Monday, March 2, 2009

On Thursday morning we left the DMC for our trip to Big Sandy. On the way, we stopped at the home of Glenda Lauter. Mrs. Lauter, who is one of Lauren’s mentors, very graciously opened up her home to us. She served us a delicious meal and made us feel at home.

It felt very nice to be in a house after almost four weeks of living in a training center! The time we spent at her home was very relaxing for us. Mrs. Lauter, her daughter Julie, and Lauren’s mom all spoke to us during the course of the day.

Julie shared with us part of her testimony, and told us that nothing outside of ourselves can satisfy us, only Jesus. She told us that God designs frustration to push us into His arms. Mrs. Lauter told us that we are all Esthers in our kingdoms, that we are all where we are for a purpose. She also emphasized that God wastes nothing in our lives, and that he uses our “warts” as tools. It may look like we’ve messed up or made the wrong decision, but God uses that. The only thing that we should be concerned about is intimacy with God.

Our day at Mrs. Lauter’s was a huge blessing and encouragement. After we left her house around 4:30, we went to the ALERT campus in Big Sandy. On the way we got slowed down by a traffic jam, and all of us non-Texans saw something we had never seen before. People were using the shoulder as a third lane, and some drivers were even driving on the grass on the side of the road! We eventually made it out of the jam, and arrived in Big Sandy at dusk. We spent the first part of the evening at the home of Mrs. Farr, and she had us play some games to build teamwork. In one of the games we learned how important communication is, and that each person is vital to the team.

Afterwards we all gathered outside to hike to our campsite, in the dark. It turned out that we were going to be camping primitively (no electricity, no bathhouses, and no running water). It was an unexpected turn of events (even for the leaders), but after the first shock (and the arrival of daylight the next morning) things looked a little better.

Our Thursday was quite full; we learned a lot in it.

For all the AE girls,

Lisa Dzimianski

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