Inside-out

April Letter- we're moving!

2009-05-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

March 09 Prayer Letter

2009-05-20T12:55:00.002-05:00

Feb. Prayer Letter

2009-05-20T12:52:00.002-05:00

January Prayer Letter

2009-05-20T12:39:00.002-05:00

December prayer letter

2009-01-13T15:41:00.001-06:00

November Prayer Letter

2008-12-01T21:42:00.002-06:00

October 2008- one family's story

2008-11-06T16:51:00.005-06:00

click image

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September 08- good questions!

2008-11-06T16:43:00.002-06:00

Featured: student questions that have been sent to me in the last couple months. Also, at the top is the conclusion to our car saga.

August- a divine appointment...

2008-10-08T13:37:00.000-05:00

July- Worldview issue

2008-08-16T18:32:00.002-05:00

(click image)
Taking a look around the world...

Florida in June

2008-07-23T00:06:00.003-05:00

<---- click here!

(our official website may be down for a couple days starting July 22)

April and May

2008-05-22T09:05:00.003-05:00

We're going through some big changes right now. Please read about the end of the school year and our plans to join long-term staff with Cru!

March Madness

2008-04-17T17:27:00.001-05:00

Click on the March newsletter to read it! We had a blast over spring break...

Adventure avec les Francais

2008-04-17T17:26:00.003-05:00

(story continued from the prayer letter)
As Thursday morning rolled around, I was a bit nervous on behalf of the students- yet excited at the same time! I got a call around 7. It was Tony. I knew he had been waiting to hear back from our national director in France named Joe.
Although all of our interactions with this news station had been positive so far, Joe had a different perspective. He told us that this station (audience similar to the WB here in the U.S.) and this show (kind of like 20/20) were notorious for trying to "expose" things. Basically, Joe was quite concerned that they wouldn't portray us well, and therefore Agape France (CCC in France), Christians, and Christ himself would get a bad rep. After all, it wouldn't be too difficult to cut a weeks worth of footage down to 2 minutes and skew it however they want. Not to mention, there would be captions involved, and that translation inevitably would loose some of the real meaning, if not skewing it, too. There was a group on the beach with signs saying "God hates _____," you know, those 'Christians' who must think judgment and hate is attractive. Please pray that this crew didn't tape those people, and if they did, pray that they didn't assume they are with our conference! (Though I trust that the Holy Spirit could have prevented all of the above)
So Joe and Tony consulted the Lord and decided that the wisest decision would be to cancel.
However, the station was allowed to use all footage they had previously taken. As far as I know, I might be the only one that they personally knew was with the conference, since I introduced myself to them that Tuesday. I know they taped several students sharing their faith--but only from a distance could they record it. With the wind and the noise on the beach, I might be the only conversation that had good audio with it. They might be forced to use this great conversation with such delightful girls who wanted to receive Christ! How awesome would that be?!
Pray that no matter what happens, whether this station tries to portray us in a bad light or not, that the Lord's Word and His Truth would go out to the nation of France! I am so thrilled (though unworthy) that God wants to use me to accomplish His purpose overseas!

(I'll keep you posted if I ever find out what the station used for their story, if anything. God is good either way!)

February prayer

2008-03-09T22:47:00.002-05:00

prayer letter/devotional :-)

I got pretty fancy this month...

Liza

2008-03-09T22:09:00.002-05:00

(Liza's in the green and her sis is behind her)

Cassie, my friend on staff here with Cru, was one day doing follow-ups in a dorm with a disciple. The two were trying to connect with some people who had gone to "Porn Nation" and filled out a contact card- usually wanting an article or book. One girl was just arriving home as they approached her door. She was very friendly and invited them into her room filled with beer banners and other similar advertisements. Cassie could tell it was going to be a great conversation.

Liza opened up to them right away about some of the struggles in her life. As they talked about Leahy's presentation and how Christ came to free us from such things, Cassie was able to relate completely. She did not know the Lord until late in college either. At one point, Cassie asked Liza, "Are you finding this lifestyle to be pretty empty, too?" Liza agreed wholeheartedly!

During their conversation, Liza made the decision to put her trust in Christ. Shortly thereafter, she revealed that her sister is involved in Campus Crusade here in Madison! Cassie urged her to tell her sister about this new decision. So Liza did, and the next day the two of them came to our Womens' Overnight. It was so fun to see how God had answered several of her sister's prayers in the last couple years! He is so faithful. :-)

January's update!

2008-03-09T21:35:00.003-05:00

This might just be my favorite prayer letter yet! :-)

Guest Book

2008-01-16T01:12:00.000-06:00

We are always encouraged to hear from you and know that you care about us! Please leave your comments here-- even just your name to say "hi". Oh, and you don't need to be a blog member to use it. :-)

Gratefully,
Trent and Tara

click here to go back to trentandtara.com

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Our brochure :-)

2008-01-12T18:52:00.000-06:00

This is the brochure that we made this summer- it gives you an idea of who we are and where we're heading!

2008-01-12T12:50:00.001-06:00

December prayer letter!

new website!

2008-01-04T14:56:00.000-06:00

So you may have noticed that our old website doesn't belong to us anymore, but that's okay! We've got a new one that Trent has cleverly put together (and this one will be ours for good):

trentandtara.com

We're still adding a few things and making tweaks, but it's ready for viewing, and it now has all of our prayer letters (cause this blog is finicky about showing them). What else do you think our new site should include????
Let us know!

November Update!

2007-12-18T18:11:00.001-06:00

suggestion? We'd love to hear it!

Story that didn't make it in this issue because this isn't a Madison student:
Written by Cheeia (from a mostly Hmong family)...

