Nights Like This

On nights like this, I really need someone to remind me to sit back and laugh. My mind is going a mile a minute and I can't keep up. Would you like a peak into the whirlwind for a second..?

Let's see if I can help you understand what's going through my head:

Tired. Cold. Need to get warm. Hot chocolate. It need a spoon. Is that dress to short for the banquet? I must touch the knee... Kaity's dress. What am I going to wear? I need to figure out what I'm going to wear.... Why did I come into my room again? Spoon. I can't find one. Whey did Kirsten have to die? Seriously, Lord, I want to know... I really should write a blog about my feelings now. Ok, what did I need to do in---uh oh. What's that smell---DON'T LET THE FIRE ALARM GO OFF!!!! POPCORN. Dangit. I shouldn't have put it in the microv--only 2:30. Thank goodness it wasn't like when I burned the chocolate--Macey what I do I do? Fan---wait, open the windows. Where is the room spray? There are no windows right here. Side door. Now it's freezing. Caroling--was fun. Cold--yes someone burned popcorn. Turn off the lights--Vicky had better remember that lights out is at 10---because it's Friday night, that's why, go to bed! I want to go to bed. Breakfast. In room tomorrow. What's that? Right, I'm here. Room spray. Got it. Wait, you want to see a picture? Let me look it up! Isn't Tao so cute? I know! Lock the front door. If someone tried to get in right now--no snow, sorry. Upstairs. Inhale. Where is my scarf. Music is a bit loud. Bells. Oh I have to play tomorrow. Still need to look over the musi---TURTLE. What am I going to talk about for child--turtle, prayer, answer. Not creative. My contacts really hurt. How many gone tomorrow? I have a list--she better find a replacement phone worker. You are taking forever to type. My eyes hurt. What if it's creeping in my eyes? What if I loose my sight? Why c
an't
I type anymore. Need one more walk-around. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID I PUT MY KEYS? I better not have locked them in my roo--what would I d---call someone. I need to download pictures. Jingle Bells. So irked--don't talk like that. Door alarmed. Did I lock that one back up? Why can't I just cut all the power, that would be easier....


Ok, so I'm not crazy. I promise.
But I am tired.

And I really am sorry about burning the popcorn...

Only God Knows

Why?

Why, God? She was a student missionary--isn't that supposed to mean something?

I knew immediately when I heard that a student missionary in Yap had been murdered. My heart and stomach sank as I read the online article about Kirsten Wolcott.

I first met Kirsten while running with the Southern Striders. Now I will be the first to admit that I suck at running but Kirsten sure didn't. She said that she started running back in high school and worked her way up to running for 50 minutes everyday before class. We both ran in the Race for the Cure in Chattanooga.

After that, I enjoyed seeing another familiar face around campus, especially when I walked into the Student Missions Orientation class one day.

We both decided to be student missionaries.

Later in the year, Kirsten, Danika and I shared a room on the Student Missions retreat. Sabbath afternoon of the retreat, a group decided to go for a hike. I really couldn't decide if I wanted to go or not but Kirsten kept encouraging me to go. So I did. And it was fun--going up! But... well, if you know me, going downhill (especially when up high) is a bit hard for me to do without having a heart attack. As the rest of the group bounded down the hillside, I slowly inched my way down. Kirsten stayed right in front of me the whole time. We chatted all the way down, and in between my constant apologizing-for-going-so-slow and her don't-worry-about-it-response, I learned that we really had a lot of things in common.

After that experience, I took time to journal a prayer to God--and in it, thanking Him for Kirsten's friendship.

And I want to do it again: Thank you Lord for Kirsten's friendship.

I don't think she ever knew how much that afternoon hike that we took meant to me, or the time that we spent praying for each other's upcoming missionary year.

Thank you Lord. But it was to short.

So here I sit. In a dean's office at a small school Adventist boarding school in Tennessee. I'm not 8,000 miles from home and my mission field doesn't consist of a bunch of 2nd grade students on a small island. Instead, I'm only 3,000 miles from my family and I have 23 beautiful teenage girls in a high school dorm. You know, for some reason I keep trying to sell myself short because I choose to do task force and only 3 hours from the school I was attending. I didn't choose to rough it on an island somewhere. I didn't have to learn a new language. I still have running water, electricity and Internet. I still talk to my parents almost everyday... How is that considered serving on the same level as my friends who are overseas?

But tonight, as I sat in front of 23 girls trying to give them a 'worship talk'--well, I just sat there: choking back tears, not having the answers, and asking for prayer.

Four prayers were offered. 24 hearts broken. I was amazed and blessed by the words spoken by the girls--through the girls. I am here for a reason. This is my mission field. These girls have experienced similar losses.

