Final Days

Well I will keep this post on the short side. As I clocked out I was really excited. It meant my summer was coming to a close and I would see my older sister in just a few short days. As I walked out to the back dock I was rewarded with a pie to the face. It was kind of shocking. I know what your thinking, picture? Well a picture should show up on facebook one of these days.
I had a few days before Tori was to pick me up, so it was off camping with my boss and a couple of others. We shot a few guns, went snipe hunting, enjoyed a warm fire, and got fried at Hume Lake. Hume is a dame made lake that was constructed for logging way back in the day. Now a large Christian camp owns the land and is open to the public to come and enjoy its beaches. Even though I got a bad sun burn it was a blast because it has a large Sequoia cut that was left from the logging days. It hasn't rotted away because Sequoia's have anti-rotting chemicals. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. It was so large we couldn't even get it turned around.

Few of the guns we shot

After a couple of days of camping it was finally time for Tori to show up. We hung out, went hiking, and enjoyed the Sierra Nevada mountains. I had a blast and it was good to catch up with Tori.

Sunset on Moro Rock

After a couple days of exploring we headed back to Cal city. Just like that my summer adventure was over. I had a great time and I hope to visit those beautiful mountains again in the future. This will be my last post. Thank you all for you support and prayers.      

Almost out of here

Well my summer here in Sequoia National Park is just about to come to a close and what an adventure it has been. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. The Lord has taught me much this summer and I look forward to seeing where I'll be serving Him next summer. Maybe back at CLBC? That would be nice.
It seems this summer has just flown by in the past few months, but as I look back at all the adventures I have been on  I realize just how long I have been here. I think it is about time to head back to Michigan and SAU.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. It is amazing the adventures the Lord will take you on when you just listen and obey. I remember the day I first read the little flyer for ACMNP and thought, "yeah, that would be cool, but something I wouldn't actually ever do." Ha, I am warning you now, don't ever think for a moment that God wont call you somewhere you think He wouldn't...like a National Park for an entire summer. Keep your mind open and remember to be obedient. Who knows where or what I'll be doing next summer, but what I do know is that God's hand will be in it.
Living here has given me the chance to see what being a disciple really means. Sometimes it will seem lonely and useless. Sometimes it wont even seem worth it. Sometimes it will seem as though you wont make it through. It is worth it, it is possible to make it through to the end, and it isn't as lonely as one might think. I believe much of the ministry that I have done here I can not see. How am I to know how God has touched the lives that I have come encounter with?
What a great summer and what a great God we serve. Again thank you for the prayers, support, and keeping up with my blog. I believe I will do one last entree before I call it quits. I'm going camping tomorrow and it may just be interesting enough to share with you all.     

Adventure or Epic Fail?

So I entered some photos into the National Parks photo competition and three of my photos won second place. Here are the three that placed...

Not sure why it went all fuzzy when I uploaded, but this photo won second in Sequoia Trees division

 

Won second in the Flower division

Won second in the seasons division

I thought that was pretty cool that three of my photos placed. Now onward to my adventure or epic fail?
It all started a couple hours after our usual service. It went smoothly and like any other, but I had the rest of the day off and it was only noon. Libby and I wanted to do something with the rest of the day. It was soon decided that Crystal Cave would be perfect, except for the fact that we didn't have a car. But hey, we were in shape and we could just walk there. So we looked at a map and made out our route. We would take the bus to the museum and from there walk a little less than 4 miles to the road that would lead us to the dirt road leading to the cave. Our map cut off shortly there after, but we guessed it would only be another mile at most. We would make it just in time for our 3:30 tour. Ha...right.
After hiking the 3 mile used trail (used trails are not maintained) we popped right were we expected to and right on time. Now we just had to hike the last bit, which we had only guessed the distance. I'll spare you the details thereafter, but it turned out it be an additional 4 miles, much more than we had anticipated. Needless to say, we missed our tour.
That wasn't the worst of it though. While hiking the unknown distance we soon realized that even if we were to turn back at that time we were going to miss the last shuttle from the museum. That would mean an additional 7 miles to our trip that we already had 4 miles added onto. We had gotten ourselves into a pickle. We decided our best bet was to continue onward to the cave and try to find a ride back with the employees there. We weren't sure how long we would have to wait for them, nor did we know if they would have room, not did we know how much longer we would have to hike to get there.
The parking lot was a glorious sight to be seen. We had hiked a little more than 7 miles with no break and had gone a steady 3 miles per hour, and to add to it all, it was in the lower 90's. We were kind of tired. It was time for the next challenge. Getting a ride. Luckily it all worked out and after talking to the manager we were able to book a ride with them back to lodgepole. We had to wait an hour, but we were just happy to have a ride back. After figuring it all out, if we were to have had to walk all the way back to lodgepole we would have had to hike 22 miles. We had both done that before, but this time we had not packed accordingly, plus we started this adventure about one in the afternoon, so we would not have made it back to Lodgepole until about 9 or 10 at night.
Adventure or epic fail? I'd say both.       

Title!

Hey everyone! Just under three weeks until this amazing adventure comes to an end. As the end draws near, the anticipation becomes greater and greater. Sorry to the rest of you, but I must say I am looking forward to seeing my sister, Tori, the most. It has been over a year now and then she is leaving for another year! Makes my few months look like child's play. lol
So anyways, let me tell you a little more about my repetitive life here in SNP. Living conditions could be better. Living dorm style with incredibly dirty and messy people can be, well annoying. No matter how often I clean, it seems like dirt, trash, and other various stuff is everywhere. It can be very frustrating. Have you ever cleaned something repetitively that is still never clean? If you every have the choice, don't. I never get the satisfaction of looking at my work and being able to say, "that looks nice, I accomplished my task." I have this same problem with the store. The showers must be cleaned each and every day. The trash is always full, and the wood always needs more to the pile.  
Along with the never ending tasks, the visitors here are mind boggling. To give you an idea I'll just explain what happened today. A customer came into the store complaining that his shower would not turn on. We get this complaint several times a day and almost every time it is simply because they did not turn the nobs or they did not put enough quarters in the machine. So, I asked the man, "did you try turning the knobs?" He gave me a dirty look as to say, "what, do you think I am that stupid?" After returning to his shower, it just so happened that that was the problem. He had not turned the knobs. By this time the scheduled ten minutes had almost gone by, so he got a very short shower. He promptly came back into the store demanding a refund. Oh, these people. I'm not quite sure what to say about them. Are they annoying or are the just humorous? I guess it just depends on the day.
These are just a couple of situations I go through daily. Just wanted to give you a better idea. God's simple command to love everyone can sometimes be the hardest thing to do, but on the same side of the coin, it is incredible to see first hand what love can really do to an individual. I can not put it into words. My greatest mission here. To love no matter what.