Camp Essay

Camp Essay
November 2009
Abigail Metzger

I hardly anticipated that a week at Pioneer Bible Camp would be so enjoyable! From the moment my brother and I arrived, I felt certain the seven days would go by in a rush. Although I didn't make friends instantly as some others did, once I did become acquainted with the girls in my cabin, I felt secure and comfortable. They were funny, welcoming, and interested in me. By the middle of the week two of the girls in my cabin, Hannah and Liz, had developed into my "bosom" buddies. I also enjoyed the company of the four other girls bunking with me, but our relationship hadn't become as familiar as the one with Hannah and Liz. Our counselor, Cinnamon, easily won my repect. She taught well on subjects of importance such as dating, God, teenage life, and more,and she was pleasant to talk to and ask questions. Since this camp included kids in grades 7-9, being in ninth grade gave me feelings of maturity, acceptance, and importance. Security also came from having my younger brother, Micah, and an old friend, Jessica Loomis, at the camp. I never was alone, which happened to be one of my fears. On the contrary, deciding who to hang out with, the girls from my cabin, Micah, or Jessica and her friend Tessa, was a struggle. I actually felt popular! The chapel speaker happened to be the father of my counselor. His words were simply amazing. Through God, he presented the ways I was not following God, and also taught me how to change my ways. Every day all the campers participated in a number of awesome activities and games. As a result of new friends, impressive teaching, exciting games, my week at PBC was truly enjoyable. I couldn't wait to come back next season.
For a whole year I eagerly awaited the arrival of camp. This time, instead of being one of the oldest in camp, it would be the opposite. The camp consisted of 10th through 12th graders, me being in 10th. Not only were the feelings of maturity and importance gone, but my brother and all the friends I had made the last year wouldn't be joining me to give me security and comfort. Despite all this, I felt God urging me to go in order to make new friends and deepen my relationship with Him, along with the fun of playing enjoyable games and watching interesting skits. Finally, the day of camp arrived! Although excitement filled my mind, nervousness dwelled within me as well.
Now before I continue, you must know some things about me. Shyness is a major part of my personality. The ability to make friends does not come easily and I dislike introducing myself to new people. Away from the security of my home and family, especially my mom, I feel lost. Being in the midst of so many teenagers who seem to have great self esteem and no fear of people simply terrifies me. This occurs mostly because my self esteem is quite low and also since I have a great lack of self worth. With all these odds against me, surely you must understand why I was frightened. Without God urging me to attend the camp, I'm sure I wouldn't have gone. Therefore, since He called me to go, I obeyed.
As soon as my mom left me in my cabin that June morning, I longed to cry. For the first time in my teenage life, lonlineness attacked me. The temptation to follow her out the door filled my mind. I fought the temptation and succeeded. The day advanced with opening speeches and rules, games, chapel services, meals, activities, and more. Attempting to exert myself and make friends came as a challenge. Lying in my bunk that night, all I could think was, "Only four more days. I only have to go through this agony for four more days. Then I can go home." Those thoughts occupied my mind quite often, especially when I felt out of place or lonely. Although most of my time at camp was distressing, a few positive things happened. The teaching was fairly interesting; I did abtain a few things that I applied to my walk with Christ. The games were fun, skits hilarious, and food very yummy. The negative aspects still outweighed the positive aspects. I was with people from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, even when I was asleep! Usually, since I'm homeschooled, I'm only with my family. Because of that, and since I'm not sociable, that was just incredibly difficult for me. In addition to all that I have mentioned, most of the girls in my cabin were older than I and extroverted, so they easily made all sorts of friends. This made me feel inferior, unwanted, and lonely. Most teens there knew at least one person from their churchs, schools, or past years at camp. It seemed like I happened to be the only one who didn't know a soul. Sure, I had seen some of them at camp the year before, but they weren't my friends. Finally the camp ended and I was able to go back home. Never have I felt more relieved.
When I consider journeying back to camp, very few reasons urge me to go. Comfort is one major reason. God's word tells me to deny myself and take up my cross daily. I am convinced that my life is too comfortable; PBC is a good way to be uncomfortable. But that's it. I only felt pain when I stayed there. I didn't grow in any way from that awkward experience. Another important reason would be to learn more about Christ. How am I to know if the chapel speakers or counselors will help me in any way? Besides, there are many other places where I could learn about Christ: church, youth group, other camps, or from mentors. I believe if the camp was structered better, allowed the kids to have more free time to either be alone or just talk to eachother about Jesus, I may have enjoyed it better. Many of the kids who attended either did so just for fun and didn't give any thought to the Jesus part , or they were forced to go by their parents. If the camp was soley based on pursuing a more in depth relationship with Christ and being trained on how to improve the sharing your faith, only teens who were serious about God would attend. That's precisely the type of camp I needed. A place where teenagers were able to sit down and talk about what was happening in their life and encourage others about their struggles. I think, and hope, that teenagers who really love God aren't going to ignore you or let you be shy and lonely. They'll prod you to talk to them and ask questions about your life. Pioneer Bible Camp was basically just about having fun, with God served as a side dish.
All in all, my camp experience wasn't completely worthless. It helped me examine myself and determine that my personality happens to be reserved and modest. The realization that living the Christian life comes more easily to me than to most teens became evident in my life. Although frustrating and not extremely successful, I did improve my friendship making skills and I grasped the feeling of being out of my bubble of comfort. But I won't go back. In my mind, there's no point. I can improve all those qualities in a more enjoyable atmosphere. The friendships I made there aren't on going, the teachings didn't usually apply to my life or linger in my mind for an extensive period of time, and the verses I studied disappear by the next day. Therefore, I encourage those who want to take part in numerous games, survey hilarious skits, enjoy eating great food, sing songs, and learn a small amount about Christ, go to Pioneer Bible Camp. However, for those who desire to expand their knowledge about Christ and mature in their lationship with their Savior, choose to attend a more equipped camp or seminar that offers these values. Or perhaps, stay home and advance on your own or with the help of family and friends. That's what I did and continue to do!

