don't be a fool

I did a foolish thing today. Holly and I are throwing a purse party when I go home at the end of this month, and because I needed to buy purses for the party, I went down to the fashion district this afternoon to get some. Amy came with me. Because we needed to buy a bunch, we took an elevator ride to the 8th floor of a warehouse building to see his inventory. My stomach hurt the entire ride up, but I didn't know if it would make it better or worse if we told him to go back down. As we were waiting to go into the room, he asked us if we were police. We laughed and said, "Do we look like police?" He brought us into this room that, I kid you not, had over 300 Coach, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Gucci purses. My eyes must've been the size of silver dollars. So, we loaded up. People kept knocking in the door, men were coming in. We were getting outnumbered more and more by the minute. What were we thinking? It turned out to be fine. We got great purses and got a great deal. But I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the sunlight and civilization. Probably not worth it now that I think about it. Next time we'll just stick to buying from the lady who I could probably take with my bare hands! :) Regardless of the activities of the day, I'm so excited to share these wonderful treasures with people back home! Now...how to ship all these bags?

Good news: Kevin got word today that our week of teaching at Shoshone Base Camp in Prichard, Idaho is the only full week the camp has! See for yourself! Earlier this year we heard that the sign ups were so low that we might not be able to go at all. We'll be leading over 120 kids and leaders from all over the country. Clint, the camp director told us that one group from Washington specifically requested us. Neither of us know people in Washington. How cool! I'm so excited about this opportunity to do ministry with Kevin and spend yet another week in one of my favorite places!

I got to lead the Lenten services today. These services give me the opportunity to be more extemporaneous and less scripted. It's not so bad to do for 15 minutes of teaching and facilitating, but when it comes to a 30 minute sermon, I'm probably not ready to throw the papers out the window quite yet. The stations tonight were especially meaningful. Not sure why. At one point I found myself face down on the communion rail with tears falling. I can't remember this happening before. Worship has become very meaningful here, even at times when leading. Familiar confessional songs tug at me. My feet and body move as I worship entirely. My head falls and I begin praying at times when I should be listening. I can't help but throw my arms in the air from time to time in praise to such a great and loving God. It's nice to be past the point of worrying about my part in the service and instead just worshipping in worship. Too bad it's taken seven months to get to this point.