The BIG Apple!

Well.. Today was amazing! Yesterday was too, but I didn't have Internet access so I'll have to write about all of it now. :)
I'll start with yesterday. So we went to NYC. it was...BIG. I haven't ever seen anything that big. It was like my eyes weren't big enough to handle it and take it all in! GINORMOUS!
When we first went through the tunnel I was really getting excited, but then once I could see the NYC skyline it was overwhelmingly big. I can't really describe how big it was. :P
So after I got over my shock of the "bigness" of it all we headed to the Statue of Liberty.
(FYI I am going to post pics in a different post because its super hard to put them all in the one that I'm writing..for some reason. :P)
So, The statue of liberty is stellar. :) Bigger than I ever imagined. I got some really nice shots of it too. It was also really cool to be able to see Ellis island and hear them talking about the history of it and the people who came over from all the different countries by way of Ellis Island.
After that we saw ground zero, which is pretty much just a big construction site at the moment, and then.... Times Square! It was Big, Bright, shiny, crowded, chaotic, and everything I thought it would be. Oh my word, those Big screens on the building are rather ginormous. Caroline said I looked like a lost puppy because my eyes were so wide when we were walking down Times square :P Every time I saw something Else's I'd have to stare at it and takes pics for a minute or two. haha

We ate dinner at Times squares Micky D's then I got to go into the M&M world for a little while. that was cool. 3 stories of M&M stuff!!! (It was awesome Bethany!!) :P

After that we headed to one up Carolines friends house about an hour away who so sweetly put us up for the night. ;)

The next morning we got to sleep in a little *major happy dance for that* and then we headed to church.... at the Brooklyn Tabernacle!!! Oh goodness was it amazing or what!! The singers were outstanding and the preaching was spot on :D I totally enjoyed every minute of it.

After church Caroline, Aminda and I headed down to grab some **Starbucks** :D then hit Subway for lunch. After that we went to Chinatown! It was really cool and I bought some coolio stuff there. I also argued with a couple merchant dudes about how much I'd pay for stuff. haha that was fun.

Then we went to Central Park. Which i loved :) It was really cool! When we first got there we heard drums, so we went towards them and there were a bunch of dudes drummin away with people like street dancing, then right next to them was a BUNCH of people skating around and dancing.. haha.. it was awesome. There were lots of musicians just playing on the corners and they were all really good. I even saw a cellist :)
Well that about sums it up! I am having a blast and I am so thankful God gave me the opportunity to come up here!!! Carolines family is so awesome and she ain't bad herself ;)

Sorry this is so short and quick but I am exhausted!! I miss everyone sooo soo much! but I am having a blast and I'll see you soon!!! ;o)

Long Day!

Wow, what a day. I thinks its been the longest so far. But EPIC !

It all started with packing up my stuff and leaving the hotel at 7:42 this morning. We were tired.

We ate at this really awesome pancake place ( me and Aminda had choc. chip pancakes and they were boss.) then we headed for Mount Vernon.

This place was seriously incredible. It was gorgeous out there and we got some really great pictures :) We watched a video on Washington and then we went and saw his mansion, tomb and a bunch of other buildings on his land. It was sweet!

After that we ate a quick lunch and headed for Gettysburg (about 2 hours away) After we got there Caroline and I went into the museum and watched a video on the Battle of Gettysburg then we saw a Cyclorama of a painting that was of the civil war. Here's some of those pics from it.

After that we went into the museum and gift shop where me and Caroline were stalked my three junior High boys for about an hour. It was pretty darn funny. We laughed. ;)

We also went out on to the Battle fields and got some awesome pictures of the different monuments out there.

So after that we headed home.. here is where the day got interesting..(that was about at 6:00pm) We got about 40 minutes away, stopped to eat at Arbys, and that is where is all went down. I started looking for my wallet because i needed it to buy dinner, but for some reason it wasn't in the seat where I thought I had put it. We looked EVERYWHERE. This is a really bad thing, because I had my debit card, passport, licence and a whole lot of money in it.(this is the part where ya'll will start laughing because i am such an idiot, but oh well.. I had a long day. :P) anyways, Carolines dad, Caroline and I looked everywhere, but it wasn't in the vehicle. Well, to sum it all up, Carolines dad decided that we should go back to Gettysburg and find a park ranger.

