This may not be the best time to ask a question with so many of you going on vacation and all but, I'll go ahead and post it and wait to hear your responses.
We are in the process of looking for a new church home. As we visit different churches the question has come to me..."What is church for?" "What is the purpose of church?"
It seems that different churches exsist for different reasons. Some may exsist for the sake of relationships with each other, keeping one another accountable. Others may exsist for evangelism, reaching the lost...etc. I feel we need to answer that question before we can find a "home". So, I thought I would ask if any of you have thought through or wrestled with this seemingly easy question and find out what your thoughts are on the subject.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Girls VS. Wild
I know that this is like my (Elizabeth) third post in a row, but i HAD to tell everybody this story! Its little lengthy... And sorry for any spelling errors, its late and im typing fast...
Well this past week our churh had a camping trip, at Bass River State Park. For those of you who arent familar with this area Bass River has hundreds upon hundreds of acres of the Pine Barrens surrounding it. I tell you this because it will be important later on in the story.
Okay, well anyway Me and my family arrived at the campground on Thur. and we were setting up and stuff... and it was Extremely hot that day! But anyway later on around 3 O' clock My friend Sami got there and me , her, and our friend Jessica decided to go on a bikeride. Well I know this campground very well because our family has been camping there since i was really little. So we were riding around and we came back to the road that our campsite was on, ( This is where the story takes a sharp turn) Well all three of us stood there at the beginning of the road and i said " So, do we want to go back or just keep riding?" Well we turned and saw a little hiking trail right next to us. So we decided to go down it. (Bad idea) Well it was a really clear trail, that obviously was used alot. So we followed it for awhile and then Sami saw a much smaller more adventurous trail off the the left. And us being ones for adventure took it. Well we followed this trail for awhile and it brought us out to a dirt road; and all dirt roads must lead somewhere right? (haha) So we start riding along on this dirt road thinking that it should bring us back around where we began. So we were riding , and riding, and riding. And this was one really really long road, with lots of intersections and turnoffs. so we found ourselves a little confused, and we looked ahead and we saw the parkway. Well, we decided that riding to the parkway was way to drastic, we had only been lost for a little while, and we would find our way back. So we kept going,.....and going,.... and going.
Now these dirt roads turned out to be a complete maze! They just kept turning and dividing and crossing onto more roads and before we knew it we were completely and utterly lost! None of us knew exactly where the camp was compared to where we were now so we had no idea what direction to go. and we couldnt follow are tracks back because we had already riden for miles and we figured that we would HAVE to hit a paved road eventually! There were car tracks on the roads, so they had to lead somewhere. So we just kept on riding. now remember when i said in the begining that bass river is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of acres of pine barrens, yea that thought kept floating threw my mind as we were riding along. And also remember in my previous post about me hurting my foot, yea well that only happened a week ago, so my foot was hurtin pretty bad.
So anyway, a couple hours into our little adventure i start to get a little panicky. Im starting to realize how lost we really are. And im very clausterphobic, and i dont like being somewhere where i feel trapped or i cant get out, and that little phobia wasnt helping the situation at all...neither was my foot, or the fact that i was wearing flip flops and i was developing some pretty nasty blisters between my toes. So here is each of our attitudes: Im scared of dying in the woods, Jessica is scared that when we get back she will get in trouble, and this whole prediciment hasnt really phased Sami. So on we go,We had to keep walking our bikes because the roads were getting really sandy, and I walked my bike half the time because of my foot. Whis was slowin us down quite alot. but we kept going. And the one statistic that kept running through my head was " A great majority of people who get lost in the wilderness end up dying only 1/2 or 1/4 of a mile away from a busy road." That helped.
I also found out that when in such situations your survival insticts really perk up. I always remember my dad always saying "When you are lost in the woods always listen for the parkway" Because there are few places you can go and not hear it... Well we found that place! We got sooo far out in the woods that we could hear absolutely nothing!!! We also tried to get Sami to climb a tree to see if she could see anything, that didnt work. We tried to map out where we where compared to the parkway and the sun setting, that didnt work. Me and Jessica ate wild blueberries, that did work. We tried screaming for help, that didnt work.So we did the only sure fire way to get us help, we had a prayer meeting right in the middle of the woods...
