Here are some numbered points just because I have a lot of things to say, and I don't feel like taking effort to write it out!

1. This week has just been the epitome of laziness for me, but I've loved every second of it. I've spent the majority of my time sleeping, eating, and watching Lost. I've also gotten to spend time with my family, and grow in my relationships with my friends. I love them all dearly.

2. Last week(not this past, but the one before) was VBS week and we had a ton of fun, but I'll have to give you the lowdown on it in a separate post cause it's just too much and I get the feeling this is going to be a long post anyways(and I don't have time!).

3. Yes, we had a blast in Port Aransas. I was kind of worried about a few things, but they all settled nicely and we had a wonderful time. I love my Kara and Hannah!(another post on that too... soon to come.)

3. I just heard about a little girl, Kate McRae, the other day and my heart is just broken for this family. Having gone through tragedy and sickness(twice!), I feel like I know what they're going through(even though I haven't had to experience cancer quite like that), and I can easily tell they are taking it very hard. From what I can see, they are such a sweet young family, and Kate is just the cutest thing you've ever seen. Would you join me in prayer for them? If anyone/anything can heal sweet Kate, it is the hand of our Father, the Great Physician.

You can get more info off this touching video Kate's parents made, off her CaringBridge site, or her dad's twitter statuses.

I'm off to Grandma's for the 4th of July and to celebrate some birthdays(including mine! Well... half birthday, but it's because mine is in stinking December and too close to other holidays!)!

I know I'm forgetting things I wanted to mention, but I can't think of what it is right now. Oh well! I might be on again later(whenever I can find the time, now that I'm thinking about my schedule!). Oh, and I'm leaving tomorrow to go work in the kitchen again at camp. Same camp, same kitchen as a few weeks ago. It should be fun.

I hope you have a wonderful 4th, celebrating our independence!

-Loribeth

My Week and Wilderness Ridge

Okay. Here's the Wilderness Ridge info. Last week, Sunday through Friday, I went to Wilderness Ridge to work in the kitchen. My little brother Michael went for the week, and since he gets homesick easily, he wouldn't go without me. I just absolutely love that place. If you don't remember(or perhaps I've never mentioned it on here!), thats the camp where Stephen(my brother who passed away) worked and it was like his second home. My family has been going and volunteering there for many, many years. Well, I decided the year after Stephen died that I wanted to go up there and work at least 1 week every year just so that way I can remember the place he loved, and help with a ministry that he loved. I also just go cause I love it there too. 

Like I said, I worked in the kitchen. Sandy Hunt, Sandy Watson, Kathy, Betty, and Hannah were all there. Sandy W was basically just there for serving and cleaning up, but I had such a good time with those ladies. I just love getting to be with... let me say... advanced in years... ladies. They have such a zest for life, and are crazily wise and fun to talk to. 

Hannah(Albers) was there, and she's just a grade younger than me so it was fun. Our families have similar age/sex kids, and we've all been friends for years. Normally I'm "paired" with her older sister Clare and Jaclyn hangs out with Hannah, but it was nice to catch up. They moved to Austin when I was about 5 or so,  but we've still all been friends. They are one of those families that you don't get to see very often at all, but your families have been friends forever. It was a lot of fun to get to know her a little bit better though, especially since we don't normally do things together. She is such a sweet girl. 

We baked a ton, and it was so hot! With no air conditioning, 100 degree weather, and baking all day with two commercial ovens on, its easy to say that it got pretty miserable. I loved it though. I can put up with it for a week to be with those ladies and serve along those guys. One thing I enjoy about working during the summer(vs. retreats in the fall/spring) is the fact that we don't have to do dishes! The SALT(Servant And Leadership Trainee?) crew does it for us. Those guys are a hoot! They are all 15-17 or so, and they are silly as can be. The ladies get a little frustrated with them at times, but I enjoy seeing the guys be like that. When girls and guys are together, we just act a little different! Not bad different, but just different. Since I'm the odd one out, and theres about 70 boys(and men) and 10 ladies(only 2 "girls"), we're so outnumbered that they act like they do with just boys, and we just deal with it. I like seeing that side of them. At times, it can be quite disgusting at times, but us girls can be gross too! 

