#stuffcamperssay

Today was a very long day. Level 1, Level 3, afternoon session of gymnastics day camp, kinders (4 year olds), trompers (3 year olds), beginnning middle/high school. Good thing gymnastics campers are full of entertainment

Me: What's Coach Misa's middle name?
Camper: Konichiwa (Coach Misa is Japanese)

Camper: She's engaged to Justin Bieber
Me: That's not true
Camper: But she said it
Me: And I just said I'm hanging out with Taylor Swift tonight. Do you believe everything everyone tells you?
Camper: Well, yeah. Can I come over tonight, too?

Me: Why are you afraid?
Camper: I'm going to fall on my head
Me: Why do you think that?
Camper: Because I'm going to let go
Me: Why would you let go?
Camper: Because I think I'm going to fall on my head
Me: So you're afraid of falling on your head because you're going to let go because you think you're going to fall on your head?
Camper: That doesn't make any sense. I'm confused.
Me: Yeah, me too.

Camper: So you don't have a husband?

Me: No. 

Camper: Well what about a boyfriend? 

Me: No. 

Camper: Well you should get one.

Me: How? 

Camper: Just hang out with some boys. Do your back tuck, that will impress them.

Camper B: And your splits. Do the splits

Me: If you want to, for fun, you could call me Kate the great

15 minutes later

Me: So what's my name? 

Camper: Coach Great! 

My Soul Will Dance

If blogger had a feeling function like Facebook does now, mine would say feeling joyful. 

Yesterday I had an impromptu dance party with some of the girls from the gym while waiting for it to be class time. Their ages ranged from 2-9 and it was the kind of thing that makes your soul smile. 

Today our pastor was talking about how we shouldn't feel like we have to read our Bibles or spend time with The Lord because it's the right thing to do; we should desire Him because He is good and He loves us. He talked about thinking like a child and enjoying God in the most basic ways. He urged us to wander into the awe of God

Working with kids has certainly softened my heart to the awe-factor of The Lord. 

I thought about all this as I listened to Where The Love Lasts Forever. It's such a gospel song, so freeing. 

Your mercy found me 

Upon a broken road

Lifted me beyond my failings

Into Your glory

My sin and shamed dissolved

And now forever Yours I'll stand

In love never to end

To call You more than Lord, 

Glorious Friend

So I'll throw my life on all that You are

'Cause I know You gave it all for me

And when all else fades my soul will dance

With You, where the Love lasts forever

And forever I will sing 

Lord forever I will sing

How you gave Your life away

Just to save me

Lord you save me 

And with all that mulling in my head, I read the first story in the Jesus Storybook Bible; here's the first sentence, 

"God wrote 'I love you' - he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere. Because God created everything in his world to be like a mirror- to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing" 

And to provide a place for our souls to dance. 

All or Nothing

Today was all or nothing day. I don't celebrate every holiday with this much enthusiasm, but I had a day off work so I figured go big, right?

The day started with a Stick It quote, one of my favorite quotable movies,

"Somebody somewhere once said, I'm going to climb this insanely high mountain. Watch me"

And also banana oatmeal with chocolate protein shake powder mixed in.

I packed a cliff bar, an avocado, a black bean and lentil burrito and a full water bottle as well as plenty of sunscreen.

I drove about 35 miles to Mount Si (it's pretty close to Rattlesnake; you can actually see Rattlesnake Lake from the top of Si). Most of my readers probably have no idea who Scott Jurek is, but to the world of ultra running, he is a legend. He used Mount Si to train for the Leadville 100, running the 4mile, 4100 foot elevation climb. Twice. Back to back. As one who has now walked the mountain, I can say that Scott is indeed superhuman.

You are supposed to need a discover pass to park here. I (wrongly) assumed I could purchase one there. I took my chances and nothing happened. Anyway. 

4 miles to the top, plus more for Haystack Scramble but we'll get there later. It was about a 2 mile elevation gain. 

It was very quiet. I hardly saw anyone else the whole time. 

Very beautiful views. See my Facebook for more pics. 

This is Haystack Scramble. Climbers were told to exercise extreme caution. I had never climbed real rocks before but I figured there's a first time for everything. 

