Our Recent Adventure

My family and I made it to PA on Sunday, around 3 in the afternoon. What does that mean and why should you care? Well, we left on early Saturday morning at 1:30. Normally the trip takes about 21 hours or so, but this trip was like any other we have ever taken. Let me set the scene up for you and then go into the details.

Picture this: 2 parents. One is driving and only slept a little on Friday night to "get him going" on our straight through no stopping to sleep trip. 4 kids. They all get along, quite well, but after awhile can get restless. 1 Yukon. Exactly like a suburban holds 9, but with all of our stuff, it felt like more. 1 trailer. Weighs the car down and holds all of our luggage and presents. No visibility out the back window.

Alright so here is what happened: Most of us slept through the morning, dad drove and we were on our way. We reached South Carolina in 8 hours, making pretty good time. We stop to eat. Get back on the road and sit in stop and go traffic for an hour. Then we hit snow. Lots and lots of snow. North Carolina was beautiful. Then we hit VIRGINIA! This is our most hated state, sorry Lindsey. It takes 5 hours or so to pass through. The scenery was lovely, but the roads were getting bad. After dinner, around 5:30, we get back on the road. We were in stop and go traffic for 4 hours.

*At this point you are probably saying, man that sounds awful, poor Eshelmans. WRONG!!!! There is so much more.*

We called our grandparents and said, we are about 5 hours away, expect us around 3 in the morning. O that we were so lucky. At around 11 the roads got exceptionally awful. I was texting Shaheen and asking her to pray because with a trailer and precious cargo, it was getting a little scary. Then we stopped. Complete stop in the middle of the interstate. Apparently a tractor trailer had jack-knifed about 1/4 mile in front of us. So, everyone, including us, turned off the cars and waited. Then as time wore on, people started to go to sleep. It was late so it's understandable.

Me, being the kind person that I am. I volunteered to be the look-out. I had slept ALL day so I said I would let my dad know when we started moving. He slept along with everyone else in the car. We turned on the car every hour or so, to let the heat run and thus warm our freezing little Florida bodies.

1 o'clock, no movement. 3 o'clock, nothing. 5:30, nothing. Okay, we've got to start moving soon. We've been sitting there for about 6 hours. 7 o'clock. Sunrise, someone comes to our door and says, try to make it on the shoulder of the road. The roads are CLEAR but all the truck drivers have fallen asleep and have been sleeping all night! Are you kidding me! We were stuck for so long. Almost 9 hours to be exact and everyone just didn't wake up. Come on.

So, we left. The roads were still awful and we found a place to eat breakfast around 10. Still in Virginia, the worst state ever in my humble opinion. Then we got back on the road and arrived around 3 in the afternoon.

What a trip! My family has now survived blizzard/snowy conditions. Yuck.

Sorry this is so long and I hoped you enjoyed my summary of our adventure. We will be telling this story for months to come. Ha. :)

Just a few statistics from our trip.

My mom figured out that we went 71 miles in 11 hours.

The average temperature was around 30 degrees, and we were sitting in the car...freezing. God bless heating in a car.

Number of layers I had on during the night: 1 shirt, 2 jackets, one blanket, gloves, socks and shoes. Lovely.

All in all though, praise God that we made it here safely and that we had fun doing it. I don't know if I could have made this trip with anyone else. Ask Shane about our "Let us move" song at 5:30 in the morning. (It's a variation of "Let it snow") He loved it.

Faith

Tonight, I was listening to my brother's iPod. Along came the song, I will rise by Chris Tomlin. I love this song. I really liked it when it first came out, but it recently took on a sad connotation. This song was the final song played at my Pap's funeral in July. It was a really appropriate song though.

Anyways, so tonight I heard it and I was a little sad, but one of the lines really stood out to me. The line says, 'my faith shall be my eyes'. I love that. Faith is seeing things as God says they are, and not how I think they are. Literally taking my faith and belief in the God of the Universe and using that to see everything. Every person who I encounter, every situation that I am placed in, every thought that I have... it is all supposed to be looked at with God's view in mind. I need to see sin as sin. I need to see that person that might annoy me as a lost person who needs a Savior. I need to take my thoughts and hold them captive so that they will be pleasing to my Lord.

