Friday, December 13, 2013

8) This is a good year, 75% more to go!

Monday - 

Ahh! My people!!! It was so good to see everyone again. x) You should have seen us on Monday morning, it was like a reunion of long-lost allies. We then proceeded to have Vacation Talk. ^_^ Well, return from vacation talk. xD It only took one day this time. We each reported on our week and talked about what we wanted to see over the next three weeks. It's kind of scary how fast time has flown! In between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, there are three weeks. As I write this, two are over. There's just one more. When we return in January, we'll only have one week of class time. We have a Microsoft show through our temp agency for a fundraiser. But, because we're going to Honduras this year and funds are short, we have not one but two Microsoft shows. And then we have a guest speaker one week. Which leaves only one week for class time. Eeek! I'm going to miss class time! And then it will be February. And we'll be getting ready to go to Honduras! We're going in the end of February or the beginning of March. How is this all happening so fast?

I'm writing this at the end of week 9. It's December 13. This all started September 14. Just three months ago. Three whole months ago! O_O So there are only 8 more left.

December -

One more week of class. Two weeks break.

January - 

Two weeks of Microsoft. One week guest speaker. One week of class.

February - 

I'm not sure all what's up for February, but getting ready for Honduras... including learning all the choreographed dances, I believe.

March - 

Two weeks in Honduras, unless we do it during the end of February. Spring break will probably be at the end of the month?

April - 

Maybe we'll have some class time here? Spring break could fall here. We leave for road trip around the end of the month.

May - 

Road trip! A lovely 4-6 weeks of road trip.

June - 

We'll get back from road trip sometime this month.

July - 

The year is pretty much over at this point. Graduation and all that.

August - 

This is that in-between month at GL. The class of 2014 is gone, the class of 2015 is not yet here! All of us students will be finding what's next. The interns will be busily earning their intern tuition. Some will be heading off to college. Some will be getting jobs. We'll be like the fellowship disbanded. There was a time when all 9 of them were together again. Well, 8, that is. Naturally 8. They lost Boromir, after all. Not that we're going to lose anyone. No way! But anyway, yeah. All 8 of them, together. Until Fangorn, where they split ways. And you know what Gimli said? Ahh, such a bittersweet quote which has been a favorite for years.

We will send word when we may, and some of us may yet meet at times; but I fear that we shall not all be gathered together ever again. - Gimli

*nods thoughtfully* It's like that with the Kotoomps from high school, you know. And I think it will be true of my class as well.

But you know what? It might not be true. We might have awesome class reunions. And it won't be long before the true beginning. It's not as though any of us were mortals, you know. Not in reality.


Ahh... it's good. x) So good. Life is good. Always. And this year is good. And class time is good, and it's not over yet. And I'm not scared of the year ending. It will be sad, yes, but it will also be happy. Goodbyes and hellos. I tore down that stronghold over Thanksgiving break. It's good. And this year has so much awesomeness that isn't just class time. There's still 8 months left! ^_^ That's almost 75%!!!

Anyhow, back to week 8! xD Which is really 12, if you think about it. There were 3 weeks before we started the official week count, and then there was Thanksgiving. So, 4 uncounted weeks + week 8 = 12 weeks. And as I write that would be 13 weeks. But I digress...

Tuesday - 

During Young Adults, Jim talked about joining the generations... ahh, I loved this... x) Then he talked about a page, a squire, a knight. And the significance of that blew me away. Symbolism from my very foundation! And then Sir Tom performed a knighting ceremony for all who wanted it. (which was pretty much every single person in the room. Imagine some 50 young adults lined up on one knee...) You remember his awesome sword? Third post I ever made on this blog, there's a picture of Abbie holding the sword. Ahh... It was good. It was good.