Youth Ministry Essay featuring.....

Charity and Jordan Johnson!!!!
Before moving to Utah in August, Jordan and Charity Johnson worked with the youth in the lovely town of Lake City, Colorado for 18 months. These two developed leadership skills with their own youth groups even before they had graduated from highschool. "There was never a certain date that I became a youth leader," both claimed. Jordan grew up in a church pastored by his father. Enjoying youth group quite a lot, Jordan's youth pastor inspired him in various ways. This inspiration led him to also work with youth because he "liked what he saw." In other words, by observing his youth pastor and youth group, he realized that God designed him for youth ministry. Charity, fairly mature, began leading in her youth group at the age of sixteen. She continued participating in this way in her home church for four years, until she traveled to Camp Redcloud in the mountains of Colorado. Here she also was in charge of teaching youth, along with kids of all ages.
"I'm really passionate about it and people tell me I do it well," she told me.
At the ages of 23, both Johnsons are quite experienced in their ministry, having worked with teenagers for over 5 years. To them youth ministry is a major part of their life. When I asked them what their definition of youth ministry was, I received two similar answers. Jordan said, "It means a way to connect to people. It's our best form of worship. Some people worship best by giving or something; we worship best by serving the youth, because we feel we can connect with the youth easily."
Charity's definition was, "Connecting with people at a crossroads in their life where they make a lot of decisions in their life. It's a very important time to share the gospel with kids."
Usually with every kind of hobby or job, there comes a love for what one does. This is also true for the Johnsons; both love the profession God has called them to do. Jordan enjoys playing around with the kids. They're looking for people with whom they can be themselves. If adults come down to their level and provide safe friendship with the kids, many teens will accept that and come running. Most kids look up to leaders who want to hang out with them. If leaders provide that, they won't go looking elsewhere, like the world. Charity's favorite part is not having to act super grown up, but being able to act like teenagers.
These were her words, " They don't care about how immature we act. The more immature we act, the more they like us and we're able to connect." Youth leaders definately should pay attention to that statement. So often kids fall away youth group or church because the leaders don't come down to a level with which the kids feel comfortable. Youth view leaders as strict or unapproachable. What teenager wants a relationship with an adult who acts that way? Maybe if the leaders showed more of an interest in the kids' lives and didn't preach to them so often, the youth would feel more comfortable listening to and talking to their leaders. A way to talk to them and instruct them simultaneously would be to share their own life experiences, consequences, and results with the kids. This would definitely show God's and your own love to them. Charity really enjoys sharing her life with kids.
Along with its joys, youth ministry also involves many difficulties. The most distressing aspect is similar for most youth leaders. This would be, in Charity's words, "Seeing kids fall away."
Because their passion is to lead kids toward their heavenly father, youth leaders' hearts become saddened when kids reject God. For Charity, it's incredibly difficult to see them "decide that the world is more important than a relationship with God".
Jordan asserted that, "It's hard seeing crap happening to a kid, particularly an unsaved kid, and seeing him all alone without God. It's not my place to save them, but to point them to God. It's one of the worst things to see a kid fall away from the Lord."
Every youth worker comes across such challenging issues as depression, teen pregnancy, low self-esteem, and other common stuggles that kids undergo.
Charity copes with these issues in this way: "With a lot of prayer and patience. And also with love and acceptance no matter what kind of decisions they make. We're still going to love them and tell them that God loves them. That's most important. And then just sharing the truth with them even if it's hard."
"By providing a safe place for them and continually pointing them to God," pronounced Jordan. The world will never offer a secure place for youth traveling through life's battles . It may put forth alternatives justifying their actions or conflicts, but no alternative can take the place of God's secure arms. A youth leader can point a teenger to this shelter through acceptance, trust, and encouragement.
Therefore, since dealing with different struggles that youth undergo can be stressful, and sometimes even depressing, do youth leaders ever want to quit? Jordan has wanted to quit.
He claimed, "Yes, cause even though anyone can do what they love for a long time, even then, they need a break and refreshment. Sometimes you just feel so exhausted that you say, 'If that kid does that one more time, I'm going to freak out and bury him in the dirt.' You want to make sure that, yes, you're fulfilling these kids lives, but you also need to look out for your own well being. Yes, not want to quit permanantly, but yes I have felt like quitting."
Charity disagreed, saying, "No, I've never wanted to quit. Cause it's one of the very few things in life that I'm passionate about. I hate seeing teenagers alone and without knowing the truth. All I want for them is to know God's love."
Considering that some youth workers do want to give up at times, what makes them continue? I asked Charity and Jordan this very question.
"This is something I love to do, something I'm good at doing, something I'm called to do," said Jordan, "I still have a desire to be in there, so even though I feel like I need refreshment and stuff like that, I just need to pray for it then get back in there and love some kids."
Charity declared her answer in this way, "Cause of my desire to see all young people know the relationship they can have with the Lord and that there's something better out there than what they see in jr. high or high school."
I believe it all comes down to God and his love for us. He doesn't give up on His children, so how can we give up on the youth that we care so much about?
Just for fun, I questioned the Johnsons about coping with teenagers who don't listen or are disruptive. Jordan objects to drawing attention to unruly kids. Teens loathe embarassment and belittlement by adults before their peers. Establishing attention elswhere is a successful way to handle the situation.
"First of all, when you come across a situation like that, you need to be prepared for it," Jordan advised."Let's say a kid's playing with a ball and it's disruptive. You don't want to yell at the kid and make a big deal about it. What you should do is take the ball and you start talking to the ball. Like, ' Ok I told you ball that you can't be distracting ...' cuz what that does is it takes the attention off the kid and focuses on you acting like an idiot."
He also suggested to be flexible. "Take some time out to play an extra game or something if kids have extra energy or are jazzed about a certain event.And just make sure they know when it's time to calm down, it's time to calm down." Charity added that while working at Camp Redcloud, Jordan had kids run laps to get their extra energy out.She, on the other hand, admitted, "I'm actually not very good with loud and noisy kids. I always want to yell at them and tell them that they need to be respectful. So I leave it up to Jordan."