I think people tend to think I go there just because of all the boys, but I honestly could care less. They are just friends to me, and its not like I'm going to get to know them! They all live in Austin(for the most part)! I'd have to say Jay, Jacob, Matt(Daniel E's friend), Daniel E(Ellen's brother), Jesse, Stephen, EJ, Joel, Chris, and Daniel H were my favorites to work with. There was also a camper(I guess he's 12 or so? 10? Idk) named Zach who was just hilarious. We have this thing, and always give each other crap and mess around with each other. He always says I'm mean to him, but I think he's only saying that cause he enjoys it? I guess I need to tone it down next year. I don't know if he's serious or not. I'm completely kidding around with him,  but I'm not completely sure if he knows that or wants that. He was there last year, and we did the same thing, but I just don't know. I don't want him to be turned off of the camp by me. This sounds so serious now that I'm writing it down, but its really not. Also, Aiden and Rodney were just the cutest little guys. I hope they never read this! They are both like 7 years old, but they are the cutest things you've ever seen. There was also a little asian boy who was too cute, and he would ALWAYS be the first one in line for dessert. I wonder if he even ate lunch or dinner? I honestly don't know. 

Hannah and I talked about a girls camp all week long. You see, this camp is just a boys camp in the summer. During the school year, they have retreats, and they'll have Father-Daughter retreats(our church went there for one in March), but during the summer it's only boys! I love working with the boys, but I want to go to camp there SO bad! The Albers have been involved in the camp just as long as we have, and Hannah has always wanted to also! I'm guessing everyone thinks girls would be too prissy and just plain too girly to go to a "wilderness" camp, but I think that most girls would have a fun time. Yeah, it depends on the girls, but I think we'd do the same things but just in our girly version(with makeup on, and slowly and cautiously). On the retreats the girls always have fun, so hopefully we convinced them to consider doing just one week (or a few days as a trial) for girls. At the very least, they'd have the daughters of all the people who have been involved for forever(like me, my sisters Jaclyn and Julianna, Hannah, her sister Clare). That would be 5 girls, and they've put on a camp that small before!

Oh... there was a big storm heading our way when we were there! There were tornados in Austin and all, and we were prepared to wade it out, but by the grace of God it died down and missed us. The camp could've really used the rain, but we were glad to be safe.

Another highlight was swimming in the pool. I've probably gotten to swim in that pool probably twice in my life. During the summer they don't really let girls go swimming cause all the boys are in the pool (and normally I'm the only young girl working. I've never gotten to work with Hannah before... so I've never asked), but Hannah and I got to go swim! After we had been swimming for a couple hours, the SALT crew came and got it, and that was fun. Unknowingly, the storm was on it's way so we had to get out of the pool after a few minutes. :-( Next time I guess.

Oh! Isabelle got to come spend a day with us too! She's Todd's daughter, and the directors(Sandy and Ron Hunt) granddaughter. She is 4 or 5, and just too cute. We had a lot of fun, and Hannah and I took her swimming. She LOVES swimming. Her sister is deaf, so she knows ASL too. It was fun to use my limited knowledge with her.

Now I'm back to my time on the beach! I'll update you when I get back!

Much love, 

Loribeth

My Festivities have Begun!

Yes. I know, I know, it has been incredibly too long since I've updated... Don't judge me. 

Summer's here! My festivities have begun! This past week I've been at Wilderness Ridge working in the kitchen. I'll have to give you the lowdown another time. 

I went to the Austin area last Saturday(the 6th) to go to Krause Springs for my friend Shannon's birthday. I drove(since I needed the car to get to WR), and Shannon, Hannah, and Kara all rode with me. It was a fun little road trip. All of us, along with most of Shannon's family were there, and we had a fun time. I accidentally, somehow, got algae in the bed of my toenail(sorry for that visual), and we ended up having to cut off most of my toenail to get it out. Who knew a freaking toenail could hurt so much and take 3 hours to fix? Well, I don't know if it really took that long, but it sure did feel like it! It still hurts over a week later, but its healing up pretty nicely. After that, I made the mistake of pulling Kara into the pool. Not a good idea. NOT a good idea. She was so upset with me, and I still feel bad about it. We were hanging out last night, and she told me she already forgot about it and was over it, but I still feel bad. Our relationship was growing nice and steadily, but then I did that. I guess its not that big of a deal, but I'm just such a people-pleaser, and I don't like people being mad at me. 

The next day, on Sunday, I left a little early to go spend some time with my friend Ellen. I don't know if I've mentioned her here before, but she's 13 and we're buddies. I was her counselor at camp last year, and she just has two older brothers(who work at WR), so I'm her big sister/mentor/friend. She(and her brother Daniel) is a redhead, so we have that little connection too. Their family is awesome, just an example of a functional, God-loving, each-other-loving, family. Anyway, I picked her up from their church, and we went to the mall. We didn't think about it beforehand, but there was practically nobody in the mall cause it was a Sunday morning, and most places were closed! We just walked around for a while, got a pretzel to share(I've never had a soft, Auntie Anne's pretzel before. They are scrumptious!), and then went to Wal-mart to walk around some more. I couldn't really recommend places to go since I don't know the area, but she didn't really know what she wanted to do, so thats what we ended up with. We were supposed to go eat somewhere, but we ended up just going back to her house and eating there. I had never been to their house before, and I loved getting to see her room, see her parents and one of her brothers(Patrick) again, and spend some more time with her. I just love that girl to pieces. 

