Embarrassed? Nah!

The ICC BU Young Group Parent Appreciation Dinner on Monday was very interesting indeed. Knowing that Dad was feeling a little out of sorts from just returning from the Romanian trip, I pleaded for him to try to refrain from behaving in an embarrassing way this evening. If I still had any fears of his eccentric behavior after that warning, he quickly put those to rest upon exiting the vehicle exclaiming in a loud voice, “What were you saying, Rebekah, about being embarrassing?” Everyone already there turned to see what the commotion was from….so much for a discreet entrance. Mom gave him a sound scolding.

Honestly, I was actually very proud to introduce my parents to this group and their parents and I was excited that they would finally be able to put faces to the stories I tell them. I know that Mom and Dad are very likeable people and they would get along fine. Nevertheless, the evening did not go without at least a couple more events that resemble the first. After eating, the kids were told to stand and introduce ourselves, school, and course of study. I stood and said, “My name is Rebekah Davidovics. My parents are Ruth and Fedi….” at this point Dad stands up and starts cheering. Of course everyone laughed. Now, it really wasn’t that bad that he did it and in my mind I could still say that I’m not embarrassed of his actions, but physiologically I reacted with a bright red blush and a tied tongue. I just couldn’t finish, I had to get the attention away from me and my family so I just sat down which brought on more laughter.

At one point, I needed a fork so I ventured to the area of the line where all the guys were just starting to get their food. Drew Martin stops me and says, “Rebekah, your Dad could probably kill everyone here with the change in his pocket.” I just had to laugh out loud at that comment and replied in the hearing of all the guys nearby, “If you talk to me too much, he just might.” Nervous chuckles could be heard all around….I don’t think I’ll have to worry about any proposals anytime soon, especially with such a scary and intimidating Dad .

Dad doesn’t like singing, and we had a singing after supper. I think he expressed his disinterest in the activity a bit too freely as the song leader later told me that he was not very appreciative of his comments. Tim didn’t mean this in a rude way (you have to know Tim to understand the way he worded it), however I must chalk that up with the embarrassing moments list.

Now, to be fair, I have to retell the praiseworthy points that my parents exhibited throughout the evening. For supper they sat with Mark and Cathy Kieser and the Schwinds (Dan and Denny are twins who married sisters Donna and Rita. Brian is Dan and Donna’s kid and Tim is Denny and Rita’s. It goes without saying that they are a very close family…interesting and entertaining too.) Emily and I noted that there was constant laughter coming from that area of the table so it seemed that they were all getting along just swimmingly (as I predicted they would ). In fact, they seemed to like Dad so much, that later in the week when I met up with some of the different couples who had talked to him they all retold stories of the evening and finished with compliments on my cool Dad.

So that was that evening. I guess I should mention that I have been so blessed to have my prayers answered  in finding a steady summer cleaning job. Beth Herman approached me on Sunday asking if I was free on Mondays to clean at Lake Norris. I remember her saying last year that she might want to hire someone for this year, I just never thought it could be me. I am soooooo excited about this job for a number of obvious reasons. I hope they are happy with my work because this is an opportunity that I do not want to miss out on. So that is what I did for seven or so hours during the day.

On Tuesday I cleaned my own house and went to play at the Herman’s barn with the college kids. Those were some great games!

Wednesday was another day of answered prayer as I was offered the job of cleaning Grandma’s basement for the Rienhard’s to live in over the summer.

Now, after I finished that I was planning on coming home and getting ready for church, but at the supper table Dad announced that due to the bad weather we would all be staying home tonight. Well, I’m ashamed to say that I did not handle that new restriction well. My actions were correct, I didn’t argue the issue and just started doing other things to fill the evening, but on the inside I was fuming. I’ve been so used to being completely free to do as I please, I forgot what it’s like to be told no. The storm did come like a wall of destruction as the wind and rain picked up so suddenly that huge branches just floated past our house like they were feathers. However, it calmed down after a little and was over just as quickly as it came. Then Dad decides that we can go to church now. Peoria was cancelled on account of their loss of power so I went with Emily to Roanoke and had only about ten minutes to get ready. I hustled over to pick her up and made it just in time to sing the last song. The power was out in their church too, but their fellowship hall was fine, so we all crowded in to sit a the chairs that were set up and found to our surprise, Mike Rieker would be giving the sermon! He spoke on Moses and the Passover, a subject that seems to be coming up a lot lately, but is always nice to learn from.

