Hello There!

Hey there, its Julia. Apparently I get to be the first one to update since Jenni's intros.

So far this year, we have had two of our retreats. We had the Rise'n' Shine Jr High retreat, and the Ladies retreat. This past week has been a week of band camps. Two groups from Ecole Airdie have been out here to visit with us. As I sat around, I was remembering what it was like for me as a Jr High band student. When you are in jr high, you think that even though your are just learning how to play, you are still the best player in the band, and to you, your band sounds amazing. When you get down to it though, the band is still just a beginner band and your are not going to sound like the symphony orchestra by the time your concert rolls around.

Something interesting about a band is how all the instruments in a section have to work together to create good harmony, and also how the sections have to work together to have all the parts and balanced sound. Being a trumpet player makes a person really aware of balance. If one or two trumpets, in a 10 to 15 person section, is playing too loud then the section may begin to over power the band. This makes the band sound off balance, and therfore they do not sound very good. The band also does not sound very good if a couple of the parts are missing. If there were no low brass, who would carry the base line?

Thinking about this has just got me to thinking about spiritual gifts. I heard a sermon on 1 Corinthinans 12 not too long ago, which links to the idea of a balanced band. The pastor was talking about how the church would look if everyone stepped up, and used their gifts the way God intended. A couple of his examples were: if the prayer warriors stepped up, then the people would turn to them with prayer requests, and if those who were gifted to speak would step up, then we would be hearing from many different people about what God has placed on their hearts. It would be really amazing if everyone stepped up. Just like in the band, the upper wood winds can't tell the low brass that they don't need them, they can perform without them and still sound good, the church cannot decide that a certain gift is not necessary. The church body cannot function properly without each part, nor can a band sound well balanced if they are missing a section.
1 Corinthians 12:18-20
"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body."

the official introductions

so i want to introduce you to some people because they'll be updating the green spot once in a while.


julia...


is 5' 4" and plays the trumpet. she owns a horse named daisy (and can't wait for daisy's baby horse to be born around march 27th). julia likes mountains, speaks spanish, and has never worn the big yellow apron when doing dishes.



stevyn...


is 6' 6'' and has to duck to avoid hitting the ceiling of some parking garages. he's really good at playing the guitar. stevyn has ridden a bike backwards, and can walk on his hands. he has not, however, ridden a horse backwards.

kristy...

is 5' 5"ish... and a toothpick! she's also cold all the time, so we call her the Icestickle. she is equal part rock climber and cowgirl. kristy hates mushrooms, and would really like ken to make pizza today. she has one brother and a cat named tigger.

sugar...

is about 5' 9". he has worked at camp evergreen since 1997. his real name is jason, he likes video games, and his car recently took a permanent vacation to the dump. sugar is also a phenomenal photographer, and has taken lots of the pictures you see on the blog.

smiling because God is good!

jenni-bee