This past Saturday, is going to be a day in my life that I will never forget, and all the glory and praise goes to our AH-MAZING God. On Saturday my family had an huge family reunion/early turkey dinner/welcoming the new year get together- and there were families there from all around the states and there were roughly around 300ish people there. Earlier last week my dad had asked me to give a talk about college life and what I have been learning and give advice to anyone who would be interested in going to college. I wasn't too thrilled about it because there were going to be so many people there, but then I kind of thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to share the Gospel with the whole family. I wasn’t really serious about doing it because there would be too many people and I wouldn’t even know what to say. I thought it would just be neat, but God was serious about it! I prayed about it and I came across Jeremiah 1:7, where the LORD appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations and he says that he is only a child and doesn’t know what to say. But the LORD told him do not be afraid because He will rescue him. And as I was reading that I felt like the LORD was talking right to me. So I said, "God, alright if this is what you want then speak through me" and that is exactly what He did. So I gave a 7 minute talk about college and spent the rest of the thirty minutes that I had, sharing the Gospel and my testimony. After I finished, one of my cousins stood up and started trashing me. He was really upset at me for presenting the Gospel at a family gathering and for even mentioning God. He pretty much said that I was brainwashed. My brother, Mong, who is 19 stood up and started defending me and God. Guys, my brother is someone who, in a million years, I would never imagine doing anything like that. He hates it when I talk about God, he thinks Christianity is pretty much all psychological and that men created Christianity so that the world would be a safer place to live. He started yelling at my cousin and started crying. He said that God is real and that he thinks it’s amazing that I do have something to believe in. He said that I know that I am loved no matter what, which is something he didn't have and neither did a lot of people in that room. He pretty much bawled and admitted that he needs God and then he made up his own prayer and prayed to receive Christ in front of everyone! After that a lot of people came up to me and started asking me more questions about God and this whole unconditional love thing and what it really means to have God in one’s life. From my testimony God reached 17. A lot of the people that were interested in hearing about God didn't really speak English and my Hmong vocabulary is not so impressive. But God was like "hey Cheeia, what about the Jesus Film?" So, I went and downloaded the Jesus Film in Hmong from online and twenty more people accepted Christ from watching the Jesus Film. Guys, the Jesus Film is so BOSS!!! :) Saturday night, my great-grandma, my grandma, two of my sisters, two of my brothers and 31 other individuals accepted Christ as their LORD and SAVIOR!!!!!!!! Praise the LORD 37 new brothers and sisters!!!! I just wanted to encourage you guys to just keep on sharing your faith and keep on praying for the ones that you love who aren’t believers because God does hear you when you cry out to Him. As He says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will hear their land.”

October

2007-12-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

September Update!

2007-12-18T17:44:00.000-06:00

we like comments!

August Prayer Letter

2007-12-18T16:41:00.001-06:00

Here's our first prayer letter/update!
Click on it to read. :-)

It's been a while!

2007-11-04T01:03:00.000-05:00

So yeah.. we're married! And that apartment that I posted pictures of is THE apartment we now live in. Yeah, #20!

I've now got a full-time job with Campus Crusade for Christ, and it's going incredibly well! Maybe I should post my prayer letters online.....

Ta-da!

2007-04-18T20:03:00.000-05:00

Me with my hair/makeup stylist: Ally! There will be some changes from what you see (as in: the pin for my bangs will be gone-- it was only there to keep hair away as we did makeup, the wreath will be pruned, and the whole hairdo will be higher on my head.)

I'm happy! :-)

(37 more days!)

2007-04-18T20:02:00.000-05:00

hair!

2007-04-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

hair!

Birthday

2007-04-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

Angel food cake courtesy of Erica and Kaitlyn. The roomies had a spontaneous party for me!

Birthday

2007-04-18T19:56:00.000-05:00

Trent took me out for my 16th birthday. (What?!)
We went to a fancy steak place. Good choice, hun.

Lofty Goals

2007-04-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

A view from the loft. Hi, Trent!

Potential Place

2007-04-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

Possibly our future apartment at Whispering Oaks. Check out that snazzy yellow stove!

2007-02-08T16:30:00.000-06:00

Trent's Christmas gift to me: A picture of us made up of pictures of us!!! It's absolutely perfect, and I need to find a frame. :-)

2007-02-08T16:26:00.000-06:00

A close-up (where our shirts touch)

OUR WEBSITE!

2007-01-24T21:22:00.000-06:00

taraandtrent.com

Go ahead! It's ready!

2006-12-01T15:34:00.000-06:00

Trent's cousin (Avery's) wedding. This was over 3 months ago (just after we got engaged!) 176 days left for us.. but who's counting?

2006-12-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

Our talent: The first song in the medley was a-capella brady bunch theme. "Here's the story, of some godly ladies, who were living in a big house called the FLOCK....." Following this calm and dainty start, our musically incluned roomies busted out the punk.

2006-12-01T15:25:00.000-06:00

My house (the FLOCK) did a medley of parodies for the talent show. I can't sing, but I tried... I look pretty convincing though, right?

2006-12-01T15:14:00.000-06:00

The senior women did a tribute for the senior men (and vice versa), so I got to say some nice things about my honey. He turned red. So did I.

2006-10-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

this is me in my dress!

Proposal Video Hits Cyberspace!

2006-09-23T14:11:00.001-05:00

Yes, the engagement video is on the web. Go ahead and watch me do a double-take, then turn back around because I didn't know what was going on. Oh, poor Trent. It's beautiful nonetheless. Here's the link: http://71.66.232.216:24/~osp/Pictures/Tara.Swift/Engagement/index.html

Please try to DOWNLOAD IT. To do this, simply click on the movie icon, then in the upper-right hand corner there will be a download symbol. Just click on that! It might take several minutes, but it will download. Please don't view it on the website I listed above.. it will tie up our friend's server and be a huge burden for him. Thanks, guys! (Thanks, RC, for doing this!!)

(Trent or RC, do you have any other downloading tips?)

In other news, we had our first per-marital counseling meeting today. It was in a large group, just to let all the newly-engaged at Blackhawk Church know how things are run there. Their motto is: WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN GREAT WEDDINGS, WE'RE INTERESTED IN GREAT MARRIAGES. I love that. I also felt so good about our relationship while I listened to the pastor talk. I can't imagine what I would have felt like if we hadn't been honoring eachother and God and reserving certain intimacies for marriage. I don't feel like I've missed out at all, but rather, my life IS and will be so much more rich because of the decisions we've made together. I just thank God that he and I are so aligned (and I thank Trent, too)!

The other thing I really love about Blackhawk's pre-marital program is that it's not just jumping through hoops. If you don't want to sign something, you don't have to. They're very clear about their purpose in helping us build a strong marriage, and Trent and I will be paired with a "mentor couple." They'll be a church couple that's been married at least 5 years, and we'll spend 6-10 sessions with them just getting to know them and learning from them. Of course, all the couples have been trained, but the pastor said he didn't want to "over-train" them so that the meetings remain pretty casual. This should be really fun! He said there'll be one session where this couple gets to tell us honestly who we are as a couple and what each of us needs to work on. I look forward to that so much! Trent just doesn't seem to see anything wrong with me.. lol. Well no, but I do want to know what I need to work on.

Lastly, I got my dress! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO. It's so me. I saw it online (among hundreds of others) and knew it was the one for me. So I went to the store and got it. An hour and a half was all the time it took to get my dress. Hehe.. if you want to see it, and you're not my future groom, let me know!

I have been betrothed

2006-09-01T01:58:00.001-05:00

Pinch me, please!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am to begin marriage with Trenton John. But, before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you the engagement story:

This past weekend was the leadership retreat at Loken's Cabin. 53 of the Crusade leaders for next year were there, and it was a great time to see people I hadn't seen in months and plan for this coming year. (I'll be leading a Bible Study). Last year, before we left, Trent and I had Sarah Emerson take some pictures of us with the scenery. Trent wanted to do that again this year.

