Well everyone, I leave in 15 hours to get on a shuttle to drive to the airport to head off to Namibia. My heart is so anxious right now, but I think it's because my "Namibia drive" is already up and running :-) As pastor Darin would say, "Sleep when you get home" although I am hoping I could somehow get in one good night's sleep before take off, but I have a feeling my nerves will take over. I'm glad I have people in my life to remind me not to worry so much though :-) I just finished a book this morning called "Seizing your divine moment" by Erwin McManus. Nothing in that book was necessarily new (I have a really smart friend who should write his own book) because I've gotten the same advice before. But what was different was many more years of life experience. It is always comforting to me to read another believer's story who is so much farther down the road than I am. To know that I am not alone in the journey called life, and that other people who seem so put together have gone through the same things that I am currently going through. You learned about this man's horrible proposal to his wife, his failure and successes as a pastor, and his awesome heart for God. Probably the biggest thing I got out of it is that if you love God and are seeking after Him, what you are doing is already in God's will. I know that I worry so often, spending hours praying for a burning bush or a note in the sky, when a lot of times we need to just get up and go. Another aspect of the story that I loved is how he tied the story of Jonathan and his armor barer throughout the story. Jonathan was long gone living out God's will, while Saul was back praying for a sign. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be so scared of life that I don't live it. I don't want to miss out on God's awesome plans for my life when deep down you know what His will is, but you waste time praying to know all the specifics. I've been learning that God is so much bigger than practical, and so much bigger than specifics. All we really need to do is to love Him with all of our hearts, and seize any moment we can to love God more, and to share that love with other people. Life isn't so much about getting it right, but about living the best you can by loving God to the best of your ability, and loving others and sharing God's love with them as best as we can. I just saw on my really smart friend's site that "love is the greatest calling." I can worry about everything that phrase means, and worry about all the details but then I miss out on getting to experience all that God has intended. I'm looking forward to going back to a place where I don't worry and I simply live. My new favorite quote is "Life is a journey, Seize every moment." I'm sure it's already a quote or two different quotes that I have merged together, but that is my encouragement to all of you. Love until you have nothing left to give, and I promise the results are rewarding. After writing my heart out I feel much better and I'm ready to get going. Prayer is always good and please check out the Namibia blogsite: http://namibia2006.blogspot.com/ this is where you can look at pictures, hear updates, and see all the amazing things that God is doing. Also you cna leave me comments :-) I like getting those. Love you all and looking forward to sharing this journey with you :-) love in Christ, Amanda PS: I did not edit this post so ignore all the typos and run ons :-)

I Love my Daddy because:

1) He still loved me even when mom would give me crazy hairstyles like this attempt at a mini mohawk
2)He strives to change when he knows he has done wrong
3)When I was in a baby beauty pagent, my mom was too scared to go on stage, so he was the only dad up there :-) I got second place, but I bet it's only cuz all the mom's voted for that good looking guy ;-)
4) I got my love for cookies and ice cream from him, yet he failed to give me his amazing metabolism :-) he also taught me "the look" (all you need is oreos :-)
5) He gives me money when I need it
6) He makes up his own words to songs, and sometimes sings off-key
7) He makes me smile, and in all my pictures as a baby I am always smiling when he is with me
8) He loves me no matter what I do/ have done
9) He took me to see the backstreet boys in eighth grade
10) But most of all I love my daddy because God blessed me with a dad loves me and would do anything to take away any pain I face.

I am so thankful for my dad, and it is so awesome to see that no matter what phase of life I'm in, he is still there...

I have no idea where to start... When I found out that Children's Hospital in Boston was flying my family out to D.C. I had no idea what to expect. We got on a plane and after a delay we were off. My family did really well, and besides the fact that my ears killed, and that our shuttle got lost we made it to our hotel :-)

I had culture shock walking underneath the sign that said 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue and entering this beautiful building.
This was like no hotel I've ever stayed in before. Although the hospital got a discount we were staying in rooms that were normally $1,000 a night! We had fun ordering room service, and enjoying the big rooms.

On Tuesday morning the real fun began :-) God blessed us with gorgeous weather and we loaded onto a bus for a tour of D.C. Our first stop was the Air and Space Museam where we saw fun things like Amelia Earhart's plane, the Wright brothers plane, the luna rover, german war planes, many cool planet exhibits, and so much more! Then we left and headed to the jefferson memorial where we had a picnic lunch and had a gorgeous view of the washington monument. Then we got to see the White House! It's funny after seeing Independence Day, Air Force One, and a bunch of other movies centered around the white house, when we saw it, it seemed smaller than I imagined but so cool! The building was beautiful even with the "impeach bush signs" and all the security on the roof, it was pretty sweet :-) But, I had one photo oppurtunity with Bush and I completley blew it! I blinked!

haha! kidding... Bush was in Iraq, but here is a fun picture of me with S.J. and Andrew in front of the White House:

After leaving the white house we headed back to the hotel and had a meeting where we learned all about "lobbying" and what the next day would look like with meeting and talking with the senators at the capitol.

