The past two weeks have not been too eventful. I guess that's why I didn't even realize I waited too long to post! Well, that and my mom and dad have been in Jamaica for the last week to celebrate their 30th anniversary, so I haven't received any phone call reminders from mom. Dani and I laughed on the phone, because I haven't heard from mom and dad for over a week now (too expensive to call from out of country). I told Dani that, when mom called, I would say, "Why, you do love me after all! You forgot to call your dear old daughter for over a week. I was beginning to think you forgot about me. And I noticed you haven't posted on your blog for a LOOOONG time..." Oh mom...queen of the motherly guilt trip! Well, I guess it means I'm loved a lot!~
Two weekends ago, Kayle and I went out on a Friday dinner date at CoHo cafe and then stayed in for the rest of the night. Saturday was pretty busy, with a 2 hour coffeeshop leader's meeting with my youth group girls. We planned a few events for the month and started brainstorming what we could do for a service project for mother's day. At night, Kayle and I went to babysit Grace while Caleb and Laura went to revisit the site of their first date, which was apparently going out of business the next day. Kayle helped me with dinner for an hour or so before heading to a lighting training at church for the rest of the night. I had a great time playing with Grace and babysitting solo...until bedtime, that is. It took about a half hour of crying and rocking and singing and screaming for Grace to calm down and get to sleep, although it definitely seemed like a lot longer. Then, I had a glorious hour and a half of silence to buy some wedding and baby shower gifts online before Kayle and the parents came home.
On Sunday, we greatly enjoyed a week off from children's ministry and a much needed sleep-in. Instead of arriving at church by 8am, we were able to get some things done at home, make waffles for breakfast, and attend the 5pm service. A couple new to the booth were scheduled to serve at the 5, so we ended up sitting in the booth with them, just in case. But, all in all, it was a refreshing Sunday.
Last Tuesday, Kayle decided to go to a memorial service with some guy friends. We found out via e-mail on Friday that one of the guys from the Microsoft Bible study we used to attend died suddenly. He called in sick the day before with the flu and didn't show up the next day for work. Ian was an enthusiastic guy, passionate about his faith and all things geeky. It was shocking for both of us to find out, but we also felt a lot of peace about his death. It was clear that Ian was a devoted Christian who dearly loved God, so we were confident and happy for him to be in Heaven. At only 26, Ian struggled with multiple allergies and walked with a cane, so it was delightful to picture him running into Jesus' arms with a new body. His memorial was solemn at times but mostly a celebration infused with joy and hope. Meanwhile, I went to our regular community group where we enjoyed a meal of baked potatoes, rolls, salad, soup, and strawberries. Lately, our group has been talking a lot about going deeper and becoming more vulnerable with each other about our personal struggles. We are really working on building a strong, authentic community in Christ that holds each other accountable and encourages everyone in life and growth. I'm excited to get to know the other ladies more as we share our life stories in the coming weeks.
At Proxy on Wednesday, we had a wonderful discussion about our prayer lives and the purpose and power of prayer in faith. The girls were sharing and engaged as we continued in Ephesians 2 and prayed for one another and the church. I always stay until about 10pm, talking to the girls after group and catching up on their lives. It has been a joy to see the growth in them and in our community as a whole.
On Friday, after cleaning our home all week, we planned to have some friends over for a game night. We have been planning to break in our hospitality for a while but never quite got around to inviting people over. Unfortunately, we didn't give quite enough notice and, with various illnesses going around, no one was able to come. I guess we'll put a date on the calendar a little farther ahead next time! Instead, Kayle and I rented District 9 to watch together.
On Saturday, we woke up late and made a big breakfast. In the afternoon, we went to Thad and Marilee's new house to help them tame their huge yard and many gardens. The couple who previously owned the home were horticulturists and put in many hours of their retirement into making a beautiful landscape. Since they moved on, weeds have overrun the flower beds, vines invaded the fruit trees and mini-greenhouse, and sticks piled up everywhere. Various people came and left to help for a few hours throughout the day. We caught the afternoon shift for about 2-3 hours. Kayle focused on weeding a large square of dirt that would soon become a vegetable and spice garden. I worked on weeding two large flowerbeds with baby Bolder as my gardening companion. They will have quite a treasure once the plum, apple, and cherry trees start bearing fruit later this year and fresh produce starts growing in their backyard. One day of work sure made a lot of difference! (Grandpa Oskamp would just love it there...)
