Surprise 5 Day Trip to Chicago

My oh my, life is a wild ride!!

I left my house in Pennsylvania on Friday morning with a simple plan: Take a short flight to Chicago, have a 2 hour layover, then fly to San Diego for 2 weeks of fun, friends, and sun.

Instead, today is my fourth day straight in the Windy City. And it actually began in misery...

When I arrived Chicago, I went to the gate where I would catch my next flight to San Diego. The airport was so crowded, and I was anticipating separating myself from the massive groups of people around me. 1 hour later they announced a delay, and all went down hill from there. The delay for my flight grew longer, and the Chicago sun was setting. Then, the worst news came: my flight was cancelled. I was struck with panic.

After waiting in long lines to get re-booked on another flight and a failed attempt to pick up my checked bag along with the crowd of hundreds, I found myself lying uncomfortably on an airport cot eagerly awaiting the morning when I could leave the airport. But unfortunately, my next flight canceled as well. My heart dropped.

The insane crowd, news cameras,and pessimistic flight schedules on the boards made me want to give up. I decided to call my friend Bonnie who lives in Chicago. If I didn't reach her,I was ready to make myself comfy in a hotel room for a while...anything to get out of the airport.

In an amazing act of kindness, Bonnie answered her phone(in the very am on a Saturday morning) and picked me up at the airport. I have been staying with her and her family until I leave on my re-booked flight to San Diego tomorrow.

My friends have shown me such kindness. They are AMAZING! And our time seeing Chicago has been so FUN! (This city was on the top of my "to visit" list!) God is so good. Who knew this situation would turn out to be filled with such great memories?!


Bonnie and I visiting "The Bean"...It's one of the coolest things ever!! :D



Full shot of the bean!



We walked to the Sear's Tower (one of the tallest buildings in the world!)It was soo cold that we were laughing so hard because we were so numb!



You can see the train on stilts...one of my favorite things about this city :)



Here's the Griff man!! He really likes to eat and cuddle...and watch TV...:)



Bonnie and I took a little ride on the Train on stilts today...We saw some really pretty sites, but Bonnie's was by far the new Trump Tower(Back Left)...You can ask her about it someday if you'd like. I'm sure she won't get tired of talking about it.;)



"We were bad...like P-H-A-T." -Anonymous (aka Bonnie)




One last funny conversation...

Bonnie: You know, Picasso made that statue right there. Gary, can you look up that statue that Picasso made?
Gary: Sure...
(Meanwhile)
(Speaking like art afficiandos) Kristen: Where is Picasso from? Isn't he from Italy? (Kind of arrogantly) That's just a guess...
Bonnie: Yeah, I think he was Italian, so he probably lived in Italy...
Gary: PABLO Picasso was born in Spain. He was SPANISH...PABLO! It wasn't "Tony Picasso"...It was PABLO.

.......Five minutes later after we're laughing about the previous conversation.......

Gary (on his laptop): ...HOLY COW, that thing weighs more than THE BEAN!!!

......From a previous conversation three days ago.....

Gary (still on his laptop): Yeah...Bon Jovi is from New Jersey...(sigh...)
(long pause)Hum...Bob Saget is from Philadelphia!....And Joey Laurence, Kevin Bacon, Peter Boyle........AND TELLER!!

(PS) The Bean = 110 (short) tons!
Picasso's Mystery Statue in front of ultra-large Chicago Christmas tree and where Rob Blagojevich is going to be tried = 162 tons!

(PSS) On this trip, I have seen more (lookalike) celebrities than ever before. Just imagine...The Olsen Twin's Sister ( I don't really know what she looks like, but if they had a sister, this is what she'd look like)...Orlando Bloom...John Mayer...and Rick Steves (from PBS Travel Show). Bonnie wanted to have a special dinner and invite all my friends. ;)

'Ello again... :)

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope today was really special for you all. :)

It has been a relaxing day here at our house. Besides having yummy meals together and giving each other some special gifts, the highlight of the day was taking our dog over to a nearby nursing home to visit the patients there. My Dad organized our time there, and it was such a great memory. Seems like what Christmas should be about; loving one another.

