Warning: this list you are about to read may consist of actually adventurous stuff, some questionable experiences, and maybe something not even crazy at all.
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Are mission trips just vacations other people pay for? Do they actually help anything? Or, are they a waste? Last summer I traveled with my youth group to Mexico for a mission trip. It was amazing, and I learned a lot. However, before we left, missionaries there cautioned us; they warned us against the mindset of trying to “save the world” or being “Santa Claus” to the natives. We had asked what they wanted us to do - did they want us to bring supplies, do construction or paint something for them? Their answer was no. As I opened my glistening mouth to the taco meal ahead, I realized the goodness of it all. The spicy meat and the juicy tomatoes made a perfectly acidity component to the creamy cheese and bright lettuce. It certainly looked beautiful enough to eat, but the flavor though.... Phenomenal. It had tasted even better. I enjoyed the meal to the fullest, only a few beautiful moments ago. Sometimes however, it doesn't look beautiful at first. Like a maple bacon donut or broccoli or a cold pool or a scary piano competition. You know it might pay off someday but it's not fun to take the first step toward it. In life, the first bite is the hardest.
You either nibble, or go all out. To take the first bite of something new, you have to go out of your comfort zone; you have to take a chance; you have to step forward and go for it. When you take the first bite you may have no idea what is coming next. You might be pleasantly surprised. You may be shocked, or you may be disappointed. Same with the first takeoff, dive, jump, or Go big or go home, is what I always say. And that's why the second bite is my favorite. A soft breeze from the open windows refreshingly floats around me as I write this piece. A mason jar crisp with water is at my side as I think about the rest of this year. It is February now, not the start of 2017 but not the end either. Every day is a fresh start, a time for change, a new perspective, a wiped-clean surface. A time to reflect on the past and hope for the future. Today I realize I want to do something different than before. Than 2016 or all the other years. I don't want to go through cycles of working and working only to find myself burnt out, sluggish, and weak as I lay on the couch feeling guilty. Today I realize I need a consistent schedule of planning and productivity and also moments to myself. I need goals and checklists and then a walk. Or a nap. Or just a time of "resting my eyes." ;) Oftentimes I need a break from this life, especially when my introverted personality pops out. I just really need to breathe. Breathe. That's my word.
The blustery wind enveloped the old wrinkled woman as she lay shivering upon her husband's grave. She grasped her threadbare coat closer to her as she tried to stay warm by Frederick's cold, dark tombstone. She had made a promise, and she would keep it. Ever since Frederick had lay dying in her shaky arms twenty-two months ago, she had kept the promise that she would never leave his side. She had helped feed him his beloved chamomile tea, brought him ice chips in his feverish state, and stroked his brow during his last breaths. She had helped nurse him, bury him, and lay his tombstone...never leaving his side....twenty-two months ago. yes, right here, right now, this frosty moment–I am eating and embracing my breakfast, which is in a bowl. In the bottom of my bowl lies flakes of corn, dotted with sweet granola. Just before I sank my mouth onto the spoon filled with crunch goodness, I aimed and tipped over the gallon of milk. The clear gallon of milk was filled to the brim, and was so heavy that I almost lost my balance trying to pour it with one hand. I poured the frothy milk into the small bowl and watched the cereal flakes dip deep down in the bottom of the milk pool, then they popped back up, swirling as they floated in the frosty milk. I smiled. I grabbed a spoon, a spoon almost too large for my mouth but it was the only one clean of germs.
And I dipped the spoon into the milky pool, and had no regrets as I removed some of the sweet flakes floating in the milk with my spoon. And I ate it. It was the frosty bowl. Frosty with milk, and frosty with the cornflakes. And frosty with my attitude as I did not care that the poor cereal had to be eaten and digested. Sorry, but it’s your job. And I ate it–and it was good.
"No!! Ahh! Someone! Help me!! Linda.. Linda I love you!" The poor man in captivity cried, the axe about to slice into the flesh of his neck. Wrinkled as a newborn pig and gnarly as a tree, the old man who wielded the axe next to him, chuckled in mock pity. Charles Leroy, the old man, was just about to reach his lifelong goal of mutilating 100 heads of various victims. 98 heads so far. Luckily, the authorities hadn't caught him yet, probably since he had killed so many of them. In fact, he had even chopped of the heads of three lieutenants, four freight train drivers, and fifteen of his nieces. He was doing better than ever before, and he paused a second to smirk in pride of his achievement. The captive man still was plastered wailing against the wall, clutching it as if it could save his life. It was time for the dirty deed. Charles Leroy gathered his strength, chest puffed up and muscles shaking, as he couldn't believe his luck. It was about to happen. His life long dream come true. Charles raised up his axe slowly, and the poor little man shut his eyes in defeat. As he whisked the sharp axe through the air, he heard a noise. Someone was coming through his back door, and he didn't have much time. Charles decided to go through with the murder, jabbed the axe into the flesh, and proceeded in bursting open the veins of his 99th victim. Charles whacked at him again, and breathed in disbelief as the man fell to the floor at his feet, realizing his goal was almost reached and hoping it would be reached. The man was dead now, but as he heard the policemen coming through his house, coming through his door, coming for him, he gasped and realized one thing. It was over. And all his life, his hard work, his evil deeds, his penny pinching, his dreams and hopes, his lifelong goal.... Was perished. It's that day of the year again.
The depressing day after the most wonderful day of the year, Christmas Day. Yesterday was a magical, sparkling, surprising, funny, amazing, delicious day - a day of giving and celebrating the greatest Gift of all. And today.... The trash can is full to the brim of crumpled wrapping paper, the living room is crowded with gifts, the garbage disposal is overflowing with old gravy, the fridge is stuffed with leftovers, and our hearts are about to burst with gratitude and joy for all God (and our parents) have given us. Even though the lights on the Christmas tree are slowly going out, creeping up from bottom to top, I hope the lights in our faces and hearts will never go out. The light of joy and Jesus anyway, not the light of an iPad shining on your face as you watch a movie all night. Yesterday was the most magical day ever - I was so surprised! And today will be a wonderful day too, with Christmas break and all. But what happens when we go back to school? When the newness of all our presents slowly start to wear off and we are back in the boring humdrum of school? Will we become just like we were before, complaint and whiny and self centered? ........ “THE Wanda E. Brunstetter HERSELF is here tonight!!!’” What?!?! Where?!?! I practically fell out of my seat and there I saw her, popping her dainty head above the audience. She looked just like I’ve seen her, on the back of her books. My face white, my heart pounding, my tongue panting, my sister finally pulled me back into my seat. I took a picture of the back of her head, like any normal fan would, and couldn’t be quiet until at least half the play was over. Which was hilarious, by the way.....
Heartland Youth Camp 2015.
A fun time. The best time! I can't believe how great a week I had at this youth camp; everything was just awesomer than last year. My team: the Gideonites. Hosted by Mark Marriott, his wife, and a couple assistants. I actually knew some of these people on my team, and the people I didn't know I know now. :) They were all just so nice and encouraging... Sniff sniff.... They all will never know how much it meant to me. When we played volleyball and I got distracted, they didn't mind. When I had a cut on my hand, they helped me. And when I was trying to do quizzing and Bible Baseball, they encouraged me. It was so nice really. Conclusion: my team was amazing. I really love school. Heh heh. Do you wonder why? I will tell you if you want to know! Well, I will tell you anyway.
So here's why. I love school because I love the feel of the fresh school supplies, the clean white paper, the pointy sharpened pencils just waiting to be picked up and written with. I love using the school supplies and being organized, taking notes and using highlighters (usually on the whole page...). I love separating my tests and quizzes into folders and hole punching papers into binders. I love carrying around my little bundle of class supplies for each different class. I love taking notes with my mechanical pencil and neat handwriting (sometimes..). I love the fresh start of a new page in my notebook, and organizing all these things in my locker. Hello, I am Karissa Bird and I have some breaking news for you today. You will be very excited like me! Next year at this very time I might be going to......Mexico! I can't wait to go there and help people... Help the missionaries... Work on my construction skills...(haha)..See what it's like... Show Jesus...And explore... :) I've never been on a missions trip out of the country, and I've always wanted to go on one. Now I only have one more year to wait! I have already started praying and preparing for this amazingly exciting trip. I'm sure it will change my life. And I have just so many plans... It'll be amazing. (Hopefully.) So here are some of my plans: Learn Spanish! (Uhh duh) Get fit and strong and in shape! (With my "fitness trainer" Megan, who makes up her own exercises...) update: I have just started jogging and will hopefully keep it up. I hope to be fit soon... Heh heh) Practice eating Mexican food. (Oh no that's so hard..) Help my dad in the basement to learn "construction" skills, since that's what we're doing down there. Start a business to..Earn enough money to buy my own camera. 😃 Write a lot about the adventure in a journal, to record my life changing experience in detail. The end. Ok so I wrote a blog post about how excited I am to go to Mexico. Mission accomplished! Now I am going to eat ice cream. Over and out. Details: So there's this awesome youth group I'm in called Impact. You should go to it. Anyway... We go on a mission trip every other year, so this is one of them! I'm so excited... Traveling is my dream... I want to help people..... Mexico will be a wonderful place to go. My friend and I went exploring yesterday, toting along our camera bags. We walked by a creek and snapped images frozen in time. We blazed through the woods, and struggled through muddy trails. We had fun, and found a lot of good subjects to photograph. Here is the creek that is loved so much. I'm the photographer at our Egypt-themed VBS this week, so watch for updates & pics. Hoping to start a photography business soon; that would be so fun and I could earn money for my mission trips. Maybe buy more equipment and supplies later on, if the business works. Writing is an amazing thing. You can make your characters do anything you want. (Most of the time. But actually.. Sometimes they do stuff you can't control. Humph.) You can go anywhere, and do anything. You can make them poor, or make them rich. And they can learn lessons too. Imagination is an amazing thing. Mine isn't very good, but it is very handy for writing. You can seriously go anywhere in the world. I've read books that have taken me to China, Greece, England, South America. I've gone to the Yukon, and I've been a doctor in Africa. I've gotten my head chopped off a couple times after the rapture, and I've gone to heaven too. Which is weird. But yes. Imagination is awesome. And writing goes with it! And the best thing of all: no one is grading me on this writing. I don't have to worry if I have good transitions or if I have a controlling idea that actually controls. I don't have to worry about doing a second draft. I don't have to worry about what people will think when they see my horrible writing. (Although, if you are reading this, I probably will worry what you will think. And I'll be embarrassed.... But that's ok) I don't have to worry about any of these things, Because this is a blog post. The End. Note: This is by Karissa Bird, not Mark Bird. Right now, I am just so excited for my future life. There's so many things coming up, so many plans to plan, and so many dreams I dream. Just so wonderful my life is. And I'm also excited about what God is doing in my life.. We're growing closer. And also.... in two days we buy a house. A cozy, beautiful one that is out in the perfect location. Complete with mysterious woods just right to explore! (And it also has a pantry! And a really awesome laundry room!) I'm excited to decorate my new sparkling clean bedroom. With a "travel" theme. Why? Because I love to travel.... ;) aka adventure. explore. And go to places. I also love to play the piano. (i am trying to compose a song. It's not going that great, but maybe someday it will be good. Idk..... It's called "You are Going to Die Soon") And I get to go to piano camp in a few weeks! AKA Hilltop Piano Institute. It sounds like a great fun event to learn more about that beautiful instrument that I am not worthy to touch my fingers upon- The Piano. I also like to write, but we won't mention that here. I also LOVE different places & countries!!If you know me well you already know that. But you probably don't know me well.., also.. Probably no one is reading this. But if you are, I am probably embarrassed.. But it's ok I'll get over it! So anyway, I'm excited to go on trips to different places & explore. So fun!! Some of my friends are going on mission trips with TLC in a couple weeks. I'm excited for them, and I'm excited to go on one someday! Can't wait. :) I also love to take pictures. Even though I'm so bad at that. So I am going to take a photography class soon to hopefully help me get a lot better! I recently signed up to the child correspondent program with Compassion. I'm excited to receive letters from kids in other countries! I already sent two and I'm working on a third. And I'm excited for Summer!!!!!!!!! Only a week and a half left of school! I have so many things I plan to do this summer. I'm excited to be a sophomore next year. iPads... Aspire.... Spanish... Biology.... Health (well I'm not really excited for that).... Geometry... Are some of the new things I will get to have/do! High school is the best, but now I won't have to be a freshman anymore! Yay ;) Well, just thought I'd type up all the things I have been thinking about. And no, I'm not bragging, I'm just explaining what is my exciting news! And this is the end. Maybe I'll post another blog post someday. See you later, Over and Out. Lately I've been thinking about how sad it is that letters are no longer popular. Mailmen are going out of business, and the only mail you receive is bills and sometimes packages that you ordered from Amazon. Well, there's nothing I like more than a good, heartfelt, handwritten letter, or a sweet little note to brighten someone's day. I've made it my goal this year to write more letters and notes, and I've even started writing letters to children in poverty through Compassion. I have a girl from Bolivia, a boy from India, a girl from Peru, and I just requested a boy from Mexico. (Since I'm going to Mexico soon!) I haven't received their letters yet, but I'm excited to! I hope letters will never ever go out of business, and my handsome future boyfriend will write me dear little letters and notes someday:)! I also have been obsessed with photography my whole life -- but more recently I've been starting to try to get good! Ever since I was little I would see my dad take lots and lots and lots of pictures, capturing memories in mid air. I was so excited to receive my first camera for Christmas one year, a little flimsy pink one. Later I got a better pink one, and then even later I got a gray Kodak easy share one. I took tons of picture, especially on our big trip out west and to Mexico! But it didn't stop there. My dad eventually got a canon rebel t4i. It was so amazing, and I finally learned how to take a picture on it. Then I wanted to know more. I played around with the settings and kind of taught myself = but I didn't know everything. And so I decided to get better and take an online digital photography class! Now I want to get my own camera and supplies, and get, even, better! Update: I have four kids now. My boy from Mexico is named Brian, and he's eight. I love this. It was the first annual year for the first GBS hosted piano camp, and excitement was tingling in the air. My excitement. And my hands were sweaty and my head was hurting from my headband. It was my moms birthday and we had gone to 5 Guys for supper. They dropped me off at our house so I could get ready for the faculty recital. Wow I loved every song especially Mrs Millers. And Jessica Smiths! They were amazing. I learned so much. So, so much. I met great people and got to know more people I already knew. I love piano so much now. I did before but I have a renewed inspiration and excitement! The ending recital was so fun. Except my hands were sweaty.. Why do they always do that when I'm nervous!?! Ugh. I played a song by Vangeli: Hymne. So beautiful. So emotional. So dramatic. One of my favorite songs. And I even made words to it from the story "the scarlet Ibis". So sad!! I didn't sing the words though haha! It was amazing to feel connected with people the same level and love for piano as me! We did so many fun things.! There were 14 people, 7 girls 7 boys. A scavenger hunt and a game night and an outdoor devotional and an ice cream social. I love piano. Bye I'll go practice now. When a baby is born, there is no way to imagine the feeling inside you, seeing the baby you love for the first time. But...What if little Bobby started getting sick, and even sicker to the point of death? Your heart could not take this. There's thousands of little babies and children in the world today, who have a disease or illness. Many of these live in the USA, where professional doctors and good hospitals are plentiful. Many diseases or illnesses could not be cured except for medical help, including surgery and medication. Today there are sad stories about these poor children who are, or were sick. But that is not what I am focusing on. Out of all these million stories, there is one that does have a happy ending. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bum0jb3woug&rdm=1kdhrw10c&client=mv-google Judah was a tiny baby when the doctors found he had an illness that would only be cured by medical help. Open heart surgery. And this saved his life, the help of doctors and hospitals. Now imagine the story again, imagine if there were no doctors to save that happy boy. He would never have grown up, to change the world in his own way. He could have traveled the world, invented a new invention, discovered a cure for Parkinson's disease, or explored the ocean. Whatever he grows up to do, it wouldn't be possible without the medical help he received. But what about the sick babies who cannot receive medical help? Are there even such places that do not have doctors like we do? In fact, yes, there are. And these children do not survive. They never grow up, and they never have a chance to do what we can do. Sometimes we hear these stories and feel we can never do anything to help. "I'm just one person anyway." "What can I do?" "No one will listen to me." But I have discovered a new way to help these kids living in poverty. And I've found that you can change someone's life. By sponsoring a child through www.compassion.com! Sponsoring a child will ensure them with healthcare and supplements. This can save their life. Your sponsorship will also provide them with love, your love. They will have Christ-centered spiritual guidance as they attend church and hear the gospel message- the most important thing. They also will have a good education to enable them to follow their dreams and do whatever they want when they grow up. Along with these important things, you will allow them to have fun with recreational activities! Every child needs health, but they need fun too. All these things come in one complete package, and check it out at their website. http://www.compassion.com/m/why-sponsor.htm You can pay one payment per month, and even choose your child and pick their country and their age. They will be forever grateful for your investment. They will be loved and cared for, as much as they need. This could save a life. And YOU could make this happen! After Judah's mom saw her son was healthy and safe, she was so grateful for the doctors that helped. That's why she is a Compassion sponsor. One baby's life helped her save another. Today I almost