This Sunday was just delightful. After the scheduled teacher arrived late, I ended up teaching the Sunday school lesson. Armed with a bowl of cut-up strawberries, grapes, apples, blueberries, and melon, the class was more engaged than ever. We had a lot of reviewing to do in the lesson, so each kid got to pick one piece of fruit for every question they answered. I had so many hands raised and so many insightful answers, even from the 6-year-old girl who just moved here from Georgia! We talked about everything from the Trinity to the Fall, from incarnation to revelation, and from sin to the cross and salvation. Then, we finished the class with me dressed up as a judge with a maraca as a gavel while we discussed the evidence that Jesus really did rise from the dead. What a great class!
At night, Kayle and I got our exercise in by playing the new Wii Fit Plus game that Kayle bought off Craigslist. It took him several hours to get it all hooked up and working with the computer monitor as the screen and the digital piano as the speakers. The goal is to make exercise more fun, so we can be more consistent and keep it up even during the rainy months. So far, so good!
Finally, we are greatly anticipating a business trip to Las Vegas in two weeks. Kayle's product, Visual Studio, is being released in April and he was selected to go to the development conference with 7 other guys from his team. The great thing is that I can come too and enjoy some quality time with Kayle in the evenings. We are staying in the Bellagio hotel, where the conference is being held, and are still looking for tickets to go to a show together. While Kayle helps man a booth for his team and attends training sessions and networking events, I plan to lounge by the pool and get in some leisurely reading. We will be gone from Sunday April 11 until Wednesday April 14, so feel free to call me during the day as I will have plenty of time to chat!
We miss you all and love you dearly!
Angie and Kayle
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Busy Weekend with Friends
Last week, I still had under 20 hours scheduled at EA2, so I've been filling up my extra weekday time with volunteering at Eastside Academy, going home for a nap, and some errands/cleaning. Several students are approaching the end of their class with me soon, but it sounds like most of them want to take another math course. I also am hearing of a few new students for the following weeks, though none of them for many hours. Today, we have quite a wake-up at EA2, because Lou, another teacher who opened up this morning, punched in the wrong code for the alarm system and it went off (LOUDLY) for about 20 minutes. The police came and went, but we still couldn't find the number to call to turn it off (other co-workers didn't answer their phones). Finally, another staff member showed up and knew the alternate code needed to shut off the system, and peace was restored!
Kayle's work is going really well lately. I think he is enjoying the projects he's been assigned, working on new features for the next release. He said he is giving a demonstration of his work to his team on Thursday. Visual Studio 2010 is being released next month, so Kayle will have the satisfaction of seeing his hard work pay off in an actual product.
At community group, we had Italian night with some delicious pasta dishes. We brought crazy bread (our first time making it) and asparagus (with oil and crushed red pepper). Both were a hit with our friends and I had to admit to everyone that Kayle did most of the cooking this time!
On Wednesday, I had my youth group Bible study. Youth group has been going really well lately. The girls are starting to take ownership in leading and planning events and our discussions are becoming more authentic. It has been fun watching them grow and mature in their faith and helping them build a true Christian community.
As you can probably tell by the title, our weekend was incredibly busy. On Friday night, I went to Kat's house to watch a movie, catch up, and eat pizza. Meanwhile, Kayle dropped me off and went to a brewery in Bellevue to meet up with some guys from CG. We both enjoyed bonding with our same-sex friends and got home pretty late that night.
On Saturday, I had a CG leaders training at church for 4 hours (9am-1pm). It turned out to be pretty informative and, as always, I enjoyed meeting and networking with other people from the church, many of whom I've seen as names posting things online. I was one of about 5 women out of 50-60 total attendees, but I met a guy hosting a theology discussion night, another with a wife possibly interested in co-leading my youth group girls, and another who coaches and trains the groups in my region. Overall, it was a productive training!