Following my interview with the Johnson couple, I concluded that being engaged with adolescents is a trying, yet exhilerating calling or profession. They supplied me with much consideration about my future ministry involving youth. I also grasped various instrumental techniques to supervise obnoxious kids, how to undertake troublesome issues, and what to do when I'm exhausted with managing youth.

Why..

..do I blog?

Meeting my best friend.

I am here to tell you about my trip to Canada; well not only Canada, but Idaho, Oregon, Washington, the border, the car.. whatever you so wish.

Mi madre and I left Wednesday morning. The trip started out very well because I slept from 9 unti like 11:45. That was amazing. The rest of the trip, which involved getting lost trying to find Martha Grace's house near Portland, we listened to books on tape and studied verses. I did. Mom didn't, she just listened to me memorize and recite the whole way!

Thursday we spent the day with Martha Grace, an old family friend. We helped her clean her car for about four hours so that she could sell it when we went to Portland. She didn't sell it, but she did buy another one. In Portland, we checked out Multnomah(?) School of the Bible. I'm pretty sure that one is crossed out on my list. For reasons that are too confusing to write about. Then we had dinner at the Olive Garden. Get this: our server was a graduate from Portland Bible College. He told us all about it and it sounded great. Until we told my dad, who checked it out and it wasn't so peachy. So that one is crossed out as well. I won't go into details about the rest of the day, but it was intense.

On friday we left very early so that we could cross the border and catch our ferry on time. Highlights? A cute little coffeeshop in Washington, free coffee and hot chocolate at a rest stop, seeing Seattle from the highway..... The ferry was amazing. It was so much bigger than I thought. Inside it had room for lots of cars, and people.. it had a gift shop, starbucks, cafeteria, food... and my mom's favorite, the sundeck. This is where we spent most of our time although it was quite chilly and windy. We arrived at Duke Point, British Colombia at about 8 at night. We walked off the ramp and right away saw Katherine and her mom. They rushed over to us and we all hugged. It was wonderful.....

Saturday morning, us four girls headed off to a little tourist town called Chumainus. We looked at many cute shops such as, a pottery shop, an art gallery, a candy shop(don't say anything Charity and Susanna), and more. We were able to enjoy muffins and water at a little bakery as well. After that we headed down to the water front, where we had a snack and found purple starfish! They were so beautiful and once again reminded me of God's artistic talent. :) This town was filled with quaint houses, bed and breakfasts, and hotels. I wouldn't like to live there because everyone would always be looking at my house. There was one house with little animals made out of the shrubberies, it made me think of Edward Scissorhands. That house was Katherine's favorite.

On Sunday we attended their Pentecostal church. It was great meeting the friends Katherine mentions quite a bit, and just seeing where she worships on Sundays. Later on in the afternoon, us four girls and Katherine's younger brother Jon, headed over to Victoria, the capital. Katherine, Jon, and I all saw an IMAX theatre production. This was her birthday present to me, plus this great paper made out of elephant poo. She and I visited the Empress Hotel while the others walked along the water front. We all were able to see the Parliament building and what a wondrous sight! After all this we headed home. On the way we stopped at lookout point to see the ocean and also at a donut shop for donuts and hot chocolate and tea!

Monday was our last day there. We visited a small town called Cooms where there was a great little market that had all kinds of things from around the world. And guess what? The roof was covered in grass for the goats that lived up there. Hence the name of the store: Goat's on the Roof. It was great. Afterwards, we ran and played on the beach in the rain. One of Katherine's mom's friends lived near there, so we decided to visit Tannis and Hans. I think they were from Switzerland. That was amazing. They both had great accents that I fell in love with. Haha.. I love accents and Switzerland. They owned a bed and breakfast that was just beautiful. We were allowed to stay for tea. The whole experience was just awesome. Since it was our last night together, Katherine and I drank hot chocolate and talked till late.

The next morning mom and I packed up, and they dropped us off at the ferry. So sad.

We got home safely late Wednesday night.

All in all, the trip was amazing! It was so wonderful meeting Katherine and getting to know her in person. And her family. We decided to write letters more often since we they had pretty much ceased for a while. I'm supposed to write on the 13th, the day after the Bible Bee. And we plan to send our christmas and birthday gifts to eachother a month in advance.. we're pretty bad at both. I love seeing her house, room, where she takes dance, her town, her church... Now everytime she writes about them, I can picture her wherever she is! She might be able to visit me a year from this November. Great, I get to see her and British COlombia in the beautiful summer and she gets to see ugly, rainy Utah in November. haha oh well. It may be a little bit different now when I write to her now that I know her in person, but it'll be ok. I still love her a ton and thank God all the time for blessing me with her. I hate saying this, but it really was a God thing that we both read the same magazine and applied for a pen pal at the same time.. and they we are so alike! Isn't he just amazing!? He astounds me all the time. Well that is the end of my journey to Canada to meet my best friend! Hope you enjoyed!