ripped my vein open. I was helping my dad carry the old plaid couch downstairs. I had one end, the end going forward, and he was walking backwards. We were going down the stairs, which is always dangerous. Then, it almost slipped. We were almost down the steps, and my strength was failing. I tried to grab it a different way. Then the couch went up, and rubbed against my arm. There was a little poky thing on the edge of the couch, and it sliced against my inside wrist as it went up. I heard it tear, and inwardly panicked. "Ahh! My vein! It's gonna start bleeding and never stop!" After we set the couch down, I looked at my wrist. It wasn't bleeding, although it felt like it was. And it hurt. A couple minutes later, I checked it again. And it was bleeding! "Megan, get me a bandaid!" I cried in a shakily confident voice. She didn't answer so I got one myself. It felt really weird like the tear was going to pop open and burst out bleeding. Ahh. I pressed on it to make it stop bleeding, and then I went about my business like any normal person would. I vacuumed and cleaned and packed and organized. Then I looked at it again! It had stopped bleeding. Hallelujah. And it only has a little mark now. Note: to all my faithful readers: Yes, I do realize that this is my fourth or fifth post today. This is partly because I know how much you like to read about my life. And mostly because I was really bored today, because this is summer vacation. Thank you for your time. Dee Henderson would be proud. (By the way, if you were wondering, Dee Henderson is an author. Her characters always eat "nachos" made with tortilla chips and shredded cheese warmed up in the microwave. This shows that Dee Henderson herself probably does this and loves it. Yes, I investigated this. I like to read between the lines.) Well, where should I start? On Saturday we went to a cookout that some of our neighbors were having. Apparently we missed the memo that we were supposed to wear orange and white... Oh well. And they had loud music & beer, but we didn't drink any obviously. But other than that it was an awesome time, and the food was delicious. I got stuffed. Then we played Kanjam with some not so talkative people! But that's ok, I'm shy too. Then we sneaked out of the cookout, and left to go to our new house! We stayed here for the weekend and oh my word... It was so fun. It still is, actually. Let me explain. We brought a lot of stuff to our new house, like clothes, stools, an entryway bench, things to hang on the wall, the big comfy papason (?) chair, books, and lots of food. And other things that we need to survive. We slept in our rooms on the floor. Karina and I used the papason (?) chair cushion to lay on though. And I had my brand spankin' new comforter with my brand spankin' new pillows. We watched Frozen and went to sleep. We did this for two nights in a row! Yeah, it was awesome, except for my slight cold. We ate awesome food. Like pancakes, hamburgers and hot dogs, and hopefully ice cream soon! I just love our little island in the kitchen, with our cute stools under it. Karina said "why do we have an island in our kitchen? Oh it's because it's like a beach!" Yeah, probably. I also read really awesome books. I brought a book I got at the homeschool convention, called "Code of Silence." I had had it for a long time but it seemed boring. I finally read it today, and it was the BEST, most INTENSE book ever! I had read some of it before breakfast, and at the table I was halfway between that world and this world.... I was not oriented into reality yet. I could still feel the pounding of my heart and my eyes would not focus into the plate of my pancakes. Wow. It was so intense. Tim Shoemaker is a pretty good author, because he makes what teenagers say and do so realistic! And he has really original fast paced plots. I am apparently used to slow Amish plots or something, cause I could not take it! It was awesome. Ahh. It was. Wish I could read the whole series. And also we made a movie trailer about my preparing to go to Mexico. Haha that was awesome dude. It was pretty funny. Meg dressed up in "exercise clothes" and she was a fitness trainer named Brenda. Also, I started a digital photography class today. (Online). I can't wait to be good at photography. And the projects I get to do sound fun! We are gonna eat ice cream soon, and I have to study for my government final. So bye! Hello, and I am here to report some breaking news. We have officially bought a house!! Our first house ever. On Wednesday! They signed so many papers that I got very impatient. But finally... They signed the last one and we got the key! And they shook hands and we left. We went to Chipotle and had a delicious burrito, then we took a little load of little things to our new house! It was soo cool. And on Friday, they took my bed and the refrigerator there. We are going to spend the night there this weekend. And soon we will actually move there haha... Obviously. Yesterday was Awards Day for ACA. I got some awesome awards! Including: First Place in Physical Science, first place in English 1, and a typing award! I also got my competition awards for poetry, algebra, and English. Megan also got first place in everything! Every subject! Wow. We were so happy we decided to go to Chinese. It was delicious. Today, we are celebrating the closing on our house! We had a wonderful meal including "Blackened Ribs." It was homemade too! |
about the authorAs a 21 year old aspiring teacher, Karissa loves to write, travel, play piano, and read. Many creative things have her heart. archives
November 2021
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