After a long nap at home, Kayle and I set off for Rachel and Tom's house. The couple has been married for 10 years and goes to our community group although this is the first time we've seen them outside of group events. Rachel and Tom made us a wonderful dinner of green beans with cherry tomatoes, salmon, red-skinned potatoes, and rice. They also had ice cream sundaes and truffles for dessert. But, most of all, we enjoyed just talking to them and getting to know their story of finding each other and coming to Seattle. While Rachel fed the baby, I had the chance to talk to her, just the girls, while Kayle sat down to talk to Tom. We greatly appreciated their invitation and hope to return the favor sometime soon.
Finally, after dinner, Kayle dropped me off at the youth group sleepover party at Hannah's house. We watched two movies, played some spoons, and, of course, talked and talked. I was glad that I found a replacement for Children's Ministry the next day, because, with the time change, I was up until 3:30am and would have needed to be at church by 8am to serve!
On Sunday, I met Kayle at the 11:15 service where he decided to work in the booth to cover someone who was sick. I sat up there with him although I got less out of the service that usual due to being so tired. The sermon was all about being in a CG, so I guess, with the training on Saturday, I mostly had that topic covered. After church, we went grocery shopping and watched the movie, "Iron Man". I also slept a good portion of the afternoon to catch up of sleep for the workweek.
Well, I guess that's it for this week! I can't really compete with Kristen for frequency of posts and number of pictures...she is really having fun and experiencing new things in Australia! My student for the afternoon is almost here, so I have to go back to work! Take care, and we miss you...
Angie and Kayle
Kayle's work is going really well lately. I think he is enjoying the projects he's been assigned, working on new features for the next release. He said he is giving a demonstration of his work to his team on Thursday. Visual Studio 2010 is being released next month, so Kayle will have the satisfaction of seeing his hard work pay off in an actual product.
At community group, we had Italian night with some delicious pasta dishes. We brought crazy bread (our first time making it) and asparagus (with oil and crushed red pepper). Both were a hit with our friends and I had to admit to everyone that Kayle did most of the cooking this time!
On Wednesday, I had my youth group Bible study. Youth group has been going really well lately. The girls are starting to take ownership in leading and planning events and our discussions are becoming more authentic. It has been fun watching them grow and mature in their faith and helping them build a true Christian community.
As you can probably tell by the title, our weekend was incredibly busy. On Friday night, I went to Kat's house to watch a movie, catch up, and eat pizza. Meanwhile, Kayle dropped me off and went to a brewery in Bellevue to meet up with some guys from CG. We both enjoyed bonding with our same-sex friends and got home pretty late that night.
On Saturday, I had a CG leaders training at church for 4 hours (9am-1pm). It turned out to be pretty informative and, as always, I enjoyed meeting and networking with other people from the church, many of whom I've seen as names posting things online. I was one of about 5 women out of 50-60 total attendees, but I met a guy hosting a theology discussion night, another with a wife possibly interested in co-leading my youth group girls, and another who coaches and trains the groups in my region. Overall, it was a productive training!
After a long nap at home, Kayle and I set off for Rachel and Tom's house. The couple has been married for 10 years and goes to our community group although this is the first time we've seen them outside of group events. Rachel and Tom made us a wonderful dinner of green beans with cherry tomatoes, salmon, red-skinned potatoes, and rice. They also had ice cream sundaes and truffles for dessert. But, most of all, we enjoyed just talking to them and getting to know their story of finding each other and coming to Seattle. While Rachel fed the baby, I had the chance to talk to her, just the girls, while Kayle sat down to talk to Tom. We greatly appreciated their invitation and hope to return the favor sometime soon.
Finally, after dinner, Kayle dropped me off at the youth group sleepover party at Hannah's house. We watched two movies, played some spoons, and, of course, talked and talked. I was glad that I found a replacement for Children's Ministry the next day, because, with the time change, I was up until 3:30am and would have needed to be at church by 8am to serve!
On Sunday, I met Kayle at the 11:15 service where he decided to work in the booth to cover someone who was sick. I sat up there with him although I got less out of the service that usual due to being so tired. The sermon was all about being in a CG, so I guess, with the training on Saturday, I mostly had that topic covered. After church, we went grocery shopping and watched the movie, "Iron Man". I also slept a good portion of the afternoon to catch up of sleep for the workweek.
