In which I make lists

Current tunes: Prayer room archives. :D
Current plans: upload/edit photos, rest, call some people, Awakening, dinner?
Current excitement: a few quiet hours, The Call Sacramento, Independence MO

Hey all you friends and people I love and creepers.

So today I went to the Santa Cali-gon festival in Independence, MO. It's to commemorate the California, Santa Fe, and Oregon Trails which all began in Independence! There's loooads of history there- including The Truman Library and Museum, the Truman drugstore where he worked as a young lad, the jailhouse where all sorts of lowlifes were kept, and the original log courthouse from 1827. It's crazy how much old stuff there is there. I've been aching to go since I moved here. Anyways, IHOPU students were invited to volunteer at the fair, which is pret much a downsizing of the MN State Fair complete with a theme park. Why are they called theme parks, anyways? What's the theme?

So there were tons of vendors, booths, foods, people, stuff. IHOP had a couple of booths with facepainting, skits, healing ministry and dream interpretations... I volunteered to photograph. I had such a good time! I met a ton of other IHOPU students [let's hope I can remember all their names!] and took some gorgeous photos of people and historic buildings. So far, I've found that my camera has made more friends than me. :D Jk, but no really, my camera has been the best conversation starter/friend finder that I could think of. So praise the Lord for Maxwell. 306 photos, four hours, paint on my face, and a little touch of sunburn, and it's all good. ;D

There was a little bit of distress in the middle though... wanna hear about it? Okay. So coincidence of ironies, next to the three IHOP booths was a palm reading/psychic booth. And, well, they were NOT please to see us. They continually complained to the powers that be that we were too loud, distracting, and disrupting traffic flow. We were apparently also not allowed to evangelize because it was like we were 'hawking our wares' which is something they discouraged at the festival. So this woman who was in charge of the booths had to come and literally yell at us several times to.. idk, stay in our area? It was kind of scary. I mean, we're from IHOP. We just wanna spread the loooove, not cause a riot. But this woman and the psychics next door were all verrryyyy angry with us. So that was sad. We tried feverishly to comply and satisfy, but some people just refuse to be calmed. Seriously, I think this woman seeks out conflict in her life to give her a sense of purpose or whatever, I don't know. It was uncomfortable. But we all just kept praying so hopefully IHOP hasn't been shut down yet!

Got a package from my mama today! Including some newspaper comics from home and a National Geographic! Suhweet! Love you mama bear. You make everything better!!!!

So. Things I miss about home:
1. Mama and Papa Bears [and the rest of my family!]
1.5. Brennan William
2. Knowing where everything is and how to get there.
3. Having all my friends in one spot.
4. Having my papa kill spiders.
5. Letting my mom do my dishes & laundry
6. Having an income
7. Going out to eat with my amigos
8. My bedroom
9. Never stressing about finding parking
10. Bridgewood!
11. Not having to worry about buying food/eating healthy/being in charge of myself... does that make sense?
12. Using my mama's make-up
13. Having some sense of control over my life :D
14. Bethel
15. That homey feeling.
16. Mama hugs and cuddles. D:
17. Making cookies, eating cookies.
18. Good easy internet.
19. Nicer heating and cooling. [insulation]
20. Having my dad protect and care for my car.

Things I love about IHOP:
1. The community.
2. My fellow first years.
3. Studying under brilliant pr/teachers.
4. The worship.
5. The Awakenings.
6. The worship leaders.
7. The prayer room.
8. Higher Grounds.
9. The friendliness.
10. ALL JESUS, ALL THE TIME.
11. My rooooom.
12. My bed. [even more than my home bed]
13. The Larsons and their funny babies.
14. Accountability.
15. Integrity.
16. Making new friends.
17. Exploring a whole new city, lotsa good eats!
18. Encountering the Living God
19. Getting packages, fb videos, and phone love from my mama.
20. Skyping, all the time.

Stuff happens, things change, people move away and grow up. That's all that this is, and all this is is GOOD. F'reals. I'm glad God's brought me here, I wouldn't change a thing about how it all worked out. His dreams for me are better than my dreams for me ever were or ever could be. This God that I follow is bigger than my weak words and fallen actions. This God? He loves me, end of story. Forever.

[[End of the day edit: Overall, today was probs one of the best I've had here so far. There was the Santa Caligon festival, fulfilling my historic/social/IHOPUlove needs, there was Awakening, there was an awesome dinner/photoshoot with Colin Chesla y su padres, I met some new pallies... God spoke to my soul today. He's showering love over me, I just know it. I keep thinking, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. It hasn't even really started yet. I'm meant to be here, and there's an endless supply of love and delight in God for me specifically. Can you understand that?!? Praise to the Lord of all creation, who created me and my heart just the way He wanted. Who made me a singer, a photographer, a laugher, a worshipper, an interceder, a friend, a daughter, and a lover. Praise Him for what I am, for without Him, I would be nothing.]]