I'm Back!

Hey. Everyone. It's been a while since I posted here. So here is my attempt to update you. I don't know if anyone ever reads this though.

Well the last two years a lot happened. I worked in WI at Timberlee were I meet my now husband Ben Vanderzyden. After a year at Timberlee I moved to Alliance Redwoods inCA.

I am teaching Outdoor education to 5 and 6th grade students. I also run zip lines, big swings and low ropes. It's super rewarding.

On June 16, 2012 I married Ben Vanderzyden at Camp Timberlee! I loved it! We then did a road trip to CA for the honeymoon.

Ben and I live at Alliance Redwoods. He is now the Ropes Director and I am still teaching.

This summer I will be co-leading the IJM Freedom tour and starting a garden.

I know that since I started working in Camping Ministry I have fallen of the grid. I hope that I will be able to connect back with my friends. If you are reading this please comment on what you are up to these days. Have a great day!

WOW!   I still have this Blog!!
New blog update coming in 2 days!

Glorify God. That's it!

My life is to glorify God. That's the point. There is no other resin for living. Just Glorify God. So. If I wind up living adventures with Him and never have anyone to go on these adventures with God And I then it is to glorify God. If God does have some one to go on adventure with. (in other words get married. ) that marriage would be to glorify God. Look in the bible God arranged Jacob and Rachel. Joseph and Mary. Hosea and Gomer. And most all others ones. Not all Of these examples are the romantic notion that as Americans were raised with. Like Beauty and the beast. Snow white sleeping beauty or even Peter Pan. ( even though Peter Pan was the best of all the fairy tails ). Real life is not like this. Sorry. So. In the end its all to glorify God. That is quite the adventure !!!


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Turn off the light! I can see too much!

Oct 15 2010


Today I was thinking and remembering three speakers that I have heard the past few mounts. They will seem to have conveniently been on the same flight all going to different destinations. All three told the same story. They were on a plane and heard a little girl say, “Mommy, Mommy turn off the light I can see to much!”

This must have been something that God wanted me hear. Since these three people do not know each other and probably were not traveling together.

Turn off the light!
I can see too much!

See. Seeing. It’s easy to look back and see what I have missed. So often I find myself walking forward only looking at my feet. I really don’t what to trip over something making a fool of myself. I only see what is directly affecting me. What is only directly around me. Only me. Me. I miss all that surrounds me.

In our culture we are encouraged to look out for ourselves. We are consumed with the questions of how can I get ahead? What will I get out of this? How will it benefit me? Will I get hurt because of this? I find myself going through life just looking out for myself. If I don’t like an answer to these questions then that’s it. I will stop. God has so much more planned for us. If we just look around.

Look up! Look up! Oh how I desire to walk no RUN! Looking up. Looking around. To truly see those around me. There is so much around. Happening. Suffering. Starvation. Over indulgence. Understanding . Love. Hate. Life. Death.

Jesus teaches to Love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that God demands us to look up. Look around. Start to observing what is around. I must look around to see who are the people that I live with. Enter into their life journey. Find out what they believe and how they live their life. Try to understand what they live for!

Just think of all the things God could possibly do through you! The possibilities are endless because God is endless!! God saved us so He could do good works through us! Oh man. That is just so amazing to think about!

This I guarantee will be messy and most likely I will get hurt. But finding a way to love those around me is how we can truly enter life.

I must look up and truly see what is around and not ignore it. God demands it. What does looking up look like.

Pray. Listen. Do
Listen to God. Talk to God. Do.

You can skip the middle part if you what. In fact.
Listen to God. Do.

So often, after God tells me to do something. I then talk myself out of it. I find myself reasoning with myself and telling God that it is best that I don’t do it. Whatever it was I was supposed to do. Fear is the driving force behind this.

Fear is what causes me/ us to shut the lights off. To look at my feet. To focus only on me.

Do not be afraid. If God is with you, who can be against you? That’s huge.
Do what you need to do to keep the light on. To keep looking up and focusing on those around you/me.

Do not be afraid to Do what God wants you to do. If God wants you to do it. God will supply what you need to do. Don’t be afraid. Pray for those around you. Be happy. Be sad. Mourn. Live. With those around you. see

I must also remember to let others see me also. So often I spend my time getting to know people I forget to let others know me. I heard a saying the other day that reminded me of this. “You can only be loved by the amount that you let people know you.” I don’t know how said this but I think they are up to something. I don’t what to be hurt again so I will try to spend my time talking to people about themselves and theological issues. This can be a roadblock in letting people know me. Consequently blocking what God can do through me. That’s something I am working on.

Ransom!!!

Ransom!! Will you choose to accept it?

1 Peter 1:17-21

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
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The blood of Christ is our Ransom. God paid our ransom. It is common that we look at 1 Peter and think about what we may do to ransom a loved one. What would we do if we received a ransom note stating that someone had our loved one and we had to pay a price to get him or her back. What would we do?

But lets flip it.

Lets imagine we are the ones that have been taken captive. We are the ones in prison. Others are controlling the way we live, think, and believe. What type of captive would you be? Will you try everything we can to get free? Or are you the ones that would begin to get comfortable with our captors? This is a strange scenario but it does happen. Stockholm syndrome the captive starts to like where they are and eventually help the captives cause. Do we truly understand that we are in captivity? We are under the captivity of sin.


Sin separates us from God. We need to be ransomed. You need to be perched!

Purchased not with things that will parish like silver or gold. I know silver and gold are precious to us but not to God. He purchased us with something of eternal value, Jesus Blood! He purchased us so we could truly be free!

Will you dare to accept it? To accept Jesus ransom. To be truly free!

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