I see it's been awhile since I've written! Where do I begin? I had a very very VERY delightful time this week. I had 9 days off, including both weekends and of course the 5 work days in between. It was delicious! Where do I start? Harvey Cedars is a Bible Conference place right along the beach. Well, within walking distance it is! On Monday Merci, Sharon M, Johann, and Yitzhak & I went to Harvey Cedars which is on Long Beach Island, NJ. Todd had to teach Mon-Wed. so he came with my car on Wednesday.
Last year I was also at Harvey Cedars and I remember the speakers were not fantastic. I don't know if it was just me, that I did not pray for them or that somehow my ears were closed but I know I did not look forward to chapel times, it was rather boring. However, this time it was 100% better! The speakers were dynamic! We had a guy there that does very fun science and weaves the Bible in his science experiments. I mean, he had really neat stuff to show us! I am not a science person, that was the one subject in school that I did not enjoy. That was probably due to the fact that we had those ugly Rod & Staff science books, with only black & white pictures. (I am a picture person, I have photographic memory.) One year we did have A BEKA science, in 6th grade to be exact and I enjoyed science then because those books have pictures on every page and they are very colorful and beautiful and they make science fun. Oh, and in high school we did a few science experiments so that made it interesting....we dissected a shark and found and labeled the different organs! But anyway, I got off on a bunny trail. All this to say I really enjoyed this man's science so that means he was REALLY good if even I enjoyed it! He had a person come up and put on a pair of glasses/goggles type of thing that turns everything upside down. He said they experimented with it and he wore it for like 3 consecutive days (even though he got lots of stares!) and your brain adjusts to something like that so after the 3 days everything was right side up. However, then when he took them off, everything was upside down again and his brain had to take a few days to readjust again. The brain is an amazing thing. He had alot of different illusions and other neat things, I'm just too lazy to write them all down, plus I don't know all the technical wording for exactly what he was doing so instead of mis-informing anyone, I'll just let it at that. Oh, and this guy is on tv so he was a pretty important guy and he had I'm not sure how many degrees but it was a list of em! Also, he built his own computer at age 9. That tells you what kind of genius he is....and he doesn't even look geeky! LOL!
We had another speaker who is the chancelor at CIU (Columbia International University). George Murray. He reminds me alot of Nelson Coblentz from Gospel Express. His build, and his preaching, and his looks, everything. He gets loud, like REALLY LOUD and quiet like Nelson....he could pass for a brother! I really learned alot from his preaching. I got alot out of every single sermon he preached.
Then there was a man who looked no more than 32 and he has 8 children....so he's probably older and anyway, he too was really good. He talked more on homeschooling and raising children so that was not something I could apply presently to my life but hopefully I stacked it away in my brain for future use if it is needed someday.
Oh, and there was a guy who did drama presentations. He too is on tv and he does drama from the KJV and NIV word for word. He does some of the key Bible stories and makes it so interesting and I think it's so cool that he does it word for word from the Bible. That's alot of memorizing. His voice is easy to listen to so I bought his cds of the KJV. I will let my little charges listen to it at work and maybe let some other friends borrow them.
So, the speakers were WONDERFUL and I loved chapel time and I got so fed spiritually. I wish I was going again soon. God really spoke to me this time around. And, today I made a commitment that was really huge for me. I do not make commitments unless I am absolutely willing to go through with them. Especially not with God....because I think it's pretty useless to pretend around Him. Plus I think it's very serious to make a vow to Him and then break it. So I just don't make them. But today I made a commitment. It was huge for me....George Murray had whoever wanted to make the commitment come up to the altar and I went up. I bet almost half the audience did. I don't know if it was huge to anyone else but it sure was for me!
This time at Harvey Cedars has been such a refreshment and I know it was where God wanted me. At present, I cannot disclose some of the reasons but there are several and it's ALL GOOD! There are endless possibilities and I'm excited at what God can do with a person like me. We were taught to live dangerously on edge for God, and that is one thing I hope to learn to do! That will build trust and help me to grow.
Sharon and I watched the sunrise 4 mornings out of the 6. Two of them were cloudy/rainy so we didn't go out then. That was an awesome time of walking the beach, hearing the waves crash, hearing the gulls, looking for seashells, talking to God, listening for Him to speak, reading His Word, and just being still.
The food was great every day. It was so wonderful not to have to cook and to get to eat 3 square meals every day! I loved it! It tasted better than last year or maybe I was just more grateful this year to have food without cooking it myself!
We hit the beach right after lunch most days. One day we went to Barnegate Light. We spent hours on the beach most days. I did boogie boarding most of the time. I just love the thrill and the challenge to get the wave right. I don't need to pay to go to Hershey Park for a thrill when I can boogie board for a thrill! The last day the waves were brutal! The tide was so strong that when it washed ashore you got knocked over sometimes and then as it went back out to the ocean, it took you out with it unless you were bracing yourself with all your might! I saw kids going back and forth like pendulums and I saw grown men falling, that is how strong it was. And, planted my feet in the sand at least 12 inches and I still got sucked up and drug with the tide sometimes! I was a bit scared to boogie board in those waves but I just didn't go out very far, I stayed in towards the shore. But, another day there was a guy who was kind enough to teach me how to catch the waves out farther. It is much harder to do but so rewarding when you get it right because you get a much longer ride then!
I wrote 3 poems while at Harvey Cedars. One was written on the beach, at least part of it. I had not written poems on the beach for years! The one is a song.
I had a really good time with my mentors/2nd family! We had some lively discussions and I was very encouraged.
We went to yard sales Saturday morning. Didn't get much but it was a nice time.... I like seeing other people's junk! LOL!
My head is just about falling down...soooooo sleepy. Hopefully it won't be as long til the next time I write!