Edit: I looked up some more information on this scramble. Scrambles are ranked on a scale of 1-5. This is a class 3, which means that you have more exposure and will need to use all of your body, sometimes carry a rope but it's not generally necessary, and falls are typically  not fatal. 

This was on the way down. If you look above me, those are the rocks I was climbing. 

Pretty steep stuff there. 

I had an awesome time and then I ate fries and a shake and a bacon cheeseburger and spent 15 minutes scraping the dirt off myself in the shower. 

A successful all or nothing day if I do say so myself

Hey

Kate, you haven't blogged in several days. 

Yeah, I know but I promise nothing all that interesting has happened. This week especially, everyone I know has felt just very tired and whiny. Like I go home and my roommates and I just complain. And then we do things like celebrate wine Wednesday on Tuesday and get 10% off at Hagen das for answering their dumb trivia question correctly. 

I made this chicken salad. It's pretty much the best one I've ever made. I baked the chicken in olive oil, salt, pepper and penzey's bouquet garnis. I also cooked macaroni shells. Then I added some mayonnaise, celery, red onion and pepper. Yup, delicious. 

I also made a coffee cake this morning. I have Tuesday and Wednesday mornings off usually so I like to cook in order to feel productive. Except usually I cook actual foods like meat or black beans or lentils or lasagna that I can refrigerate and eat later. 

This morning I talked to Betsy on the phone. We learned that we both went to the post office yesterday and mailed each other a letter. Weird. My favorite quote was "I ate lettuce. You can't keep buying me shots". 

Oh, and I got to text Liztowne because she is no longer in Germany! She made it home! And soon she's coming to me to establish our new home. 

I ate an avocado at Starbucks. I am addicted to avocados. But grocery outlet sells them 2.35 for 2lbs which lasts me at least a week so that's fine with me. And I really didn't want to go home cranky again so I got a green tea. I might also go get a frosty soon. Wait I have coffee cake. That would taste so good with a frosty. 

Sorry this blog post is dumb. At least it exists. 

Oh, but I'm teaching with the preschool in the fall which means I get to work at 50% of the 4 SGA gyms. These two are two blocks apart from each other. The other ones are further away, really. The thought popped in my head to become a fully certified preschool teacher. Not right away, but maybe eventually. I am really really loving that age group. I've taught it before and it was pretty good but SGA just has a lot more space and equipment for them so it's really fun. 

One more thing: 

Emily is 9 and is part of our program at the community center. 

Me: Emily, do you have any brothers or sisters? 

Emily: nope, only child. 

Contemplates. 

Emily: do you have any children? 

Me: No! Not yet, silly. 

Emily: hmm. Well do you have a boyfriend? 

Me: nope. 

Emily thinks hard about this one and asks, do you have a husband? 

Geeze. Half my kids think I'm 17 and the other half think I'm 35. 

Solid Rock/Cornerstone

Solid Rock
Published in 1837
Written by Edward Mote

1. My hope is built on nothing less
   Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
   But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
   • Refrain:
     On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
     All other ground is sinking sand,
     All other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
   I rest on His unchanging grace;
   In every high and stormy gale,
   My anchor holds within the veil.
3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
   Support me in the whelming flood;
   When all around my soul gives way,
   He then is all my hope and stay.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
   Oh, may I then in Him be found;
   Dressed in His righteousness alone,
   Faultless to stand before the throne.

Cornerstone

Released 2012

Written by Edward Mote (emphasized by yours truly), Eric Liljero, Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone
Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless stand before the throne.

Most modern churches are probably singing Cornerstone and people don't even know the song's history. 

We sang Solid Rock at church this morning. I love that my church mostly sings hymns; even though they're usually in a more modern style, the theological truth and weight remains the same. 

I personally think it's kind of bogus that Hillsong gets to use all of the same verses, write a new 20-word chorus and a bridge, and then not only pass it off as a new song, but also market the entire album around it (this is the title track of the 2012 album).

Secret Thoughts

I read Rosaria Butterfield's book. 

Again. 

