[part two]
On to Saturday. My weekend started at 6:00 am! (I haven't seen 6am in a long time!) The alarm went off and eventually I rolled out of bed around 6:15. I got dressed, cooked breakfast, and all that good stuff, and was at the church by 7:00. We, the college and career group, were going to Ichetucknee for the day, which, for those who don't know, is a river (or spring, or whatever you call it) that you float down on tubes or rafts or whatever. I had fun, but that's probably because I wasn't the victim of friendly tube-flipping. Poor Allison, she was the victim of the day! She only lasted the first half of the river and left at our lunch break. If the guys don't drive her insane by the time she's 25, nothing will! The first half of our day was quite cloudy and therefore quite cold in the 72 degree water. The sun finally came out after lunch though. As we got in the cars to go home, the rain finally hit and it poured the rest of the day. When I got home I was supposed to call Laci because we had talked about going out to a movie or something. I took my hot shower, got dressed, ate, and finally called her, sorta hoping that she had decided she didn't want to do anything because I was exhausted. To my surprise, that's exactly what she said--she didn't want to go out because she was tired from working all day. We did get to talk for quite a while on the phone, though, which was good. We did two months worth of ranting to each other in 20 minutes! Record time! It was good to talk to her again.

Sunday was Westside's "God and Country Day." It was good. First of all, I started going in Danny's new Sunday School class last week and I think I'll really like it, so I'm gonna stay while I'm here for the summer. The past two weeks he's just been sharing his heart as to where he wants the class to go. What I love about Danny is he gets a vision and will go after it with everything he has till he gets there. Tina, Philip, Erin, and JR are also helping out in the class in various aspects. I'm really excited about what's going to happen. I'll have to leave in September for school, but it will be cool to see where they are when I'm home on break.

During the morning service Bro. Keith preached from Jeremiah chapter 8. It was a really good message about the state of a nation, dealing with the Public, the Pew (the church), the Politician, and the Preacher. One verse he mentioned was 22 which says, "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" I paraphrased it this way: "Have I not given you everything you need to be cured (of your sin)? Am I not capable of healing you? Then why do you still live in sin?" The message dealt with a nation's "health" problem: the nation is sin-sick. Is there not a cure? Jeremiah proclaims: Yes, Christ is the cure, yet the people will not repent. They would rather hear the lies of false teachers who tell them that they do not have a problem. Bro. Keith's message was really good and really eye opening as to where our responsibilities lie. I always enjoy hearing him speak.

Sunday evening our guest speaker was Cheryl McGuinness, as well as her daughter. Cheryl's husband was the pilot of the first plane that hit the World Trade Center towers. I wouldn't necessarily say that Cheryl was the most powerful speaker I've ever heard, but the faith that she and her daughter displayed was incredible! It was so obvious how important their faith was to them and to their healing process. And their faith is what allows them to reach out and encourage others. My favorite part of Sunday night's service was when we (the choir) sang "It Is Well," as well as "How Great Thou Art" which was in a great arrangement. Those two songs are so powerful.

Monday I got called in to work, which is great because I need all the extra hours I can get. It was a full length shift, too, so I was very grateful.

The only other thing worth mentioning is God's incredible wisdom. He always seems to provide things for me that are exactly what I need, even when I don't know what it is that I need. The last few weeks have been full of things like that. I'm so glad that God always surpasses our meager expectations of Him.