Busy, busy , busy!

This seriously has been the busiest summer of my life.






The 24th, 25th, and 26th, I spent with Jessica Loomis at both of our houses. We saw fireworks, watched movies, played games, and what not. It was really fun cuz I hadn't hung out with her in a really long time.







On the 28th, My mom, Micah, Sofi, Conner and friend Kate went up to Pioneer Reservoir for the day. I love this place so much. The water is warm, and they have really nice sandy beaches. It was kinda cold that day, but we still had a lot of fun. Kate slept over, then we went to gymnastics together, then i spent the day at her house.

On Thusday I headed up to Bear River Camp for youth camp. 23 youth went! It was so cool! And there were about 10 new comers, including Micah, though no one believed that he had never been.


Here I am with Miranda on the first day.


















We went on one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on. And I hate hiking! It went up to a freezing lake, so there were ponds and streams all the way up. Daniel led the hike. It stunk cuz he's way fast so at first I didn't look at any of the scenery because I was concentrating on my feet. Then I decided to let them go ahead. Boy, I'm glad I did, cuz I got some really beautiful pictures. All of them are on facebook.













This is me in front of the lake.













A lot of the group went on to other hikes, but some of us stayed at lake. While we were waiting, Micah picked most of the girls flowers which we put into bouquets. Then we pretended to be bridesmaids. Chrissy's the bride. Haha... it was great.








This is our whole group: Diamond, Jerry, Kylie, me, Daniel, Shad, Micah, Anne Claire, Daniel, Miranda, Sammy, Shannon, Sierra, Marissa, Kallie, Monira, Bethany, Aubrey, Sara, Kristin, Bill, Selah, David, Erin, Somaly, Morlidy, Mary, Taigon, and Ivan. So many people.

We played tons of games, had four teaching sessions about the gospel, identity, and the body of Christ, had devotions, saw a moose like 5 times, a deer like 3 times, worshipped..... it was lots of fun. Not the greatest youth camp ever like the first one I went to, but I liked it.

On Wednesday I'm heading off to Canada for a week to meet my best friend, so I'll blog when I get back!

MEXICO!!!

Wow, what a week! Let me tell you ALL about it:



Friday: Mom and I left for Phoenix at 9 am in our "filled to the gills" van. We were going down early with all the vbs supplies to shop for the food needed for the week. During the 12 hour trip, I memorized 12 verses! One an hour.. haha. It was a very uneventful trip, but not bad. We arrived at our hotel in roasting hot Phoenix at 9 pm.



Saturday: We woke up early, traveled the four hours to Tony's house in Nogales, and unloaded everything. We had lunch with Tony, Darrell and Lisa, and Kay and Victor at Carl's Jr. then headed back to Tucson for our 3 or 4 hours of food shopping at Costco and Food City. After that, we went to another hotel in Green Valley for the night.



Sunday: We woke up kinda early, had a small breakfast, then drove to Nogales. After a delicious brunch at IHOP( our last bit of America for a week :)), we went to Tony's house to meet the 10 other people who had driven down on Saturday. We loaded up, crossed the border and headed to Los Encinos. That was a city where Tony and Maggie's church is located. The guys stayed at the church, while the girls stayed at Lollita's house. After unloading everything at the church and organizing a bit, we drove to Adrienne's church(I think) for our first vbs. With only about 12 kids, it was pretty easy. There was teaching with felts done by Cathy and Yolanda, face painting by Aubrey and Michelle, games by Selah, Job, and Micah, and crafts by my Mom, Lisa, Michelle, Terri, and the rest of us. We, Job, Selah, Terri, Aubrey, Micah, and I also performed a skit for them. When it was finished we went back to the church, ate dinner, and Darrell drove us girls to Lollita's house for the night.
None of us ever want to do a vbs on a sunday again... we need to organize more, plus we need to pass fliers out at the towns at least a day in advance. Every time we had a vbs we had to send runners out to get kids.



Monday: The longest day. We had one vbs in Los Encinos, one in Colosio, and one at another church. The mime team, which I had directed, practiced their mime that day as well. Doug, who was the dad in the mime, couldn't come down to Mexico. Therefore, Rafa, who had seen the mime a number of times and really wanted to do it, filled in. He wasn't perfect of course, but it was really awesome. He has such a good heart.

Tuesday: Another long day. One vbs occurred in Colosio, then we traveled 30 minutes to the women's prison. Here we stayed for 2 or 3 hours, singing, listening to preaching in spanish, and dying of heat. Everyone still loves going there though! I think it's cuz we can see these broken up ladies stuck in prison just worship God with all their hearts. The mime really impacted them too. This was the first year for me not being in the mime in about..... 4 years? So I finally got to see the looks on their faces during the mime. Plus we all got to lay our hands on them and pray for them at the end. It's really amazing. After dinner, we headed up to a men's drug and alcohol rehab center. Sounds scary huh? At first I was just like, "Are you kidding me? I'm not going!!" Then Rafa told us all the men were believers. And oh boy they were. I've never seen guys, old and young, worship God like that. It was outside above the streets where many people could hear their voices. But they didn't care at all, they just lifted their voices as high as they could. That was one of the best parts of the trip. We performed the mime here as well. Micah had gotten stung by a bee and wasn't feeling up to being in the mime. So I took Selah's place, and she took Micah's. It was really cool. And next year I will be in the mime again, cuz I realized how much I love it.