Well, I guess that's it for this week! I can't really compete with Kristen for frequency of posts and number of pictures...she is really having fun and experiencing new things in Australia! My student for the afternoon is almost here, so I have to go back to work! Take care, and we miss you...
Angie and Kayle
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Out and About on the Tandem Bike
This week was less busy than usual, a nice break from what had become pretty chaotic. I had fewer hours at work and some breathing time in between students. (It gets hectic when they come in 4 hours in a row- it takes me more than a minute or two to completely switch gears!). Surprisingly, my mornings are filled up but my afternoons are mostly empty with only one or two students after lunch each day. The afternoon is when I'd usually have tutoring students, and we don't usually get new tutoring kids until the end of semester panic period. So, I might have a lighter, 25-hour/week schedule for a while. I will probably start going to Eastside Academy again for my longer breaks. On a side note, I am totally geeking out about my boss buying Mathematica, a program that does math and science demonstrations on the computer. I've had a fun time browsing the website and finding cool models to show my students. The program has gotten so much cooler since we used it in high school and college!
Tuesday, we did not have community group for the regional meetings. On Wednesday, we had a great bible study time at Proxy, studying Ephesians chapter 1. Youth group has been going really well lately, and I just found out that one of the other leaders is coming back soon. Lisa took some time off to find a better job, and she has just found one. I'm excited to have another adult leader to bounce ideas off of and share the load of planning and teaching with. Dustin, the main youth pastor, is also back, so youth group should become more active and dynamic again.
Thursday and Friday night, we stayed in and rested at home. One night we watched Spiderman 2 (I won it at the SuperBowl party). We also made homemade pizza with ham and bacon. On Friday, I picked up our wedding vows from Eastside Academy. The art teacher, who is amazing at calligraphy, wrote out our wedding vows in deep purple and decorated them with doves on the edges to put in our silver, engraved frame. They are already hanging on the wall, right next to the counter where we eat our meals every day.
Saturday was a great day. We slept in and then made a huge pile of oven french toast using thick slices of artisan bread. In the afternoon, we rode the tandem bike to Marymoor Park because it was a beautiful 60 degree, sunny day. The park had hundreds of people- we saw people playing cricket, lacrosse, soccer, ultimate frisbee, rock climbing, flying remote control airplanes/helicopters, and doing bike tricks. There were more dogs and kids than you could ever count. We rode around, watched and puzzled over the cricket game, and threw the frisbee around on an open, astro-turf baseball field. Parks are well-loved and well-used here and it is quite an experience going to one. For one thing, I heard probably 10 different languages in just a few hours!
At night, we went to Gary's birthday party (a guy from our old CG). We played classic video games (Mario and the original MarioKart) and, of course, the daughter of a Nintendo employee was amazing at Mario. Then, the nine of us sat down to some Texas Hold'Em, which turned out to be pretty ridiculous. We had to look up on a Blackberry which hands won and had the hardest time deciding how much the chips should be worth. With several lucky hands (including one I won with a pair of twos and another with Ace high), I ended up winning the poker game and a giant candy bar. We laughed a lot and enjoyed spending time with people we hadn't seen for a while. Kayle and I plan to host a Settlers game night soon, since that's the one we didn't have time for last night. Oh...and we both ate more dark chocolate covered pretzals than we ever should have!
Today was the first Sunday in a long time that we have slept in (two days in a row!). Neither of us were signed up to serve, so we decided to go to the 5 o'clock service and the extended worship afterward. We mostly just lounged around all day, but we did have nice lunch of sage chicken, caesar salad, and corn.
We're looking forward to a slightly busier week and, as always, missing all of you. We love you!
Angie and Kayle
Tuesday, we did not have community group for the regional meetings. On Wednesday, we had a great bible study time at Proxy, studying Ephesians chapter 1. Youth group has been going really well lately, and I just found out that one of the other leaders is coming back soon. Lisa took some time off to find a better job, and she has just found one. I'm excited to have another adult leader to bounce ideas off of and share the load of planning and teaching with. Dustin, the main youth pastor, is also back, so youth group should become more active and dynamic again.