Though I thought it was a bit interesting, since the pictures would look pretty much the same as last year's, I went along with it-- clueless. We eventually made our way to the dock, where Sarah said, "I've seen this really cute picture where the girl is looking at the scenery and the guy is looking at her. Do you guys want to do that?" I said sure and Sarah told me which way to look. The video picks up here.....

We'll be getting the video on the internet very very soon. Because I don't want to type everything, I'll just tell you what you can't hear in the video. Once I turned around, Trent proposed to me in French, saying "Tara will you be my bride?" Stunned, but not shocked, I searched my brain for the word "yes," but nothing was registering in English, much less French. Finally the English came to me, I said yes through my tears (I'm sure it felt like forever to him), and then a "OUI!" came out even louder.

I slipped the ring onto my finger, not noticing it had a wedding band attached to it. I found out later that it was the exact same ring Trent's dad used to propose to his mom (minus the wedding band). I'm so glad that that's what he did! The next day we got the stone placed into a different setting just for me. It's incredibly beautiful, and I'm glad he didn't go overboard with it. I know how much he loves me; he could have given me a twistie tie for a ring and I would have been quite happy! My ring is elegant, simple, perfect.

Back to the story.... After a long hug+tears, a roar of cheers came from the cabin. We made our way up the hill, where everyone on the retreat was waiting for us. We had a little party there, and then drove to LaCrosse. His family and mine had dinner together, and it was just the perfect day. I wouldn't have planned it any differently if I had had the opportunity.

I'm excited about a lot of things.
First, I'm excited to have a wedding. Second, I'm excited for you-- you'll get to see the pictures and the video once we put it on the net! Third, I'm excited for Trent's cousin's wedding this weekend.. it'll be so fun to start the initiation process into the Schaller family. BUT, what I'm most excited about is starting a lifetime with Trent and serving the Lord along-side him. Marriage is a beautiful picture of the kind of relationship God wants with each of us. I can hardly sit still as I think about the joys and even the struggles we're going to face together. I really don't think anyone could love me more than he does, and I happen to know he says the same about me. Hey, Trent, let's get married!

2006-08-29T14:19:00.000-05:00

2006-08-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

Home, sweet, not-quite home

2006-08-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

At least we're back in the Midwest.

So we took off from Orlando on Friday afternoon and hobbled into Atlanta that night. Something was very wrong-- electrical things in the car kept turning off. Fortunately we were staying with my sister-in-law's parents that night, and they took us to a Meineke the next morning. After a few hours and a new alternator, we were good to go. Trent's wallet was a bit lighter, too.

Saturday night we rolled in to my cousin's house in Illinois, got a good night's sleep, then Sunday proceeded to Platteville and then LaCrosse. We spent that night at Trent's house, then this morning we took off for Minneapolis. (we counted 31 busted tires between Orlando and Minneapolis) Trent is needed here to install a server, and I'm going to finish up a bunch of random jobs I started while in Orlando. This is the fun stuff, you know, the things that are always at the end of a to-do list. Yay!!

So after this, we go back to LaCrosse for a couple days, then to Trent's cousin's wedding in Chicago, then to Platteville for 4 days, then a day at Noah's Ark, then a 3 day leadership retreat for Crusade, then LaCrosse for 4 days, then to Trent's cousin's wedding in Green Bay, and then school starts!

If you followed all that, you're way ahead of me.

2006-08-09T08:51:00.000-05:00

Step 1: Prepare the amo.

2006-08-09T08:50:00.000-05:00

Step 2: Hide in fountain.

2006-08-09T08:49:00.001-05:00

Step 3: Lure the boy.

2006-08-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

Step 4: Soak and run.

2006-08-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

We spent Saturday at Cocoa Beach-- sharing our faith for two hours and playing in the ocean for the rest of the time. We had the option to partner guy/girl this time, so Trent and I went together and talked with other couples on the beach. Our first conversation with a couple from England was very lengthy. They loved to chat, and the woman was totally open about spiritual things. I just love that! She didn't fear me judging her, and I did a lot more listening than normal. Because of that, I felt like I could address her theories that didn't line up with God's Word, and she responded positively. She even changed her mind about what actually saves a person! When I met her, she was very works-based. She believed, as many people do, that if you just do a whole lot of good things in your life, God will certainly let you into heaven.
Well, after taking her through some scripture about faith in Jesus Christ and what it means to follow Him, she realized that faith and love of Christ is what will prompt us to do those good works, but the works themselves are not what saves us. It's the faith. We cannot merit heaven by our own power. We must aknowledge God's gracious gift he's offered us freely that will remove the gap between us and him. What is that gift? It's his son's life- stainless and pure- that we are able to trade with our own lives that are so messed up. We pray now that Sharon will be able to share this message with her husband. Pray that he will have a hungry heart and open ears.
The second conversation was incredible as well. Trent and I got to talk with another couple, and during my conversation with the wife, she asked me point-blank: "What is the Holy Spirit?"
Wow, what an opportunity. So I asked her if she wanted me to take her through scriptures that explain it well or if she wanted my version. She asked for my version, so I handed her a "Satisfied?" booklet and recommended that she go through it later. Then I proceeded with my experience with the Holy Spirit, some fun analogies about Michael Jordan either coaching you in basketball or actually being able to play through you and your body (which is like having Jesus here in the flesh or having the Holy Spirit living in you). She, like the other lady, was so hungry. She had questions. She asked for advice.
Her husband was doing the same thing. He was asking Trent all sorts of questions about his relationship with me. The guy was stunned that we don't have sex, and I thought to myself, "well he'd just keel over if he knew the full extent of our commitment to God in this relationship." Apparently he also had asked Trent to email him the answer to a question. He didn't even want an answer right then- he wanted Trent to go do some research and then contact him on a later date. We think that's pretty cool, too. Please pray right now for this couple: Lisa and Ken.... and the other couple from England: Sharon and Terry.

Random fact from last week: Trent's car died on the way to work one day. It just barely made it there before dying... the air conditioning went out, and several other things just stopped working all at the same time. So he got it jump-started, took it in, and they said nothing was wrong. Everything has been running perfectly smoothly since then, and we thank God for that. We also appreciate the car a lot more now.

2006-08-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

In the evening, we had a worship time on the beach where we circled up around the guitar. In the middle of it, I noticed some dolphins swimming by the shore. There were 4 of them, and it was a beautiful sight! Unfortunately my camera only caught two, and it's dark and fuzzy (though photoshop helped). I thought I'd share it with you all. I'd love to someday see dophins jump, but until then, I'm thankful the Lord brought them by our shore as we worshiped Him that night.

2006-08-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

Now I know why "bird brain" is an insult. This feathered friend is either not-too-bright, or really brave. These shots were taken at "Gatorland" where Trent and I saw literally hundreds of alligators and other Floridian animals.