So we kept going... Well Sami decided to go ahead of us (because she weighs like 100 lbs and was way speedier on the bike) And i lagged behind because of my blasted foot and Jessica because she was riding an 8 year olds bmx bike. Anyway so we hear Sami scream "I found a house!!!" We all get super excited and take off down the road. Now this is where our story starts to look a little like a horror movie. The house has a gate with tons of signs saying "dont enter", that didnt stop us. It looked to be like some teenagers make shift shooting range, that didnt stop us. There were deer heads hanging and bullet holes covering everything, that didnt stop us. and there were old Micheal jackson records hanging allover the building, that kind of scared us a little but it didnt stop us! So we see that this big ugly building has a direct tv satalite so there had to be a phone! so out next task was to break in. We were turning to our criminal ways for our own survival. Well the door is deadbolted shut, so we start whacking at it with metal poles, that doesnt work. I try to pick the lock with my bobby pin, that didnt work. Sami went on the roof to try to tear her way in, that didnt work. We tried to saw the door open with old saw blades, that didnt work. We Tried to uncover the windows which were all nailed shut, that didnt work and resulted in hornet stings. We tried screaming for help again, that didnt work. We also started halucinating thinking that we were hearing helicopters coming to save us. And here is the weird thing, we were suddenly really happy and giddy, singing and joking around as we were stranded in the middle of the woods, it seemed almost like a dream or a movie. Im not sure why, but it did lift our spirits.
So by now it is starting to get dark, And i was really starting to believe that we were going to have to spend the night in the woods. we had stayed at this God forsakin building way to long so we start riding again. Well now we had an adreniline rush and we were flying down these dirt roads on our bikes. Well up ahead i spot some sort of tower with a red light (A tower from heaven!!!) And it was miles away so we take off... well on our trek to this tower we came across the most wonderful thing in all the world that God could have let us stumble upon; A PAVED ROAD!!! WITH YELLOW LINES!! AND CARS!!!! We were freaking out happy!!!! Well or next task was to flag someone down, haha, we looked like homeless woodland people. covered in dirt and sweat and bug bites. so we didnt have to much luck trying to get someone to stop for us. Then finally a family stopped for us and called Sami's Dad. now this is like 5 or 6 hours later, and it was dark. And the State Police, the Park Rangers, And some people from our church were out looking for us. The road we had popped out on was ten miles away from the campground, and who knows how many miles we had traversed on those bikes in those woods.
So we left those woods with a new sense of life, Tons of bug Bites, Blisters, really really really sore butts, And a great story that we can pass along to all generations after us. Not to mention many speeches about not going anywhere without our cell phones, and people always making fun of us because of our lack of direction. But I can say that im happy that got lost in the woods with two of my best friends, and A God who never leaves my side.
The End
~Elizabeth.
Well this past week our churh had a camping trip, at Bass River State Park. For those of you who arent familar with this area Bass River has hundreds upon hundreds of acres of the Pine Barrens surrounding it. I tell you this because it will be important later on in the story.
Okay, well anyway Me and my family arrived at the campground on Thur. and we were setting up and stuff... and it was Extremely hot that day! But anyway later on around 3 O' clock My friend Sami got there and me , her, and our friend Jessica decided to go on a bikeride. Well I know this campground very well because our family has been camping there since i was really little. So we were riding around and we came back to the road that our campsite was on, ( This is where the story takes a sharp turn) Well all three of us stood there at the beginning of the road and i said " So, do we want to go back or just keep riding?" Well we turned and saw a little hiking trail right next to us. So we decided to go down it. (Bad idea) Well it was a really clear trail, that obviously was used alot. So we followed it for awhile and then Sami saw a much smaller more adventurous trail off the the left. And us being ones for adventure took it. Well we followed this trail for awhile and it brought us out to a dirt road; and all dirt roads must lead somewhere right? (haha) So we start riding along on this dirt road thinking that it should bring us back around where we began. So we were riding , and riding, and riding. And this was one really really long road, with lots of intersections and turnoffs. so we found ourselves a little confused, and we looked ahead and we saw the parkway. Well, we decided that riding to the parkway was way to drastic, we had only been lost for a little while, and we would find our way back. So we kept going,.....and going,.... and going.
Now these dirt roads turned out to be a complete maze! They just kept turning and dividing and crossing onto more roads and before we knew it we were completely and utterly lost! None of us knew exactly where the camp was compared to where we were now so we had no idea what direction to go. and we couldnt follow are tracks back because we had already riden for miles and we figured that we would HAVE to hit a paved road eventually! There were car tracks on the roads, so they had to lead somewhere. So we just kept on riding. now remember when i said in the begining that bass river is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of acres of pine barrens, yea that thought kept floating threw my mind as we were riding along. And also remember in my previous post about me hurting my foot, yea well that only happened a week ago, so my foot was hurtin pretty bad.