Wednesday: A more restful day. After our last vbs in Los Encinos, we headed down to San Lazaro. The road is more paved every year. It's really cool. Hopefully in a couple years it'll be all done. We arrived there at about 3, unloaded our luggage, chose rooms and beds, then relaxed for a bit. My relaxation was filling candy bags with about 7 Mexican kids that I knew. They didn't even eat it until I said they could. I was surprised. The power and water had been off since the day before due to a storm. So that night.... haha fun times now that I look back on it. We get to the dorm after dinner all ready to get ready for bed... It's pitch black except for a few flash lights, a red, furry, tarantula is crawling in the hallway, a humongous beetle is in a room... Therefore I sleep in the vans with Aubrey, Selah, Mich, Job, and Sunny.

Thursday: A good, but hot day. We had two vbs's, one in Santa Cruz and one in San Lazaro. I face painted, did clown skits, and performed the mime. Not much else went on...

Friday: Our last day. We headed down to Cuitaca for a vbs at about 10 in the morning. Once again, no fliers had been sent out, so no one knew about it. But a couple hours later, due to some people going out and telling kids, 76 kids showed up! How amazing is that!!?? Plus a mom gave us a name of another town where the need vbs next year! Isn't God amazing??? That was a really fun vbs despite the awful heat. Later that night after packing some stuff up, about 5 mexican vineyard churches met together for a celebration in San Lazaro. I loved watching the Mexican people go crazy during worship. And how cool it is that even though we don't know the language we can still go crazy with them! then all of us had supper together.. Jesus didn't multiply the food this time. At the end, my mom was putting out pbj sandwiches. But it was all good.

Saturday: We left early in the morning, stopped at the border for shopping, and left Nogales at about 12. We arrived in Utah the next day at about 10 pm

So all in all it was a good trip. Not my favorite, but not bad at all. Hopefully I didn't bore you too badly. All my pics are on facebook so feel free to check those out! I'm heading off to youth camp on Thursday so pray for us! Thanks. God bless.

My Weekend in Colorado and more...

Last weekend I traveled with Susanna to Lake City, Colorado for the fourth of July to visit Charity, Jordan, and baby Adelaide. It was mucho fun! We walked around town, bought turkey legs, ice cream, coffee and soda, we saw beautiful fireworks, a parade(my favorite was Jordan on the youth float singing Family Force 5), and beautiful Colorado scenery..... It was a very enjoyable weekend and I already miss them. Adelaide is a beautiful baby. I love her red hair, the little noises she makes, and how she falls asleep anywhere. Now I have to wait two more months to see them again, and then who knows after that. But I'll make it don't you worry.

A couple weeks before, I spent with Sarah, Luke, Shalom, and Naomi. They came here for Jeremy's graduation. It was tons of fun. I love those little babies so much! And miss them a ton. I cannot wait for our family reunion in September. That'll be amazing.

Last week Josiah came down from Canada and spent a week with us. That was purty fun, although he beats up on me too much.

Sometimes I wish that all my family would live in Utah, but then I realize that where they all are now is where God has placed them. That makes it better usually. It's really hard though, cuz all the babies that are being born, I'm missing a lot of their lives... and I miss my older siblings who live far away too. I miss being able to talk to them in person instead of on the phone or through the computer... But this is part of God's plan, so I just need to remember that.

Tomorrow I leave for Mexico. My mom and I are going down early to do all the food shopping. We did that last year and it was a blast for both of us. So I'm excited to do it again. Hopefully I can memorize 14 or more verses in 18 hours so that I won't have to memorize down in Mexico.... Did I mention I'm doing a bible bee? I can't remember if I did. Oh well, I did now! Anyway, I'm super duper excited for the whole trip!! Except for the heat that is. It's bad enough here, but it's gotta be way worse down there. Hurray for the rainy season though. I'll probably blog about that when I get back, so until then, have a great week!

The Bite

So... this is a narrative essay I had to write for school. I love it.

I never thought that at the end of what started as a typical day, I, an honest child would be stuck in my room because of a lie that I told. Everyone laughs about it today, but that day I cried more than I had on any other day.
That morning, Micah, my brother, and I were playing in our basement playroom. Blocks, dolls, cars and other toys were strewn all over the carpeted floor. Happily, we had decided earlier to build a gigantic house for my Barbies. Actually, I had decided, and Micah reluctantly followed along. What else could he do?
Whenever we played together I was usually the bossy one, always taking charge, whether it was playing house or building block structures. Usually he didn't seem to mind that I was in control, but sometimes he lost his temper if I didn't do it his way for a change. This was one of those days when his self control would be thrown to the wind. Playing happily together, no explosions of tempers or disagreements had occurred yet, in either one of us.
Then suddenly, his anger erupted when he realized that he was like a puppet on a string being manipulated by me, the puppeteer. Angrily, he roughly slapped my cheek like a madman. Being the sensitive child that I was, I overreacted by shrieking as I swiftly clambered up the stairs to my mother. Lying on the couch, suffering from the flu virus, she had a look on her face that said, "Oh please. Not again. Why is she so sensitive?" But to me, this look meant, "Oh no! The poor girl. That evil Micah did something again!" I climbed onto the couch beside her and pitifully cried, "Micah slapped me!". She, not capable of leaving the couch at the time, called for my older sister, Susanna, to bring the terrible wretch, Micah, up from his hiding place in the basement. She then proceeded to comfort me by wiping my tears away and hugging me tenderly.
That was when the real trouble began. You see, I thought that my Mom wasn't strict enough with Micah. I knew that he wouldn't get the punishment that he really deserved, therefore, I decided to make him get what he deserved. Knowing that my Mom would believe me, since I was such an honest child and never lied, I bit into the salty skin of my arm and made sure that there was a noticeable mark. Then I pitifully moaned, "He bit me, too!". My plan worked! Because she believed me, my mother's anger towards Micah grew. After Susanna dragged him up the stairs, Mom sent him into his room to sit on his bed for the rest of the day. Since my mother wasn't able to do it at the moment, my dad would give him a spanking when he came home from work. I had succeeded in making him get the discipline he deserved! Finally, there was a hint of fairness between us. Hurray for the victorious Abi! Life went on as usual. The end..... not really.
My conscience, even to this day, makes me feel guilty. From buying clothes that I really need, to biting myself and blaming my brother. Therefore, my conscience kicked in later that day. Feeling extremely guilty for my lie, and maybe even feeling lonesome for Micah, I proceeded to confess my sin to my mother. In a sense, that was my mistake. Micah and I traded places. He was given permission to come out of his prison into freedom, while I left the free world and traveled into the world of no escape until dinnertime. He still had to receive a spanking from my dad, though, which made me smile a little through my tears that I shed for the second time that day. So, instead of getting Micah into trouble with my lie, I instead found myself in trouble.
After this experience I learned that there's no point in lying, since my guilty conscience will win in the end. Sure, I've lied since then(I think), but not many times, because I know I will feel the guilt sooner or later and have to confess. God was right when he said that your sins will find you out.

