was written Jared walked out, said I think I’m getting the flu and left me in the office for the next 6 hours to entertain myself.  My list included sending one text message to one person to delegate one task, writing a blog post, and reading.  Not what you call a full day.  I went home. I decided to come in Friday and bank on more tasks needing to be tackled then.  So here I sit Tuesday morning Jared is still under the weather and I am left with about the same workload.  The difference is that for my day off I made the best decision that could be made for a day off.  I ran home, took a quick shower (During this time Mrs. Stooksbury managed to pack me a lunch a family of four would struggle to finish.  It’s scary how much she reminds me of my mother at times.), and hoped in my car to travel three and a half hours for a surprise visit to the lady friend.

It made for a late night seeing as there was still a three and a half hour trip back to Suncrest, but it was well worth the effort.  Kels was down in Cincy for orientation at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music which meant that there was a lot of craziness going on when I arrived.  We both agreed that it wasn’t the most opportune time to visit but a welcomed one nonetheless.  One of the coolest parts of the whole trip was the free recital some of the 3^rd and 4^th year students put on.  Talented would be an understatement.  As usual the final performance of the night was the best. Two guys entered from stage left.  You just got this feeling that you were about to witness something beyond explanation.  Kels and I looked at each other pointed to the curly red head with sharp features and said, “He’s gonna be gooooood.”  I think Kelsey’s roommate fell in love by the second chord.

In all it was a good day off to be had.  The trip back, as long and late as it was, was good.  It was full of thoughts that needed thinking; so many thoughts that even though I didn’t get home until after two in the morning I had trouble falling asleep.  As much as I hate losing sleep, it was a welcomed process of thought provoking confusion and even a few moments of clarity.

In the past couple months I’ve begun fishing with Ashley’s youngest brother, Brandon. We have started making a habit of going out on Saturday mornings to a different location and spending a few hours talking, fishing, and just having a great time. From the early start, to the fight of bringing in a larger fish, to the conversations about life, to the entertainment of countless near falls out of the john-boat, these mornings away from the hustle and bustle of life have been especially rejuvenating for myself. I find that no matter what I’m doing, I have a difficult time getting up early in the morning. Or at least I had a hard time getting up in the morning. Since Brandon and I have started fishing I’ve had to get up about 5:30 to pick him up. Those Saturday mornings have been such a relaxing experience that I’ve walked away from them feeling refreshed and ready to get going with my next week.

The reason I share this story is because I feel like all too often I miss this aspect of my life… the aspect of rest. I have always heard the sermons on rest and God creating the universe in six days and resting the seventh and about how that rest doesn’t have to be doing nothing but rather doing something that energizes you, but I’ve never really fully understood that until I started purposely setting aside that day to go fishing. I also noticed that even though this isn’t something I’ve been doing for months or years, it really does bother me when I miss that day of relaxation in my week. It really does help shape my week and dictate whether or not I feel rested or just worn down.

We had some sad news.  One of our students, Val has been dealing with some medical issues.  We thought, and hoped that she would be fine and able to make it through the week.  However, after experiencing some difficulties we decided that it would probably best to get her home.  Please be praying for Val that she and her family will be able to find answers to what is causing these problems.  She is a great girl with a huge heart.  It was a very hard decision to decided to send her home.  We will miss you Val.

What we have done since we arrived.

Monday

3:00 PM                Went to a park with fountains in downtown       Knoxville, TN

7:30 PM                First worship service…this worship guy is way too into motions during worship

9:15 PM                First group time

10:00 PM             Serious group time ended, played a game of human knot…your kids are a bunch of quitters.

12:45 AM             The guys in my room finally stop talking and we go to sleep

Tuesday

7:45 AM               A surprisingly large number of students got up for breakfast this morning…that number will go down as the week goes on

8:30 AM               Wake up…watched a dramatic game of Jenga

9:00 AM               Worship and Devotion…Scott Greer gave some challenging thoughts

9:30 AM               Students spread out to do their quiet time…my favorite part of the day.  Not just because it is the one part of the day when students aren’t talking.

10:00 AM             They go to D-group where either Chris or Dan are teaching them

10:01 AM             I get on my computer and start working on email and blog

We made it to Louisville safe and sound.  Getting ready to crash for the night.

Fun facts from the trip:

• Chris Hall had to stop at the first rest stop…worse than the kids!!!
• Picked up Kyle Granskog in Indy
• Learned that you should ask for the burger fresh off broiler at Burger King…Thanks Spence
• Awesome to see Pujols was the leading vote getter for the all star game
• Adam made us listen to Taylor Brown for half the trip
• The excitement is in the air…students excited to see what God is going to do this week
• All of Emily Watson’s jokes involve people dying

Most of that is from my van…I am sure there is much more from the other van.