D.

At the Davis'. bout to peace out for the night. working at the Coffee Shop in the AM.

C.

Today is my first day alone at CWAC and before i start diving in to the work i need to do, i thought id blog about my first few hours here.

READY TO LAUGH?

I got her right at 6:30. counted the safe, and 1st moment of the day. i forgot how to clock in. but i figured it ou.
went to set up the espresso machine and left the water on after rinsing the pull things, thus overflowing the lil water thing. but i didnt realize that was the cause of it. so it kept flowing. i emptied the lil bucket twice before i finally saw the water was still on! well. with the water off, no i had to clean up the huge mess of water on the floor. off to find the mop! im wearing flipflops today. they have no traction. as i mop up the mess im sliding around, one wrong move away from falling on my bum.
i get what i could mopped up. the floor looks nice now :) but its still not dry, still had to prep the drip coffee and actually open the store. i opt to open the store and return to prep the drip.
prepping the drip is difficult to do when you are sliding...but it wasnt bad. just funny.
for the first couple customers i felt like a shake maker on skates must have felt, having to remain balanced as your making drinks is an interesting sight.
a regular customer came in to get his coffee and ended up being the one to walk me through how to turn on the machine... but, even though ben had warned me of this before, i still managed to forget to turn the dial from 1 gallon back to 1/2 gallon...so i made an extremely weak batch of coffee...
then a coffee FANATIC came in and got a latte, TALK ABOUT INTIMIDATING!!! he strolled his way in and ordered the fancy lil drink and i was like, "After this drink, this guy is never coming back again!" He was telling me that he has had coffee from all around the world and knows when its good or not and was telling me all about his business in thailand and his many trip all throughout asia... i hope he liked his Vanilla Hazelnut Latte...

Its been good. just crazy. but now its the normal, yet not so great part of the day when yes, i get to relax, but there's no customers... if anyone has any promo ideas or any idea at all that could help, please let me know or someone from CWAC.
k ive got alot to do. just wanted to say COME VISIT CWAC!!!

B.

FYI: the letters as blog titles, thats cause i never know what to put on the Title line.

Well, i have been back in stafford for 3 weeks now. I've finished my observation hours for my summer class and have now officially started my internship with Pillar Church.
I have not found a flow or routine, but then again, most of the time its routine for me to not have a routine.
after a relaxing weekend with Brittany and Momma Shaw, including Itty Bitty City with Kristen Marks, Babysitting the Pelts, , the Toole's going away party, a movie night with my mom and Momma Shaw church at Pillar Dumfries and Locust Grove, BLITZ with Kristen and sleep :) my favorite things!

Funny story: Monday, i walked Brittany's dog Kitty. during the walk, it got boring and i wanted to run. Kitty is not the brightest dog in the world and she is just as ADD and crazy as Brittany. As I began to run, she couldnt figure out what was going on. she ran with me, but instead of staying to my side she was running in front of me, stopping ever few seconds and looking back at me, thinking i was playing with her, causing me to TRIP over her! Constantly!
then she would spaz out and run backwords freaking out. it was humorous but most def. was not good for the purpose of jogging!

I have my first day alone at the coffee shop tomorrow. i think everyone should come out and say hello! ill be there from 6:30am-2pm.

Internship is fun, trying to think through every possible little detail is sometimes crazy... praying i dont mess up :) We have a church group coming up from Exmore, Va. they will be hosting a Back Yard Bible Club for a neighborhood in Dumfries on behalf of Pillar. they will also be helping out at CWAC with promotional things, and with Pillar's Yard Sale fundraiser for the upcoming Mission trips to Torronto and Indonesia. i think my favorite part of them coming is the Church Planting classes they will be attending. these classes were formed by the Pillar team, i believe, and are designed to train them to be "church planter minded."
The Lord has great plans for this summer and for Pillar.
I've already begun to realize that this summer is 100% different then the past 3 summers working on camp staff's.

1. there's is not a set, intense, minute-by-minute schedule.
2. the amount of Bible intake in a camp setting is drastically more then you encounter in everyday life unless you REALLY discipline it.
3. Camp is in God's creation, so beautiful, you are surrounded by it. you must purpose that time in everyday life.
4. Camp is ACTIVE! extremely! you must discipline yourself for this in everyday life.
5. access to a pool is much easier at camp.
6. Cost of living is cheaper at camp. you must budget for food and gas money and living.
7. Im out of the Christian Bubble that BCF and Camp has.

Looking at this list, i can say that i know for sure this is where God wanted me. here are my reasons:

1. I have prayed to learn discipline because it is something i Lack. discipline in all aspects of life. Having to Budget, set aside time for the Lord, and exercise is a reality when these things are not already planned for you, thus this forces me out of my zone and well, puts me to the test. Can i do this? Not without the Lord, thats for sure.
2. You can take for granted the Word of God when you have unlimited, unhindered access to it. my summer's up to this point have been 2-3 sermons a day everyday with 3 bible studies. for 8-10 weeks. My faith up to this point has been largely influenced by this. I dont believe this is bad entirely, but i do believe that it is entirely good either. I have to know that i know what I believe and why I believe it. Just as when having a heavy does of Bible and Biblical intellect daily for 2 1/2 months would stretch and grow your faith, so must this 2 1/2 months of my life. but I must work for this now. no more being spoon fed.
3. I live in Virginia, and while the inclines of our dear Appalacian mountains are small in comparison to that of the Rocky's or the Andes', we still have the blessing of God's creation. I look forward to enjoying it at some point. the fact still remains that Virginia is more above sea level then Florida, I plan on enoying it as much as possible!
4. for years i have admired and followed the example of the Godly men and women of Stafford Baptist, Pillar of Dumfries, and now Pillar of Locust Grove. God has blessed me to now work along side them in ministry. Pretty stinkin sweet if you ask me!!
5. Finally, the Lord has and is using this time to remind me of the calling He has placed on my life. and of the Goal i am working towards. Goal in mind, i will press on :)

A.

Officially started my internship Thursday! I'm so excited!

what to do:
BE ORGANIZED
Don't Procrastinate
Don't mess up

o snap. im excited...(and nervous)
this summer is already different then i thought it would be. (thats a good thing :)

Two Weeks Home

its soothing to the soul being surrounded by the ones you love.

Its been great being back in Stafford. Im living with the shaw family this summer, though ive not been there much because last week and this week im living with the Davis Family. I had to do observation hours for a class im required to take in order to enter the Education Department at my school. 50 hours in an elementary school, so this past week and a half, I have lived with the Davis fam and came with Jen and the kids to Riverview to complete the hours. last week was awesome! i was observing a 1st grade class and the teacher and the kids were awesome! today and tomorrow will be a hodge podge of different grade levels. Today i observed K, 2nd, and 3rd. i still like 1st grade the most. tomorrow is 4th and 5th.
Thursday its off to Glen Allen, VA, for SBCV Intern Training. Friday is my first meeting for the internship! and then training at CWAC Quite a busy week ahead!

Thanks Pillar for the car for the summer!! you are awesome!