Thursday and Friday night, we stayed in and rested at home. One night we watched Spiderman 2 (I won it at the SuperBowl party). We also made homemade pizza with ham and bacon. On Friday, I picked up our wedding vows from Eastside Academy. The art teacher, who is amazing at calligraphy, wrote out our wedding vows in deep purple and decorated them with doves on the edges to put in our silver, engraved frame. They are already hanging on the wall, right next to the counter where we eat our meals every day.
Saturday was a great day. We slept in and then made a huge pile of oven french toast using thick slices of artisan bread. In the afternoon, we rode the tandem bike to Marymoor Park because it was a beautiful 60 degree, sunny day. The park had hundreds of people- we saw people playing cricket, lacrosse, soccer, ultimate frisbee, rock climbing, flying remote control airplanes/helicopters, and doing bike tricks. There were more dogs and kids than you could ever count. We rode around, watched and puzzled over the cricket game, and threw the frisbee around on an open, astro-turf baseball field. Parks are well-loved and well-used here and it is quite an experience going to one. For one thing, I heard probably 10 different languages in just a few hours!
At night, we went to Gary's birthday party (a guy from our old CG). We played classic video games (Mario and the original MarioKart) and, of course, the daughter of a Nintendo employee was amazing at Mario. Then, the nine of us sat down to some Texas Hold'Em, which turned out to be pretty ridiculous. We had to look up on a Blackberry which hands won and had the hardest time deciding how much the chips should be worth. With several lucky hands (including one I won with a pair of twos and another with Ace high), I ended up winning the poker game and a giant candy bar. We laughed a lot and enjoyed spending time with people we hadn't seen for a while. Kayle and I plan to host a Settlers game night soon, since that's the one we didn't have time for last night. Oh...and we both ate more dark chocolate covered pretzals than we ever should have!
Today was the first Sunday in a long time that we have slept in (two days in a row!). Neither of us were signed up to serve, so we decided to go to the 5 o'clock service and the extended worship afterward. We mostly just lounged around all day, but we did have nice lunch of sage chicken, caesar salad, and corn.
We're looking forward to a slightly busier week and, as always, missing all of you. We love you!
Angie and Kayle
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Women's Retreat
Since I last posted, we have been go, go, going!
The women's retreat was awesome. Last weekend, about 240 women from our Bellevue Mars Hill campus convened at a summer camp for teaching, community, and worship. Kayle dropped me off at Costco for dinner (pizza) and to catch a ride with Marilee (from my CG), Marilee's sister, and Michelle Bates. Marilee was also one of about 8 nursing mothers on the trip, so little Bolder came too. We arrived just in time for the 1st session, relieved to be out of the car because the sweet bundle of joy cried for the last 1/2 hour or so of the drive. I stayed in a cabin with some of the Proxy girls, though the cabin assignments were pretty fluid and we gained a few and lost a few for the 2nd night.
The theme of the weekend was Freedom in Christ- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore, do not submit yourselves again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). The teaching was very insightful and authentic with several very vulnerable testimonies and some great group discussion. I came away with a deep admiration for the other women in my church who spoke and led. The teaching that stuck with me the most was how God delights in me as His daughter. I, perhaps not totally consciously, thought that God was always disappointed in me whenever I mess up and sin, because I can never live up to the perfection He calls us to strive for. However, I realize now that that is a lie I've been nurturing. Instead, God rejoices in me and sings over me, just like I love to tenderly hold a baby and sing her to sleep. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Isn't it beautiful that God loves us in this way?
The talks focused on our identity in Christ and how freedom from sin and shame is found in the security of our salvation and ongoing help in Him. I thought a lot about what I allow to "define" me- my status as "married without kids", my job as a teacher, my university education, my geekiness... No, my identity is caught up with Christ, my worth secured by His work in choosing, rescuing, and sanctifying me. "I am" a work in progress for sure, but, above all, a precious child of God on mission to glorify Him. I could go on and on about the things I learned or re-learned on the retreat, and I even came home with a long list of things to tell Kayle about. Just ask if you want to know more!