From there, I went to Wilderness Ridge and made it there in the nick of time! Actually, Ellen's brother Daniel worked at WR the same week as me. It was a fun weekend, and a great precursor to my week at camp. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Port Aransas with the youth group at my church! I'm so excited, but it doesn't seem like it should be here already! Maybe I'll write about WR if I have some down time. I like to just sit on the balcony, listen to the waves on the beach, and write, so we'll see. 

-Loribeth

John Stossel and Dallas

Have I ever told you that I am a little obsessed with the show 20/20? Well, I am. It's not one of those shows that are just for entertainment, but it's a news type of show. They always have different views than the "typical" or "mainstream" and I really enjoy listening to what their theories are about. Also, I just love John Stossel. NO, I don't think he's cute or charming or whatever people think of when I say I love him, but I just love how he thinks outside the box and presents facts. I don't always agree with his point of view, but he's entertaining to watch anyways.

I am finally making headway on my summer schedule. It has taken a ridiculously long time. I am so indecisive! 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it on here before, but I went to Dallas last week to visit my favorite person in the whole world. John and I went to visit Hannah, and we had a splendid time. Originally, Hannah had invited me and our other friend Kara to come up and we could go to Homeschool day at Six Flags Over Texas. Kara couldn't make it, so John joined us instead. It was certainly an interesting few days because of the face that John and Hannah ended their dating relationship just a few short months ago, but they are still good friends and we had fun. I miss Hannah so much now that she has moved, but I am grateful that I got to visit. We got to take a tour around town, visit the local grocery store, and eat us some Chili's! We got there Wednesday evening, went to Six Flags on Thursday, and then just hung out until we came back on Saturday around lunchtime. Hannah got a new phone while we were there, and it was fun messing around with it. I love figuring out new gadgets. 

Until next time...

-Loribeth

Are You Kidding Me?

Okay, seriously, why does it have to be May already? This crazy year has gone by so fast.

Last night I went to see Fast and Furious with Brianne, Connor, Kendra, and Brianne's friend Leah(I think? I hope thats the right name). It was fun, and I was glad I got to see them and spend some time with them. I don't know why, but I just never actually hang out with Kendra, Brianne, or really, any of the kids in TSMAC these days. I hang out with the girls in my grade, but not really anyone else, and I miss it. That said, I hated the movie we saw. A couple weeks ago I had heard it wasn't very good, and had alarming amounts of boobage and butt in it, but I wanted to spend some time with those girls so I let those reviews go right past me. Well, on my way there and throughout the whole movie I was thinking about it, but it didn't stop me. Whoops! When they said it was "the ultimate guy movie" it all makes sense now. I just hope none of the guys I know see it, except I know that many of them have. The lack of clothing, lesbian scenes, tons of cars, and no particular sense in the story line makes me understand why it was a guy movie. Well, the lesbian scenes didn't really make me understand, but they were definitely present and unashamedly there. Ugh! THIS is why I don't go see movies in the theaters that often. There's just nothing I want to see! OI'm one who'd like to go to the movies and see cheesy, cute movies like High School Musical 3, Hannah Montana, and Facing the Giants. Since this last movie, those were seriously the last ones I saw in theaters. No, I don't even like HSM, and Hannah Montana drives me up the wall with the way she's supposed to be(and IS) and major role model for thousand, perhaps millions, of little girls, yet she acts and dresses horribly. Don't even get me started. It just makes me want to cry. My generation(I guess? I just mean the people within... say... 10 years of when I was born) didn't even have her and we're still completely messed up with our self-image! I'm praying hard for these young girls. Back to what I was saying, I am completely content with staying at home and watching a movie by myself! Wait... did I say I enjoy watching movies by myself? Uh-oh... I wasn't supposed to add in that part. The Sound of Music, Radio, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Kate & Leopold, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Anne of Green Gables to name a few. I'll even be fine watching a movie at home with someone. I'm just not that picky with movies. Really, the only reason I watch movies is for conversation. If nobody ever asked me about movies, or if I could actually make conversation instead of getting to where I just say "so what movies have you seen lately? Oh, I saw that too! Did you like it?" Well, since I've been writing for so long it's now the 2nd of May, so I should end it right here.

Until tomorrow, 

My Ramblings... (What else would you expect?)

