Monday, June 27, 2011

canoe camping

i had so much fun canoe camping all weekend with three awesome girls. talk about adventures. camping trips are a great way to get to know people and that's always fun. or at least i think so. hopefully other people aren't ready to stab me with their pocketknives by the end of a camping weekend with me. as i said on a super fun camping trip of the past - "when you're camping, that's who you are." agreed?

"unfortunately" i don't have any pictures. i didn't take my camera because i didn't want to ruin it in the river and i don't feel the need to remember how i look while camping. :-) it is a lot of fun going without mirrors for a weekend though.

something i like about myself is that i'm not afraid to ask for help. i actually prefer to ask for help and i like being told what to do. whether this is a youngest child thing or a laid-back personality or laziness i'm not sure, but it's me. when things go awry i don't hesitate to pray and ask for help.


i think the girls i was with are the type who prefer to tackle it all themselves. not me. which is funny, because one time a guy made a big deal about me being the kind of girl who can't accept help. he was way off. and when one of his friends offered his hand to me while we were hiking and i took it, he said, "oh chelsea's one of those girls who doesn't like help." which made no sense because i gladly took his friend's hand? there are plenty of bad things someone could say about me, sure, but not accepting help definitely isn't one of those things. i think he had a complex. ;-) and i wonder what gives anyone the idea that criticizing someone will make them like you? sorry buddy.

answered prayers for help this weekend:
1. building a fire. can i do this? probably. but do i hate lighting matches? yes. was i overjoyed when the head honcho from the mennonite troop camping across the field from us biked over and told us we could use their fire? yes. because i'm sure watching me gather a pathetic pile of damp twigs was downright painful for them to observe. what i lack in camping skills i totally make up for in my ability to look helpless and confused.

2. lifting the canoes on top of our cars at the end of the weekend. can i do this? yes, definitely. would i rather have a buff man do it for me? of course. so we are about the lift the first canoe up when somehow it fell and we all start laughing, and lo and behold two buff men come walking up from the river just in time to laugh at us and ask if we need help. i said "yes!" before anyone else could say no and they lifted our canoes for us. cha-ching.

and naturally i said, "did you guys see the snake that we killed?" referring to the BIGGEST dead rattlesnake we saw beside the river. the guys mouths dropped open in shock and awe, but i quickly told them i was juuust kidding. not feeling THAT empowered.

3. someone to change our flat tire. i must be a magnet for flat tires? these happen to me or people i travel with quite a bit. the other girls were about to change it, but i had still prayed someone would help us. and sure enough some nice dad pulled over and did it for us, telling us to get back against the guardrail before we got killed. so sweet.


i love camping. i love the camaraderie and the goodness i can see in every single person i meet while camping. i love nature and how beautiful it is, how it clears your mind and reminds you what's really important. i love the quiet, the peacefulness, the stars falling out of the sky, fireflies, swimming holes, the smell of the campfire and gooey golden marshmallows. i love how all of the food tastes amazing when you're camping. ("this is the best bacon ever!" "wow i'm having seconds of that ramen!" "i never knew orange juice from concentrate was so good!" -all direct quotes from this goober) oh and i love pretending to be pocahontas.

i love how camping makes me well up with american pride - what a beautiful and amazing country to live in! i'm sure i'll be all ushy gushy about this great country again next weekend when i watch fireworks. i am such a sap for america and the fourth of july has long been my favorite holiday. i'm truly thankful to live here and have such a good, good life.

Friday, June 24, 2011

girl crushes

girls having "girl crushes" is weird, but i'm telling you mine anyway. if for no other reason than to see if they change later. i wonder who i will look up to when i'm older? surely new favorites will emerge.

i saw three different women last week (all strangers mind you) who had great hair. all were at different stages of life and for each one i wanted to tell them they were beautiful and that i wanted my hair to look like that when i was that particular age. but i didn't because i was afraid that mentioning age might be offensive.

and when i posed the question of this questionable compliment to my friends they rolled their eyes and held me back because they thought i was going to say it to someone right there, and i said don't worry i won't say it. but i'll think it.

they told me it's best just to stop at "i like your hair." personally i think it would be meaningful for someone to say they aspire to be like me at my age. but for now i will listen to my friends and not tell any women i want to look like them when i'm old. ;-)

i'll figure out a way to spin it just right so that it's a golden compliment instead of a miscommunication zinger. sometimes you have to step out and be risky with your compliments to make a lasting impact. like instead of telling the lady at the deli that her sandwiches are good, i added that, "i have been looking forward to this ALL DAY." what was meant to be a compliment turned into a miscommunication by the look on her face indicating she thought i had a pathetic life and/or weight problem. so that was a risky compliment gone zinger i will have to reconstruct and refine as well. such is life.

so who are my current girl crushes? this list could really be much longer and include all time favorites like julia roberts, sandra bullock, marilyn monroe, jackie pullinger, natalie portman, ann m. martin (where would i be without the babysitters club books? let alone the movie!), joyce meyer, beth moore, carrie bradshaw, all of the golden girls, heidi baker, sarah palin... and of course my mom, grandma shank, my awesome aunts and cousins and cousin-in-laws, my friends and their moms ...but here are just a few of the girls of right now, in no particular order:

1. TAYLOR SWIFT. she's awesome. she is always in my rotation of greatest music to jam out to in the car and she has a song with terrific lyrics for every mood and moment.
2. TINA FEY. intelligent + hilarious + classy. as a general rule i don't think women are as funny as men, but tina fey is my exception to that thought. also AMY POEHLER, soo funny.
3. BEYONCE. 100% inspiration and beauty. also thank you to beyonce for my one of my current favorite jams - "best thing i never had." (thank God i dodged a bullet//thank God i found the good in goodbye.)