2006-08-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

This guy was a monster. The sign by his "cage" informed us that he had eaten many a dog in his day, and that's why they had to pen him. I'd guess he was 10 feet long, and if you look at his feet, well, they're growing some tumors. The rest of the wildlife at Gatorland is in it's natural habitat (for the most part.)

2006-08-04T13:29:00.000-05:00

At 5:45 last night, I looked out my window and saw something like this moving toward our condos. We had planned a big potluck for the whole neighborhood, and it was supposed to be outside by the lake at 6:30, but rain would totally ruin it. So I prayed. By 6:00, it was raining hard, and the weather channel said the clouds weren't moving. We prayed and prayed. The Evangelism Team had worked so hard on putting this night together! We wanted to meet the neighbors and have a good time. We had so much food, too! At 6:25, we were still sitting in the condo listening to the rain......

2006-08-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

.... at 6:30, when the potluck was supposed to start, it was only sprinkling. Minutes later it had completely stopped. Only 7 of our neighbors came, but we had a great time talking with them. The last two people to arrive were actually out on a walk and saw us. I went over to them, and immediately noticed their French accents. THRILLED, I asked them where they were from, and the guy, Roman, was from Poland, and his girlfriend, Maria, was from Spain, but they are both fluent in French! I gestured toward my "Toulouse" t-shirt, and immediately they started talking to me in French. I'm incredibly rusty, but at least I have a good accent. They wanted to know all about what we were doing here this summer, why I was in France last summer, what exactly Crusade does, and on and on with questions. I answered most of them in English. It was just the coolest thing, and I'm so thankful for that encounter!! I hadn't SPOKEN French all summer long, and now I can leave happy (not that I wouldn't have.) I really felt the Lord's supernatural hand over the whole evening....

2006-08-04T13:20:00.000-05:00

.....and God smiled.

2006-08-02T12:46:00.000-05:00

The Don Townsend poster. Designer's time goes to highest bidder.

2006-08-02T10:53:00.000-05:00

This is the front/back cover of the new student-brochure I made for OneStory. Exciting, eh? Go ahead, click on it!!

2006-08-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

the inside! Do you know how cool I think this is?!?! If you click on it and have a hard time reading the text, go to "view" and select "full screen." That should do it, so long as your monitor is decent.

can't keep up with this thing

2006-08-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

You know, last summer I had no problem keeping up with my blog. I think I'm even busier this summer than I was last. With 47 hours of work each week, and something going on every night, what's a girl to do?!

It's all good, though. Now let me tell you about our Don Townsend "Magic and Miracles" outreach. It happened Saturday night, and probably about 100 people showed up, which was small, but still a good number.

After lots of magic, Don began to speak about God during his tricks. It all tied together beautifully, and he posed a question to the audience: Who do you think Christ was?

I'll try to quote him now, "Many people say that Christ was a great religous leader. Some even say he was one of the best teachers of all time. While this may be true, we must consider who he claimed to be: God himself. There are two possibilities concerning this claim-- either it was true or it was false. And if it was false, there are two possibilities-- either he knew it was false, or he didn't know it was false. If it's true, then he is Lord. If it was false and he knew it, then he's a liar who led what's probably the greatest disception of all time. If it was false but he didn't know it, then he'd be a lunatic. He certainly couldn't have been just a great religious leader, though he did say some of the most profound things ever said."

Don spent a lot of time talking about the Resurrection. After all, Christianity is hinged on it. If Christ had only died for our sins, it would have just been another death. By rising from the dead (and the 3-days-later thing is key) and fulfilling the prophesys , God let us know for the final time that yes, Christ is in fact the Messiah. If the Messiah can't defeat death, he ain't no Messiah.

So anyway, Don talked through some incredible evidence for the resurrection. He went through all the theories of "they got the wrong tomb," "the guards stole him," "the disciples stole time", etc. The disciples were really the only ones who had a motive to steal the body, but check this out: if they had stolen it, that would have meant that they knew he wasn't really going to rise from the dead, which meant Jesus was lying and they knew it. They would have known the whole thing was a hoax. BUT, if you look at their lives, something is interesting. Lots of men will die for a cause that is true. Lots of men will also die for a cause that they think is true. But no one gives up their lives for something that they know is false. The disciples gave up their lives.. they were martyrs. If Christ's life isn't enough to convince someone, just look at the lives of those around him. These guys were totally sold out to God. I hope I am too!

The happy ending to my story is that 6 people placed their faith in Jesus Christ last Saturday night. It's so cool that Jesus is still making a difference on earth today, and it's no small thing. He's more alive than ever!

2006-08-02T09:23:00.000-05:00

Friday night several of us went swing dancing at UCF. I hadn't laughed so much in a long time. No, I wasn't laughing at anyone.. it was just a really good time. :-)

2006-08-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

We helped out at a food bank for a couple hours on Saturday afternoon before the magic show. We're just a bit tired in this picture.. no one really wanted to take it. I still had the smile plastered on my face from the wedding. heh!

2006-08-02T08:54:00.000-05:00

If you ever get a chance to see Don Townsend perform, do it. He's the funniest and most profound magician I've ever seen.

2006-08-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

I'm magical.... woot woot!

2006-07-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

The newlyweds! Congrats again, Adam and Kristie! (sorry I don't have any of the pictures from the wedding or the wedding party.. the camera malfunctioned. So Krispy, if you could have Holly or her bf send me some good ones of the bridesmaids, whole party, etc.. that would be super-nice. I'll be patient until then.) :-)

2006-07-26T16:06:00.000-05:00

me and the boys (Adam on left.. yeah he's married now.. and Troy on the right. oh, that's me in the middle.. i know.. ya hardly recognise me!)

2006-07-26T16:05:00.000-05:00

yep, he's mine.

If I only had had a parachute...