Well, the good news is that I'm headed out to CA in tomorrow morn. :) The bad news is...I just began packing about an hour ago. Christmas is just too busy of a time to think of much else! haha

I'm really anticipating my time out there...good friends, the beach, time away at a retreat, warm(er) weather...what could be better before starting a new year? I smiled when I saw these perdictions on weather.com:

Tue, Dec 30 - Mostly Sunny, 70°
Wed, Dec 31 - Mostly Sunny, 70°
Thu, Jan 1 - Mostly Sunny, 70°
Fri, Jan 2 -Mostly Sunny, 70°

As strange as it sounds, I look forward to some undivided time on the airplane to catch up on journaling and reading... :)Please pray for safe travels.

Anyhow, hope you have a great time between Christmas and New Years!

All the best,
Kristen

Just Because I Can't Forget...

I can't tell you how great it is to be home in Pennsylvania. Spending time with kids in my preschool class or in my neighborhood brings so much life into my world!

But I'll never forget China, the people I love there, and my friends who continue to help the cause. Please don't be done using me there Lord...

Few have said it better...

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer."

What A SURPRISE!

Good Morning Snow!! ...In November?! :D

Yesterday we were graced with snow flurries, and the 2 year olds in my preschool class couldn't be happier. Little did we know what we would wake up to this morning!

A few friends and I had plans to go to Lancaster for a nice breakfast this morning, yet we improvised after it took us a few hours to get to West Chester alone! That's not even mentioning all the slipping, sliding, usage of the emergency break, and all the other exciting driving adventures this morning.

Thank goodness we were all safe, and we ended up having a good time at the West Chester Diner. And though I didn't spend time with my preschool class today, I can just image how they must have run around all day saying, "It's SNOWING!!!" :D

Up Up and Away!

This here is my "pseudo sister," Mia. She is 10 now, but in this picture she was about 4 years old and we were spending the day at a fair together.

As we stood watching some kids rock climb, I noticed that the balloon tied to Mia's small wrist made her arm float up! I giggled, and asked Mia about it. She smiled sheepishly and consciously put her arm down. We continued watching the rock climbers, and as M concentrated on the kids, up went her arm again!

It had to be one of the cutest things ever, and this is definitely one of my favorite pictures of all time. :)

~k

I Have Decided...

...There are many ways I can finish this phrase...

I Have Decided...

..."To become an astronaut." :)
Which is not true, but it sure lightens up a conversation when people ask me what I want to do next in life.

..."To get rid of my Facebook account." Which is true. After a few months of using it, I couldn't find much uplifting or encouraging about it, but only a tendency to compare. So, I chucked it, and am glad I did. :)

..."That I am going to be updating this blog less now." This was my original "I Have decided" statement (but I got sidetracked, haha.) Anyhow, truth be told, now that I'm home in PA, I don't feel the same urgency to try and stay connected with my friends and supporters about what I'm up to or where I am like I have this past year. Hopefully my relationships here can be more face to face (or at least phone to phone or email to email) now that I have a bit more time on my hands and am not as mobile as I was before.

I do plan to post updates, stories, pictures, and videos every so often (as I'm always surprised when someone new tells me they read my blog,) but I'm also going to be focusing more on my photography page, which you can access by clicking on the photo at the top left of this page. :)

I trust you understand why I'll be on blogspot a little less these upcoming days, and I have appreciated your support and comments so much, especially when I was overseas!! :)

Now, last but not least, I want to leave you with this really adorable video that I think represents relationships pretty candidly (and accurately, depending on the day, ha! :)



Enjoy the blustry day (if you're on the east coast!!)

Love,
kristen

driving to fifth and japip...

