hullo again.

     Hello folks! I'm back believe it or not--so sorry for not keeping you updated on the series of events. Starting the second week of June I was gone for three weeks straight. One week of CYF (Christian Youth Fellowship) camp, one week of junior counseling for an elementary camp, and one week of an intense mission trip in South Dakota.  

     CYF camp was a time of fellowship and renewal. We had so much fun delving into the Bible, playing games, making new friends, worshiping every night, and generally goofing off:) I absolutely LOVED every minute of it. What a great experience....... whew. I'm  still riding a high from that week if you hadn't guessed already.


     Week #2 was junior counseling at elementary camp. This camp had such a different atmosphere than CYF. It was more laid back, and I had a bigger responsibility as a leader and a role model. For me personally, it felt good to come out of CYF and immediately have a chance to share my love for Christ. And I couldn't have asked for a more willing and receptive audience. Those kids were angels, I loved hanging out with them:)

 

     Last, but not least came the EPIC mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. A total of 19 teens and 6 adult leaders (well supplied with jolly ranchers) headed off on June 22. We didn't really know what to expect or what was going to be required of us, but our spirits were high and we felt ready to face anything.

 

    2 days later we landed in a small town (not too far from Wounded Knee) where a Youthworks base was established. (This organization is great! Their program staff were exceptionally helpful and very supportive. We wouldn't have survived without their wisdom and guidance;))

     The first couple of days were pretty rough for us. We were complete foreigners merely trying to help out in this small community. The culture, the lifestyle, the people--everything was new to us. All we saw on the first day was the outside of things--the brokenness, the poverty--and circumstances we hadn't expected.

     Then we met some of the people living there, worked more determinedly than ever, and strengthened the community within our group. That's when we looked deeper than just the outside--that's when we discovered the beauty of our surroundings and the Indians we were working with. Finding that beauty made the rough edges so much easier to deal with and gave us Hope.

JC and COMO First Christian Church Group. We called our selves FCCC
(First Christian Church Crew.)

 

   One morning we hiked up to the Camel Back Butte behind the school for devotionals. From up on our little mountain we could see for miles around, hear the birds, smell the yucca blossoms, and admire God's creation from a perspective we had never felt.

 



     South Dakota is a wonderful place! One our way back we drove through the Black Hills. The scenery there was breath-taking. We had to stop several times to take a gazillion pictures:)

Mount Rushmore!!!!!!!

 

 

Hullo Buffalo. We went to a farm where they let us feed the Buffalo treats.

 

 

 

We had great times during the 16 hour car ride. Whoopee!

 

 

     I am the most thankful little girl for these wonderful times I have had. I praise God for everything that happened in those short three weeks and ask Him to continue guiding me in the Way that is Good.

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. --Romans 8:28

    


(photo credits go to my big bro. Austin Dey and Dani Jennings. Check out Dani's awesome photography website here!) 

    

     Okay, so everyone should be well aware by now how progressively sporadic my blog posts are becoming! Part of the problem is that I've been having a major case of Writer's Block. ---I feel all of these beautiful emotions bottled up inside of me with no desirable way of expressing them on paper. So, instead of writing, I have been playing the piano.

     For those of you out there who are musical, you will understand me when I say that playing music not only releases my emotions, but transports me into another world. I mentally leave the hubbub of daily life and revel in the poetry of music.

Albert Schweitzer describes this experience much better than I do:

Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter — to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water.

     Last night I competed in the National Piano Playing Auditions (Guild). I must admit, it was a challenge: I had to memorize 6 pieces and sight read a sonata.  The judge gave me a high score based on my "ability to play musically". I don't entirely attribute that accomplishment to myself . Yes, I worked hard to learn those pieces, but an added dimension -- the depth of the music --  was there because I was surrendering to emotion.

     So, in conclusion to this tangent, writing and music aren't the only ways to express yourself; everybody has his/her own niche. Nevertheless, it is important to express your emotions in one form or another. Am I starting to sound like a hippie? Then it is time for me to sign off;)
Expect more posts soon!!!
Ever yours,  
Laurel

sweet sixteen

     Today I am officially sixteen! At last!--the song "I am sixteen going on seventeen..." has some shred of relevancy in my life:) 

     But honestly..... I thank God for what a wonderful 16th year I have had..... and I know that He will guide me through my 17

th with the same loving care. 

     My sister Clara took all of the following pictures for me. We had fun goofing off and striking silly poses..... Can you tell?  

Which of these pictures do you like the best? Black and white or sepia? 

 

 (the wind was not doing justice to my hair.) 

 

 

Mom gave me these nice garden togs for my birthday.... I love the pastel blue! 

 

 

My birthday was concluded with an intense game of monoply that lasted till midnight. Thank you to everybody who gave me such a happy day! 

 

Now that I am so mature and wise, I would like to share this pearl of wisdom with you all:-)

Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it.

(from brainyquote.com)

Trust and Obey

This is a short message I wrote for our church newsletter. Hope you enjoy it!

Last time I wrote for the Bell, I briefly mentioned the joy we experience when we come to know Jesus. But today I want to talk about something else that brings us joy! Can you guess what it is? It is obedience.

But how are they even closely related? The answer can be found in John chapter 15:

 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing……..If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Jesus is really good at using imagery! He uses a vine and branches to describe our relationship with Him. Without Jesus (the vine) we cannot do anything---we wither and are thrown into the fire. (John 15:6) But if we abide in Christ, and obey God’s commandments our branches become heavy with fruit.

I want to interrupt this lovely imagery by asking you a question. How do you feel after finishing a huge project? You probably feel relief right? You feel like you’ve conquered something—you feel accomplishment. Well, if we keep God’s commandments, we are not only fruitful, but we are full of joy! That’s how obedience and joy are related. Obedience is the source of our fruitfulness and joy is its result.

As the old hymn goes: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey!”

an epic week!!! *yawn*

Have you ever tried living with your good friends for an entire week? You might want to try it sometime--it helps you get to know them a lot better:) (That was an understatement.)

Our homeschool teen drama group was working on the production Sleeping Beauty this past week. (See a trailer of it here.) We'd wake up early, drive to rehearsals, play games, eat, sleep, practice lines and choreography, tell jokes, make up silly songs, (repeat process) and stay up till midnight for 6 days in a row. Hopefully that's sufficient enough to explain why I haven't written a blog post recently:)

But all of that work paid off. Our 3 weekend performances were extremely successful with audiences of over 200 people, and reports that they were highly enjoyable, professional, and most of all FUN!!!

So back to the part about living with your friends.....
Needless to say, a lot of goofy things can go on when this happens. Like washing your hair under the sink faucet, throwing around the purple monkey, busting random dance moves, writing notes to eachother, glueing on fake moustaches, drinking as much caffeine as possible, and hacking into eachother's cell phones/laptops. (Oh! and going to buy pizza in full costume with stage makeup on...)

The point of this (random) blog post is to say thank you to all of my friends that went through this awesomeness with me!!! I had a BLAST!! doing this with all of you!!
I also want to thank my parents and other adults that worked extremely hard to make our production possible. --It couldn't have happened without them.

Now I have to slip back into reality and start working again, but fortunately I have countless memories to buoy me until..... NEXT TIME!!

(Here is me in my crazy costume..... I loved wearing it.)

 

And here is (mostly) everybody on stage at one of the practices: