Adventures in the West : August 2015

Dear Lewiston First Naz,
I have been avoiding this final blog post because as long as I don't write it, I can pretend my summer adventure is still going and I am going back to Lewiston. However, I wanted to thank you, Lewiston First Naz, for the way you took me in an loved me this summer. Thank you for letting me love on your teenagers for three months. Thank you for walking by my side as I learned how to live 2,000 miles away from my family and everything I have ever known. Thank you for being the reason I walked away with a lifelong friend who I feel like I have known forever. Thank you for giving my Grandparents an opportunity (and probably the only one) to hear me preach, and thank you for the special opportunity to preach for the very first time on a platform my grandpa also preached on. Thank you for helping me realize how capable I am, but that it's also ok to ask for help. Thank you for being patient with me when I seemed like more work than help. Thank you for treating me like your own...like I had spent my who life in the valley. Thank you for expecting anything great out of me because of who my family is, but also knowing the potential I have. Thank you for surrounding a complete stranger on my first Sunday morning and all laying hands and praying over me. Thank you for allowing Cliff and Bill to mentor me this summer when that wasn't even their job, and thank you especially for allowing Aaron to take the time to teach me everything he did. Thank you for TacoTime runs and Kenzie's Blasts. Thank you for opening your homes to me when I was homesick. Thank you for allowing me a couple trips up to Coeur d'Alene to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you for your prayers and hugs. Thank you for sitting through my first sermon no matter how painful it might have been:) Thank you for introducing me to huckleberries and river nights. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live closer to my extended family than I ever have in my life.
Most of all.....Thank you for the best summer of my life. Thank you for helping me learn how to do this thing called ministry.
You have a special and large piece of my heart and I will forever be so grateful for the love and grace shown to me this summer.
I will be back to visit!
Love you all,
Hannah

Me above the LC Valley

Kelsey and Me

me and the Middletons

Me, Aaron, Cliff, and Bill

David and I hiking

Me and Grandpa and Grandma

my wonderful teens:)

me getting to preach

My adventure shoes and I made it though a fantastic summer of adventures!

I am sorry I have taken so long to write again! It has been a crazy crazy few weeks. Between spending time with students, trips to theme parks, and camp I have been very busy. It has been such a great few weeks, and I can’t believe I only have one week left. I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden three months were gone.

I was in charge of a trip to Silverwood which is the big theme park in the Northwest. I rode a ride called Aftershock. It literally goes from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds. It was ridiculous. No kids died, or got left, so I would call the trip a success.:)

I have gotten to spend time with my grandparents this summer which has been so fun. When you normally only get to see them every other year, getting to see them like 7 or 8 times in one summer is a pretty big deal.

Two weeks ago I went into the garage of the house I am staying at to get something out of the fridge, on my way out of the garage I hit a corner. I was on the phone with David and it hurt pretty bad so I hung up so that I could collect myself. I get to the front door and all of a sudden blood starts pouring out of my head. My first thought was, "Oh man, I can't get this on my shirt." So I leaned forward and put my hands on my head to keep the blood off my shirt, but in the process got it all over the floor. When I finally make it to the bathroom, I turn the light on only to be staring into the face of what looks like a murder victim, only to realize the person with a face covered in blood and blood running down my arms is, in fact, myself. So I had to clean up not only myself but the floor. It is still kind of tender, and when I touch it, it feels like someone is tapping the back of my head so that's fun! Now I have a shooting star looking battle wound to remember this summer by.:)

Two Saturdays ago I took a road trip with the Middleton’s (the youth pastor and his family) up to a camp north of Spokane, WA. It was such a fun day filled with laughs and loud singing. Oh and Red Robin:) I am so thankful for the Middleton’s and the way they have let me invade their family for the last 3 months. They have loved on me and teased me and treated me like I was part of them family and I love it.

Last Monday I headed to Northwest District Teen Camp. It was very different from home but so similar as well. The speaker was the same speaker that spoke at middle school camp for the Tennessee (now Midsouth) district last year. She did an awesome and really spoke into my students lives.

It was also a BEAUTIFUL camp. One of the things I love about the Northwest is how beautiful it is. I like Tennessee in the fall when the leaves change colors, but otherwise it has nothing on the Northwest.

I also was surprised on the first day of camp by my cousin John. He and I are 2 months apart and he surprised me at camp. I got to spend the whole week with him which was so fun since I don’t get to see him much. We got to go to NYC2011 together when we were in high school, and then we got to be counselors together this last week! It is so fun to have a cousin close in age that I have been able to share those experiences with.

This coming Sunday on August 9^th I will be preaching on a Sunday morning for the first time. This is completely terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I am very excited, though, to preach my first sermon in the church I was dedicated. I am also very excited to preach my first sermon on a platform my grandpa preached on. That’s really special to me. I will be giving my testimony as part of my sermon. If you want information on live streaming the service, you can talk to mom, however it will also be on a podcast in the next week or so!

Here is the best news yet. DAVID IS COMING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 3 months of not seeing him, I am totally over this whole long distance thing. I was not made to be a military girlfriend. Three months is enough for me. I cannot wait for him to walk off the airplane and give him the biggest hug and just be able to hold his hand….and maybe sneak a kiss or twoJ Ok. There is my mushiness.

With a week to go, going home is very bittersweet, and I hope no one takes offense to that. It is very hard to leave a place you have come to love. It’s hard to leave a place where I have grown in ways I didn’t even realize I needed to grow, and to leave people who have loved me so well and who have taught me so much. I have always, and always will love the Pacific Northwest, and I would be lying if I said I would hate to live here one day. However, I am so excited to come home to my family, both biological and other. I would not have grown this summer if those of you at home had not prepared me for this summer the way you did. I can’t wait to get to church to hug everyone and tell everyone about my adventure, but there will always be a piece of me now in Lewiston, Idaho, but I think we can all shareJ

See you in 7 days!!

Hannah