Interim Week -- PTL

These past few days have been considered an interim week between the first and second half of the semester. It has been a total answer to prayer in the renewing and re-energizing aspect after the much draining first three weeks of intense material. We have taken time this week to get to know ourselves better and to just relax and enjoy time with each other. Here's a quick snapshot into the past few days :)

Monday we went to Fox Run Park where we started off the semester with a retreat. We haven't been able to return because it is in the Black Forest area where the first wildfires started, but we got to spend Monday morning and afternoon there. We started the morning out with praise and worship in the pavilion, then broke into our life groups to talk about the semester so far. After lunch we could just hang out, play games, talk, hike, or just do whatever we felt would be helpful to relax us. I had a wonderful talk with Lindy and was so blessed by the things she had to say. The staff and faculty at FLI truly are an answer to prayers.

Tuesday we started out the morning at the Lee's house talking about some assessment results we had received. I took the Meyers-Briggs to learn about my personality type, and I am an INFJ (for those of you who know what this means...) For those of you who do not, here's a quick summary. I means that I am introverted, completely. I gain energy by having time to myself, rather than being in big groups, which tend to tire me out. N means that I am intuitive, meaning that I focus on the future while looking for patterns and predictions. F means I'm a feeler over a thinker, which I wasn't surprised by at all. I so often allow my heart to rule over my head in any situation. J means that I am judging (NOT like judging judging, it's something completely different, just to clarify). This means that I like planned and organized approaches to life. Anyone who knows me, knows how planned I like to have things. Heck, I have three planners that I use when I'm at school. So that's just a quick review of my personality. Now you know me!

We also talked about the Strengths Finder that we were assigned to take. I have taken this on three separate occasions. The first two were basically completely different because I went through a pretty dramatic life event. However this third time that I took it was more consistent with the first time, so I am happy to say that I am "returning back to normal" :) My number one strength was empathy, which happened to be consistent over all three times I took it. Second, developer. Third, restorative. Fourth, individualization. And fifth, relator. If you want to know more about what these actually mean, pick up the Strengths Finder 2.0 and it gives a great overview of each of the 34 possible strengths. I can't say I was surprised by any of these, and know that they will definitely play positively into my passion of becoming a counselor some day. In the afternoon, we took a hike up Mt. Herman. It was such a clear day and absolutely beautiful; we could even see all the way across Kansas to Kansas City believe it or not! That state is so flat... I can't wait to drive I-70 through there to get home...

Today was a challenging day. We volunteered with Samaritan's Purse to help with Black Forest Wildfire relief. I've gone on plenty of missions trips to help people out, but nothing has compared to this. Driving up to the houses and seeing absolutely nothing there except piles of ashes and soot to be sifted through was absolutely heartbreaking. We took all morning at one house and all afternoon at another house to sift through and look for valuables. I got extremely discouraged after going a while without finding anything, but that's all part of it. The families were so extremely grateful and were moved beyond words at the work we did without even knowing them. We presented them with a Bible at the end of the day before praying for them and heading out. It was an experience that I can't even put words too... But so powerful.

Heading home tomorrow morning for a few days!!!!!!!!!!