I don't know how many times I've read it in the last six months, but it's probably getting ridiculous. I love what it says about sin and grace and sanctification. I love what it says about hospitality and loving your neighbor. I love what it says about church and the church and the Bible and prayer. 

And I love her heart for the forgotten child. 

I have long thought I would like to be a mom. Teaching my babies on Saturday mornings makes me want to have kids. But there is also a deeper longing. 

I would love to provide another option to abortion. I would pay for the expenses throughout pregnancy and deliver and let the mom see her child grow up of she wanted. I'm always really inspired by Eric and Leslie's story with their son Kip: his momma was 17 and scared and was thinking abortion. The Ludys invited her into their home and loved her and she comes and sees Kip regularly. I could do something like that. 

But I also read Rosaria's tales of the kids she's adopted out of foster care, and the ones that slipped through the cracks and red tape. I'm reading Michael Oher's book, now too. I don't know if I could have what it would take to be a foster parent. You never know how long you'll get to build a relationship for. I think I would want to adopt every child who came through my house. And I wouldn't be able to. But maybe I could adopt at least one out of the foster care system. 

I was given so many privileges in life and I want to be able to give someone a chance who has none. The question for me wasn't if I would graduate college, but which one. Meanwhile less than 10% of kids who age out of foster care will even enroll, and less than 1% will graduate. Children who go to foster homes are more than twice as likely to experience PTSD than American soldiers returning from war zones. Only about 1/3 of foster kids ever get adopted, and most of those are under the age of 8. The rest age out and within a year and a half, half of them are homeless. 

This is something worth weeping for and praying for and fighting against any way we can. 

Leftover Egg Bake

Most of the time I make something, I'm pretty sure it will taste good. I was skeptical of this one. 

I still had a lot of biscuits and they were starting to go stale. I split them in half, buttered them and then put them butter side down into a pan. I put in cherry tomatoes, avocado, leftover broccoli lentils, black beans and a ton of cheese. I poured 4 eggs beaten with milk over the top and added fox point and pepper and put it in the oven and hoped for the best. 

18 minutes later, I could smell it and everything seemed solid so I pulled it out. 

It is seriously the best breakfast I've had in a long time. Biscuit bake is absolutely delicious and has so many possibilities. 

Reset

It's been a crazy week. I taught gymnastics even after I lost my voice. 12 hours, 8 hours, 8 hours, and I'm on a break from 10 hours. 

I woke up this morning so very tired. Not even coffee with espresso helped. I so wanted to enjoy Jeremiah and The Bondage of the Will but it was hard. Class 1 was alright, but our camp girls are fading as the week goes on. It's been rough. I co teach a huge class next and then I have a very small but longer class tonight. And I'm working tomorrow, on my day off. I had hit the wall. 

So I grabbed a green tea lemonade. And my journal. I re read the verses I'd had from this morning. I went to my place in the psalms, and read:

When my spirit was overwhelmed and fainted [ throwing all its weight ] upon me, then you knew my path. Psalm 142:3a

Pause

Reset

Play on

Spotlight on Caroline

It has taken me so long to get to Caroline because I seriously know nothing about her. She has a man friend who sometimes stays over and sometimes takes her and they both disappear for a significant span of time. She spends most of her time in her room. Caroline is not one for conversation, though attempts have been made. 

Until today, no one had seen Caroline eat or cook anything at our house. 

But I did! She was making potatoes and onions on the stove, it looked like. And she said hello to me. 

Unfortunately I have no voice right now so any opening that may have occurred was thwarted. 

Hating Sin as Sin

I've been reading On the Mortification of Sin in the Life of the Believer by John Owen (for anyone who knows John Owen, you understand the kind of intellectual and spiritual undertaking this is) at a time when I'm trying to deal with a specific sin in my life.

The chapters I read today were particularly poignant, as Owen writes on the need to hate sin as sin. What he means by this is that sometimes we hate sin because of the trouble it brings us, or because of the discomfort we feel, rather than hate it because God hates it. We have a tendency to hate sin as a bother instead of as the evil against the Creator that it really is.