2006-07-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

Here's a little story from my flight home:
My flight to Minneapolis from Orlando was, to say the least, different. I had never flown alone before, but I was wel experienced at flying. I boarded, sat down in my nice little window seat, and waited to see who would sit next to me. Meanwhile, I was praying. I mean, who knows what God could do!! Sometimes he likes to use me in big ways while sitting next to a random person. I hoped whoever it was He was going to plant next to me would be a talkative person.
A newlywed couple just off their honeymoon ended up sitting next to me. Now, if you didn't know, it's said that females communicate 60% with body language. Who knows where that stat came from, but I'll just say that this new wife sat down, turned her back almost completely to me, and leaned into her husband. She didn't even look out the window, much less at me.
This was going to be a challenge. After we took off and they refused my gum offer, I asked a couple more questions, found out they had just been married, and watched as they shut me down again. The stewardess gave me an apple juice, I drank half of it, left it sit on my tray, and fell asleep.
I awoke some time later to find that my drink had spilled all over my shorts, a bit on my shirt, soaked into the seat, and was running down my legs. And that wet seat did not smell good. Stunned and stuck, I looked at the silent couple for help, but they had no tissues or anything. The stewardess brought me a couple paper towels, but frankly there wasn't much I could do for the rest of the flight except go to the lavatory and grab more paper towels to sit on.
The good news is that I got to talk just a bit with this couple. They're moving to a city in North Dakota that my Summer Project leaders from last year live in now. I got to hear the bare facts about their honeymoon, as well as what each of them will be doing in the coming year, and they asked about my internship at Campus Crusade. I asked the girl about the book she was reading, but she was far too engrossed in it to really have a conversation. Her tone told me enough. Since we were starting to decend by that point, I stopped trying to talk and just prayed for them. They really didn't seem to enjoy eachother, yet they had just gotten married!
So I took my sticky self to my next gate, expecting an hour's layover, but it had turned into two. Frustrated, since we had just flown over Platteville, I calculated the time it would take to fly to Madison and drive to Pville considering this new delay. I discovered that if I had had a parachute on the last flight, I could be in Platteville 5 hours earlier than what would actually happen.
BUT, God is still with me, and was determined not to give up. He had something planned for this time. So, I told him "hey, I'm still here, and I really want you to use me. This is me being available for your glory." And I sat down. Across from me (at my new gate with new people) was a girl talking on her cell phone. She mentioned her flight from Orlando, and my semi-dry shorts and I noticed. When she got off the phone, I said "hey I was just on you last flight!" So we talked about why we were in Orlando, why we're going to Madison, etc, and I found out that she's got a 3 month nursing position near Orlando and her grandma's getting married in Sun Prairie.
We talked for over an hour, up until boarding time, and it was kinda like we've been friends for a long time. We decided we should have been travel buddies, had we known about the other. Oh, and her name is Kimberly. She looks incredibly like my new sister-in-law. Though we weren't seated next to eachother on the short flight to Madison, i prayed for an opportunity to talk with her more.
I sat down, had a nice conversation with the lady next to me who works full time for a Lutheran Church, and when the seat belt sign was turned off, I looked for Kim. The plane was competely full except for one seat, and there was a blonde girl in the seat next to it. Raising myself a bit higher, I prayed it would be Kim. It was!!
I went and sat in the open seat, very excited. She started talking about how her bf would be on a flight the next morning. Mine too! Then she told me about how big of a computer geek he is. Oh we had much in common. She asked me some more about my internship, and I stayed in that seat until we landed. We exchanged numbers and emails, and hopefully she'll be able to come with us when we go to Cocoa Beach next weekend (this weekend we're going to a food bank to help out).

So Kim and I parted ways, but I hope to see her again soon. Troy met me at airport exit, and we had a nice drive home. All in all, those extra 5 hours were worth it. Knowing that God has a plan takes a lot of frustration out of life. At first I was upset about my national cell phone plan, too, because I wanted to use it at the airport for those two hours, but I don't have those kind of minutes. See, in all the little things God was there working things out. I could have been so frustrated by it, but instead, thankfully, I chose to open my eyes, make myself available to Him, and allow Him to move me. Time is a big deal. It's limited. I only have so much. But really, it's not mine. My time will be used according to God's purposes and not my own. I can't think of anything more fulfilling!

If I only had had a parachute, my time would have been wasted on me.

2006-07-25T08:09:00.000-05:00

Consider this a teaser.... I'll post more pix soon! Congrats to Adam and Kristie Swift!!!

2006-07-19T12:01:00.000-05:00

Friday afternoon we attended what was quite literally a worldwide potluck with the international students...

2006-07-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

and there was plenty of entertainment... provided by volunteers from the crowd.

2006-07-19T10:19:00.000-05:00

On Friday night we did an outreach in a popular public area. My partner and I got to talk with several people-- the first two girls were super friendly and invited us to sit with them. They were very interested in God and each wanted to have a copy of the "Connecting with God" booklets we had. After several more conversations, I saw the same kid in an Atari shirt that i had seen before. His name is Marcel, he's in high school, and he's super interested in learning about religions. His friend is Muslim but not super-faithful, his mom is a strong Christ follower, his Dad is an atheist, and his uncle's a pastor. His ideas are a mix of Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam... (continued below)

Swimming, Schallers, and Service

2006-07-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

continued from above:

...but when asked who goes to heaven, he said "those who are saved by believing in Jesus Christ."
I wasn't expecting that answer. So Marcel and I talked some more, and he told me that his life goes back and fourth between the two circles. ( http://www.everystudent.com/features/gettingconnected.html Scroll 2/3 the way down to see image.) I asked him where he wants to be, and he said somewhere in between the two circles. His honesty was nice. Then I asked him what prevented him from desiring to be in the second circle, and he really wasn't sure. He told me that he likes to read a lot, and he got excited when I asked about C.S. Lewis. So I have him several book references, of course Lee Strobel was in there, too. I also had a copy of "More than a Carpenter" on hand, and he received that with great excitement. I told him a bit about the author, Josh McDowell.

The boy was super-pumped about our conversation, and though he didn't want to make any decisions right at that moment, he said he'd do more research, get more books, and talk to his uncle. I felt an urgency to get him to make a decision right then and there, and I told him about God's promise to give us the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ. It's strange that I feel if I don't see someone receive Christ while I'm on Project, then somehow I've failed, but THAT'S TOTALLY NOT TRUE! I recognized that while I was with him, and before I left I reassured him that God will allow him the dignity of making his own decision. I know Marcel is sincerely seeking truth, and God’s Word promises that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13, and that is just what he’s doing. I’m at such peace knowing Marcel will find his maker. God is proud of me simply for being a stepping stone for a boy on an important journey.

SWIMMING
Saturday morning some of us were in the pool with our beach ball and my inner tube floatie. There were only 4 of us, and we were having a good time as usual.. nothing obnoxious or out of the ordinary. Then this security guard walks in, checks our pool passes, and proceeds to apologize for what he's about to do. He told us that the rules say "no inflatable objects" in the pool, which of course would include my innertube and beach ball. Roberto continued to tell us of more ridiculous rules, and we just had to laugh because he thought they were crazy, and yet he has to enforce them. Apparently this lady calls security all the time when she sees a pool rule being violated (ex. no children under 2 in the pool... even if a parent is holding them!). So he had gotten a call that day saying "A group of kids is making a ruckus in the pool with several inflatable toys!" So when he got there, he found us swimming peaceful with a beach ball and tube. He said he expected to find a large raft and some inflatable canoes or something. He continued to talk about how this lady watches from her "perch" and calls in several times a day. Roberto also revealed that our pool is the only one in Ventura that has these ridiculous rules. Interesting. I am so tempted to bring my deflated tube with me from now on and just leave it sit on the deck while i swim. But that would be evil.