A Wonderful Way...

....to start the summer. Last week I pretty much finished all my school work. All I had left was my final exam in Biology for which I planned to study all week. Monday and Tuesday were great. I memorized verses, hung out with my friend Kate, pulled weeds, went to youth, and relaxed... Monday night I started coughing, and onTuesday I had a headache, then it went away, but then it came back along with chills and my body beginning to ache. So Wednesday morning I woke up with a raging headache, chills and sweats, very achy body, runny nose, cough, and painful eyes. I couldn't read or anything. This continued on all week long. I wasn't able to read at all because my eyes and head hurt so badly. So all I did was watch movies... how boring. These are all the movies I watched this week: about 20 episodes of Dick Van Dyke, 3 episodes of Mr. Bean, The King and I, Singin in the Rain, Funny Girl(my favorite!), and I think that's it. It's not as bad as when I got my wisdom teeth out..... I watched 15 movied in 3 or 4 days. I'm feeling kind of better now. Still achy in some spots like the back of my legs (????) and my lower back and I still get hot then cold. We all think it's the swine flu... I hope you like all my blogs about my pain and sicknesses.. haha. Bye bye.

Healing...

For Bible this week I've been learning about Jesus miraculously healing people with leprosy, paralysis, and other diseases. One of the activities I'm to do is write about a healing I recieved from God. I thought, "why not just blog about it?" So that's what I'm doing!

From what I can remember, I was plagued with awful headaches from January 2008 till the fall of 2008. Plus I was getting sick with colds every two weeks. No joke. I remember thinking, "ok two weeks ago I had a cold, so now this is the week I get another one." And it usually happened! It was no fun at all. Especially in the summer. I hate getting sick in the summer! And I could never ever breathe. My nose was always stuffed up. Anyway... I tried so many different remedies to try to cure both of them. Sinus meds, allergy pills, ibuprofen(of course), herbal teas... My parents finally decided to take me to a chiropracter in October to see if there was anything wrong with my spinal cord or neck. And there was. Both were a little out of place. So for the month of October I went to the chiropracter twice a week, stopped lifting weights, took the month of from gymnastics, and started drinking a lot of water. After running out of money and since the chiropracter said it was probably enough, I stopped the visits and resumed my activities. But I continued to drink 64 ounces of water a day, which I still TRY to do to this day! So I thought I was all better..... Then the first week back to gymnastics, I'm pretty sure I undid all the work that was done in my back. After that my headaches came back and my back started hurting a lot. I was really upset with this for a while. I started using a vaporizer at night to clear my sinuses and I still took all the meds and drank water. Somewhere between December and February my headaches ceased. And I could breathe. Then my vaporizer broke and I had to live without it for a couple of weeks, which made the headaches and stuffiness come back again! But I now have a new vaporizer, sinus meds and allergy pills, usually 64 ounces of water in my system, and 8 ounces of water up my nose every night. So I could say that all this made my headaches go away, but I'm not going to. I give all the credit to God. He gave me (my parents I should say) the money to buy the stuff I need, my sister(Charity) who gave me the idea of the NetiPot( nostril-water-stuff), and all that...

It's weird though cuz He healed me from this stuff and at the time I didn't even realize that he had. Now I look back and see all the pain I went through and then I thank him for it, but it's just weird how I could be healed and not even notice. I don't know how to really explain it. It just makes me feel kind of bad. Like I ask him to heal me, he does, and I don't even notice it....? Maybe you'll understand. Maybe it's cuz I don't feel it right now so I don't even think about it.. hmmmm.. something to ponder.

Well if you've reached this point, thanks for reading about headaches and remedies and forgetfullness... I hope I didn't bore you. Have a nice whatever you're having!

Spring in Stockton

Spring has come to Stockton. It was so nice last week, but I had to stay inside the whole time because I was sick. Today was in the 90's.... way to hot, I think, but much better than winter!! Along with the beauty of spring come all the disgusting bugs that bite and sting. I didn't even feel this one at all when it bit me. I was talking to Kate inside the house and she said, " wow, did you get stung by a bee?" And so I went and looked in the mirror and this is what I found! It's humongous!! And it didn't even hurt!

This is the shed my dad built. It's so cool!

And this is the greenhouse my dad built; even cooler.. actually it's hotter. It was 114 degrees in there today.

