i was gonna describe my 3 day dentist visit marathon and how long/annoying/painful it was...but in light of very recent (as in 5 mins ago) news, i have just one thing to say (makes me seem lazy that way doesn't it):

I found my ring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for those of you who don't know...hmmm mostly everyone i guess...i'm talking about the only ring i own, the one my whole d-group went to buy at james avery together. awesome awesome...it's been "missing" for...i'd say several months...at least four or five. the sad/happy thing is...it was in my old backpack the whole time. oy. i hate it when i do that...one thing i'd really like to learn from my mommy...the amazing, innate ability...to find everything. probably of particular use to me...since i lose everything :\ . oh well. must go on and finish cleaning/packing since i'm leaving tomorrow for UT austin. don't think i feel anything in particular just yet...just that i really hope i'm not forgetting anything, cause then...well...dangit...uh...i hope i can find/buy in austin...yeah...anyway, i hope i can be back to eat yummy food (my mom's of course) and visit ppl...and give certain ppl stuff (you know who you are...). i'm hoping to be back on labor day weekend...to see the fbcc youth talent show :) ! it'll be nice to see all the high schoolers there!

guess i'm gonna try and keep up with this blog again...wonder how long it'll last?

so...i just got back from the austin boat thingy...basically, my parents' fellowship went to austin, rented a big, two-deck boat for 24 hrs, and boated on lake travis. trouble is, the boat is only designed for ... a certain number of people. there are 4 queen sized beds on the boat, a kitchen, a fridge, and two toilets and one shower in two very small bathroom stalls (think charter bus stall). so problem? they usually allow a max of 15 ppl...we had about...25. so ... hot ... crowded ... cramped in a boat. the boat rocks alot when other boats pass by because of the "waves" from the other boat's wake. i don't generally get seasick so this wasn't too bad...until...they turned off the boat engine and couldn't turn it back on...not to mention we lost the a/c...25 ppl in small space w/no a/c in the summer...bad. they finally got it started again and boated around until about 6pm. the guy who rented us the ship had to then come out in a small boat and come help us tie down, as no one on our boat had any boating experience. the thing is, the guy tied us to three shrub-looking things on the shore. it totally looked like the ship, as big as it was, could tear those tree-shrubs right out of the ground. we got to swim around in the lake, which was pretty clean. nice thing about swimming in a lake...no chlorine...so you don't feel nasty when you get out, in fact your skin feels kinda nice after :) later, the sun started setting and it was really pretty and it reflected red light on the lake and stuff. however...our a/c broke...again. and it didn't come back on...so...it was HOT inside the boat. and one of the ppl decided that we wouldn't call the guy who rented us the boat since it was "late." (the man did say we could call anytime...) so we spent the night on an unairconditioned boat. so it was very very hot and very very humid. also...impossible to sleep. on top deck you can see the stars sooo clearly. definitely much more beautiful than looking at stars in houston/sugar land. after i went down and finally got to sleep, not long after all the adults playing cards finished up and started going to the bathroom and turning on and off various lights...making it VERY difficult to sleep. i walked around a bit and tried going back to sleep. woke up at 6 am. it was really quiet and peaceful on the lake...very nice. you can still see stars and the moon, there were coyotes on the other shore and there were little 'plop' noises from fish in the lake. it was kinda dark, but i did my quiet time up there on the top deck of the boat....pretty cool...although i got a mosquito bite almost as soon as i went up. after going back down and putting on some bug repellent, i went back up to watch the sunrise....really beautiful. at about 9 we got to swim in the lake again...awesome, but tiring...and works up an appetite! at 10 the guy came to fix our a/c (yay!) and we boated off somewhere else in the middle of the lake and got to swim there in some deeper water. it was harder to swim since there were some bigger waves there and some current, but it was still fun. i got to drive the boat some...cool cool. like driving a car...only it's a TON bigger and it has "delay steering." it starts turning in the back first, then the front...so it takes several seconds for the boat to start turning after you turn the wheel. i got the hang of it after awhile...but it freaked me out the first time i turned...because it didn't seem to be turning. of course when we got back...a bunch of the adults went to complain to the guy who rented us the boat about how the a/c didn't work the whole night and how horrible it was in the boat at night w/o a/c. in the end they got the guy to pay for the boat's fuel...asians :)... on the way back, we had to figure out who and what stuff would go to which cars...since we had to drop by UT to pick up a fridge...finally we all took off, and after much phone calling my parents got to UT and picked up the fridge. our van was sooooo stuffed. we drove back to sugar land and dropped off the fridge at my friend's house...then, our car broke down...and wouldn't start. so there we were in my friend's driveway...stuck...tired...and surrounded by mosquitos...doh. fortunately it didn't take long for my dad to get the car started again...(apparently it overheated?) we went home, showered and rushed off to some dinner we were invited to. their house is a hazard to my health....joyce knows all about that...they have this bending stair case...it turns partway down, so the step is really narrow on one side and really wide on the other...i practically fell down it the first time...and almost fell just about every other time. also their wood floor is an inch or two higher than their tile...and i keep forgetting it steps down...and nearly fall over...man i'm clumsy. got home at about 10, 10:30 at which point i collapsed in bed :)