So then we left, and half an hour later Trent's sister calls me. "Tara, Trent lost his cell phone, and some lady called us and says she has it." So we called it, she answered, and we went outside to meet her. He had left it at the pool, and as we were walking she made sure to tell us "that dumpster over there is for recycling only.. for regular trash you'll want to go over here." Yes, we've been here 6 weeks... there's a HUGE sign by each dumpster... hmmmmmm.. could this be the lady?
(Evidently, our community desired to be for retired people only, but by law they can't discriminate by age... so now there are 31 college kids there. Yikes. Thankfully the other residents aren't like this lady, though we are appreciative of her returning the cell phone promptly..)

SCHALLERS
Saturday night Trent and I went to his uncle's house for dinner and a movie. It was nice to get away for a bit, have an EXCELLENT meal, and spend some time with his family. We spent most of the evening with Trent's cousin and his girlfriend. It was so good to be able to act like a normal couple instead of being in a huge group of single people.

SERVICE (church service)
Sunday was amazing. All summer long I've been going to different churches, and none of them have been just exactly what I'm looking for. It's been good though to really think and pray about what kind of community I'd like to be involved in permanently once I get planted somewhere, and now I know that it exists outside of my home church! I'm picky, but God's ok with that.
The best part about it was that Trent liked it too. A couple weeks ago we had had a conversation that basically revealed our different preferences. There's no difference in the truths that need to be taught, just a difference in style. He liked what he was used to, and I like what I'm used to. Well, this Vineyard church somehow met all the requirements we both had!!!! I really didn't think it was possible, but God proved me wrong. We'll be going back there some more before the summer's through. :-)

SWIMMING 2
Roberto came back to the pool on Sunday afternoon. He told us about his report to the lady (I won't say what he calls her.. but it has something to do with a nocturnal flying creature). She has some type of camera on the pool, so she can sit in her living room and watch out for any "ruckus"!!!! That's so illegal! Also, she asked him about the girl in green. That's me. She asked, "Is that girl swimming in her clothes?!" I have a green halter top and a black suit-skirt. Yeah, they aren't the same color, but they're both swimming-wear. So Roberto got to explain to this lady that we are Christians, and my suit (and other girls' suits) are of the conservative fashion. I got such a kick out of that!!!! Then Roberto concluded with "That lady needs to get a hobby.. she needs to find Jesus!"

SERVICE (Ben's Story)
Ben Rivera, one of the staff from Big Break, came to speak to our group on Monday night. He preached on a passage in Mark 9:33-41. The main point was that in God's eyes, being great means serving the lowest of the low. I suggest you read that passage; it speaks so much better than I could. Keep in mind that in the Jewish culture, children were the very lowest on the totem pole.
Ben also told a story that really touched me. He has 3 grown daughters, but when they were young he'd take one out to lunch each week. When Holly, the youngest, was in kindergarten and it was her week for lunch, he told her he'd pick her up at lunch time. The kids had from 11-11:30 as recess, 11:30-12 for eating, and 12-12:30 they rolled out the mats for naps. (We really need to extend that practice through college). Ben's meeting was supposed to be out at 11, but it ended up going to almost 12:15. He got to the school at about 12:30, and when he came to Holly's room, he opened the door a crack to see a black room with mats everywhere. Then he spotted his daughter sitting on a table by a window. She came to him, and as they walked down the hallway holding hands, she said "Daddy I knew you'd come."
All the girls were bubbering at that point. Wow, that girl put all her trust in her dad and knew he wouldn't let her down. Though Ben was talking about service (and yes I was much convicted about that), this story spoke greatly of the childlike faith God wants from each of us. Do you trust Him to show up even when He's late on your timeline??

SWIFT/HEIER WEDDING
is this weekend!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooooooo excited!!! Krispy, how you doing? We're all praying for the the family down here. My prayer for you is that you'll be able to soak up and enjoy every moment. :-) See you Friday!!!

when little things become a big deal

2006-07-14T07:36:00.000-05:00

"... if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)

So yesterday I did something I felt should be done. It was a pretty insignificant thing, really, but everyone in the group knew about it, whether they paid any attention or not. But one of the girls had a small problem with it. She brought it up to me, and I was stunned.

She, however, did not have all the information she needed, so I filled her in. But at the same time, I was so stunned that she probably had a hard time understanding through my shock, and I certainly didn't understand why she'd call me out on something I didn't do wrong!

But she closed the conversation by encouraging me and saying some nice things, so that was that. I felt like I walked away still feeling "I'm right," and so did she. So I sent her an email.

Though I tried really hard not to leave traces of bitterness in the email, I knew it must be there since I wrote it with a bitter heart. Thinking about the whole situation consumed me the rest of the day. And it was about something so insignificant!!!!

Last night was a Reflection Night, and I sat there thinking about this situation- how she was so uptight, picky, and untrusting of me. Was everyone out to get me? Do they all think I'm less than them? So I'm not on leadership.. why??? Did the staff think badly of me? I'm a born leader.. I've led pretty much everything I've been involved in since elementary school! (That's pretty much true.)

BUT, I needed to spend time with the Lord. So I decided to push back these thoughts and focus on Him. Okay... push!!!! Thoughts, go away!!! Focus, focus. God help me focus. I'll deal with this stuff later. So I read some chapters and other resources, and for a bit I was focused.

But then they came back. Okay, God, I have something against my sister. i remember that verse in Matthew. What should I do? Do I really want to assert my "right-ness?" I feel bad about the bitter email, even if she didn't know it was bitter. Somehow I doubt I covered it up that well. Yeah, this shouldn't be a big deal, but it's just going to get bigger if I don't do something about it.

So I went to her condo. I asked her if she'd like to take a walk. I apologised. She apologised. We talked about things. She said she totally sees what I was doing now. I said I totally understand now why you saw it the way you did, and now I even think you were right! Then we talked about other things. There was laugher. No, no one cried... but we are still girls. It was probably the best conversation I've had in a while, and instead of there being tension between us, now we love eachother even more, and I can empathize with her.

Praise God! His Word is truly the perfect direction for our lives.

(P.S. please pray for the picnic we're attending this afternoon-- it's a potluck with the international students at UCF. Also, tonight we're doing an outreach with Student Venture, the high school ministry. I'm not quite sure how to relate to high school students, but i once was one, and they think college people are cool, so this should be fun!)

2006-07-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

caption in below text.. so there's no excuse not to read it :-)

No Hablo Espanol

2006-07-12T14:11:00.000-05:00

So Eddie and Anna took me and Trent to a Spanish church this weekend. They said there'd be sub-titles. There weren't sub-titles.