This past weekend, I took a trip to a place that I'm pretty sure is uncharted territory to many. I say that because the end of our directions were as follows:

"Turn left at the first paved road...Then turn right on the third dirt road at the top of the mountain...they'll be a big tree there..."

It was so refreshing to be "in the middle of nowhere" for a couple of days. Autumn was at it's prettiest, and it was so fun to spend time with my friends Ali and Sue. We did lots of "she-man" things like hiking, but also took full advantage of our girl time to catch up, cook, and listen and dance to lots of music. :)

This is the cabin where we stayed. It was nice and toasty inside...so warm!! :)

Sue, me, and Ali

Pretty colors and textures on our hike...



Just glorious!!

What hit me most during our trip was how creation displays God's beauty and glory, no matter if people there are to enjoy it or not. He "just is." Sooo cool!! :D

Gotta go watch them Philly's win tonight!!
~k.

Kids are Kids Everywhere...!!

Lately I've been sorting through some of my older pictures & videos, and I came across these two cute videos from a Germany trip I took in 2006. They made me realize that kids will be kids just about anywhere!! :)

My friend's beautiful girls, Anna & Lena, on a walk through Nurenburg!

I wish I had the spunk to do what she does...

Have a great day all!

Love, k.

Fall Photography

Some photography of mine from the past few weeks...The fall is AMAZING! I've had so much fun shooting lately!!

"You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello"

Here are a few shots in CA before I went on the big airplane back home.

First off, I just have to say it's truly amazing what you can get your friends to do when they know you're leaving!! (Aka, first and last puppet party ever... ;)

Saying goodbye to Stephanie, my co-Phil Wickham fan, amongst many other things...The girl just had her appendix out here! She's a trooper...and a good dancer. ;)


Liberty and Whitney, 2 of the 8 Dickinsons...Amazing girls!!



The one and only Samuel Bower...He's also a very talented dancer and likes to scare girls while watching freaky movies like Alfred Hitchcock's "Phsyco"...



Haha, I'm convinced there's no one in the world quite like my friend Jason...He risked his life in China for a few of us girls trying to cook us popcorn...True friendship!


My Emy!! We have been "roomies" for the past year, and into China! I lived with her very kind family for a year while being in SD, then we (along with Katie, Jamie, and Cathy) lived together in China. She's so spunky and cool, don't you just want to be as cool as she is?!


Mike being a human surf board for Austy. Gotta start 'em young in Cali... ;)


We all played an amazing game of Hide and Seek!! (I can proudly show you my humongous battle scar on my leg!) Anyway, Austin finally found Mike and Jason in the closet, haha...


"Life is a journey, not a destination..." I'm loving this journey, and I love all of you!!

Footprints That Lead to "DOOM!"

The day couldn't have been more beautiful. My friend Suzanne and I were taking a long walk around Ridley Creek State Park, catching up about life. But it seemed that we couldn't get very far into our conversation without being side-tracked onto how AMAZING the day was!!

Humongous trees canopied over us. Soft wind blew colorful leaves off of their branches onto the path. A calm brook danced through the forest. The air was fresh and hinted of smoke from a nearby fireplace. Fathers and sons were fishing together, and friends were laughing as they walked along. It was a taste of heaven.

About three-fourths of the way on our walk, Suzanne and I spotted some painted footprints on our path, leading us to a plaque nearby. It was one of those signs that you normally never would actually stop to read, but because we thought the footprints were so obscure, our curiosity led us to play the tourist. ;)

We couldn't help ourselves from laughing as we read the two paragraphs before us...It (very dramatically) explained how local deer had decided to eat up the plant life, and it called us to "notice the dying vegetation."

How strange to draw our attention away from the astounding beauty around us to the one small spot of dying plants!! We realized how we can be like that in life...We can be surrounded with blessings and beauty, and yet we focus on the one hard thing going on. That really caught my attention, and has changed my perspective lately. Just thought I'd share. ;)

Love,
k

PS I'm watching this show on TLC about a family who has 18 children! Anyone ever seen it? God bless 'em!!