Did I mention I got baptized the Sunday before Thanksgiving break? I was born again when I was 10, or when I was 16, depending on how you look at it. But when I was 10 I was told that I was mistaken, and therefore not baptized. And when I was 16, I barely trusted anyone enough to let them know who I was. After all, it didn't go over well when I was 10. Plus the fact that at that time baptism was just as associated with rites of passage from one religious caste to another as its true meaning. And of course when I was 16 that whole religious structure had been long-since dissolved. And I am thankful that my baptism did not take place within that religious caste. And at 16, the atmosphere around me was... well... confusing or hibernating, you might say. That's it. My family came out of the religious house church of the Cooks and entered hibernation. I like this metaphor. It works perfectly. And there is a time when building walls inside is okay. Because I fell in love with Jesus behind those walls. And I had no need of baptism to establish my value. Because He gave me my value. And in time the walls were no longer needed.

But all the same, at that time the true meaning of baptism was restored within me, untainted and true. And I associated it with a knighting ceremony. x) And now I've had both. With my people.

Wednesday - 

That morning, Haley was feeling under the weather. She was to be the second chapter teaching that day, but I actually hadn't even read her chapter yet. I was going to read it during lunch! And yet there we were, putting our stuff into the cubbies, and Haley was saying that she felt so bad she wanted to go home and rest, and she hoped they'd ask me to do her chapter. So I hurried off to a quiet corner room to read and prepare in case that should come to pass. And her chapter... was AWESOME! I loved it! Haley did end up going home, but we just skipped her chapter and went straight from Millie's to Chad's... hoping that Haley would be well enough to teach the next day. She wasn't, though, and that night Tammie text me to ask me if I could teach it.

After class I hung out in the basement with several of my classmates for a few hours, then went to children's group. ^_^

Thursday - 

I taught Haley's chapter in the morning, and it was great. All about glorious things! Like when Phillip teleported. And the future glory. ^_^ And dear little Haley was well enough to come to class part-way through! x) So that was good. She's so sweet and so... so special to our class.

That night I had a sleepover with Megan. ^_^ We played with her house sisters and brother, who are about 3, 6, and 8. Then we had the most edifying conversations about science and literature until midnight. xD It was great.

Friday - 

I awoke... with a cold. So I didn't go to MOPs with her, since I didn't want to infect all the children. I spent most of the day resting at home. In the evening I had wanted to go with my house family to a nativity walk-through. They had a replica of the streets of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Herod's palace, etc. And you walk through it, like a tour, only you're part of the story. And... and... oh, it sounded SOO amazing. I'd been really looking forward to that. I'd even been excused from the ladies Christmas party in order to go. But walking around for two hours in the cold, while trying to fight off a cold... bad idea. And several of the girls were having a sleepover at Brie's, so I had wanted to go to that too. But it was better to rest. I was pretty dissapointed. But it was better that I stayed home. So I rested, watched a movie, and then I spent over an hour breathing in steam to work the phlegm out.

Saturday - 

I spent the day just resting for the most part.

Sunday - 

My house dad's retirement party was on Sunday. So I was there for a bit, but then I got a ride back home. I like having the house to myself... it's good for resting and doing homework.


Conclusion - 

And to conclude this post... ahh... it's a good year. It's a good year, we're 27% into it, and life is awesome.

'twixt 7 & 8!) Triumph on the Battlegrounds

The next week was Thanksgiving break. But it didn't officially start until Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday we had Vacation Talk! The tables, rather than being a U, became a square. We spent 20-40 minutes on each student... each of us talked about whether or not we were going home for Thanksgiving break, what our strategy was, and about the biggest truth we'd captured so far. And then the leaders and sometimes the other students spoke to each of us. Invested. Gave wisdom. Encouraged. It was awesome. x) I love Vacation Talk! It reminded me of Testimony Night each evening during the beginning of the year retreat. Only this time we knew each other and had walked together for two and a half months. It was like a review, almost. A review for each of us... of how far we'd come already, and what was next.

