the setting

this is probably the most difficult blog to write just because it's the first and there is so much to get through...

it's cold. the warm days here are cold days back in the desert. for the first two weeks, everyone asked me if i was doing alright because of the weather. and i miss mountains. it really took some getting used to looking out on the horizon and seeing for miles and miles. and i don't like trains. there are trains everywhere. i've seen more trains here then cows and corn combined, and that shocks me. and they blow there horns forever at a time, in the middle of the night... i. hate. trains. i've started drinking coffee again. i know, it's sad. but in my defense, when it's 47 degrees outside and you need to sit in the barn for three hours of biblical foundations, you need something. on the upside, i make a pretty mean mocha drink. mmhmm...

oh, the barn- that is our classroom. it's a real barn that has been completely remodeled, so i think it's pretty neat. i assume caleb from wisconsin doesn't share my enthusiasm. but that's also because caleb doesn't get excited about, well, anything. he's an interesting kid. i'm intrigued by him because i've never met anyone so easy-going. but i diverge. the barn is apart of life church, our host church, a church i absolutely love. i have never been excited about a church, and i'm not talking about going to church, but the Church, the people, the pastors, the vision... i'm so excited for everything that going to be happening in the next year here. clint sprague is the senior pastor and he is a lover of people. on sunday he said something i thought was very interesting. he said he doesn't want to reach out to people because he's a pastor, he's a pastor because he wants to reach out to people. and you know not just because he says it but because you can see it in the way he acts. he gets excited to share God's love with people. and everyone here, the people we intern with, the host families, the other pastors, they just love God and each other and love the Church. and the message of life always comes back to God's flawless, endless love. basically, the short version of all that is i've never felt more at home with a church. i actually prefer to spend more time at the barn then at my host home, probably because most of my days are spent there anyway so it feels more like a second home than a classroom.

the days here seem to stream together. it's takes some times to remember that i've only been here a month. routine has been formed, which i like. i've already read two books and turned in three papers, done a six-page personal study of luke (which doesn't really sound like a big deal, but i've never done an in-depth study of specific books in the Bible). right now, i'm (supposed to be) reading andrew murray's humility and doing a study of romans. i intern in media, so i work under the worship director, jared sholtz (who is crazy talented... crazy and talented) and sean, who did kairos last year, making video announcements and such.

so far it's been good. that's not to say there hasn't been awkwardness and discomfort and struggle and frustration, but i'm starting to wonder if those things aren’t necessarily good or bad. they are what they are. the consequences of a state of being make it good or bad, and because i have chosen to have faith in the hope that this will ultimately be good, i can withstand the pain. it's like running. which i've also started doing, down by lake olathe (just gorgeous at sunset, with the light weaving through the trees), which i should go do, because i haven't since it's been so cold this week and it happens to be a really nice day (51 degrees). but once i get my under armor, it's on. (and, in light of this last weeks teaching on spiritual warfare, that statement has a double-meaning.)

in His great love,

sara p.