It is so cool to me when God speaks to my heart at a weird time. For instance, I was not so much of a happy camper this evening. My plan: just put Shane's ipod in on the ride home and sulk. That's right, I wanted to think about why I was mad and why I had the right to be. It was awesome that God had other plans though. He took that anger, which was sin, and turned it into me learning something about not only me, but about a principle that I should apply everyday.

I have noticed that I write about mainly songs or what other people say that impacted me. In the very beginning of GCBI, when I made this blog, I started out with the Word. I want to get back to that. Not that I think songs or other stuff like that is bad, but I want to have my foundation in the love letter that my Creator has for me. So, I will hopefully be putting up a blog that is about what I have been reading and studying.

More to come...Daniel 3 probably. I love that chapter. Read it. :)

Love

Bring us love, You who are love
Bring us peace, You who are peace
We need love, O divine love
We need your peace, Your merciful peace
-David Crowder Band

Tonight, as we had worship at youth group, I thought about how much God loves me. It was so nice to just stop and in the middle of my hectic schedule to recognize that God's love is all I need. I don't know exactly what my future looks like and it is scary, but at the same time I can sit here and say, yeah, God hasn't told me anything about my life other than my profession, but it's okay. I know He loves me and has a plan. That is so comforting. When I am stressed because I feel like He is being silent, I can rest in the fact that He loves me. I do not need all the answers, although I wish I had them all at times, but I know that He has a plan. And His plan is exactly the one I want to follow.
He is jealous for me, just like the song says. He loves me enough that even though I run from Him and do not always obey, He will always take me back while I have tears streaming down my face. His love is relentless, His lovingkindness lasts forever.

Chinese

Tonight Shane and I had Chinese take-out. I do not believe in the fortune cookies, but they crack me up. My favorite, hands down is the one I got tonight.

"To lower your stress level, get a cat."

How did we get here?

I work at my church's daycare. And I love it. I started about a month ago. Recently I ordered three CDs from Amazon.com. When I first get a CD, I like to listen to it everywhere I go. The perfect amount of listening is when I can sing along and know some of the words. I am not at that point yet with my new CDs. So how do these two facts coincide? I have been bringing the CDs to work. I love putting them in and watching as the little one year olds start dancing to David Crowder. As I was laughing and nodding my head along, I thought to myself...how do we get to this point? When is it in life that we just stop dancing? These little kids around me were loving life and moving along to the beat of the song. Why is it that teens or adults don't do that? What happened that made us stop being so free? It made me think of that song from Fee, I am free. One of the lines in that song says, I am free to dance. To me, dancing is just a letting go. A chance to let loose whatever is holding us back. I don't know if any of these thoughts make sense or how they go together, but I was thinking about the simplicity of these little boys and how I, at 19 years old, am missing that. All this to say, life is short. Sometimes you just have to be a little wild and not so serious. So next time when those little one year olds dance to my David Crowder CD, I think I will be dancing right along with them.

Speech Class

So, today in my speech class, we had to do a journal entry. The one question we had to answer was, Who am I? That was it. We had five minutes to answer that question. I didn't really think about what I was writing until the end when I reviewed it. Here it is:

I am the daughter of the King, I am His being loved child. I am a girl who is sometimes insecure, but is then able to recognize my identity in Him. I am stubborn and extroverted. I tend to be shy in situations that are new or uncomfortable. I am a good listener and somewhat of a hard worker. I am a good student, although I procrastinate. I love my family, but don't always act like it. I am organized in my own unorganized way. I live for my Creator, knowing that He loves me and that is all I need.

When I got done and time was up. I looked at it and all I could think about was how thankful I was that I didn't describe myself in a negative way. A few years ago and maybe even recently too, I would have put some negative things about my appearance or personality. But instead I was able to see how God views me. I was able to see that I knew my identity was in Him and that He valued me. It was so refreshing to see that. I know that I have flaws and that I am far from perfect. I have so much more to learn in my walk with God, but it is refreshing to look in the mirror and know that I am loved more then I will ever know.
A little while ago, my friend and I were talking about how some preachers have their own overall message they want to portray to people. I know that I am not a preacher, nor will I ever be, but if I had to choose something that I would talk to people about if given the chance, it would probably be self worth and identity. I write about it so much on this blog (even though know one reads it), it is so important to me. I pray that I will always be able to see who I am in Christ and in that, I will be able to help others who might struggle with that as well.

p.s. The picture up top is a painting by Norman Rockwell, that I really like.

