Check off To- Do List

- New (hopefully awesome) part-time job - check!
- New Apartment - check!
- New (must-be-awesome) Roommate - check!
- New Seminary - check!
- New (hideously long) Blogpost - check!
- New Church & volunteer position - (on the schedule for Sunday)
- New Boyfriend - (position open)

Ok, 5 out of 7 not bad! :) I know its been FOREVER since I've done anything with this site, and while I would LOVE to take you all (meaning all 2 of you who are still actually checking this thing) on the "last 5 month's of Jenny's life" tour, I am going to instead try to just pick up where I left off with only a very very brief summary of my amazing summer.

In the coming months, I hope you can expect that I'll be using this as a way to process all that I'm learning in Seminary and how its going actually putting it all into practice in my life.

So, summer...



Adam and I had an awesome roadtrip across the US to Minnesota, but I haven't heard much from him since, which although a bit painful was probably for the best.











Nothing like wearing crazy clothes to help you get over yourself!






Played lots of guitar - and I swear I finally got to a point where I didn't have to look at my fingers, or at the chords, or at anyone but the kids - I loved being "one of the strong ones!" Go chick rockers!
































I learned a lot from finding the time to be quiet. Beauty never ceases to open up the communication lines between me and my Creator.


OOPS - DID I MENTION I GOT TO GO TO HONG KONG & MAINLAND CHINA!?



This was an incredible trip. We put on a week of camp in each place, and between playing Mighty Mighty on the beach, having my campers show me the Big Buddha, and generally making wonderful friends, Hong Kong was a blast.





































































Mainland China, on the other hand, was incredible in a different way. Its beauty, rich history, fascinating and a bit frightening government-rule, and the simply wonderful kids, who face more pressure than we can even describe in English words, made the time fly by. I will always treasure my experience of camp in China. Here are a few pix that show a beautiful hike we took near Xinyang, the way the kids opened up around the campfire our last night, my dear group of girls, etc.








































































And btw - we got to FEED monkeys! and Ostriches! and it was awesome. And scary - don't look a monkey in the eye - they see it as a sign of aggression. FYI.





















































And oh yeah - our imprompu layover in Japan was awesome. Here are my male teammates making good use of the hotel robes (one of us decided they were a complimentary present on behalf of the airline and packed it away, but I'm not naming names... the clear imprint of the hotel name inside did not appear to be enough evidence to the contrary).
















All in all, I may write more on this trip later. It profoundly moved me in realizing the importance and value in camping ministry, in helping people, esp. kids, to move outside their everyday lives to encounter something bigger, to encounter people who love them independent of their achievements or abilities, and to ultimately, encounter a God who created and loves them. Maybe this is where God is leading me, but more on that later...