It took two days to get through all 21 of us, and I was one of the last on Tuesday. We didn't go in any particular order. And oh... it was good. Yes, yes, it was good. x) That night I went home and snuggled into the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket with a castle on it, and waged warfare. And that night I proceeded to decapitate another Goliath. It was a good battle! And victory was sweet. I just snuggled up in that victory and fell asleep when I was done. ^_^

And on Wednesday, I tore down two strongholds. It's so much fun storming dark castles and pulling them down. =D I was busy about that all morning, for the most part. It's just so... so wholesome, so lovely, so adventurous. It is... well... reality. Reality at its finest. ^_^

Then in the afternoon my house mom got home from work early, and we made pies together. It was a good time. :) And the next day, we made Thanksgiving dinner together. In the afternoon I spent about an hour in my room pondering over my victories, and when I looked up I found that I had a message to share during road trip mentally composed! I love composing things in my mind. x)

And that night, I spent some time reading my novels I've written. ^_^ Well, my novel and a half, that is. Ahh, I love those books. Not in an arrogant sort of way, but in a... contended way, a satisfied way. He did give me a gift of writing. It's one of my most treasured gifts ever. I still have a long ways to go in honing this skill, especially in the very demanding realm of novel-writing! Because it isn't just composing, it's outright subcreation! But still. I spent time just grinning at my awesome characters, or laughing because I'd forgotten what brilliant dialogue they'd had. xD I'm looking forward to all the future novels I shall write over the course of my life. ^_^ I don't dream of making a living off of it, but merely writing for the pleasure of writing. I do hope to publish eBooks in future, but I don't imagine it being a major source of income. And I'm fine with that. I write because it is a venue through which I experience the abundance of my King in all His Awesomeness! ;D

On Friday I went out for coffee with Vanessa, who was an intern last year. ("went out for coffee"... an interesting phrase. Of course, it doesn't imply that it necessarily was actual coffee.) Vanessa has two sisters, Amanda and Alicia. They're both in my class this year. Alicia is really sweet! Amanda is... well... heh... let's just say that Amanda is a miracle. She's the second-oldest in our class, age 24. And she came out of... a LOT... of bad stuff. And she's still kinda hard-ish. But nothing like she was before, I've heard. And she's softening. It's good.

Anyway, I was going to have coffee with Alicia and Vanessa, but Alicia couldn't make it. So, just Vanessa. I remember talking with her last year when she was in Yuba City when I went and met all of them when I did my interview. It was good to be reacquainted. ^_^

Afterwards, we stopped by Fred Meyer just as the Black Friday deals were ending. So, the madness was over, thankfully! And... I FINALLY got a new journal! @_@ Ahh, I'd been planning on buying a new one for weeks! And I was down to two pages in my old journal. I was holding off from writing, because I knew I'd run out. It was slightly maddening, haha. But I hadn't had a chance to get to town for a while. So, at last, I got my new journal. ^_^ And I spent quite a bit of time writing that day when I got home. ;D

On Saturday, I went to the mall with Amanda. That's the other sister, the one who came out of a LOT of stuff. And, really... wow. She's the only one of my classmates I ever struggled to get along with. She still is... harsh, hard. But not like she used to be. Still. Yeah. It was good. =) In the car on the way there we talked about it, about how at the beginning she was judging me for being so different, and I was disliking her and struggling not to. And she compared herself to a bear, and me to a butterfly. She said she wants to learn how to be more gentle. And... she was practicing. And she did a good job. She really did. But I'm not used to such... hardness. Even someone coming out of that hardness. So it wasn't the most relaxing outing, but it was good and I'm glad we did it. Didn't buy anything, just looked. Found out we have very different fashion senses. xD

Anyway, I spent some time reading that evening. I don't have a lot of time for reading, but I'm slowly making my way through Goldstone Wood again. ^_^ I'm on book 4 right now. I think I was near the end of book 2 when I came to the Valley, so that's not bad! Three months of GO GO GO, and I've finished a fiction book, read one whole, and started another. I'm excited to get to the end of book 4, because... book 5 is out! =D And I have it on my Kindle. ;D I've never read book 5. I think I started rereading the series while I was waiting for it to come out. Or just after it came out. Or something like that. xD And book 6 is coming out this spring! Book 5 goes back a few thousand years, so we only have our immortal characters around. But book 6 goes back to present day in the story, so we get to read about our wonderful mortal protagonists again. ^_^ I'm looking forward to that. Ah, Felix! Leo! Daylilly! Even Foxbrush. xD Maybe Rosie too? Wait, come to think of it, she's actually immortal, isn't she? But she's only about 18, so she might as well be one of the mortals. She sure doesn't come in when we get books that happened centuries ago. U_U Anyway, this is way off topic. Where was I?