Tenth Avenue North

They amaze me. I love their songs, but the lyrics are amazing. Today as I was driving home from church earlier, I heard the song By Your Side. One line in particular struck me. I love when songs make you think. I enjoy music so much and it is so cool that that love can be put into deepening my relationship with my God. So, here it is:

"Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?"

I don't ever want to be at a point in my life that I am searching for love from somewhere other than my Heavenly Father. I agree that human love is important, but it is nothing in comparison to the love that would give up life in order for my salvation.
Tenth Avenue North is quickly becoming a favorite. I think I might have written about this before, but I also love the song Beloved.


*Disclaimer* If you look Beloved up on youtube or whatever, you might find some interesting images accompanying the song though. (Thank you Douglas)

Journal Entry

During my junior or senior year of high school, I read a book called Authentic Beauty. It was such a needed thing at that point in my life. It helped me recognize Jesus as my Prince, the one who loves me more than any person ever could. I busted it out a little while ago when I was going to talk to some of the youth group girls about their identity in Christ. I wrote this quote down in my journal because it is one that continues to remind me of the importance of pursuing a relationship with Jesus over anything else.

"A set-apart young woman is one marked by the imprint of Christ, one italicized by a lily whiteness, and punctuated by a feminine mystique that leaves the world around her astounded."

How many kings...

So, I was driving down the road with Kirsten tonight, about to be bombarded by my mad sisters, but as we were driving we were listening to the radio. The song, How Many Kings, by Downhere came on. I like that song, it's cool. My brother has it on his iPod and I've heard it before, then tonight it made me think. My favorite line in the song goes, "How many gods have poured out their hearts to romance a world that is torn all apart?" That made me stop and think.
We are studying ancient Egypt in my humanities class and I was taken aback by how many gods they had. They were constantly trying to please all of them at one time and to make it into the afterlife with all of their stuff. I am so glad that I know the truth, that I do not have to wonder if I got it right. I know that there is one God, and He came to romance this world that is all torn apart. He poured out His heart in the sense that we have His word and we have His love letter to the world. I love the imagery that the artists set up. I love the phrase to romance the world. That is exactly what God did. He came to this earth because He loves us and He is everyday being the Lover of my soul. He is my King that is one day coming back for His bride. He is everything and because of that I live my life for Him.

You're Beautiful

On our tour of Israel, we went into a church were many different groups were inside. It was a beautiful church and when we entered one group was in the front singing. It was so neat because after one group was done, another would immediately fill the silence. I was struck with the reality that one day soon, just like in this church, there will be a sea of people singing to their Lord. Just as these people were singing in different languages and I knew they were glorifying our Creator, one day we would be standing before the throne of God, doing the exact same thing...solely focused on Jesus.
Then, a few weeks ago some of my friends led worship at one of the local churches. During that time, it was perfect...the lights were dim, the music was soft, and I totally felt God's presence. I was standing there just imagining what Heaven is going to be like. I kept thinking that, wow, one of these days, maybe even today, I am going to meet my Creator. One day I am going to lift my voice with so many others, in so many different languages. Ever since that night, I have had this excitement growing inside of me. I want to be ready for that day. I want to hear God call me a faithful servant. I want to live my life in a way that pleases Him. I want Him to be pleased with my offering of worship to Him.

"When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
You're bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful." - Phil Wickham

Jesus is my fulfillment.

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need you satisfy me

With Your LOVE and all I have in You is more that enough.

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

I have this longing inside of me. I know that it can not be filled with anything more than God. I want the desires of my heart to be what His will is. Not what I want, but what He wants. The longing that I have has to be turned over to Him.

Lord, You are my supply, my breath of life. Still more awesome than I know!

Camp!

Well, it's the weekend and I have a little down time and rest. Camp has been going really well. Two weeks down, three more to go. Senior high and junior high were the first weeks and tonight I will head back for some staff training for the pioneer week aka the little kids. The past few weeks have been good but challenging. This is my first year counseling, but so far I love it and am really glad that God laid it on my heart to become involved with Camp Mantowagan. This upcoming week I will be counseling with Shaheen, which should be awesome!

I am struggling a little with having my own time in the day to have devotions and just spend my own quiet time with the Lord. I know that I will need to make more of an effort to get up early or stay up later, but sleep is such a precious thing to me during camp that I am struggling to give that up. It really is all about priorities and I want the Lord to be first. Senior high week was awesome because we actually had scheduled time to spend with the Lord, but this past week we had to do it on our own time. I know that with little kids I will have to be with them at all times so, I am fully aware that I will have to sacrifice some time. I am ready to do that and I am getting really excited for the coming few days.