Owen writes, "Hatred of sin as sin, not only as galling disquieting, a sense of the love of Christ in the cross, lies at the bottom of all true mortification"

What really got me was when he pointed out our flesh and our desire for comfort, "considering more the trouble of sin than the filth and guilt of it". He urges the necessity to "Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger and evil of that sin wherewith you are perplexed"

This book actually goes really well with The Pleasures of God that I just wrapped up. Whereas the Pleasures are about delighting in what God delights in - chiefly, His glory - Mortification is about hating what God hates - sin, which seeks to undermine His glory. Ultimately both are about the glory of God, in converse ways.

Owen is certain that it is but the work of the Holy Spirit in the believe that can combat sin. Which is why this cry in Jeremiah 14:7 is in such earnest -

Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.

Did you notice that? It says "for your name's sake". The casting away of our iniquity, the slaying of our sin, the healing of our disease is to the fame and glory of His name!

Another Winner

Garlic and lime salmon on a bed of curried lentils and veggies. 

Earlier this week, I accidentally cooked a boatload of lentils. So I've been coming up with some creative ways to use them. For lunch one day, I curried a batch and added broccoli and corn (delicious!). Another day, I mixed them with black beans, corn, red pepper, and red onion as burrito filling (and cheese and avocado of course). 

Today, I went to grocery outlet after work and saw there was salmon on sale (also 8 avocados for a dollar! Crazy). I didn't have a plan for the fish, but it sounded good so I picked it up. 

Then tonight, a light bulb went off. I cooked the salmon in olive oil, pressed garlic, salt and pepper and topped it with lime juice and cilantro (both left over from the salsa making last week) and set it on the reheated lentils. It was super good! 

Roommate Spotlight: Cat

Cat complains about the cost of groceries

She refuses to shop anywhere but Whole Foods and occasionally Trader Joe's 

Face palm 

Big girl job

So I haven't really blogged this week, within good reason. I started all my classes and guess what? In 4 days I worked over 40 hours! What's weird is that at school I'd have cross country at 6:30am and a club meeting until 10:30 pm; 16 hour days were kind of just part of life and now a 12 hour day puts me right to sleep. 

But I think one big difference is that before, I was only responsible for myself. Now, I'm in charge of other people for large chunks of time, and I'm supposed to teach them things and be super energetic, happy and excited all the while. 

In any event, I am really loving this job. Even though I'm tired, it feels good. I have off tomorrow and I'm even a little sad about it, especially because I don't know if I'll get to see my camp kids again, and they did so great this week and we all had so much fun.

 I have a few super small classes that will allow me to work on specific goals with each child, and I am generally excited to see kids learning to love my all time favorite sport and being successful in their own ways. 

I've been thinking of the ways two of my favorite names of God ( the God Who Provides and the God Who Sees) connect. Because The Lord sees all of me, he is able to provide in the best way possible! I feel so abundantly blessed by him. This job really does make me happy. 

Ps not every week will be this crazy. It's just that I had a special camp this week. Well, actually I have one next week. And the week after. But the week after that, it will be calm. I hope. 

Redeemed

For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing and shall be redeemed without money. Isaiah 52:3 

That's all. 

So many good things

Today was an even better day than expected! 

It started off with a (google+) hangout with Alissa and Betsy. It was nice to see their beautiful faces. Cindy even made a cameo appearance once or twice. 

Then I had church, which is my favorite part of just about every Sunday, so obviously it was great. I even had people to sit with today that I actually knew! 

Afterwards, we grilled out. I had brought mango salsa this time, and it was a hit. Although when people saw me, they asked if I'd brought the biscuits again. It was fun meeting some new people and also talking with some I'd met on Thursday or casually on previous Sundays. 

Then, some of the girls decided we didn't want it to end. So I took Gab home with me and we made a little more salsa and hung out before heading over to the rooftop of an apartment complex. You can see all of downtown Seattle. But what was extra great about this is these girls all wanted to read. Courtney, Victoria, Erin, Gab - you are wonderful! The boys who actually live in the building - Trent, Craig, Dillon, and Ian- disrupted us briefly to ask us what we were reading, snag some salsa, and then Craig told the other guys I was into Shai Linne and Lecrae and such and that got them all fired up. They eventually left us in peace and it was lovely.