Moco, the fattest cat in the world, who is hated by every person in our house, except my Dad.

Trinity. I think she was still depressed about her babies. :(

Zoda. He didn't care at all. He's the brattiest goat in the world. But I think he's funny... sometimes. we have a love-hate relationship.

Our willow tree.

My favorite! Apple blossoms!! They're gone now, pretty much. That makes me sad.

Lilac.

Tulips

I have no clue...

Shilo(h)! Micah doesn't spell her name with an 'h', but it looks naked without one.

Happy spring to you all!

A Few Things....

that I'm certain of right now:
:: Besides Jesus and Katherine( who I get to meet this summer!!!!!), my nalgene is my best friend. I take it everywhere.
:: I still don't really know who I am. I know that sounds really cheesy, but it's true.
:: I do know that I want to be a missionary, preferably in Mexico, or a youth leader, maybe at the church I grew up, and a mom(although I'm terrified of labor).
:: I'm getting better at being brave about small things, like calling people on the phone or talking to new people, but it's still a constant struggle.
:: I can't wait until school is out! 2nd week of June here I come!
:: The pets in my house need to be destroyed. I can't breathe.
::My whole family needs to move to Utah. Especially with all the babies they are having.. peoples I'm missing their best years!! Just kidding... They'll probably move back when they are teenagers.. great. that's the worst part of life. hehe.
::Speaking of teenage years.. mine haven't been as bad as most people. I haven't been suicidal, except a couple times, but they were kind of fake, I haven't gone into a deep and long and dark depression like some of my other siblings, I haven't messed around or physically hurt myself on purpose.... and I only have two years to go! yay.
:: People keep asking me if I have my license. No, I don't and I probably won't be getting it until the fall of 2010 or later. I'm terrified of driving. Most people tell me that's a good thing.
:: I have $357.89 in my bank account. I think that's the first time it's been over 300 dollars, so yay for me! I'm a miser, therefore I won't be spending much of it very soon.

Well there are some random facts I thought I would share with you. Hope you enjoyed! Now back to my essay.....

My sad, but awesome weekend

This weekend I went to Acquire the Fire in Denver with 17 kids from my youth group. I never imagined that many kids going! It was awesome; all of us grew closer to eachother, which is really a work of God because so many of us are really shy people. And I could tell that a couple of lives were changed as well....
The sad part is that on Saturday, my goat had her babies, but they died. No one was home at the time, so they either suffocated because the mom couldn't get the sack off them or they got chilled and died. I was hoping they were born dead, so they wouldn't have suffered at all, but I'm guessing that's not the case. And that just makes me feel terribly guilty. And sad. It's been kinda hard since I found out... see we got her bred last spring and she was due in July during a week long conference that I wanted to go to, but skipped just in case she delivered then. Unfortunately she wasn't pregnant at all, which was a big disappointment. Then we got her bred again in October, and finally knew that she really was pregnant in like January. So I was getting really excited cuz it was the real thing this time. This time she was due on the 30th, but she didn't have them. So I thought she would have them that weekend while I was gone to surprise me.. and she did. Ugh... my dad told me over the phone in the van, which wasn't a good time cuz I was with tons of people and I was really sad.... All that I've pictured in my head today were the white and brown teeny little goats laying dead in the shed. Trinny, the mom, has been looking for them all day, but can't find them. It's so sad!! This probably sounds like a lot of wimpy stuff huh? I guess I've never experienced death in my life except once... Hopefully we'll get her bred this fall so she can have them next spring. So there's my sad story....

Happy birthday to me!

These are backwards... sorry. This is the first time I've posted pictures... Don't mind Josiah. bratty kid. just kidding.

My birthday occurred ( I like that word a lot) yesterday, and it was wonderful! So was saturday though, so I'll start there. After dropping Micah and his friends off at football reffing(His birthday was on Friday so he had a sleepover), my Mom and I picked up my friend, Kate Bottelberghe, to hang out for the day. We ate lunch at Panda Express, tried on cool dresses at Kohls, drank Jamba Juice, (I) bought clothes at Susie's Deals, stopped at the Great Salt Lake to climb a cool rock, but to our sadness we missed the exit..... then we all went home. Very fun day! Kate is the funniest person ever to shop with! She picks out these hideous clothes and makes up outfits for every day of the week, smacks clothes making them fall off the hangers( don't worry, she picks them up afterwards).... she made me laugh all day long.

Then on Sunday my family gathered at our home to celebrate Micah's, Ashley's, and my birthdays. We ate yummy food, opened presents, and had dessert. It was tons of fun! Except it was the first family party in a long time that lacked the presence of our beautiful, glass punch bowl that sadly shattered to death last week. Also it will hopefully be the last party without baby goats!! My female goat, Trinity(I did not name her), is supposed to have babies this week. She'll probably have them Thursday just to make me mad. I'm leaving for ATF on Friday.... Well that is it! I hope it wasn't too boring to read for ya'll! Adios.

Even though....

...people say homeschoolers just sit around all the time doing whatever they want, that's definately not how it is for me! My weeks and weekends are booked until after May 3rd. I have school every single day and studying a ton.....
This weekend I'm painting at Caleb's house, participating in a fundraiser for Acquire the Fire, and a meeting for Mexico. The next weekend is my birthday weekend, so my friend Kate and my mom and I are spending the day in Salt Lake trying lots of new things and then I am having a combination birthday party with Ashley and Micah on Sunday. And the next weekend I'm going to Denver for a conference called Acquire the Fire.....