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

JOY

joy is the theme of my life lately. does God ever speak to you in themes? i can't really explain it but He does that with me and the theme right now is joy. a good one, yeah? this joy thing keeps confronting me and i love it.

i was hanging out with my friend sarah's mom, patti, aka marsha, (we both have ridic nicknames for our moms, we were so destined to be friends. so few people understand this nickname thing, just like so few people understand the humor of "the sea willows" aka becky, sarah and chelsea.) and she gave me the *best* devotional book. i'm not usually a fan of daily devotionals, but when patti read me the one for the day when we were talking and it spoke DIRECTLY to my life i was impressed and as i continue reading the book i'm amazed at the way God speaks to me through every page.

the book is "God Calling," written by two anonymous women who call themselves 'two listeners' in lieu of being recognized. the insight is profound, challenging, encouraging, and simply excellent in every way. the one patti read me initially was so perfect, one of those kisses from God reminding me how much He loves me. those are always good.

she gave me a copy and later i had to flip it to december 16 - my birthday. i think this is a youngest child thing. i'm only saying that because once i was in an airport, browsing in a bookstore and i picked up "the birth order" book by dr. kevin leman. i flipped straight to the chapter on youngest children. and it started off with something like 'i'm onto you, youngest children. you haven't even read the rest of this book. you just opened it right to this chapter written about you ...' gasp! how did he know me so well?! who knew that being a youngest child would shape so much of my personality? that book is still on my reading list, obviously the dude's got some serious insight.

so whether i did it because i'm a youngest or not, i like to think that if an author can predict my reading habits, then God can too - and He knew exactly when i'd be flipping to december 16 in "God Calling." and december 16 is titled "what joy is." of course it is. because i'm a daughter of the Most High God, the Creator of the universe, and He adores me. i love being loved by Him. i love that He speaks to me.

so i don't know if God speaks to you in themes ... or is speaking to you about joy or not ... but i hope that this nugget of truth and wisdom encourages you like it did me and that the God of hope fills you with all JOY through the power of His Spirit ...

"You shall have my joy. But Life right now for you both is a march - a toilsome march ... The Joy will come, but for the moment do not think of that, think simply of the march. Joy is the reward ...

Between My Promise of the Gift of Joy to My disciples and their realization of that Joy came sense of failure, disappointment, denial, desertion, hopelessness, then hope, waiting, and courage in the face of danger.

Joy is the reward of patiently seeing Me in the dull dark days, of trusting when you cannot see ... Joy is as it were your heart's response to My smile of recognition of your faithfulness ...

Stop thinking your lives are all wrong if you do not feel it ... Remeber you may not yet by joyous, but you are brave, and courage and unselfish thought for others are sure signs of true discipleship as Joy." [from "God Calling"]

right on the money honey

allowing words to move you is one of many things that makes being a nerd worthwhile. as soon as my summer class ended i hit the library and signed out way too many books. i'm in the middle of "the history of love" by nicole krauss and can't wait to read everything that she's written. one of my favorite lines? "once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question that he wanted to spend the rest of his life answering." aw. :-) also reading john piper, nicholas sparks, stormie omartian and my all-time favorite beth moore.

my sensational gem of a friend becky had a *terrific* quote on her blog by paulo coelho that led me to google more of his stuff. he has a way with words. i started copying his quotes into my journal but my hand got tired and i decided typing them out would be much easier. so these are mostly for my personal enjoyment, but enjoy anyway.

"Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take is the worst of suffering."

"If you have a dream, don’t waste your energies explaining why."

"Forgive but do not forget, or you will be hurt again. Forgiving changes the perspectives. Forgetting loses the lesson."



"Smiling non-stop works, makes you and people around you feel better, and it does not blind you to the problems around that must be solved. Try it. Smile now."
"What money can’t buy is much more important than what money can buy."


"Don’t allow your wounds to turn you into a person you are not."

"Be careful. You can hurt with your words, but you can also hurt with your silence."
(this is so good, i hate when people refuse to address things or avoid talking about something because it's uncomfortable. get over yourself.)

"I believe that when we look for love courageously, it reveals itself, and we attract even more love. If one person really wants us, everyone does. But if we’re alone, we become even more alone. Life is strange…"

"To believe in your path you don’t need to prove that other people’s choices are wrong."

"How long will you keep pounding on an open door?"
[all quotes by paulo coelho]