Last night (Friday) I was invited to go to Heather Leman’s for a bonfire, singing, and frisbee. It was a little hard to agree to go knowing that there was a Bible Study with the Peoria Young Group going on also, but I went to Roanoke to Heather’s anyway. The evening turned out to be super fun. We played Ultimate frisbee for hours till “we could barely walk”. Not to brag, but I feel my frisbee skills have been improving as I was able to get some good blocks and catches in throughout the game. Now if only I could throw the dumb thing….It was some great exercise.

After that we sang praise songs to Brian’s guitar playing. When we had finished singing and had a prayer, Emily told us all about a co-worker of hers who had been fighting breast cancer and just died leaving a thirteen year old daughter and asked that we pray for her. Well that lead to some more prayer requests: Walt Schwind battling cancer, Rich Herman’s family, and the like so we broke off into groups to spend some time lifting these people up in prayer. And that is what I love about the young group, there are some times when it is great to be silly and have fun, but when there is need for sobriety and prayer, they are the most supportive and ready group for it. The evening is truly a blessing.

Which brings us to today! (finally right? I know you are all thinking, “Rebekah, if only you could shorten your blog posts or find time during the week to talk about each day instead of the whole week in one post or just LEAVE OUT SOME DETAILS!!!” Well, sorry but nothing here is going to change )

Today Jessica, Anni, and I joined the campers to spend the day at Middle Grove. We started the day with an adventurous hike through the uncharted wilderness of an Illinois prairie (or the fenced in however many acres that they use to pasture horses, whichever way you look at it is fine) We dodged the poisonous ivy that grabbed at our ankles, climbed hills as steep as your living room walls, navigated through a raging creek, and stopped at the top of the world to admire a view of green valleys occupied by a herd of glorious horses.

After that we rode horses around that same terrain. I was put on Jewel, a green (very green) baby out of Grace and Raven. The trail was nice and Jewel was fine except for one point. We cantered up a hill and upon reaching the top she let out a jubilant buck which sent me straight into the air. I landed on my knees on the saddle and putting into action Mike’s famous advice, I “just bailed!” and being the vaulter that I am, I landed on my feet in the knee high grass. It didn’t take long to recapture my horse, remount and continue down the trail. Jewel was an angel the whole time after.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. I’m looking forward to a nice day of church tomorrow followed by some more good times with the family either at Middle Grove or Lake Norris

VIDEOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is what’s going on. Today I decide that I would catch up with uploading my videos and I am at the library doing just that.

Mom and Dad went on a cruise this February to celebrate their 20th anniversary and here is the video for that:

And, last fourth of July I made a movie of the fun weekend spent camping at Lake Norris:

And the Video of the Meister Christmas Party last year:

Last one: playing ping pong this winter:

Be sure to also look at the post entitled “Mother’s Day Work Day” for that video. And I just realized that I don’t have the one of the Halloween Party last year, but that will have to wait, I’m out of time.

Day At the Zoo

Haha, today was so random and so wonderful at the same time it just makes me want to laugh. School was out for a “study day” before finals so this morning I went on the walk. Finally being able to where shorts and flip flops on the walk made me very happy and the good talks were just icing on the cake.

I had wanted to do some productive things with the morning, but I left my phone in Mom’s pocket and, since I was planning to go anyway, I left for Peoria right away to pick it up.