"I Ate Too Much EVERYTHING!!"

Tonight I am babysitting for three girls, two of which are already asleep. I just peaked my head in the 5 year olds room, who I heard was still awake. There sat the blond hair blue eyed little one focusing on some coloring in bed.

"Honey, it's great that you're in bed right now, but please try to stay in bed, ok? I've heard you get out a handful of times" I said to her.
She acknowledged what I said and then replied, "Krissie, I kind of have a tummy ache."
I could tell her from her half smile it wasn't anything serious.

"I think you had too much popcorn earlier," I said with a wink.
Then very candidly she replied, "I think I ate too much of everything earlier..." slightly rolling her eyes.

Her comment made me laugh, and I just feel thankful for the funny comments and moments that happen in something as simple as watching your neighbor's kids... ;)

An Attack on the Plane...

The attack came suddenly on the plane to Philadelphia last night. About an hour and a half from landing, he made me feel frozen in fear. My quiet thoughts were suddenly interrupted with doubts of varying kinds.

"Your life looks different than so many people you know. You'll never fit in again here..."

My heart dropped, and it wasn't because of turbulence.

I let my enemy feed my mind with lies for a few minutes. Then, I decided to shut him up.

"Romans 8:28 says that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. And in John 10 it says that God's sheep hear His voice, and He calls them by name and leads them. I gotta believe that right now..."

As I had prayed about what to do as my internship with Bring Me Hope wrapped up, I had sensed God slightly nudging me to move back home to PA for a little while. There are practical reasons that backed that decision up, but mostly, I felt more at peace about it.

So here I am, back in my warm cozy home on a chilly October. I haven't woken up this cold in a while, which made me realize how much self-discipline it will take to get out from under my warm covers every morning. ;)

And so much is unknown right now. But I was so encouraged by what I read in Revelation this morning about my wonderful Father...

"The son of man was clothed in a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength."

So I may not know what every day holds, but it comforts me to know God holds it...

~kristen

Spring vs. Fall...Anyone??

you know you're in southern california when your friend turns to you and genuinely asks,

"is it fall right now? i've always gotten spring and fall confused..." LOL! :D

vicky beeching - "join the song"

i heard a cover of the doxology tonight by vicky beeching, and it's funny how old words seem new when they're sung to a different melody! i'd recommend listening to the song if you've got time. :)

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below;
to Him all the glory belongs.
Praise Him above the heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Let all the earth sing along..."

nighty night!
kc

too comfortable...?

hey there,

how's life going for all of you?

i feel like my life has been very comfortable lately! it's wonderful to enjoy the blessings that God is so kind to give me. blessings like friends, perfect weather, and yogurt palace...the world's best frozen yogurt place that just happens to be in Fallbrook, CA haha ;)

in all seriousness, it's hard sometimes not to feel bad about being so comfortable. i think of some of my heroes in the faith who live such tough lives. people who live in huts in the jungle just to share Christ with others. i respect people like that so much, and it makes little sense to me why i am able to enjoy so much right now.

i almost have the mentality that the more uncomfortable i feel, the more like Christ i'm being because if i'm uncomfortable, it means i'm giving something up for Him. yet i don't think that mentality is universally true. i think it can bring God just as much glory when we are so thankful for what gifts He has brought into our lives.

so that made what my friend told me the other day ring true. she was encouraging me to enjoy and rest in what blessings God has brought into my life right now. she's right that we never know what tomorrow brings, so it's fine to delight in what joys today brings... :)

anyhow, i'm working on the camp newsletter from our time in China! it's been so fun to sort through pictures and hear people's stories from camp...what a treasure this summer was!!

all for now,
kc

a child of weakness

"I hear my Savior say, 'thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in Me thy all in all."