On the way to Gettysburg all I could do was pray. I knew it was really the only thing to do since my wallet was in Gods hands. Mrs. Rodgers, Caroline and Aminda all prayed that my wallet would be recovered. I had this total peace come over me after we prayed and I knew that whatever happen, that God was going to take care of me and my wallet. :)

About thirty minutes later we arrived back at Gettysburg. Mr. Rodgers (who is a retired F.B.I. agent) found the park ranger station (which was pretty much just a house) and pulled up in the drive. He knocked for about 5 minutes then finally decided that tey just weren't coming out. Se we headed for the Gettysburg visitors center ourselves, hoping that maybe the cleaners would be there. The place was dark, empty, and very badly secured :P We looked around for a few minutes then went back to the car. When we got in we saw from behind headlights. Thinking it was a ranger we started to drive up, but the car took off towards the exit. Mr Rodgers chased him. :) We sped down the road in search of the ranger but it seemed to have disapeared. So we went back to the center to see where it had gone. When we got back there was just some random car (most likely a tourist) wondering around. haha.. Oh well, guess it wasn't a park ranger.

Mr Rodgers then decided to see if he could find the local police station to see what they could do to help. while we were looking we passed a gas station ad there was a park ranger. Mr Rodgers swerved in and cornered him before he could get away. :P He walked up to the rangers car and the man looked like he was a bit put out, since it was about 9:00pm and he was off duty. But as soon as Mr. Rodgers showed him his F.B.I. credincials and told him what was going on the man happily took us to the visitors center. ;)

I thought I had left it in the bathroom but it wasn't there, so the ranger went and looked in the lost and found. He came back carrying my wallet! Now the only thing left was to see if everything was in it. I looked through it and there was my passport, licence, money, EVERYTHING.

GOD IS GOOD. ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!

when I called my dad to tell him, all he said was, "So are you jumping up and down praising God?" and i said "YESSS!!" ;)

Bek visits D.C :)

Well today was day two in my epic journey across Eastern America ad it was...well, Epic. ;)
We stayed the night at a really awesome Hotel called "The Legacy" where we all had a super duper good rest 'cuz we were exhausted. (except Caroline :P ) We first walked two blocks to the metro, which we rode into D.C. ok.. Metro's are awesome. I felt like I was in the music video "Bad Day".. if you haven't ever seen that, go look it up. (Bad Day: Daniel Powter) It's just like in the movies!
After we all hopped off the metro we went to this like "mini metro mall" that had a food court. I got coffee. :D We proceeded from there to THE CAPITOL! It is amazingly big and gorgeous, just like everything else in the city..[I really need to get a card reader soon to put pics up! :( ]
We went through security at the Capitol then went and got in line to take the tour. It was legit! The Rotunda is huge!!!! -- and high!!! I have lots of pics of the capitol that I promise to put up asap ;)
From there we went to the Botanical gardens [where I got some awesome pics] and then two of the Smithsonian's. Lastly we went to the White House! Its... really white. and hugenormous.. and pretty :) we took lots of pics.. well I could say a lot more, but its 12:36am, and my feet feel like they might die very soon, so I bid you Buonanotte, sleep tight ;)
[tomorrow includes Mount Vernon and Gettysburg!! Pyched!!!]

card reader....missing! :(

Sooo... Bad news. I am thinking that I left my card reader at home.... >:( sadness...Butttt--- (that's for Ben :P ) I do believe that I will be getting one tomorrow. :) so don't worry Mom, I'll still be posting lots of pics. ;)
But I'll go ahead and tell what I did today :) Well.. I said bonne journée to my mama and Pops, got on my flight out of Springfield and fell asleep :P Ok let me just say. The view is great up there. It's quite stellar. I was reading in a book called "Crazy Love" (by Francis Chan) while I was on my flight and he was talking about how big God really is and how creative he was when making the world. In chapter one he states. "Why would God have created more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say "God is unfathomably big?" Or perhaps God wanted us to see these galaxies so that our response would be, "Who do I think I am!?""

Psalms 19:1 says "The Heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
I thought these passages were so fitting to be reading, since I was flying 3000 feet up in the air at the time! It made me realize how small I am. How unimportant I am in the spectrum of the earth, but remembering that God, the creator of it all remembers and thinks about me more than the sands of the sea... goodness gracious that is a lot!

Well now, on to the rest of the day, :)

After I landed in Harrisburg I met Caroline Rodgers ( :D ) and her family. They are all awesome and really fun! I know I am going to have a blast this nest week and a half!
We went straight from the airport to Arlington National cemetery. That was quite a sight! AMAZING! (I'll have pictures asap!!) We also got to watch the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. That was very sobering and awesome.

After a walk around Arlington ad a ton of pictures, we left and went to Jefferson Memorial... It is BIG. and we got some awesome pis there as well. Caroline, Aminda and I also almost got ran over multiple times by road raging bicyclists. ;)

We went from there to The Lincoln Memorial, where we also saw the vietnam wall, the Washington monument, and we would see the tip of the Capitol.
Caroline and I got some really legit pictures there, the sky had lots of clouds and it was kinda blueish purple, so they are awesome. (can't wait til they are one my computer!!)