A few days ago I got a text saying that there was a group going to the Peoria Zoo for whoever wanted to. I haven’t gotten to see the new Africa exhibit so I gladly decided to join in. Around 10:30 we (a bunch of people from the ICC Young Group) met at the door. Looking back I must say that it was the best day at the Peoria zoo that I’ve ever experienced and I’ll tell you why: First off, the group that went is always a fun bunch to hang out with, but also, Sam Ginzel is a Biology Major and took a job at the zoo last summer. She knew the names, ages, histories, and personalities of almost all the animals and told all kinds of fun stories about them. It was like having our own personal tour guide/ behind the scenes look at the zoo. The best part was her excitement for it all. She really loves what she’s doing.

For lunch we went to Five Guys, some hamburger joint, then drove to Morton to Courtney Kaiser’s house. Once there we enjoyed the refreshing air condition for a while and played ping pong and speed scrabble. However, the thought came up that it is too nice of a day to spend indoors. My opinion of the hot muggy Illinois weather would not fit in the phrase “nice day” but whatever. So, we walked over to a park to with a volleyball and frisbee in tow. The volleyball net was taken down, thus making frisbee the obvious choice. I felt a little despair over this decision as I am not very good at frisbee and the amount of running that it requires sounded awful! We played four on four and it actually ended up being a lot of fun. Were we feeling scorched under the hot sun? Yes. Did it feel as if we were swimming, either in the humidity or our own sweat? Yes. Was it worth it? Totally! I actually got some good catches in so I’m happy.

I came home around 4:30 and got going on taking a final online right away. I didn’t do so great on it, but I passed the class so that’s all that matters. I finished the test with just enough time (ten minutes) to get ready for church.

Zoo Day!

Haha, today was so random and so wonderful at the same time it just makes me want to laugh. School was out for a “study day” before finals so this morning I went on the walk. Finally being able to where shorts and flip flops on the walk made me very happy and the good talks were just icing on the cake.

I had wanted to do some productive things with the morning, but I left my phone in Mom’s pocket and, since I was planning to go anyway, I left for Peoria right away to pick it up.

A few days ago I got a text saying that there was a group going to the Peoria Zoo for whoever wanted to. I haven’t gotten to see the new Africa exhibit so I gladly decided to join in. Around 10:30 we (a bunch of people from the ICC Young Group) met at the door. Looking back I must say that it was the best day at the Peoria zoo that I’ve ever experienced and I’ll tell you why: First off, the group that went is always a fun bunch to hang out with, but also, Sam Ginzel is a Biology Major and took a job at the zoo last summer. She knew the names, ages, histories, and personalities of almost all the animals and told all kinds of fun stories about them. It was like having our own personal tour guide/ behind the scenes look at the zoo. The best part was her excitement for it all. She really loves what she’s doing.

For lunch we went to Five Guys, some hamburger joint, then drove to Morton to Courtney Kaiser’s house. Once there we enjoyed the refreshing air condition for a while and played ping pong and speed scrabble. However, the thought came up that it is too nice of a day to spend indoors. My opinion of the hot muggy Illinois weather would not fit in the phrase “nice day” but whatever. So, we walked over to a park to with a volleyball and frisbee in tow. The volleyball net was taken down, thus making frisbee the obvious choice. I felt a little despair over this decision as I am not very good at frisbee and the amount of running that it requires sounded awful! We played four on four and it actually ended up being a lot of fun. Were we feeling scorched under the hot sun? Yes. Did it feel as if we were swimming, either in the humidity or our own sweat? Yes. Was it worth it? Totally! I actually got some good catches in so I’m happy.

I came home around 4:30 and got going on taking a final online right away. I didn’t do so great on it, but I passed the class so that’s all that matters. I finished the test with just enough time (ten minutes) to get ready for church.

Mothers Day Work Day

 

This is probably my favorite day of spring. Every year for a mother’s day present to Grandma, the Meister family all gets together and cleans up and does landscaping around her house. We usually do some weeding in the sand volleyball court, mulch around all the many beautiful trees in her yard, pick up sticks and branches, mow and weedwack, clean windows and the basement porch, and the men work on all the “mens work” that needs to be done.