We ended with a challenge: tell those who you love--tell them that you love them--don't twitter it, don't Facebook it, don't text it. Call them. Don't wait. Tell them that you love them.

The phone was busy tonight.

As for me, I can't wait to see my family again in just a few days. I also can't wait for the day that I get to tell Kirsten how much her friendship meant to me.

I can't wait to tell her face-to-face.

Me, Jessie and Kirsten on the way to the Race. ^^

The whole group! (And I was taking the picture...) ^^

For more info:

https://www.southern.edu/Pages/kirstenwolcottmemorial.aspx

http://news.adventist.org/2009/11/adventist-student-mi.html

Beautiful Days and Bubble Gum

Beautiful Days. (Sept. 27)

I have been here for, well, about eight weeks now, and I haven't posted any pictures of the school. So, for all who want to see Highland Academy, here you go! We had an amazingly beautiful day a few weeks ago--the temperature was absolutely perfect. The colors were perfect. There was no way I was going to let this day pass without being documented!

(above from left to right) The gym, the boy's dorm, the ad building with the gazebo and flag pole in front, and the girl's dorm.

(above) A closer look at the gym and the girl's dorm. The cafe is on the first floor of the girl's dorm.

(above) The music building/chapel and the field.

Bubble Gum. (Sept. 29)

Alright, so now you know where I am spending my days on duty. What about my days off duty? Well, most of the time, I stick around campus. Other times, Shelly, Nathan and I work on our list. We have a list, kinda like a bucket list, of random things that we want to accomplish before the end of the year. So this particular Tuesday, the three of us headed out to see if we could work on our list at all...

Now, taking an hour to chew the biggest gumballs I've ever seen in my life while standing in a parking lot was not a part of our list but we still had a lot of fun!!

Hello, My Name is Dean Hollie

I sit down at the computer in the deans office with a good mind to begin this overdue blog post but as I begin to formulate my thoughts to write them down, I am interrupted by the pounding of feet coming up the stairs. I turn around in time to see two girls scramble into the office while screeching something to the affect that they need the TV room open immediately. All I heard was

"OMG!!!! AARON CARTER AARON CARTER-AARON-CARTERAARONCARTERAARONCARTERAARONCARTERDANCINGWITHTHESTARSNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

(the above phrase is spoken as one word and at full lung capacity)

So after unlocking the TV room, I sit back down to begin my writings and the dean's cell phone rings. At this point all I can do is laugh because, well--how should I put this... I have had a lot of alone time in the office today, just me and my book but when I finally decide to do something constructive... oh, hold on, I need to shut the TV room door because I can't focus with the ARRONCARTER-fan-club-cheering-at-high-loud-pitches-like-he-can-really-hear-you noise coming from that room.

My name is Dean Hollie. Welcome to my life.

Now, as sarcastic as this might sound, don't get the wrong idea--I love it here! I am at Highland Academy in Portland, Tennessee for those who don't know. There are 22 girls ranging from age 14-18 in this dorm. We are just now starting our 6th week of school (approximately). Time is flying by and yet it feels like I've been here forever.

My job includes giving dorm worship, listening to the latest relationship drama on campus, handing out tissues, confiscating cell phones and ipods, doing room check, sit in on faculty lunches and coming up with new ideas to fill my time while on duty as well as off. With some of the girls, I have to work on having them call me "dean" and I smile to myself when the guys say "Miss Hollie". I'm still not used to that.

On my days off, Nathan (the task force guy's dean) and I have had some fun torturing the cafe workers, "stealing" apple juice, and being invited last second to a show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Well, I'm off to put together tonight's worship. And from the sound of things, Arron Carter is about to dance...

Life's Always an Adventure

Here I sit, at my cousin's house in Denver, CO, remembering that only 13 months ago, we were here at this same house for a wedding. That got me thinking... 13 months ago, would I have ever imagined that I would be headed out to be a task force dean at Highland Academy? Not at all. Nor would I have even begin to imagine that I would work at Pine Springs Ranch or that Natalie would be married.

Wow.

Life is an adventure.

I have definitely been reminded about that today....

I don't even want to know how many hours of my life have been spent in a car in the last week. Basically, camp ended Sunday night; Monday a group of us wen to the beach; Tuesday was Disneyland and then Wednesday, Greg and I drove home--home at 6 pm and leaving again the following morning at 11 am. I didn't even get 24 hours at home before Dad and I left for Tennessee.

Well, the car is loaded down but somehow I fit everything in. We made it to Ely, NV the first night. Unfortunately, we noticed that the back right tire had a nail in it. No big deal. This morning we got up, checked out of our hotel room, ate a quick breakfast at a roadside diner, and were at the tire shop right when it opened.

On the road again.

