The Beginning of the Ending

Oh my gosh!  The last day at Hopewell was SUPER fun!  All afternoon, we played water games and took a ton of pictures.  Some of our games included “drip, drip, drop” (where everyone was dropped on), “hot potato,” and “water balloon war.”  At the end of the day, there were eight water balloons left.  Too many kids, so each of us got one.  We were kind of debating, because the day was supposed to be for the kids.  “They can cheer for us!” Zack said.  So, while he turned to get all the kids riled up, all of us girls (Chelsea, Jenny, Rachel, Meg, Jill, and I) got Zack with our water balloons.  Mwahaha.  I don’t know who would come up with such an idea or why multiple of us had the same one….  So Zack turned and threw his water balloon at the first person he saw, leaving a welt on Chelsea’s thigh because the water balloon didn’t break right away.  The kids were just laughing really hard at him.  Zack asked why we did that.  “It’s for the kids,” Jenny said.   “For-the-kids.”

D’Anthony, Dantwon, Emmanuel, & Anika playing with pipe-cleaners with Jenny and I

Jenny and I with a bunch of the kids who just piled in for the picture!

Me with Antonette and D’Antonn, the cutie-pies!

The younger kids’ group (were divided from the older kids for more content and stiff)

Anika and I

Emmanuel and I

D’Antonn and I

Now that we’re done with ministry sites, we have been adding in a few social events.  Last night, we just had a good talk and thinking about stuff, all 17 of us.  And this afternoon, we ended up going to the lake after being invited by someone from church this morning.

I hate thinking that this is our last week together!  It just makes me sad that I’m going to have to say good-bye in a little less than a week!  But this week will be great, and I’m not gonna think about it.  Just this last week or so is when we’ve really started bonding like we haven’t all summer!  At least we bonded before we departed!

So I don’t really know what all of this week is going to look like, but I would just ask that you pray for everyone we talked to during our outreach on Saturday specifically.  I would also ask that you pray for us this last week together, and that when we leave this life-changing summer, we would be just that.  Changed for life.  Pray that we will all be able to apply what we learned here back at our campuses and wherever we may be in the future.

Smiling Squaredly, Anna =)^2

That’s So Funny!

There are many different kinds of humor.  Various inclusions may include jokes, one-liners, or stories.  There is dry humor and there is witty humor.  Personally, I engage in jokes (knock-knock jokes and forgot-the-punch line-jokes most commonly), stories (sometimes I remember where I’m going and sometimes I don’t), and one-liners (these are usually delivered sarcastically in burn-form or perhaps cleverly).  I actually can’t describe my humor that well, but my timing isn’t always right and sometimes I do indeed forget the punch line.  Christina?  Her timing is magnificent!  She has a great memory, and can quote funny lines from shows she may have seen once.  (I misquote a lot, too.  Another problem with my humor.)  Laura?  She says  funny things unexpectedly.  I love both my sisters, and I love their humor!  Of course, our humor stems from Mom and Dad’s.  I remember…MOST supper-table conversations ending in laughter, many times with a liquid of some sort coming out of a nose.  Yes, everybody has their own sense of humor.

Reactions are always funny to watch, as well.  There is the “Oh!  I know this one!” smirk in which the listener either sits back and lets the teller finish or interrupt and finish it for them; the pause after the punch line before the listener starts the laughing that comes with the “I get it!” phase; the laughter that comes at the right time at the end of the joke; or the boo-ing of a “That’s not funny” or “I didn’t like that” kind of joke.

Humor is a funny thing, let me tell you.  Pranks?  As long as they aren’t mean are hilarious.  The ones I do on my own aren’t that great, pouring water over someone’s head at the beach, abusing my control of the hose at a car wash, or putting ice down someone’s shirt at a banquet?  But I am always ready to aid in one, such as hanging pictures from magazines all over the rooms of the staff ladies in their suite.  I don’t even mind being pranked, as long as they’re fun.  Finding a random desk in my room and some empty milk jugs?  Being shot with a water gun or hose (numerous times)?  And here, on Project, there are some funny pranksters.  And we have four more weeks.  We shall see what else happens along those lines!  (Reactions may vary: Read label insatructions for warnings)

But the winner for best sense of humor?  God.  By far, he takes it.  I don’t know HOW he does it.  Okay, well, he’s God, so it’s not that hard for him.  I admit, many times my reaction   lands in the “Aww, really?” type of thought, but sometimes it rests in the pause before laughter of amazement.  Sometimes it’s the reaction as to that of a prank.  One that you acknowledge it’s cleverness of.  Like when I was wondering what on earth he could be up to, giving me MS (this was after I handed it over to him and acknowledged he did it for a reason), and he is glorified by my story!  I have seen more reactions to the goodness God had done and is doing through MS here than I have ever.  Or like when I was panicking about being out in the sun all day on Saturday?  He sent me to the kitchen, doing dishes for four hours.  I ask the Spirit to speak through me when sharing, and I am asking complete strangers the deepest of questions or conversations that I couldn’t even tell you, because it wasn’t even me talking!  I never know what’s up, but God is laughing at me, saying, “Hey, check this out!” and bam, he pulls a quick one.  Rachel told me a story of a man who was having a terrible day, he goes to work, and everything goes wrong.  After work, he drives to the beach, asking God why he’s having such a terrible day.  And then, a bird poops on him.  It’s all perspective, and things in life just happen all the time.  Little things that we don’t acknowledge.  Yes, God is the funniest being there IS.  You just have to SEE it!  And then, of course, laugh with him.

=)^2