hrm...i see i haven't blogged in a good long while. Well, got back from camp yesterday...dead tired, but it was totally worth it! Long before the school year was over I began to invite my friends to camp. I figured this is that last year I'd be able to do it. As time wore on and I received no encouraging responses, I was starting to feel a bit frantic and discouraged all at once. Before camp, I prayed so hard that my friend Jennifer would come. I'm not really a particularly persuasive person and my prayers became more fervent by the day. My attitude was less "help me convince" and more "let the come somehow someway cause I can't get them to no matter what I do or say." Looking back on it, I was relying totally on God to help me with it and not on myself as I realized I could not do it alone. God mightily answered my prayer when Jennifer decided to come just in time to register on the very last day. I was beside myself in sheer joy when she told me she would come. This year's eXtreme camp was indeed extreme in many ways. The speaker, Ryan Kwan was one of the best speakers I have ever encountered, mostly because he made everything so simple, so clear, so relavant, and so powerful. As each fun-filled, action-packed, and amazing day of camp went by I was amazed by what I learned, from workshops and Pastor Ryan's sermons. Jennifer seemed to be enjoying camp more or less, but with only a very vague idea of how she really felt about everything she was seeing, hearing, and experiencing for likely the first time I was feeling more and more anxious toward the end of camp. The last night we had campfire as usual, though this year there was no campfire. Instead we sat around the pool in our assigned small groups with candles. It was really cold at night next to the pool with the wind blowing, and I huddled in the chair as my jacket wasn't much help. Near the end, I heard someone get up to my left, where Theresa's small group was sitting. Naturally, I turned to see who it was, and after several seconds I was stunned to discover that it was Jennifer. For one, I don't recall any time where I've heard her use a microphone. Secondly, I don't believe I have ever seen her stand up and say anything in front of other people (then again i wasn't in debate). At any rate, I was totally upright and sitting on the edge of my chair by the time she'd reached the mic, not knowing what to expect. When she was thanking me and Theresa, all I could think was "praise God, thank God," because I'm certain I couldn't have done a thing without Him and His faithfulness in answering my prayers. As Jennifer went on to express her interest in becoming a christian, I felt a great wave of relief as I finally really heard from her heart and an overwhelming joy. She made her way back to her seat, and I could think of nothing to say or do except to embrace my best friend and sit next to her for the rest of the campfire. I hope that very soon she shall be my sister in Christ and anxiously await that day, for I can think of but a few things that could give me greater joy than that day. So for those of you who perservere in reading this very long post, I would like to share the most important thing I have learned from all of this. To depend wholly on God for everything, for we cannot even live to see the next sunrise without His providence. When we succeed and accomplish the goals we set for ourselves, we often forget that we need God everyday, every step of the way. In John15:5 Jesus says, "apart from me you can do nothing." I want to remember that and NEVER to forget it. I think remembering this experience and this verse will help me to fully depend on God and surrender my all to him each day, which I find so difficult sometimes. Finally, for those who, like me, still have unsaved friends, surrender to God, pray fervently to Him that He will work in their hearts so that if they are unwilling to even listen to the gospel now that they will open up to it, if they are open to the gosel that they would hear and be interested to learn more about the Lord, if they are interested let them even more and believe the truth of Jesus' sacrifice. No matter how opposed to christianity your friend may seem, realize that you cannot do it on your own, only God can change people's hearts. Submit to God and pray persistently to Him. Live your life in a way that reflects Jesus in your life. Then simply wait faithfully. Wait faithfully for God's timing whenever it might be.