Around 11:30 we stopped for gas and my dad noticed that the back left tire was a little bit low and after filling it up, driving another 100 miles on it and having it loose more air, decided that we had to get this tire fixed as well. We pulled into a small, run down station and an older man in a dirty, blue jump suit and a cigarette hanging from his mouth came out to help us. Sure enough, there was a gigantic screw in the tire. After looking at the back tires, Gary (the guy who was helping us) said that we wouldn't be able to make it to Tennessee with the tires that we had... so new tires? For the back at least, yea.

Why did this all happen? I mean, seriously, how can you get 2 nails in 2 different tires within 24 hours of each other and it just happened to be when I'm trying to get across the country. Well, for one thing, we found out that the back tires were really in a lot worse shape then we thought. Plus, we were able to give this small service station in the middle of nowhere so business. Maybe God had something in mind after all--at least, that's what I'm going to believe.

There's only one last thing... On top of all of this, the windshield-wiper blades decided to disintegrate right in the middle of a rain storm coming over the Rockies. We haven't gotten that fixed yet. I don't think there's a reason for that one either...

PSR Summer Camp

I had wonderful intentions to update you last week and the week before, but I only have 23 hours off per week and most of those I spend sleeping. I love summer camp. It has been so much fun. We are ending our second full week and so much has been happening. Where do I begin?

I am a counselor/general staff so I am put where I am needed most. This week I have been working archery and go-carts. They are both a lot of fun however, sometimes I get a little tired of the dust bath up at go-carts. I have been a counselor in base camp as well as one in Indian camp!

I am also involved in the pageant on Friday night (which is a play we do to music). I am a nerd that gets picked on at school and then a little girl who is beat up by the older mean girls.

Thanks to camp, I am now a variety of different colors. I have a lovely sock tan and my nose is a considerably darker shade then the rest of my face.

For Becca! :D

Rebecca--Sorry it took me so long to get these to you!! (I took these pictures of Rebecca back in January!)

Into the West

I got home 3 1/2 weeks ago and have been catching up with family and friends here. It's been really nice. All of the group has been trickling back home.

My trip home was an adventure in itself! Christine, Ashley and took leisurely 5 days to get home.The morning before we left, I had my first experience at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant. They are EVERYWHERE in the South. Then later that night, Keith, Christine and I decided to have a midnight snack at Burger King! The next morning, after saying our goodbyes, we took off.

Tennessee:

Arkansas:


Oklahoma:

Texas:

New Mexico:




Arizona:




California!!:




Very last fill-up of the trip! Then home at last!

It was quite fun. Ashely had her own car and she left us in the central part of California. Christine stayed at my house for a few days and then I took her over to meet her sister (who goes to PUC). On that last leg of our trip, we got something that we had been craving since, well, August. You see, Jamba Juice is a west coast thing. We really enjoyed it!!

Retreating to Gatlinburg

This was a wonderful weekend. I got away from school, stayed in a beautiful cabin, hiked a bit, had good food, and met new people! For the Student Missionary/Task Force Retreat, we went to Gatlinburg (TN). We had 3 huge cabins to house about 100 future student missionaries. Perhaps I should mention that it looks like I'll be taking a task force position next year at... umm... well, all the details are not quite worked out yet. But I can tell you that I am very excited about all the possibilities! At the retreat, we got to hear from Pat Gustin, a former missionary to Thailand and Singapore (among many other places). We participated in several activities that helped prepare us for our coming adventures. All of those who are headed to a country where they can't speak the language, got to make Sabbath lunch--without talking. Only one person had the recipe and had to try to communicate to the others what needed to be done. The scary part was that the rest of us had to eat it; I am glad to report that Sabbath lunch was a fantastic Spanish-type meal. So I guess they all succeeded at communicating! The rest of us broke into groups and received a scenario that we had to role play a solution to. Sabbath afternoon, we were split up into to groups which became two very different cultures: Alpha and Beta. After learning our culture, groups of 5 "missionaries" were exchanged as each person tried to fit into the culture that they were not used to. What kind of cultures where they? Well, my throat hurt afterward from all the yelling and I had numbers written all over my hands.I was a part of the Beta culture. When it was my turn to go to the Alpha cabin, I found myself becoming a bit nervous as I walked up the stairs. Now, I know that I have strong body language, but it must have been EXTREMELY strong because as I was leaving, one of the male sponsors said that he enjoyed watching me try to "adapt".We ended the Sabbath by spending an hour of one-on-one time with God, writing down everything that we want to surrender to Him--anything that gets in the way of our relationship with Him. We then burned the papers, washed each others feet in the creek, and returned to the cabin to partake in communion. Saturday night was free time to play games, use the hot tubs, and enjoy each others company. I met a bunch of wonderful new people who have decided to dedicate next year to serve God. The neat part is, we are going to be covering the whole earth.