So I'm very busy! And I like it a lot! That's why I never blog.... I've wanted to blog about big issues like social engineering and justice and other topics that I've been learning about. But they would take a long time.... and I never find that time. Hopefully I will soon! God bless you!

This post....

.... is dedicated to Susanna because I know how much she loves this song.

High school musical
Who says we have to let it go?
It's the best part we've ever known
Step into the future but hold on to
High school musical
Let's celebrate where we come from
Friends who've been there all along, just like
Our highschool musical, Highschool musical!

::High school musical 3 cast

This song is full of lies!! But I know you love it Susanna!!

My Life

is boring to read about so that's why I don't write about it very often.

College Stuff

So my news of the week....
This past school year I had been thinking about what kind of college I wanted to attend. I had decided on a program called CollegePlus, in which I would earn my Bachelor's Degree in about 2 years for only about $15,000 and it's online. So I had it all planned out...... until I realized that I only wanted to do that program so I wouldn't have to go out into the world and be with people, one of my worst fears. I didn't want to leave my home, which is the place that I feel the safest and most secure, so I based my decision on that. Then God brought it to my knowlege that he didn't want that for me, at least I think so. It's so hard to figure out where God wants me to go, but I'll just continue to pray and take my time deciding.
In the past couple of days I have been researching different Bible colleges that I would like to attend. I would like to attend a smaller Bible college that isn't a liberal arts college, but just offers different kinds of Bible courses and what not. I'm interested in missions and youth ministry at this point, although it could change in the next two years! My favorite colleges that I have looked up are Calvary Chapel Bible College in California, which offers a Spanish course and they go down to Mexico, this one is just a four month college and is very inexpensive, Coastline Bible College, which accepts graduates of CCBC and is a six month college, and Boise Bible College, which is a regular 4 year college with different courses.....
There are still a lot of colleges out there that I can attend, but I haven't gotten to them yet. It's pretty fun researching them when I don't have to decide right yet. It's all in God's hands though. He's the master planner! I just need to be reminded of that sometimes when I start taking my future plans into my own hands.
Adios!

A College Feasibility Study by Abigail Metzger
What comes to your mind when you think of the word college? Hard work? Lots of money? A waste of time? Time spent wisely? A college experience means something different to every person, whether they have attended a college, are attending, or will attend. From significant sources I've gathered information and answers that are vitally important to questions pertaining to college. These include the following:
What exactly is the purpose of attending a college program? For some, college programs offer the degrees needed for the career towards which they are working. Others attend a college because it's was just assumed that if you want to do anything in your life, you have to go to college. Still others decide to attend college just for the experience, to be well rounded, to skip the last years of highschool because of boredom or to be ahead of other students their own age, to prove something to others or themselves, to have structure and some sort of direction in their life, and other personal reasons. Others choose to not attend college because they are not planning on a future career that is based on classes taken in college; they don't have the money or are not eligible for certain scholarships or grants they need to pay for college; something else comes up in their lives that interferes with college; or they didn't know what they would be doing in the future, therefore they didn't want to risk wasting years learning information that wouldn't mean much to them in the years ahead.
How do people pay for college? There are many different ways. People earn money for tuition by working before college, during college, or after college. Others qualify for scholarships, grants, or financial aid that cover a small amount or quite a bit of the cost depending on grades, income, and other factors. Years after their college experience, individuals are still trying to pay off their loans, which is why some choose to save up money beforehand or while they are attending college.
How do people decide when to attend college? Most students begin their college attendance the autumn after graduating from highschool. Others take a year or more off to make decisions pertaining to college. Some go to college many years later because they couldn't immediately due to lack of funds, getting married and having children, etc. People make their decisions based on their own personal reasons.
How do people decide where to attend college? Many decisions are based on the person's interests, such as what kind of degrees they want to obtain or what classes they would like to take. Then they figure out what colleges offer those degrees or classes. They may want to attend a college based on religious factors, the location, size, or whether it is a university, a private or community college. There are many different decisions to make about where you would like to attend college; some are easy while others are extremely difficult. Deciding where to go to college takes time and thought; you usually can't just decide right away where you want to learn. Some people decide soley on their own, but many are influenced by others such as siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, graduates of a specific college, teachers, guidance from God, and so on.
Obviously, the decision regarding whether or not to attend college takes time, thought, and research. Many circumstances and people influence decisions that pertain to college attendance. It is not a smart idea to rush into any decisons about college; you may regret it in later years. Take your time. Listen to others' opinions and their experiences in deciding about college. Don't make it a painful process by constantly worrying about the " right" decision. The decision is ultimately up to you based on your personal thoughts.
Thanks to Trisha Ambrose, Sarah Goodrich, Susanna Metzger, Hatley Laughrige, Jojo Hahn, Caleb Metzger, Dave Cline, Bill Gerhardt, Ashley Metzger, and Brook Halford for their valuable answers and information regarding this report.

My first blog!!

So I decided to get a blog as you can see. I'm not a super good writer so maybe this will enhance my writing skills.
Just to let you know, I didn't come up with the name on my own. My wonderful sister Susanna came up with it. She's such a smarty!
So.....I'm not really sure what to say...I have stage fright. Just kidding. I have a really painful sprained ankle. I've been laying on the couch this entire week and keeping it elevated. It's super bruised. I wish I had an awesome story behind my spraining, but I don't. So here is the real story. I was carrying a box out to my mom's car after Ashley's baby shower on Saturday and I tripped over my feet. I think I broke one of their little lamps as a sprained it. I didn't think it was bad at first but then I felt it later and it was already swelling up.... The first night I couldn't walk on it at all and I puked that night cuz I got up too fast. It was a really weird night. And that's all I have to say for now. That was very interesting huh???
Adios!