Pentecost, Preliminary Goodbyes, and Plan Changes

Last weekend was Pentecost - the Christian celebration of when the Holy Spirit came into the room where Jews from all over the world were meeting for their annual festival holiday and the Spirit filled everyone with awe as the language barrier crumbled and everyone understood in their native tongues. Our church celebrates with a balloon release.  I love the celebration in this tradition... watching the balloons fly away with the notes from the kids. It's like we get to watch the Spirit take the balloons wherever they may serve as an encouragement (and they're biodegradable balloons so that makes the litter aspect better :) )

This year's Pentecost had an added fun event of a party... for me.  Although I often cringe at the thought of that  much attention, particularly during a time when I'm already emotionally toast, the party was so incredibly special and the notes I've received have enjoyed many readings.  Love is a powerful and potent emotion, and it feels so good to both love and receive.

I'm going to really miss everyone out here.  The final get togethers and youth groups with Touchet high school, Surge, and Mid-High Youth Group have been so hard.  I am so grateful for my CPPC church family as well as all the community and support that people all over Walla Walla have shown.  I love the kids at our church and on the swim teams, the professors, staff, and students at Whitman, the great people and kids in Touchet, and so much more.  It's good that I'm sure I'm following God's will or else this would seem like the most ridiculous decision of my life.

It sometimes still does though... especially on fun weekends with friends coming over, harassing the dog, playing badminton in the backyard, and THEN having the aforementioned fiestas and following it up with a week of youth groups, hanging out with kids, and taking an awesome elementary school girl who collected food for her birthday to the foodbank to drop it off... 









What an amazing community this is!

And... to top it off...
another cake!

Thanks Peggy and Kim and the whole CPPC crowd!

__________________________
Changing gears...

Suzanne is here and we're heading out on our road trip on... TUESDAY!  Yes, that is in 4 days and No, i am not packed.  That's why I'm writing a blog and updating my itunes. 

One of my seminary professors/advisers, Mark McCloskey, either developed or propagates (He knows it well!) a model of Transformational Leadership that really makes sense.  One aspect of the model is that leaders should be DICE+1 people.  The I in DICE is Intellectual Flexibility.  Suzanne and I are practicing that right now.  


Our new roadtrip plan... due to many circumstances... is to not do the 48 states but instead focus on west of the Mississippi (yes, Minnesota is considered west because I REALLY want to go there!...).  Right now, our plan for this week is to drive to San Diego to visit Carrie Clausen... the youth intern of the century... and then from there, we'll either make a plan or just start playing the right, left, straight game (Derecha, Isquierda, Derecho! that's my Spanish for the day).  I'm excited for this... the spontaneity will be fun and we get to play a WHOLE bunch.  
 
Prepare yourself for many stories and pictures... I have my last  final from the road next week and then my primary life foci will be reigniting life with God, learning Spanish, and recording many ridiculous stories from our adventures.


Off we go!