This year we gathered together around 9:00 in the morning worrying about the forecast of rain, but as it turns out, the weather was fantastic! It was sunny and breezy and just plain out ideal in every way. A lot of the Sceggel’s came, even Phil and Anna with their new baby, some of Spark and Rhonda’s family came, the Sauders, My family, the Schicks, and Amy and Jared were there. So it was definitely a fun and hard working group. Actually we sort of ran out of work towards the end so some of the  girls went in to do some inside cleaning.

Grandma provided the lunch for the large work crew. We had lots of good pizza. And, yes, we did play volleyball which is to be expected. I dropped out pretty quickly though to let others play and to video tape and because I’m just not really good enough to play with them. I don’t mind not playing though, especially when there are so many sweet new baby’s to hold. Anna had Braelyn there and Tara had little Jane there as well.

Everyone pretty much cleared out after lunch, but Jessica, Anni, and I just had to take advantage of the great sun bathing weather. Its actually starting to become a tradition to sunbathe and swim and hang out around the lake on Mother’s day because it has always been the first warm day of the year and we are all together. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. So we started out on Grandma’s porch but got hot and moved down to the lake to stick our feet in. I was so tempted to jump in but I didn’t have a swimming suit. As we sat there we watched Ryan jump in the lake at the Sauders while Logan and Steven stood on the dock.

I would have been fine with just lying in the sun there all day, but Jess and Anni got bored so we took a walk to see the new baby horses. Of course all the while this was going on we had some great conversations. I really enjoy having some awesome girls to be so close to that I can tell them everything no matter what.

We stopped at Grandma’s house to get drinks of water. She was just starting to settle down for the afternoon so we sat down on her couch and had a little heart to heart with her about marriage. Her wisdom and good advice was so great to hear. I cannot possibly express how much I appreciate having her and many other older women who have such awesome hearts for God around who are willing and loving enough to talk to me about some of the bigger issues in life. And Grandma, if you’re reading this: Thanks so much! I love you! Happy Mother’s day!

College Weekend

If you didn’t know, College Weekend is a weekend of speakers, fellowship, and fun that our church puts on for college age kids. This year it was being hosted at Leo, Indiana and the theme was Prayer. I had never been to College Weekend or Leo, so right away I decided to go when it was announced a month or so ago. I planned on going up until last week when I started asking around in order to figure out when and from where we would be leaving for the six hour drive. No one I asked was going. Discouraged, I had decided on Friday to give up and not go. Well, that night I got a text saying where to meet and when the next morning. Ok then! I thought, I guess I’ll go. I was lucky enough to have time to pack and still go to the Peoria Young group singing.

The singing was excellent. Led by David Sauder and Brett Hoerr (who was also the host) the mutual praise of all of the precious hearts of the Peoria YG was such a blessing, and it boosted my spirits high. I’m sure God was smiling when He heard the worship. Afterwards we had a snack and chatted. During the snack I couldn’t stop thinking about a certain girl who used to come to Young group things and has stopped. I asked her a few Sundays ago why and how she was doing as a new convert she pretty much said that she didn’t want to have anything to do with God or Christianity. When I heard that my heart just broke. I felt like I had just heard that my sister was dead. The worst part is, I’ve known that she hasn’t been doing so well for a long time and I felt a little niggling prodding to go talk to her and have a heart to heart, but I never heeded it. A couple of Sundays I did talk with her about Salvation and I just hope that God will work in her heart and that I said the right things. Anyway, She has really been on my heart and so I asked if the girls at the singing would have a prayer meeting for her. When they found out, everyone was feeling just as grieved as I was and the prayers were purely a pleading to God for her. I know those prayers were heard, I just hope that she will come back.

So, Saturday morning it was arranged to meet at the Schwind’s house in Roanoke at 8:00 a.m. That meant I would leave a 7:00 just in case I got lost somewhere along the fifty minute drive there. I did and had to turn around twice. Finally making it I found out that it would just be Sheryl Huber (from Alto Michigan but currently living in Morton for school), Brian Schwind (who so graciously offered to drive his car), and myself. The ride up was very quiet. We talked for the first thirty minutes but then Sheryl and I both started reading. I felt bad because that left Brian with nothing to do but drive and listen to music. At one point I asked him how he was doing and he said he was bored out of his mind! I can imagine!