Well, they didn't completely lie. At most services there's English. Unfortunately, we all found out that the last service is completely in Spanish, but fortunately Trent understood more than two words. However, I happened to be sitting the furthest away from the fluent Spanish-speakers, Eddie and Anna, so every 5 minutes Eddie leaned over Trent to whisper to me what was just talked about. And every time the audience would respond with something, I just said "bailemos." Thank you, Enrique. I'm pretty sure God got a kick out of it.

So next week, if things work out, we might be going to a differnt church with Eddie and Anna and their two friends. There they for-sure have subtitles and even an English speaker on the side (kind of like a signer for deaf people.. only I'm deaf to Spanish.)

So right now I'm working on the "student brochure," and then tonight the group will be learning about our spiritual gifts. Last night in Bible studies we talked about the fruits of the Spirit. It was sweet. I don't know that I learned anything new, but it was nice to connect with the other girls in my group on a deeper level. The Staff is gone now, so we feel more free to go on tangents and talk about whatever, and I like that. The fact that the conversation stems from a Bible passage is pretty cool. We talked a lot last night about miracles that some of us have seen in our lives, and I felt so blessed to have seen so many!

It's kinda crazy how easily we can forget what God's done in our lives.

Check out the picture above this post (you can click on any pix to see it larger). I'll try to keep them coming, as I'm guessing it's easier to understand my blogs when I have a visual. This picture is of everyone including staff, and it was taken in the East building here at Lake Hart. Good luck guessing who's staff (there are 13) and who's a student!

2006-07-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

Conversations roll...

2006-07-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

The madness continues! We had another international dinner last night, and this time we had to use 4 condos. (In this shot is my condo and at least one other combined for the magic show). The Lord provided 15-20 more people than the last one (around 70), so total there were about 85-90 people!!!!! Since there are 44 of us including staff, well, you do the math as to how many international students came. Praise God! It was such a good time for everyone. I actually got to meet and talk with some of our neighbors who stopped outside our window. Heh!

2006-07-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

Marc, one of our staff guys (Evangeline Vergo's husband), is a professional magician. He did two magic shows last night-- each show was for two condos combined. It was a real hit with the international students!

2006-07-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

These are the two guys in my conversation group on Thursdays (along with jenny, who ended up in a different condo). Saleh is in front, and Mohammed is rubbing his chin. Both are from Saudi Arabia and have been here 6-9 months.

2006-07-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

and I made a new friend.. this is Chisoko- that's how you say it.. I have no idea how to spell it- and we're going to see Pirates of the Carribean with some of her friends who were also at the dinner. She's 19, from Japan, and has only been here 2 months. Though she speaks slowly, her English is already solid.

2006-07-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

This is the Evangelism team (we still are working on a better name). back-front, left-right: Andi (staff), Evangeline (Staff), David (Papa) Roach, Shawn Bonfield, Amy Chen, me, Matt Brainard, Ryan Carlson (RC). (This was taken in my condo, not that that tells you much).

2006-07-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

So I needed a lil break at work (i'm doing French translation today). I went outside to take these shots of the headquarters buildings. It's a real dump here, as you can see. And, as always in the afternoons, there are rain clouds overhead. (these are the twin buildings, if you couldn't tell. there's actually one more behind these two.. they form a U shape. Eventually there will be one more building where the flags are, to make a square).

2006-07-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is the view from the doors of one building looking at the other. The lawn in the middle is super nice (Dad, it's real golf course grass that was donated!), and it's called the "Quad." Between the time I took that last picture and the time I took this one, it rained and cleared up (note the wet sidewalk) (max time elapsed: 3 minutes) Yep, this is Florida!

fireworks, flights, fans, and faith

2006-07-05T09:27:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to the blog! I'm actually going to type something now (or at least I have every intention of doing so). My goal is to keep this organized, as I have a lot to share.

FLIGHTS:
So last week Trent and I were looking at flights so he could come back to Wisconsin with me for my brother's wedding (Adam's), which is now just more than 2 weeks away! After doing all sorts of searching, we found out that we'd have to get it approved first by the summer project staff directors (which we also discovered wasn't very likely).

So we prayed. I felt that i should write a letter, since they really didn't know much about what's going on. To them it might look like Trent and I just got together and now I want to steal him for the weekend even though I'm going to be super-busy. Anywho, they considered our request and on Monday granted him permission to come. Now I'll save you all the crazy details about flights, but basically I can't change what I already booked, so we have to go seperately.

BUT, my flights back just opened up a spot! So last night we were thinking about booking that for him, but unfortunately it was super-expensive. He was willing to do it, but we decided to hold off, talk to his parents, and pray. And so we prayed. And this morning the flight was still available AND it had been reduced in price by over 100 dollars. I'm SO glad God cares even about the little things. (I'm sure my family and Trent's family are glad too!)

FAITH:
If you've looked at the pictures and read the captions already, you'll know that we did an outreach yesterday at Lake Eola. We paired off, grabbed our surveys and KGP booklets, and began the always-interesting journey of trusting God with the immediate unknown. Lindsey and I approached a girl and she was so excited about what we were doing. She expressed her faith and even prayed for us right there. Pumped, we talked to another girl along the path who warmed up to us after a bit and told us that she's a really good person, so certainly God will let her into heaven. Before we left I told her (as gently as I could) that God asks us to put our faith not in our works, but into His Son. That resonated with her, and I ask you to pray for her-- Kristin.

Then we found another (Alli) sitting by herself waiting for her boyfriend to bring back some large pretzels. We were halfway through the survey when he returned, and I silently prayed that it wouldn't end the conversation. Interestingly, she touched the pretzel and complained that it was still frozen. The bf said "the guy heated it up," and then he realized his was frozen too. So Alli asked him to go back and have them heat it again. We all looked over at the long line, he sighed, got up, and we got more time with Alli! She expressed that she doesn't want much to do with God now, but after she "passes on" she might decide to "go that route." I told her that the Bible makes it clear that one must make such a decision before we die. After pointing out some scripture in the booklet, she said she'd never heard that before, took the booklet, and seemed intrigued. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to make a decision at this point, but we're praying that she'll read more of the KGP (knowing God personally). I just think God's ways are so funny-- especially with the frozen pretzels!

AND THEN I talked with a few more people, but one couple really caught my attention. They were interacting with me before I even started the survey (actually I wasn't planning on doing it with them at first). It was as if they already knew me. Their names are Eddie (from New York) and Anna (from Columbia). They're married and are believers. I sat down with them and started to talk, but soon i shut up. Eddie shared with me some amazing things God's done in his life, and when I left I was so encouraged! Anna, however, speaks mostly Spanish, and I was wishing Trent was with me. But later on, right before the fireworks started, I told Trent about them and how they wanted to meet him, but we couldn't both leave our spot or it would get taken. So I went and re-found Anna and Eddie (and some friends that had joined them), and i brought the 5 of them (two couples and the second couple's 7-year-old daughter) over to Trent. They all spoke Spanish (and some english for me). It was so great! Eddie and the young girl spoke to me because of the whole English-only thing.