A few other highlights: The ladies all participated in a regional rodeo competition involving several very funny events. We laughed so hard in the chicken herding event, when 7 other ladies and I chased a very fast hen with a mind of her own! I also took part in a relay that involved lasso-ing another person and running back and forth with the rope. One of the ladies in our CG looked so disgusted as she untied a ribbon from a goat's tail during a different relay- it was all too funny. The event culminated with a line dance to Cotton-Eyed Joe.
The other highlight for me was more personal. One night before dinner, I walked by myself to the arena where the rodeo was. With the stars sparkling above and in pleasant solitude, I sang praises to God for about an hour. It was such a heartfelt outpouring of worship that I desperately needed and enjoyed.
I arrived home on Sunday afternoon just before Kayle got home from serving in the booth at church. He spent his weekend at a video game night with the guys, playing piano, and programming. Kayle has been practicing a new Chopin song a lot lately. It sounds lovely to hear music in the house so often now. Even though it was only a weekend, it was nice to see Kayle again- I sure missed him! We finished the weekend with some serious laundry to do!
On Monday, I stayed home sick in the morning with a stomach bug. I missed my four morning students and slept until 11:00. My boss called to see if I felt better enough to come teach my two afternoon kids, since he had trouble finding a sub for them. Well-rested and feeling much less achy, I went in to work for a few hours. In the evening, Kayle went to help the Connolly's (new to our CG) move to their new home. While he was gone, I read and listened to the sermon from Sunday as well as watched a tv show. I was still a bit groggy, so I took it easy to recover.
By Tuesday, I felt fine again, so I probably had just underestimated the energy loss from the retreat or caught something random from one of the many women I talked to. Last week was the first week I was scheduled for over 30 hours, so I was busy, busy, busy. Tuesday night, I went to a Proxy (youth group) Reconnect event at another leader's house. To our surprise, over 40 students and 10 leaders showed up to reconnect with each other after a long period of small groups. We talked, played Wii, ate tons of junk food, and competed in an extended charades/Catch Phrase game. They hope to have these events about once/month, but with CG on Tuesdays, I'm not sure how often I can go. It's tricky to have only one car sometimes and I don't want to be missing CG quite so often. Kayle did childcare at CG this week and I picked him up and joined the women for prayer time after my event was over. Long day!
Wednesday, my youth group small group had a feedback session to re-orient our focus and make some adjustments. We're going to switch from studying Luke with the sermons to studying Ephesians. We're also planning some events, tweaking the leadership meetings, and changing our prayer time among a host of other suggestions. Now, you all know how great I am with change, so this whole process has been emotionally exhausting and very humbling as a leader. Overall, I am excited with the direction of our youth group and the ownership of it that my girls have recently shown. It's been quite a year of changes though!
On Friday was the 3rd youth group meeting of the week. A local church built a huge rec center with a pool and gym. They host weekly open swims and open gyms (alternating) on Fridays for only $2, so my girls were begging me to check it out. I met 3 other girls at the pool, with ice cream beforehand, and we enjoyed talking, floating, playing Marco Polo, hitting a blow-up volleyball, and hanging out. There were a lot of young kids, but they mostly stuck to the side of the pool where cartoons were playing on the wall. I think everyone had fun and we decided that open swim was a definite social event to repeat.
Saturday morning, Kayle and I helped another couple from our CG move. There was a whole army of guys lifting and hauling everything, so I mostly occupied myself with holding Bolder so Marilee could direct the whole process. At the house, we unloaded everything, ate some frozen pizza, and marveled at how fast the job got done. Kayle and I decided to let the rest of Saturday be a time to rest from the busy week reconnect with each other. We went out to dinner at night and devoured some baby back ribs and parmesan crusted halibut. Both were amazingly delicious!
On Sunday, we got to church at 8am to set up for teaching primary. It was my last week of teaching on the "month on, month off" system. I'll help out every other week for the next month before teaching again in April. Kayle stayed in primary with me, since he wasn't scheduled in the booth, and I loved watching him be "it" for class-wide freeze tag. The kids really enjoyed playing with him. I taught on the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector praying in the temple. I brought a scarf, towel, and headband as costumes and the kids acted it out "reader's theatre" style. I think the kids understood that we need to approach God with an awareness of our need for Him without thinking that we are so much better than everyone else because of what we can do. After all, God is the one who gave us all our talents and possessions. The sermon was also good, about Jesus healing the leper and paralytic. After church, I took a long nap, went to Kat's house to talk for a few hours, and finally ended the day with a youth group leader's meeting (yg event #4 for the week!).