Oh yes! That night, I... I spent some time writing. =') Well, I've been doing plenty of writing, but that night I wasn't just writing anything. I was working on my novel. ='D Not that I got any actual scenes written, but I read through it and wrote about a thousand words of plotting. After the Search for Self Worth teaching, I've been able to see reality more clearly. And the reasons people act the way they do. And characters, also. I have a main character who's been confusing me since day one. xD I just had to rewrite her backstory. Now she makes sense!

On Sunday, I spent about 5 hours journaling. Yup. About 3.5 hours straight, and then a half hour later, and then another hour later. I was going over my week and all the fun stuff and the victories. ^_^ Anyway, I took a walk in the meadow and in the forest in the backyard. And I coined a new phrase I like. "Thinking edifying thoughts." Yup! I'll go for a walk for 45 minutes and just think edifying thoughts the whole time. It's awesome!

And that evening my house niece and house nephew, Kaiden and Kyla, came over. We had such fun! Science project and games and all. Just like I do with my real nephew. ^_^ I think I'm going to need to budget some of my support towards project supplies, though... my house mom is much less sympathetic to creativity than my real mom. She let us use stuff that day, but reluctantly. And I'm not sure if she'd do it again. The other day Kaiden asked her if she had some straws we could use for a project, and her answer really captures the sentiment! "Yes, I have straws, but they're for using... not for wasting!" Okayyyyy. So your grandchildren using materials for science projects is wasting them?

Very well, I shall respect that! That is a more normal view on the subject after all, isn't it? xD Really, I'm a Homeschooler here. I have such different perspective on these things. And her grandchildren are Homeschoolers also. So I'll set aside some of my own money and get us some supplies for our Homeschoolerish projects. ;)

And... that sums up Thanksgiving break!

7) Another awesome week in the valley!

Monday - 

I had the afternoon off, so I spent it organizing my closet and ironing my Eventforce temp agency shirts and whatnot. Then, just before curfew, I had a little adventure with the kitchen sink plumbing. So much  fun! But I managed to get it fixed in time.

Tuesday - 

Carpool change! Abbie, Sam, and I were Rachel's carpool. But they changed us to Alicia. Then, a week or two later, they changed us to Anna. I think they want to keep the class's three Administrators together... U_U

Hah! At Young Adults, PT (Tom) talked about... rejection! It was awesome. Rejection therapy... xD He played some movie clips from this guy:


Wednesday - 

I spent the evening with children's group. ;D I'll be spending each Wednesday night with them.

Thursday - 

For Chapter 6, I have a note in the book that I wrote on Friday. The note says:

This was meant to be Sarah's chapter, but at the last moment she was under the weather and had to go home. Yesterday I was sitting in the corner adding some more highlights and notes, not knowing anything about that. As I got up to sit in my seat for class time...

Tammie: Jamie, do you like to be spontaneous?
Me: Yes!
Tammie: Do you want to teach this chapter?

Rachel says my face just light up at that moment. x)

I absolutely love this chapter and had soooo much fun teaching it. I added a few notes as I went, but most of them were already there. Sarah's Greek/Hebrew words were already on the board. And I came up with two questions to ask at the end while teaching. What are some of your mountains/valleys/crooked places that are being made straight? Were you converted but not discipled? And it was convenient that I didn't have a third question yet, because those two caused plenty of discussion, and we concluded just in time to then have lunch with the GHCC staff.