After the fireworks they exchanged numbers, and they want to take us to church and lunch soon. Their church has subtitles in English! That's going to be strange for me, but I guess it will be like church in France, only this time with subtitles! We'll see how it goes. Trent's very excited, and I'll admit, I am, too. I'm just really missing my home church a lot right now. I've never found anything else quite like it!

FANS:
Our air conditioner went out again a couple days ago. Staff brought over some fans, so at least that kept it in the 80s for us. It was only out for a day. I almost didn't mention it, but it goes with my alliteration. (Oh, it's fixed for good now, not just "bandaged." They actually replaced the wires instead of taping them or something..)

FIREWORKS:
Those are the colorfully explosive things you'll be viewing in a moment. I think my typing is done for today, but you never know, there might be more! I'll try to take some pictures of the outside of headquarters soon and maybe the outside of my condo.

Quick side-note:
The staff leaves us this Friday. They'll be gone for the rest of project, and now we have student leaders. It going to be more work, I'm betting, but it'll be cool. I am being challenged right now with accepting that I wasn't asked to lead anything (since about 40% of the students were asked.) I guess I just thought for sure I'd be asked, since I step up quite a bit, but wow is that prideful. So this is humbling, as most things have been in the past year or so, and that's good. The Lord also knows that I have WAY more work to do than most other interns. A lot of them say they're not busy enough, and I tell them to come over to OneStory. :-) Did I mention that I love what I'm doing? I love what I'm doing!!!!!!

Now i should probably get back to it.

2006-07-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

This is a teeny-tiny puny fraction of the people surrounding Lake Eola last night. Many in this shot are on project with me, and let me tell you, we had the best view of anybody at the lake. I guess that's what happens when you claim a spot 5 hours before the fireworks. (We were there for the outreach anyway!)

2006-07-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

Just in case you didn't catch it the first time, we're back together!

2006-07-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

We watched the fireworks last night at Lake Eola (in the middle of Orlando) after doing an outreach in the evening. Yay for freedom!!!!!

2006-07-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

OOHHH

2006-07-05T09:09:00.001-05:00

AHHHH

2006-07-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

This is the front and back of the "dummy" template I made for the OneStory quarterly. It gets sent out to all the supporters, families of OneStory interns and workers, etc. I based the design, colors, and elements off the new website. Everything I'm doing will be similar to this-- to give OneStory its identity. How fun!

2006-07-05T09:06:00.000-05:00

Here's the inside of the "dummy" quartlerly. The stories in here aren't complete, but if you can read it, they're still interesting.

2006-07-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

This is my latest piece of work. It will become a large banner and an image that'll go on brochures, info papers, etc. The narrative in these pictures kind of summarises what OneStory's all about. If you click on it, you'll see a larger version. Can you pick out the diffferences between the people who appear twice?

2006-07-03T16:01:00.000-05:00

So we had a womens' night on Friday.. and they took us air-boating! The men only got to shoot guns. Yeah, we totally got the better deal. So our tour guide took us down the St. John River, and we came face-to-face with the Floridian wildlife. (On Wednesday I'll fill you in on what happens tommorrow-the 4th of july).

2006-07-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

We made a few friends..

2006-07-03T15:58:00.000-05:00

here's one swimming away from me. *whew!* i guess there's not enough meat on me.

2006-07-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

and then we ate alligator!

HEY! you might as well comment (my latest push for a more interactive blog)

2006-06-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

So it's recently come to my attention that there are at least a dozen people who read this blog but never comment. Though it pleases me to know that, seriously, you might as well comment.

I've heard that several memebers of the OSP STAFF read this regularly, RACHAEL reads this, STEVE KELLEY does too, ALEXIS, AUNT ANN, OTHER OSPers (Pearly?), INSERT YOUR NAME HERE; you might as well comment.

I have questions about these people, because I have reason to believe they might read my blog, but I'd like a comment just to be sure:
LAUREN SCHALLER, STEPHANIE GOLDNER, ANNE PAULINE CREPET, ERIK KRASZEWSKI, ADAM SWIFT, DONNA PERKINS, ERICA CHRISTIE, DEANNA OLSON, ALICIA PENNING, ROB HUGHES, CHRIS DELPONTE, MARIA BLOHOWEAK, BRITTNEY OLSON, and PATRICIA GILE. (sorry if I forgot you, but it only gives you more reason to comment!)

So if you're reading this, THANK YOU! But, here's what I want to know from you:
What do you like to hear about in my blog?
Is there anything you're curious about that I haven't touched on yet?
More or less pictures?
I just want to know your motive for checking my blog, cause seriously, if I weren't me, I probably wouldn't check it! (So... what do you like/dislike about it?)

I had a great weekend. Saturday we did some team-buliding exercises, and then it rained on our beach plans, so we had a "concert of priase and prayer" inside. Sunday I talked on the phone a lot, watched some movies, and went to a really cool church where I learned that if life is boring, it probably means you're not living daily by faith (which means you take few risks). As I reflect on that, I see that God does, in fact, make himself even more evident in my life when I take risks based on faith in Him. The Bible calls us to live a life of faith, not just talk about it. Now THAT's exciting.

Love you all!
Tara

now you may proceed to the "comment" section of your visit. Thank you and come again. :-D

30 years

2006-06-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

30 years ago today my parents made a vow to eachother that changed everything. They got married.

First I must say congratulations to them. Congratulations! And now I ponder what keeps a couple together for three decades. It's really not hard to figure out when looking at the two of them. They love eachother. Sure, Mom knows all of Dad's flaws. We witness a flag ceremony every now and again (family joke). And Dad knows that Mom will only eat half of a cookie, but I'm sure he's ok with it by now. Maybe now he eats one and a half (oh wow, i wish I had thought of that!).

But let me get to the point. They choose to love eachother each day. Never during my childhood did I feel that my parents were just putting up with the family because they had to. Oh no, somehow their enjoyment of eachother allowed us all to get along. Tension was never a member of our family. And though I'm sure my parents had their share of disagreements, right now I can't rember witnessing a single arguement. It's true. I've been sitting here trying to think about that, and I can't recall them ever arguing with eachother!

Dad's jokes may get old,
and Mom's stories have been told,
and though I roll my eyes,
my love I can't disguise.
I suppose I'm rather redundant, too.

Happy Anniversary, Momsy and Pops!

(do you like the nicknames? I didn't want to embarrass you with your real ones.)

Okay, and now to explain a 'flag ceremony'... well, I guess we could wait for a later blog. :-P