SSI

Many of you may have received letters in the mail in the last couple of days. For those who didn't receive those letters I will give a rough overview of what they contained.
This spring break I am going on a short term mission trip with the Christian group I am apart of up here at WWU. I am going with about 15 other people to the University of Montana, Missoula where we will be doing campus outreach and supporting the ministry team over there. I am quite excited as well as some what nervous as I haven't ever done a mission trip before. We will be leaving the weekend after final exams (March 20th) and driving to Montana where we will stay until the 27th. Then I get back to Bellingham and Spring quarter classes start Monday the 29th! :(
(speaking of classes, I have to still figure out what I am taking next quarter...I register this Thursday!)

So anyway this mission trip or SSI (student spring impact) trip is happening and our team has started to prepare. Many of the team members are very uncomfortable talking to strangers about Jesus and so there is a lot of encouragement in being bold in speaking about Him that is needed.
I am very excited for this trip and what God will do on it. Please be praying for me on this trip and in the time leading up to it. Prayer for myself and my team that we would be bold and seek Gods voice and for the campus that God would prepare the hearts of those he would like us to minister to. Also please be praying for me that I can raise enough support to fund this trip.
Thank you for your prayers and support (ahead of time) and I hope your February is going well.

I promise I will take pictures and post them here.

Rain

Such a strange winter. February has been blessed with early sun and lots of it. The warm weather and sunny days has brought spring early, or so the plants seem to think but Bellingham is a tricky place. The rain started again yesterday, and it came down with a vengeance. Water started falling from the sky about 2pm yesterday and by the time I got out of my Business law class at 6pm the water was falling in sheets. It was a down pour. With drains unable to handle the water, areas on campus and roadways began to flood. Not anything very serious but when you leave the house in the morning without planning for that weather it is severe.

I had left that morning with my windbreaker (no hood) and my trusty Razor Scooter. Now image getting out of class and you have no hood, jeans and a scooter that has 3 in wheels. I felt like I was fording the Columbia! By the time I got home I was wet, soaked, drenched. My clothes were 10 lbs heavier.

Bellingham, you have tricked me once this year, I will not be tricked again.

Goals

As you may have seen, writings on this blog have been few and far between these last few months and so I asked myself the reason. There seems to be a lack of interest in writing but more importantly it is a weakness I have. I am not very good and maintaining friendships with people I don't normally hang out with. That basically means I don't call friends who are not in the same area as I am. Sad...I know. Thus I have come up with an easy 4 goal system to remedy the situation.

Goal #1:

Be more consistent at maintaining contact with people who I don't interact with regularly.

Goal #2:

Stay in contact with friends from back home.

Goal #3:

Talk to friends and family who are not in Bellingham on a more consistent basis.

Goal #4:

Encourage other people to help me in the previous 3 goals by having them email and call me...(hint)

By following this simple four goal system I will achieve what I lack. And if you call now you could win a free poster with the 4 goal system all for your own. ;)

Okay, so I should really get going with the rest of this beautiful Friday. Sunny and warm and only 3 afternoon classes. Hope your day is going well and may the Lord bless you.

Silver Star

Wow okay...so I have not posted on this in...well a long time. I will not make excuses, just say that the desire to write here has not been strong enough to overcome the other things. Anyhow I have decided to write now but I am not going to become overwhelmed with trying to tell everything I have been doing.
Quick recap, school started this quarter. Its going well although the computer programing class is very difficult. Otherwise classes are going well. Taking engineering electronics, pc programing, business law and moral philosophy.
I'm leading a core in Nash with Will Peterson. It is really enjoyable and rewarding. It also makes me very busy.
Living in the North Star is also going well. I could say pages on the living situation but I don't feel like writing about it now so...I am really enjoying it.

This last weekend was Valentines day and Bryce Mitchell and I went on our second annual Valentine weekend ski trip. We went with two others, Britney Wight and Dan Hancock to Silver Star Canada. It was pretty sweet. There were a ton of Australians there. I skied Saturday but only part of Sunday do to my knee hurting pretty bad.
I would upload a bunch of pictures but I am on a school pc so I don't have them. Here is a link to my face book page where I have photos of the trip.



http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=142586&id=649589526&l=cbd7acd20e



Enjoy

A Saturday at Mt Baker

The Mt Baker crew of Saturday December 5th, 2009.
From left to right, Ben, Trinh, Bryce, Andrea, Mark, Jhenya, Adrew, Britney, Daniel, Tatem, Jake, Levi and Alex. It was great to go with so many people. Even thought you went in smaller groups you were bound to run into other people you knew. It was a beautiful cold bluebird day. Jake and Mark on the lift #1

No shave Nov, my room and Thanksgiving

The End of No Shave November

Will Peterson and I now have our own desks and it so nice. You cant understand how unorganized your life feels without a desk until you try it while at school for 3 months.

Did quite a bit of bowling over thanksgiving break. Oh, and ate lots of pumpkin pie.

Cranberry sauce Bowl! 4 hours of soccer in the mud and rain!

Hard Core

The night started with heavy sleet, just above freezing temperatures and 14 Nash boys who were still wet behind the ears. The journey to manhood was a wet and cold one as those 14 boys prepared for the ordeal ahead of then. They crammed into two cars, 7 in each, 5 up front, two in the trunk and drove down to their destination. 8pm, Down on the boardwalk overlooking Bellingham bay they stripped down to their shorts. The freezing sleet and rain beat upon their unprotected bodies soaking them and rapidly lowering their body temperatures. They then clambered down the ramp to the edge of the dock and launched themselves into the bay. It was cold, very very cold. The temperature outside was about 36 F but that water felt even colder. The speed at which they were able to exit that water would stun even trained professionals and navy seals but then again it was cold and being cold has a way of motivating people in ways other things cannot. they shot out of the water, screaming and yelling at the top of their longs. The outside seemed warm compared to the water but then the brain freeze set in. They had never experienced such pain in their head before. It felt as if a vice made of both fire and ice were crushing their skulls between its jaws. As they hobbled back towards their clothes the ramp cut into their frozen feet causing some of them to begin to bleed. They made it back to their clothes and began to dry off. It was hard for them to move, their bodies were so frozen but now those boys are men and have shown their courage and strength. They can now call themselves a brotherhood.

After making it back to the cars they piled in and drove back to campus. Not to the dorms, no, that would be to simple, they drove to the rec center. They walked inside in soaking wet shorts and damp t-shirts while the rain poured and the wind howled outside. They went in and and went Hot Tubing! Oh yes, that is right, they lowered their chilled frozen bodies into that hot water and soaked, for a long time. It was a good night!

This is Nash Core, 2009-10 and this is what we do!
Nashites, the few, the Strong, the brave.

(sorry no pictures, to wet for cameras)

Wind

It has been incredibly windy these last 2 weeks. Winds gusting over 50 MPH with a steady wind of about 30MPH nonstop. We had class canceled last Wednesday do to power outages and a lot of windows got blown out on campus. Our house is still standing but I will need to go check the roof for tiles being blown off after it gets to be nicer weather. These photos were taken about 2 weeks ago, right before the wind started. It is now calm and gray outside.