I would really appreciate your prayers for camp and also just that God will use me and have His will in my life and at camp. Thank you all in advance:)

The End to a new Beginning

Well, it has taken me awhile to actually come online, but we are done. About three weeks ago on a Sunday night, we graduated. Then, the very next day five of the twelve people I lived with for a year, left. It was a bittersweet goodbye, but I know that those people are ones I can call up and talk to anytime I need to. They are friends that I know I can always rely on and I know that they have learned just as much as I have this year. I will still miss them tremendously.
So, what's next? I am going to be a counselor at a small summer camp in PA with one of the girls from GCBI. I am so excited and I will leave in a week and a half to head up there. I signed up for classes today too at the local community college. I was excited to hear that if I took two full semesters and a few classes in the next summer, I would get my AA in a year. This next week is my last week at work too. I feel like things that I love so much are ending, but I know that that means there are new things in store for me. I know that God has a bigger plan for me and everyday He is revealing more of Himself to me and His will for my life. That is my goal, to live a moment by moment surrendered life for my King. As things end and new things begin in my life, He is in control and I am ready for what He has. I know that some of it is hard, but He is the One I am following and wanting to please. His plan is the only one I am willing to follow. Living life with my hands open.

Winding down...

This year has gone by so fast. It is really amazing to me that so much time has past, but it feels like yesterday we were at orientation and I was nervous about meeting so many new people. Now they feel like family and I am sitting here in the common room with a few other people and this feels so much like home.

Tomorrow we all with load up once again in our van with our teacher Pastor Randy and go to a couple of churches in Florida. We are going to be helping them in any way that we can, whether it be hard labor or just encouraging there. This will be our last big trip together as a team. I am excited to go and I know that given the people that the trip will be with, it will me a good trip.
As this year comes to a close, it's really sad, but I am realizing that God has big plans for me and even though they might involve still staying in Sebring, I know that God will help me take what I've learned this year and use it for His glory. Next year, I plan on going to the community college here and also being involved with the youth here. Hopefully too, since I've been through the program, I will be able to tell the other people who are here next year how the year is and also, what to expect and hopefully form a relationship with them too. Basically all I know is that God has a plan for me and that whatever happens next year and in my distant future, that He is in control and I can always fall back on His character and love.

Trip!

Today we had class after a week of not having any at all. It was so good to get back into the Word, I realized that having a week off was a good indication of what I will be like after GCBI. I disappointed myself by not doing a very good job of still be responsible and getting into the Word. But today, we jumped back in and it was fantastic. We went over some of the gospels and some of Jesus' life. What a great God we have! He emptied himself it says in Philippians 2 for us. That means that He had the right and the authority to do anything He wanted, but He gave up all of that in order to come to the earth and die for us! That is so crazy to me. Why would a God who sees all of my faults and my failures want to have a loving personal relationship with me? It is so great that Pastor Randy will say one thing in class and that gets me thinking about my salvation and the thankfulness I should have about it.
On top of that, today we talked a little bit about the trip. For those of you who don't know, and there are only like 5 people who read this blog anyway...I am going to Israel in less than a week! I am getting so excited! We talked today about all the places we will be going and all the things that Pastor Randy will expound on in the gospels! I really wasn't that excited about the trip, don't get me wrong. I've been praying about it and I know that it will be a good trip, but I was focused more about all the events that are going on before we leave. Well, today has gotten me so excited and I am ready to go!
So, please pray about the trip and everything prior to that! Thanks and good night!

Christmas Break is over...

Well, we had a month off to see our family and celebrate the holidays. We just got back into classes this week! I am so glad that we are back into the swing of things. I am so excited to learn more about the Bible and to think that I have another semester to do it, yay! My break was really good. We went to Pennsylvania to visit my family. It was really nice to leave here for awhile and to get to see my family that I only get to see like twice a year. I also love Christmas in general. I know that I am a little late to write about all this stuff. Well, we went over some minor prophets today and Tuesday. We studied Obadiah, Jonah, and Haggai. We also studied Jude. I am so glad to be back and to study the Bible more. I know that I am becoming repetitive so I am going to end this blog post. All of that to say that I am even more thankful to be here. Thanks for your prayers and everything!