Then, I came home. On Sundays I usually cook a bunch of black beans for the week because they're time consuming. I cooked some chicken with coconut oil and curry powder, added some of the black beans and topped it with the salsa. It might be my favorite meal I've made so far. 

Then Emily came home and we talked about an outing to Rattlesnake Ledge with Sandy and maybe Cat if she wants and Gab was interested too. 

In short, great day with great people. But vacation is over. So I go back to work tomorrow, and this time it's for real. 

Lovely

I've been reading The Pleasures of God, and it's been such a worshipful experience. It's a study in what God delights in and why.

Above all things, God is protective of his name and his glory. Therefore, all created things exist to glorify God -

May the glory of the Lord endure forever, may the Lord rejoice in his works. Psalm 104:31

As Piper puts it, "God enjoys his works because they express his glory"

Today, I was cutting up mangos. This may not be your idea of a spiritual moment, but that's the point - it can be! I was looking at the color and feeling the texture and smelling it, and sneaking tastes and I had this thought:

Because I know the Lord invented mangos, they exist to glorify him! And they make him look so good!

Seeing God's glory at stake in the small things helps me to see it in the big things. It keeps the gospel from being about me and puts it all on him! To quote Piper again, "The rock-bottom foundation of our forgiveness and our fearlessness and our joy is the commitment of God to his own great name. First, he is committed to act for his own name's sake. And then, for that reason, he is committed to act for his people...God's first love is rooted in the value of his holy name, not the value of a sinful people. And because it is, there is hope for the sinful people - since they are not the ground of their salvation, God's name is"

In this, I re-discovered the song "Lovely" by  Chris Tomlin, a song that draws attention to the ultimate loveliness and worthiness of our God

I watch Your wonders fill the sky
Over the mountains reaching high
The same majesty floods my life
I stand in awe

Lovely, there is none more lovely
In all the universe, there is no one lovelier
Worthy, there is none more worthy
I try to find the words, there's so much more Your worthy of

Up on the cross with open arms
The love of God reaches far
The same majesty floods my heart
I stand in awe

As long as I live, I'll praise You
Name above all, be lifted high
All of my days, I worship You
I worship You

Lovely, You are lovely
There is no one, there is no one more worthy
You are worthy
I try to find the words, there is no one lovelier

Fire(works)

Call me a hater, but fireworks are not my thing. They're pretty I guess, but they're basically all the same and I find them quite uninteresting. 

I did, however, go to a great fourth of July party. A couple from my church has a house with a backyard view of Lake Union that is just spectacular. It was fun getting to know some people from church, as well as some others who were just friends and family of members. 

I had never grilled by myself before, and it was a bring your own meat kind of deal. I made pork chops brined and then rubbed in curry, garlic and cayenne. So good! A few new friends tasted my extra chop and said it was good. I also ended up bringing garlic cheddar biscuits, and they were a hit.

This is Lake Union

I spent a lot of time hanging around the fire talking to some cool people. A lot of times, even at church things, people want to talk about anything but God. But that was far from the case here. These people live and breathe the gospel, and it was so natural for us to talk about how the Lord has carried us and is moving in our lives. 

Ok, and here's one fireworks picture. The backyard actually ends in a street, and tons of people lined it to see the show. And this party happens every year, so I know I'll always have a place with a view.

I am tired though. I have not really been staying up past 10:30 so it was a long night for me. Plus being social is kind of exhausting for me and I did that for over 6 hours.

Bookended with Bacon

Last night, I decided to go for a little hike. Rattlesnake Ledge had been recommended to me, so that's what I picked. 

Of course, you can't go hiking without breakfast

I had a nice drive

Right into the mountains

It may be less than 2 miles, but it is a steep 2 miles

Up to the mountain we love to go/To find the presence of the Lord

It was absolutely breathtaking 

And I decided to hike the 2 additional miles straight up 

It was worth it 

I love the way the stars shine for You/And every single mountain bows down/I love the way the universe is singing Your song

So I'll try and sing along

After over 4 miles of downhill pounding, I was ready for this natural ice bath 

I found a brewery a few miles out, and really enjoyed some dinner.