So anyway, a couple hours into our little adventure i start to get a little panicky. Im starting to realize how lost we really are. And im very clausterphobic, and i dont like being somewhere where i feel trapped or i cant get out, and that little phobia wasnt helping the situation at all...neither was my foot, or the fact that i was wearing flip flops and i was developing some pretty nasty blisters between my toes. So here is each of our attitudes: Im scared of dying in the woods, Jessica is scared that when we get back she will get in trouble, and this whole prediciment hasnt really phased Sami. So on we go,We had to keep walking our bikes because the roads were getting really sandy, and I walked my bike half the time because of my foot. Whis was slowin us down quite alot. but we kept going. And the one statistic that kept running through my head was " A great majority of people who get lost in the wilderness end up dying only 1/2 or 1/4 of a mile away from a busy road." That helped.
I also found out that when in such situations your survival insticts really perk up. I always remember my dad always saying "When you are lost in the woods always listen for the parkway" Because there are few places you can go and not hear it... Well we found that place! We got sooo far out in the woods that we could hear absolutely nothing!!! We also tried to get Sami to climb a tree to see if she could see anything, that didnt work. We tried to map out where we where compared to the parkway and the sun setting, that didnt work. Me and Jessica ate wild blueberries, that did work. We tried screaming for help, that didnt work.So we did the only sure fire way to get us help, we had a prayer meeting right in the middle of the woods...
So we kept going... Well Sami decided to go ahead of us (because she weighs like 100 lbs and was way speedier on the bike) And i lagged behind because of my blasted foot and Jessica because she was riding an 8 year olds bmx bike. Anyway so we hear Sami scream "I found a house!!!" We all get super excited and take off down the road. Now this is where our story starts to look a little like a horror movie. The house has a gate with tons of signs saying "dont enter", that didnt stop us. It looked to be like some teenagers make shift shooting range, that didnt stop us. There were deer heads hanging and bullet holes covering everything, that didnt stop us. and there were old Micheal jackson records hanging allover the building, that kind of scared us a little but it didnt stop us! So we see that this big ugly building has a direct tv satalite so there had to be a phone! so out next task was to break in. We were turning to our criminal ways for our own survival. Well the door is deadbolted shut, so we start whacking at it with metal poles, that doesnt work. I try to pick the lock with my bobby pin, that didnt work. Sami went on the roof to try to tear her way in, that didnt work. We tried to saw the door open with old saw blades, that didnt work. We Tried to uncover the windows which were all nailed shut, that didnt work and resulted in hornet stings. We tried screaming for help again, that didnt work. We also started halucinating thinking that we were hearing helicopters coming to save us. And here is the weird thing, we were suddenly really happy and giddy, singing and joking around as we were stranded in the middle of the woods, it seemed almost like a dream or a movie. Im not sure why, but it did lift our spirits.
So by now it is starting to get dark, And i was really starting to believe that we were going to have to spend the night in the woods. we had stayed at this God forsakin building way to long so we start riding again. Well now we had an adreniline rush and we were flying down these dirt roads on our bikes. Well up ahead i spot some sort of tower with a red light (A tower from heaven!!!) And it was miles away so we take off... well on our trek to this tower we came across the most wonderful thing in all the world that God could have let us stumble upon; A PAVED ROAD!!! WITH YELLOW LINES!! AND CARS!!!! We were freaking out happy!!!! Well or next task was to flag someone down, haha, we looked like homeless woodland people. covered in dirt and sweat and bug bites. so we didnt have to much luck trying to get someone to stop for us. Then finally a family stopped for us and called Sami's Dad. now this is like 5 or 6 hours later, and it was dark. And the State Police, the Park Rangers, And some people from our church were out looking for us. The road we had popped out on was ten miles away from the campground, and who knows how many miles we had traversed on those bikes in those woods.
So we left those woods with a new sense of life, Tons of bug Bites, Blisters, really really really sore butts, And a great story that we can pass along to all generations after us. Not to mention many speeches about not going anywhere without our cell phones, and people always making fun of us because of our lack of direction. But I can say that im happy that got lost in the woods with two of my best friends, and A God who never leaves my side.
The End
~Elizabeth.
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