And everyone told me I did great on the chapter and Chad wrote me an encouragement saying I have a real teaching anointing on my life. x)

So I was really thrilled about that. Definitely one of the highlights of my year! Ahh... I loved that so much. x) When Tammie asked me... it took me a moment to grasp that it was really happening! Because I had read the chapter more than once, loved it, and added plenty of notes. I was fully prepared to teach that chapter. And when I taught my first chapter several days before, I had loved it... and I'd been pretty disappointed that I wouldn't be able to teach another chapter for so long. It is a joy, and a skill I want to hone. So, it was awesome. x)

When doing a chapter teaching, you look up a Greek word and a Hebrew word, and write them on the board. That was already done for me, since Sarah had been going to teach before she was too ill to be able to. You also ask three questions at the end to stimulate discussion... though, of course, there will always be more or less discussion during the chapter as well. So I came up with questions on the go. ^_^

And each week we all write encouragements to each other and put them in a box. You're supposed to write two or more encouragements each week, and on Thursday we pass them out. Always something to look forward to! Of course, I have my whole database set up for encouraging my classmates. xD It's fun. x)

Oh yes, and then, that evening, we went to a Christmas Tree Farm for Sam's birthday. His host family owns it and they live there. So it was most of the class, Jim and Tammie and their children, Sam's parents and siblings and other friends, and... more people in general. And a bunch of us played hide-and-seek in the tree farm in the dark! ="D It was so much fun. x) I spent most of the time with Lexi, Jim and Tammie's 10-year-old daughter. She is SOOO sweet! I'd never even officially met her before, and she was already treating me like one of her people. She was hiding with a few others in some trees in the dark. I approached, and she whispered to ask who it was. "It's Jamie," I said.
"Oh good!" she whispered excitedly, motioning for me to huddle into the trees with them, "Come hide with us!"
She was so welcoming I almost wondered if she thought I was someone else! "I'm not Jaimee Nelson," I whispered as I hid with them, "I'm another Jamie."
"You're Jamie Tucker!" she replied.
x) I spent just about the whole time following her, because she didn't want to be alone in the dark in the trees. It was awesome. She got to go wherever she wanted without worrying about looking up and finding that she was alone, and I got to spend the game with the sweetest little girl in Washington!

Friday - 

I spent most of the day at home writing. Working on a paper, journaling, and blogging.

Saturday - 

I went shopping with my house mom, I spent about an hour talking with Brianna on the phone... It was good. ^_^

Sunday - 

Nothing in my notes to blog about that happened on Sunday!

So, there you have it... week 7!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

6) I am a Wordsmith

During class time, the fruit of the spirit came up for discussion, and Sir Tom suggested the idea that we could work on grasping one fruit per month. There are 9 fruit, and 9 months left! He just kinda threw the idea out there to see what the class thought of it, and I jumped on it. ^_^ So he appointed me the fruit sheriff. Nine people were supposed to volunteer to talk about one of the fruits each month, and my job was to see that we were putting it into practice, highlighting our success and noting where we can still improve.

The original plan was to have one person talk per month, but that changed! Before announcements at the end of the day, I stood up in front of the class with my clipboard to review the plan and get my volunteers for the talks. This... this was the first time I'd ever stood up in front of the whole class like that. I'm student 21, the very last. Tucker. It's alphabetical, so I'm the last to have a chapter teaching and the last to be Leader of the Week and all that stuff. xD Anyway, yeah, I'm very verbal during class time, but this was the first time I was up there standing up in front of everyone with my clipboard on the pulpit thingy. I reviewed for them what we were doing, who I already had down for what fruits, which were still available, and who wanted to do them? And then someone had the idea that we have two people talk about each fruit per month, since some people both wanted the same fruit. Then we went to three or four per month, which is pretty much once a week. xD

And... I loved it. I loved standing up there, talking. It wasn't my idea that we have 3-4 people talk each month. It wasn't my idea that each student talk at least once. They were my classmates' ideas. x) Just like back at NSA, where I would coordinate things, but it's not like I was some kind of mastermind behind it all. No. My classmates are involved and having ideas, I just... administrate it. Administrator. That's what I scored highest in when we tested for gifts and abilities.