That night they had a special dinner planned for us at the National Zoo and the band Scythian played. They were incredible! These guys had an Irish feel to them, and their amazing fiddle playing made me want to learn the violin again :-) We watched as these guys made dreams come true, including that of my little brother Andrew. Andrew loves music and he has a very good ear. These guys let him come up on stage and play around ten songs with them. They kept "upgrading" his instruments, and they let him play a shaker, tambourine, they taught him how to use a washboard (haha it was awesome :-) the drums, accordian..... They were pretty much blown away, and wanted him to go tour with them, hehe. It was fun watching Andrew up there, and these guys made the difference in so many kids lives, it was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. I love Irish music, and the smiles on these kids faces were incredible! The animals did not even come close to that experience! Andrew and I each got one of their CD's too, so we can have ourselves a regular Irish Pub experience anytime, without the beer of course :-)

Wednesday was crazy. We were all dressed up to go to the capitol, had breakfast with Senator Kennedy, camera's were everywhere so that was intimidating. Then throughout the day we took a tour of the capitol, and met Charlie Bass, and John Sanunnu. It was kind of a blur, but we were able to advocate the importance of Children's Hospitals to the people who have the power to change things and bring great support.

With a visit to the Lincoln Memorial, Starbucks, and back to the hotel, we were already back on our journey home. It was an incredible trip and my family was so blessed to be able to have this experience and meet some great families. Being able to experience something like this and have it all be free was an incredible blessing and I know it meant the world to Andrew and to my family, so thank you Children's Hospital!

I will add websites with more pictures from the trip when I am not so tired, and when Scythian, and Children's Hospital get their links up.

As for the normal adventures in life, my last day at work is tomorrow, then I am hoping to have a sleepover saturday night with a few of the junior high girls, then off to Maine next week! Namibia is only fourteen days away.

I also have started reading "Seizing your Divine Moment" and I love it so far. One of my favorite quotes so far is so straightforward it makes me laugh, but with some nerves of graduating next year it's been helpful. "If the future terrifies you, take it one moment at a time." :-) I have so many thoughts on just the first two chapters, but that's for another entry.

Be Blessed everyone, and remember to seek after Him in everything!

~Amanda

PS: Currently my picture option isn't letting me add any more pictures to this entry, but I will soon!

We attended my cousin’s graduation in P.A. last weekend. I am not going to lie by saying it was a completely great weekend because truth is, it was rough at some points. It was really hard keeping a good attitude when I had to go back to PA after being home for only one week. Not to mention having 6 people crammed in the pilot with all our stuff was kind of fun, but we survived, clashing personalities and all ;-) Saturday was rough, it was my birthday, and I just really wanted to be home waking up in my own bed, Alyssa called though making it feel more like home, and I got to go shopping and stuff, it’s funny how I used to remember looking forward to my birthday, but it really just feels now like any other day… I guess that’s what happens when you start getting old ;-) My cousin’s graduation was Sunday, she looked really beautiful (she goes to a private school where they where gowns and the guys wear tuxes, so it was a fancy ordeal), and it is always good to see her, which did make the 6-hour ride worth it.

Then we traveled back home. I cannot tell you how beautiful my house looked. :-P But I came upstairs to my room to see this:

While I was gone my good friend Amanda had decorated my room, and had written me a really sweet card, (awwww!) did I mention it was good to be home? hehe, but all in all it was an entertaining trip.

Random Babblings: In other news I got to see my daddy today, I’ve even already decided that I am going to try and write a special father’s day post and give him the website so he can see it. I have a few ideas, so we will see how that turns out.

I also have so much reading I want to do- I want to read these books not in any special order:
1) Ragamuffin Gospel
2) Desiring God
3) St. Augustine’s Confessions (I’ve read a little bit of it in West Civ. but would love to read the whole thing)
4) Seizing Your Divine Moment
5) I don’t have a specific title in mind for this one, and I know I have read many books like this growing up, but I want to find a new title about finding your value in God. Out of all the conversations I have been having with teen girls of late, I think this is one of the biggest issues, that I think we all struggle with to some extent. We let others determine our value, when the one who created us is the only one who truly understands how valuable we are.
6) Another big issue, that has come up a lot in my conversations with teens is… take a guess? The opposite sex and dating, I’m sure that is no surprise to anyone :-) I am just hoping I will stumble across a good one that will talk about what real love looks like. I loved the book “When God writes your Love Story” by Eric and Leslie Ludy, and that is one I can definitely recommend, but anyone else have any ideas??? (I think I am directing this question at you Lisa, because I think you mentioned a title awhile back???) Plus, I love reading books on this subject myself, it’s a good reminder to hold out for something wonderful, but to not let it be the most important thing to you in life. To learn that the most important thing is to fall in love with God first and any relationship that stems out of that should be one that centers around this great love for God.
7) A good mystery fiction book, I used to love Dee Henderson, so I might have to see what’s current.

So as you can see I will have a full summer as far as reading is concerned- Deep theology, romance, adventure, having a passionate heart after God, and suspense… all of which I think make up a life of depth and one that is full of meaning and joy, should be an interesting summer :-)

Lastly, my next post will be about Washington D.C. My family and I leave tomorrow, and will be back late Wednesday night, so prayer for flights would be good. I have to be the brave one since my mom hasn’t flown in 23 years, it’s been almost as long for Doug, and neither of my brothers have flown before. I know it will be fine but I always get a little nervous. So I hope I have tons to share with you, and who knows... maybe we’ll even run into George W. ;-)

Be Blessed everyone!

Sweet Dreams :-)

I’m gonna back track a little bit. I am going to start a series of posts entitled “My Adventures” because even though my summer is going to be crazy busy, God has blessed me with an opportunity to do some pretty exciting things, and go to many different places. So I figured, I would use these experiences to share with you what God is doing in my life through each one, and to keep anyone who reads this updated on my life :-)

I think My first adventure was getting ready to leave BBC, a place that I came to love in the last 3 or so weeks of the school year… but at least I finally got it at the end… I’ve always been told “better late than never” Here are some graduation pics... awww!