Goodness gracious! It has been too long since I've updated! I'm afraid its only going to be random things written numerically. What happens is that I'll miss one day (or one thing that happened) and then after a while it just gets to be too much, but I still want to write about the thing that I originally wanted to write! Whatever, this is so pointless and confusing, and here I go... rambling. I guess it fits the name of the blog!

1. Two weeks ago today, there was a baptism service for our youth group at a students' home. We used their pool for the baptisms, and 7 people got baptized! It was a special time\I just love baptism. People getting baptized, the idea and reasoning behind baptism, the whole shebang... I love it. I'm excited to know that I can walk this ever-so-important walk with them, and now I know they are game.

2. It's over. I quit my job. You think I'm probably kidding, but I kid you not. I have loved the opportunity, and the pros of it(like wonderful hospitality... ridiculous closeness to my house), but thats not what I will be doing when May 6th rolls around. I gave my two week notice, and I'm done next week. I'm doing another list:

               a. There was simply just horrible cussing(my boss cussing at me... co-workers), which I know I can handle and isn't abnormal but I just don't want to put up with it and make myself struggle if I don't have to! Also, my dad has a lot of experience in retail/food industry, and he said a manager shouldn't be cussing(and there shouldn't be very much cussing in the workplace at all) but its not against the law or anything, but just courtesy.

               b. Another thing I was/am frustrated about is the schedule. This week, I freaking didn't get my schedule until today. Monday night my manager told me I was working this morning, but the rest I found out today when I look at the official, on paper schedule! Thats just plain nuts! My whole life doesn't revolve around this job, and its not good business-running to do that. 

               c. There's a really mean cook there who works at night, and I feel very threatened by him. EVERY time I see him, he make some snide(but serious) remark about me being "professional" and "doing my job". I was there one night, and wasn't even on duty(!), but he was yelling at me and made me cry(although I just left and didn't let them see me cry, but cried in my car)! He just makes me so upset and I don't want to work in that environment! 

               d. I'm just not proud of working there. Their food(especially at first) would take 20 minutes to get out the window, just for a chopped beef sandwich! I don't even want people to go in and see me because it's unpredictable how the service/food will be! It all depends on who's working. Also, it's a barbeque place, and we have 4 sauces(original, smokey, pineapple, and jalapeno), but we only give out 3! We've been out of original sauce for a few weeks now. They have a warehouse where they keep a lot of sauces, but there was none left and they had to order some from the people who actually make it. They shouldn't have even opened! About a week or two after we opened they realized it. They should've known they needed to order more before they opened. There's just no excuse. The thing is... I have to be the one to tell all the customers cause I'm a cashier! The managers and the owners don't care that we don't have the original sauce cause they don't have to deal with the customers! 

               e. I am going to be gone for a lot of the summer(working at camps and such) and knew they would need to hire someone else anyways. Well, I'd be going if they'd let me off.  

               f. (One more thing... I promise:-)) I applied and got the job as a cashier. I didn't know what the responsibilities were because this restaurant isn't a chain, and this is their first-ever place. I figured I'd be possibly taking food out to people, (obviously) taking orders, and keeping the front counter dry. I was thinking I'd possibly have to keep the drink/condiment counter clean/stocked as well, but I didn't think I'd be doing bussing! After I was hired they got some bus boys, but the thing is that the bus boys decided they wanted to cashier instead of bus, so now we're all cashiers and bus boys! I mean, its not that insane to have a cashier doing bussing, but it's not what was supposed to happen. Even though I didn't have specific job duties, I knew they were getting bus boys, and I didn't expect to bus. Now.... there are tons of plusses to this job, don't get me wrong.  I love how hospitable my manager is. He has no problem if we're late(as long as we let him know), told us at the beginning not to be shady about taking money but if there was a problem then to just come talk to him and he'd give us money/loan us money... just don't take it, offered to give anyone rides at times if they need it, and is generally grateful for people. I love him, but they just don't run a business well. That's it. I'm done with this topic. 

3. After all that, I'm going to apply to work at Chick-fil-a tomorrow. My friend works there, said she could get me a job. I figured it would make more sense to apply after summer's over, but she said she knew they would let me off after only working a month and  hopefully I can drag in a little money. I'm really excited. See... I wanted to work at Chick-fil-a before I even started working at Bobbie Que's, and I applied there at least twice, but they never hired me cause it didn't ever work out. This time, though, I'm hoping everything will work. I know I'll like it a lot more than Bobbie Que's. 