I did get a phone call on the way there that held some news. I was voted for to be in next years ICC BU Young group Committee. I would be the secretary. Actually a couple of people had talked to me about being on the committee quite awhile ago, so I had started praying about it since then. I will say, yes, I did want to be on it and at the same time I didn’t. So I gave it up to God and basically said that if I don’t get voted for then I’ll be fine with that and if I do I’ll consider it a chance to serve.

Well, we arrived late by one speaker and part of another. That was fine seeing as the weekend events usually consists of back to back speakers for hours on end, and while I love to learn about God, I already spend 90% of my life hearing other people speak.

The speaker we walked in on was a REALLY close study on Lord’s Prayer.

The next thing we did was prayer groups. We split up from the guys and then into groups of four. My group consisted of Danielle Eisenmann (from Bluffton. I had actually stayed at her house during the Bluffton Invite a while back), Bethany, and Timneh. The way that the prayer session went was: a speaker would come up and talk about things such as Japan, Orphans, and the Church Body and then we would pray for those things. It was amazing to get to know those girls through prayer!

The next was another speaker: Jeff Waibel. He spoke on what Jesus said about prayer and, wow, that was a good message on a lot of levels. One thing that stuck out to me is a story he told about his four year old daughter. They had gotten her ready for bed when she announced that she needed milk. Well, Jeff, thinking that giving her milk right after she had brushed her teeth and right before bed was a bad idea and gave her water instead. The daughter was happy as a peach with the water. The reason: because when she asked for milk, she was really just saying she was thirsty. Instead of just saying she was thirsty, she went a step farther and asked her dad for something that would fill that need.

Now look at this story as if we were the daughter and this was our prayer life. Often we understand we have a need and pray to God to fulfill that need with a request. But when God gives us water instead of milk we think He isn’t listening or doesn’t care. That isn’t true, though! See, God reserves the right to fill our needs not our specific requests. This story was given in the light of Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you:” and in explanation of why God doesn’t seem to give us what we ask for.

Dinner was next on the itenerary and boy was it great! The chilli tasted like no chili I’ve ever had before. I sat next to a girl I didn’t know: Sarah who is attending U of I to become a Speech therapist. It was nice to get to know her.

The evening program went like this: singing, speaker, prayer, speaker, prayer, speaker, prayer, singing. The speakers would stand up for five minutes and talk about topics such as the persecuted church, abortion, and Gateway Woods and then lead us in prayer. The singing was all the different college groups would stand up and sing two songs. Since ICC group was so small we joined in with U of I.

Of course, this being an AC event and all we had to have a snack next. The rest of the evening was spent meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Funny story, so Drew Martin is a guy in the ICC young group now. His brother, Lance was in it last year and has since moved. Excited to see how he’s been doing at ISU and all, I said a warm hello and how’s it going and he just looked at me blankly. For a few akward moments we just stood there and then I recognized his look of puzzlement. “You don’t know who I am do you?” I asked. Nope, turns out he couldn’t remember me at all. I know I’ve talked with him before. I remember because he looked so much like Drew that I had to marvel at the resemblance last year. Oh well, I know I’ve done the same thing to other people.

So, Sheryl and I got put in the same house to sleep in: Marlise’s house. We had a nice quiet evening once there. We talked for a while then went to bed.

Sunday morning the first service was awesome! We read out of Hebrews 10 and just the message in it all was so good! Second service was nice too, but by then I was starting to feel tired from the late night and exciting events.

Brian had to get home by six so we left pretty quickly at 2:00. I got shotgun on the way home. I wanted to read, but car sickness got the better of me, so the only thing left to do was talk, which I had no problem with since I love talking and I didn’t know Brian very well, so it was a good time to share stories and such. We talked about movies, each gave our testimonies, talked about high school, church, vacations, etc. I must say, that car ride was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend.

We did arrive on time: 6:00. It was a very nice weekend and I’m glad I went, only now this week has been super hard trying to do all the homework I should have done then. Oh well, totally worth it.