This week, I was a bit nervous about work because I had a new student scheduled to take physical science every day with me and enough students for 35 hours total. However, on Monday, 3 of my students either stopped coming for good or changed their plans for my class. None of them were my fault, just a coincidence of varying life changes and parent decisions. So, a week that started with 35 hours was promptly reduced to 25 hours in one day. This was actually a bit of a relief, since I have been feeling pretty exhausted lately with all the additional hours and evening events. I should get more students soon and I am happily falling into a solid routine with the ones I have.
Today is Tuesday and our second weeknight at home in a row. There is no CG this week because of the regional meetings, so we are finally catching up on sleep! Spring seems to have arrived with pink flowers blooming on the trees and temperatures in the upper 50s all week. It is unusual for us to have so much sun at this time of year, so everyone seems especially chipper lately. We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. I will try to find and post pictures from the women's retreat soon!
The women's retreat was awesome. Last weekend, about 240 women from our Bellevue Mars Hill campus convened at a summer camp for teaching, community, and worship. Kayle dropped me off at Costco for dinner (pizza) and to catch a ride with Marilee (from my CG), Marilee's sister, and Michelle Bates. Marilee was also one of about 8 nursing mothers on the trip, so little Bolder came too. We arrived just in time for the 1st session, relieved to be out of the car because the sweet bundle of joy cried for the last 1/2 hour or so of the drive. I stayed in a cabin with some of the Proxy girls, though the cabin assignments were pretty fluid and we gained a few and lost a few for the 2nd night.
The theme of the weekend was Freedom in Christ- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore, do not submit yourselves again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). The teaching was very insightful and authentic with several very vulnerable testimonies and some great group discussion. I came away with a deep admiration for the other women in my church who spoke and led. The teaching that stuck with me the most was how God delights in me as His daughter. I, perhaps not totally consciously, thought that God was always disappointed in me whenever I mess up and sin, because I can never live up to the perfection He calls us to strive for. However, I realize now that that is a lie I've been nurturing. Instead, God rejoices in me and sings over me, just like I love to tenderly hold a baby and sing her to sleep. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Isn't it beautiful that God loves us in this way?
The talks focused on our identity in Christ and how freedom from sin and shame is found in the security of our salvation and ongoing help in Him. I thought a lot about what I allow to "define" me- my status as "married without kids", my job as a teacher, my university education, my geekiness... No, my identity is caught up with Christ, my worth secured by His work in choosing, rescuing, and sanctifying me. "I am" a work in progress for sure, but, above all, a precious child of God on mission to glorify Him. I could go on and on about the things I learned or re-learned on the retreat, and I even came home with a long list of things to tell Kayle about. Just ask if you want to know more!
A few other highlights: The ladies all participated in a regional rodeo competition involving several very funny events. We laughed so hard in the chicken herding event, when 7 other ladies and I chased a very fast hen with a mind of her own! I also took part in a relay that involved lasso-ing another person and running back and forth with the rope. One of the ladies in our CG looked so disgusted as she untied a ribbon from a goat's tail during a different relay- it was all too funny. The event culminated with a line dance to Cotton-Eyed Joe.
The other highlight for me was more personal. One night before dinner, I walked by myself to the arena where the rodeo was. With the stars sparkling above and in pleasant solitude, I sang praises to God for about an hour. It was such a heartfelt outpouring of worship that I desperately needed and enjoyed.
I arrived home on Sunday afternoon just before Kayle got home from serving in the booth at church. He spent his weekend at a video game night with the guys, playing piano, and programming. Kayle has been practicing a new Chopin song a lot lately. It sounds lovely to hear music in the house so often now. Even though it was only a weekend, it was nice to see Kayle again- I sure missed him! We finished the weekend with some serious laundry to do!