It encouraged me so much to sing the verse of this song yesterday at church. Sometimes I put pressure on myself to do more than God asks me to. Yet He calls me to come to Him and watch Him work.

I was talking about this with some girls after the service and one of my friends reminded me of how in Isaiah it talks about God accomplishing things in our weakness so we can say at the end, "The Lord has done it!" It's just so great that God doesn't wait for us to get over our short-comings, but that He works though us despite of them...That truth encourages me so much today!! :)

the beach with my cousins :)

i spent some time at sea isle, nj with my family before heading back to san diego. man, my little cousins are so cute!!


the kids were miffed why no one was on the beach at dusk and came to the conclusion that "the beach was closed."


Sisters!!
Maddie taking a sippy -cup break...
Cute little Owen. :)
Livy lookin' cute...
sand angels...miss.blue eyes
Owen and Liv at the Cape May Zoo

i see you!!
Maddie really loved that corn!! She had about 4 corn on the cobs that night! haha
sweet summer times...

I think I have a small addiction....

...to coffee! haha I found all these gift cards in my wallet today...scary, huh?

Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day tomorrow! Please be praying for my trip back to Cali! Thanks!!

~k

Learning from the "unreal," living in the "real"

"The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the smug satisfaction of an experience to which he can refer back, but who is not working it out in practical life. The experience must be so genuine that it is shown in life..." ~Oswald Chambers

This quote really sums up what I've been thinking about and trying to live since I have gotten home from China two weeks ago.

Our time in Nanchang this summer was so precious. It felt almost surreal to see God's hand work in such varied ways each and every day. Some days I saw the Lord work by opening the kids hearts and letting them feel loved. Other days it was having conversations with our translators who were so hungry to know about Jesus. And sometimes it was my friends and I being changed...watching God mold us to be more like Him. It was one of those summers you can't believe you actually get to live...

Now, I'm trying to carry those "unreal" experiences into my "real" life...I want the faith God grew in my heart in China to carry over to who I am now in America. That's not always easy...

To be honest, the process to understand and embrace everything that happened this summer is a slow one (which is why I have yet to email my supporters since I've gotten home!) I was at the beach for the past few days where God started opening my heart to really think and journal and pray about all that has happened...I've still got a lot to hear from Him about, but, it's a start! A really great start! :)

I'm going to enjoy a few more days of vacation at home until I head back to CA to work on some post-camp projects. But until then...cookie making and a movie is on the agenda this afternoon!!! Can't wait!! :)

Jesus Action Figures and "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog"

I spent some time with my girls today (I've known them since they were little), and we found some fun things in Borders...

"With posable arms and gliding action!" What the heck?! haha

Mia reading "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!" So funny! :)

comfy home

i'm home in PA. life is comfy...really comfy.

i love feeling the night breeze through my window every time my head hits my pillow.

i walked into wawa today and froze as i realized it's been months since i've been in one! talk about monumental occasions! (back me up on this one east coasters, haha)

i had lunch with mom at panera bread...yum, so good!

and i just realized everything i said started with "i."

being home is great. but God, help me be others focused here in my quiet home town just as much as i am in remote parts of China with orphans...friends, please be praying that for me as well.

Hey From Debriefing Part 2 :)

Hey all! Here are some more photos from the last few days...

My awesome roomies!!


Lucia, Martha, and I hanging out in the city after our last staff dinner.

Mark found his true love...


People watching the Olympics on TV in Nanchang, China. This was a China vs. Canada soccer match I think.


Joey and the little Aussies runnin' around the airport. :)

Heading out of Nanchang to our debriefing...I just love this city.

Heading to our mystery location...isn't this just gorgeous?


hehehe...

Where we're spending the last few days of the summer...God's creation is so beautiful!!



Well, I guess I should get ready for the day...I hope you're all doing well! And hopefully I'll see many of you soon!

Love,
k