4. I've been amazed at how fast this year has gone by! I am going to be Senior... yes... a SENIOR in just about a month or so. Are you freaking serious?! Holy crap! Every time I think about it I just get a daze. It's exhilarating to me, but scary. Well, not scary, just makes me anxious. I don't know. It's just the weirdest thing in the world that this time next year I'll be getting ready to graduate and leave to go overseas. Woah.

5. JJ's message this past Sunday was incredible. I just hope this catches on and we can (God can) start a movement in our youth group because of all he said. Slightly off topic, I appreciate his honesty with us. I think pastors tend to get stuck in the thought pattern that everyone thinks they are perfect, and they have to live up to that so they can't be real. Personally, I think we don't want/expect pastors and leaders to feel that way, but somehow they think it. I think what the congregation wants is for them to be vulnerable, just like they expect us to be. 

Well... I'm plum tired of typing. I'f you've even made is this far, I know you know why my hands are tired! Thank you for letting me write all this. I know if I didn't do this lot-of-posts-in-one I would never get around to say the things I want to! I'm going to go crash in bed. Hopefully next time I won't wait so long so the posts aren't as freakishly long. Oh! I forgot to write about the dance!.... tomorrow will come...

Much Love,

(what do you think of the signature? I don't know. Eh.)

I Will Rise

Happy Easter! I've realized, just last night, that the devil has been trying to take my entire week! This past week was meant to reflect on my Savior, His death, and resurrection, and it's been one of the worst weeks for me, emotionally at least. I started off the week great, and nothing has really happened that is different than normal, but Satan has been tempting me to focus on my faults, sins, and frustrations instead of putting my eyes on Him. Unfortunately, he almost got away with it, but I wouldn't let him do it. No way, Jose!

I absolutely love Easter. Easter is such a happy holiday, and it is truly a favorite of mine. I love everything Spring, pastel colors, and sadly, candy(Creme eggs?! Oh my). I love the tradition of going to Mamo's(my dad's mom) to get together with the extended family. I love hunting for Easter eggs. I love dyeing eggs. I love singing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "My Redeemer Lives"(even though we didn't do either today... sad day). I love to reflect on what God has done to/through my life, and praise Him for it. I love realizing all over again just HOW MUCH my Christ loves me, and the fact that He lives! But every single year, without fail, the week before Easter is tough. Satan is just tempting me in all ways, and won't let down. I have to try SO hard to concentrate and flee from temptation. 

Easter is also hard just because its a holiday. On major holidays, everything is pretty much cancelled and it's family time. Family time is not good when you've lost part of it. People go to church as a family on holidays as well, especially since all children's programs are cancelled, but for people who have lost someone find those times hard. For my family at least, we can do all the healing and be fine during the whole year, but when the holidays come, it just gets hard! I don't like sitting as a family on Easter Sunday or Christmas Eve just because it's the biggest reminder that my lovely brother is no longer with us. No, I haven't been in denial the past 2 1/2 years or anything, but that's when it hits the hardest. When we go out to lunch as a family and he's not there, it's alright. I miss sometimes too, or my sisters will go out with their friends instead and it's normal, but at holidays, esp. for church, is when EVERYONE is there. No family member misses, and I think that's why it's the hardest. No words can express how much I miss him. There will be a day, and it will be glorious. I am so grateful for a God who has saved me, but I'm also just as grateful for a God who saved Stephen. It is so challenging just to live my everyday life without Stephen, but I can do it and have joy and hope because He Lives and has extended the life He gives to my little self. It's alright, I'll make it, I'll turn tragedy to triumph. Today we sang a song in church that I absolutely adore. It's called "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin and is pretty much my lifesong. 

I Will Rise

By: Chris Tomlin

There's a peace I've come to know

Though my heart and flesh may fail

There's an anchor for my soul

I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He has risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God, fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near

When this darkness breaks to light

And the shadows disappear

And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God, fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise 

And I hear the voice of many angles sing

"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I hear the cry of every longing heart

"Worthy is the Lamb" 

I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God, fall on my knees 

And rise

I will rise

I just love that song so much. It's wonderful to know that some day I will leave this hurting, painful, sinful, sick earth and go to be glorious with Christ. As an  added bonus, Stephen will be there too. I just honestly can't wait. Another way I interpret this song is as an encouragement for my life here on earth. I can rise up against my fears, faults, and tragedies to follow Him! I am not bound by what I have done or circumstances around me, but I can be free to serve my King. I WILL rise, and I don't have to stay in my pity, grieving, depressed self. God will rescue me and give me hope if I let him. I can rest in that, and I do. Thank you is not enough.

Here's a video of Chris talking about what led him to write the song. It seems like he wrote it just so I can praise my God and be encouraged. You can hear the actual song in the background. I am blessed to have hope. I will rise.