I love administrating. And I love talking, delivering a message. I've spoken in front of my class a total of 6 times so far, as of week 8, (not counting testimony night and vacation talks). Three times as the fruit sheriff, once for my first chapter teaching, and twice filling in my classmates' chapter teachings when they were sick. And I enjoy it... so much! I went into this year both afraid of talking, and looking forward to it. When I did my interview, I said that talking was one of my weaknesses. But I had a little suspicion that perhaps that was not so. I'd never really had an opportunity to do any sort of public speaking, now had I? And people told me I was a good communicator. Not that I necessarily believed them, but it was nice to know I couldn't be quite as bad as I thought I was.

I think I came closest to believing it when Dad told me, though. Because he's so... logical! He always brings clarity to situations. For example, he told me that I could write "good communication skills" on my resume when applying for jobs because I can discuss topics that most people my age have never even heard of. I'm educated and quick to learn. While yes, in social settings, my communication skills will be a bit lacking because I haven't had much experience in there.

And when I put together a slideshow presentation last December when I told my family about GL, Dad said that I did a very good job with it, both in how I organized it and put it together and delivered it. It was a step below actually delivering a message, though, because I just read what I had written. But it was a good start.

Ever since I was little I dreamed of being an orator, a wordsmith, one who is eloquent and can weave words into brilliant patterns of communication. Why? Well, because I love words. And because I want to be like my dad. I've always looked up to him and wanted to be like him, and I've always admired his way with words. But growing up, I somehow got the idea that spoken eloquence is beyond me. I settled for writing. I knew I could attain eloquence in writing. But not in speaking. No. If I tried to speak eloquently I would just stumble over my words and lose my train of thought.

Apparently this is not the case, though. I started to realize that when Dad helped me to see it, but it didn't really sink in until I actually experienced it. It's good that I'm student 21, the last to have a chapter teaching. Because I had 20 chapters in which to gain confidence in discussion before standing in the front leading it. And to hear comments like, "Wow, I'm looking forward to Jamie's first chapter teaching!" and, "Jamie, you're so smart. We need to have a day where you just stand up there and teach us stuff all day." Ahh! Words of affirmation is my second love language, just behind quality time. So comments like that mean... so much to me. And after I taught someone else's chapter for the first time, Millie was telling me that it was clearly one of my strengths, and the enemy probably convinced me it was one a weakness to try and keep me from it. Even after my testimony at the beginning of the year someone called me a wordsmith... which is pretty much the greatest compliment possible. x) Wordsmith. I've always had a special fondness for that word, always wanted it to be mine. I always wanted to be a Wordsmith. And... I am. I am a Wordsmith. x)




So, yes! What about week 6? On Tuesday night at Young Adults the topic was our significance, on Wednesday I spoke about the fruit of the spirit with a slideshow presentation, and that night we had a foundations class about speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On Thursday I had my first chapter teaching. That was really awesome. x) I had the last chapter in the book, so I got to conclude everything. And I made a slideshow to go with it. Here's a collage of the slides I made. ^_^ The first 4 slides were more detailed, because that's as far as I had gotten in my preparation. Then when I realized that we would reach my chapter that day... whew! I had my computer open and I was on Pinterest and Pixelmator and Kindle during class time in a rush to finish. xD So it very quickly gets less detailed after that. But all the detail wasn't really necessary, just a slide saying which section of the chapter we were on worked fine. And no one even noticed, and I certainly didn't tell them during my presentation. ;D


On Friday I went to MOPs again, and was with the 2 year olds. Then several of us girls gathered at Millie's castle before going shopping. Really. Millie lives in a HUGE house which looks like a castle. O_O And her host family Homeschools! They're Homeschooled in a castle! Ahh, I'll have to get a picture of it. Anyway, then on Saturday we had a surprise birthday party for Clara. And that pretty much sums up week 6. ;D