On Monday, I stayed home sick in the morning with a stomach bug. I missed my four morning students and slept until 11:00. My boss called to see if I felt better enough to come teach my two afternoon kids, since he had trouble finding a sub for them. Well-rested and feeling much less achy, I went in to work for a few hours. In the evening, Kayle went to help the Connolly's (new to our CG) move to their new home. While he was gone, I read and listened to the sermon from Sunday as well as watched a tv show. I was still a bit groggy, so I took it easy to recover.
By Tuesday, I felt fine again, so I probably had just underestimated the energy loss from the retreat or caught something random from one of the many women I talked to. Last week was the first week I was scheduled for over 30 hours, so I was busy, busy, busy. Tuesday night, I went to a Proxy (youth group) Reconnect event at another leader's house. To our surprise, over 40 students and 10 leaders showed up to reconnect with each other after a long period of small groups. We talked, played Wii, ate tons of junk food, and competed in an extended charades/Catch Phrase game. They hope to have these events about once/month, but with CG on Tuesdays, I'm not sure how often I can go. It's tricky to have only one car sometimes and I don't want to be missing CG quite so often. Kayle did childcare at CG this week and I picked him up and joined the women for prayer time after my event was over. Long day!
Wednesday, my youth group small group had a feedback session to re-orient our focus and make some adjustments. We're going to switch from studying Luke with the sermons to studying Ephesians. We're also planning some events, tweaking the leadership meetings, and changing our prayer time among a host of other suggestions. Now, you all know how great I am with change, so this whole process has been emotionally exhausting and very humbling as a leader. Overall, I am excited with the direction of our youth group and the ownership of it that my girls have recently shown. It's been quite a year of changes though!
On Friday was the 3rd youth group meeting of the week. A local church built a huge rec center with a pool and gym. They host weekly open swims and open gyms (alternating) on Fridays for only $2, so my girls were begging me to check it out. I met 3 other girls at the pool, with ice cream beforehand, and we enjoyed talking, floating, playing Marco Polo, hitting a blow-up volleyball, and hanging out. There were a lot of young kids, but they mostly stuck to the side of the pool where cartoons were playing on the wall. I think everyone had fun and we decided that open swim was a definite social event to repeat.
Saturday morning, Kayle and I helped another couple from our CG move. There was a whole army of guys lifting and hauling everything, so I mostly occupied myself with holding Bolder so Marilee could direct the whole process. At the house, we unloaded everything, ate some frozen pizza, and marveled at how fast the job got done. Kayle and I decided to let the rest of Saturday be a time to rest from the busy week reconnect with each other. We went out to dinner at night and devoured some baby back ribs and parmesan crusted halibut. Both were amazingly delicious!
On Sunday, we got to church at 8am to set up for teaching primary. It was my last week of teaching on the "month on, month off" system. I'll help out every other week for the next month before teaching again in April. Kayle stayed in primary with me, since he wasn't scheduled in the booth, and I loved watching him be "it" for class-wide freeze tag. The kids really enjoyed playing with him. I taught on the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector praying in the temple. I brought a scarf, towel, and headband as costumes and the kids acted it out "reader's theatre" style. I think the kids understood that we need to approach God with an awareness of our need for Him without thinking that we are so much better than everyone else because of what we can do. After all, God is the one who gave us all our talents and possessions. The sermon was also good, about Jesus healing the leper and paralytic. After church, I took a long nap, went to Kat's house to talk for a few hours, and finally ended the day with a youth group leader's meeting (yg event #4 for the week!).
This week, I was a bit nervous about work because I had a new student scheduled to take physical science every day with me and enough students for 35 hours total. However, on Monday, 3 of my students either stopped coming for good or changed their plans for my class. None of them were my fault, just a coincidence of varying life changes and parent decisions. So, a week that started with 35 hours was promptly reduced to 25 hours in one day. This was actually a bit of a relief, since I have been feeling pretty exhausted lately with all the additional hours and evening events. I should get more students soon and I am happily falling into a solid routine with the ones I have.
Today is Tuesday and our second weeknight at home in a row. There is no CG this week because of the regional meetings, so we are finally catching up on sleep! Spring seems to have arrived with pink flowers blooming on the trees and temperatures in the upper 50s all week. It is unusual for us to have so much sun at this time of year, so everyone seems especially chipper lately. We miss you and love you all!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. I will try to find and post pictures from the women's retreat soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)