After we headed towards the Legacy hotel in Maryland. (Btw, all the little states up here are all so close together! your in PA one second, VA the next then all the sudden your in D.C.. its very interesting..) Well..its midnight and I am tired, so I will hopefully get a card reader tomorrow, so for now I bid you Buona sera. ;)

Headed...East.

Well Hello everyone. I haven't posted in forever and ever amen. yes, shun me.

But I am now!!!! I have been indescribably busy the past few months and blogging just wans't #1. :P

Well anyways. I am going on a trip...tomorrow! I'm going to go visit this awesome person, Caroline Rodgers!!!!!!!!!!!

She lives alllll the way up in Pennsylvania! Tomorrow morning I fly out on the 7:10 plane and I will get to PA at noon.. This is only my second time flying (in a big plane :P) and so it still seems super weird to me that it will only take 5 hours to get there..:P

Soooo, all that to say, I will be going a BUNCH of different places with Caroline and her family and Caroline and I both have [big cameras] :P and I am going to blog ]try] each day and post pictures :) Sooo.. Read them and comment!...pleeease ;)

Gallaway

Our group had a baaalast :)

On the trip back we were all exausted. :P

The entire Gallaway students and staff.

we shucked corn...and had a corn fight. :)

Baylie, Beka and Tigger >.<

Kate and..I think this is Latisha...someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Nemo, me and...oh.i can't remember her name..she was Ah-dorable though. :)

Asleep in the Light

I just got back from a short term mission trip in Gallaway TN. It was mind blowing, to say the least. Not only did I get to see Ally Backus, who is one of my best friends, but I had the opportunity to spend the entire week helping teach summer camp to about 35 children. It was overwhelming, terrifying and magnificent all at the same time. :)

Even though I went to Gallaway to teach, while I was there I found that many things that week were taught to me! There is one thing that I learned this past week that God really pressed upon me to share on my blog. So here it is. :)

The Great Commission. This has been something that has been floating around in the back of my head for a while. It sometimes comes to my serious thoughts but then is somehow always pushed back down into the back of my brain. The week I was in Gallaway all of talks that the pastor gave were about the great commission, so I was forced to hear it. :)

Matthew 28:18-20 says, And Jesus came and said to them, “ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This verse was read a talked about this past week and it really started making me think more about what my job as a Christian is.

Is simply being saved enough? Sure, I will be going to Heaven, but is that all I am responsible for? just myself? Not according to the passage above. What about all the people out there who have never heard the gospel? What if the person that shared the gospel with me would have decided to keep all the info that they knew about Christ to themselves. I wouldn't know anything and I would still be wondering out in the wilderness like so many people are.

I was convicted while I was in Gallway that my job as a Christian is to help lead others to Christ. It is that simple. You might be thinking, "I already know that, everyone does!" That is the problem! All Christian know what the great commission is and that Christians are supposed to follow it, but do they?! I know I haven't!

I guess this is pretty much a reality check for me, but I'm sharing it with you too. :)

So My decision that I have made this week is that for the rest of my life I am going to strive to serve and tell others more about the God that lives in my heart. I want to act like it's a big amazing secret. Secret? Yes secret. Because everyone knows that no one can keep a secret that's just too amazing. They always want to spill the beans to everyone because it's just too awesome to keep in the down low. :) I want Gods Love to be bubbling out of me. I want every person that sees me to wonder what's different about me, then come ask why I act the way I do. The way I live, talk, dress and everything else I do make impressions on people that will last, whether it be a good or bad one. I was every second to count. As Jim Elliott says " I want to live to the hilt in every situation, you believe to be the will of God." That is how I want to live my life.

How do you want to live yours? Please tell me! :)

I will now stop rambling and leave you with the lyrics to this song. It's called asleep in the Light, by Keith Green. It is amazing. (The song is also on my blog music playlist. :)

Do you see, do you see All the people sinking down

Don't you care, don't you care Are you gonna let them drown?

How can you be so numb,Not to care if they come.

You close your eyes And pretend the job's done

"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord" You know it's all I ever hear

No one aches, no one hurts, No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds And He cares for your needs

And you just lay back And keep soaking it in,Oh, can't you see it's such a sin?

Cause He brings people to your door, And you turn them away

As you smile and say,"God bless you, be at peace"And all heaven just weeps

Cause Jesus came to your door, You've left him out on the streets.

Open up open up And give yourself away You see the need, you hear the cries

So how can you delay? God's calling and you're the one But like Jonah you run

He's told you to speak But you keep holding it in, Oh can't you see it's such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark, That the church just can't fight, Cause it's asleep in the light

How can you be so dead, When you've been so well fed?

Jesus rose from the grave, And you, you can't even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead, Come on, get out of your bed

How can you be so numb, Not to care if they come.

You close your eyes And pretend the job's done, You close your eyes And pretend the job's done

Don't close your eyes, Don't pretend the jobs done.

Come away, come away, come away with Me my love,

Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, my love.