dream big... big enough to include God in those dreams. - Marilyn Laszlo

So....

I've filled out mountains of paperwork, made numerous phone calls, and taken lots of pictures of clouds.
The paperworking process and administration process is incredibly discouraging. :-/ But God brought me to Arizona for some reason or another, and even if I'll never know why, I still want to be able to praise Him through ... whatever this is.

See, the thing is, since I only have a Bachelor's Degree in the Spanish language, I have to apply for an Emergency Teaching Certificate. Which sounds easier than it actually is - it looks like I can only start teaching - in the high school Spanish classroom I was promised - as a substitute teacher to start, and then hopefully really soonfully after that with the emergencey certificate. Which is only good for a year at a time, and renewable if i take 6 credits of Ed. classes. which should be interesting, ....

So I have to be school-board-approved to even be a substitute, and with the Holiday weekend, and really slow-to-move admins (no offense to them, but it was terrible....) it will be at least Wednesday before I can begin working here. Which is frustrating, but I'm trying to look at it as a vacation.

So I have been going through my computer and deleting things that I don't need, organizing my music, using the stove
- God found me a spot living in a spare bedroom of one of the other teacher's trailers in the staff housing - it's nice and all, but she has two dogs and I'm allergic to them.... so hopefully the four new trailers they are bringing in will open up a trailer for me. Hopefully. . .
-- and reading a ton. Another blessing - there is a library, albeit a small one - books! I didn't read much all summer, and contrary to popular belief, it was easier than it seemed. I usually am in the middle of 12 or so books, but I was so busy being friends with great people and keeping in touch (although not as well as I'd've liked) with other great people.

My goal - Write at least a letter a day, or 6 a week, whichever comes first.
And it shall be easy to obtain, especially if you, my loyal readers, write to me.

(hint: Amanda Elaine Johnson
PO Box 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512 )


I went excursing into Gallup, NM today (it's only 35ish minutes away) to find a church - I got there around 10 after 9am and found a church that started Sunday School at 9:45 so I went to the Sunday school there; there was a couple and three men and myself; we read from Acts 27 and 28 where Paul gets shipwrecked. it was good,...
and then I went downstairs for the service which was terrible. Terrible as in,... the pastor started right out with a verse from John right after the time when Jesus heals a blind man while putting spitty mud in his eyes. The "sermon" was about work, and how it's good to have jobs and we need to have good attitudes, and well, I tuned him out because I was so disgusted. He mentioned the word "Baptist" several times, like he was proud of being a Baptist. He also only used two passages - and only in briefest of brief passings. And not even having all that much to do with us, but twisting the words of God's son coming to work "while it's still daytime" to mean that we need to be working while night's not here yet. So that made me not very happy and I really wanted to leave. I should have. . .

But anyways.
I found a little pub in Gallup - Really clean type - not the sleazy variety - that has wifi, so I am using that while I can. It's been weird not having internet 24/7 (because i don't have a teachery ID to use the wifi in the teachers housing yet. hopefully soon?? :) ), but Medora has taught me that it's totally okay not to be right next to a grocery store, Walmart, movies, etc. all the time. It's great not to hear ambulances every hour or so, too.

I am lonely, though. I saw my (new) housemate Christine about three times, and she's gone for the weekend, too. I went on a walk, and I passed the high school counselor, Samara, and her boyfriend. I also passed the former Spanish teacher and his daughter, who had to stop teaching because he's starting his Doctorate. He looked a lot like Tony Grubbs, one of my Spanish professors (the one who didn't let me pass either of his classes). And made me laugh inside.
The people here are beautiful. There are very few blondes. I went to Walmart and it was like a Navajo / Mexican VBS or something, there were so many little children running around or sliding on the floor (it was great fun).
But I haven't found anyone to people-watch with yet.
I am reveling in the power of the text message, and the cell phone.
Being able to hear someone's voice, or at least a textual representation of who they are, is such a blessing. Especially when I'm the only one I've really seen the past week or so.
On the upside, I found prickly pear and sage here. Hurrah! : )

Pray that I can find a friend. Or at least someone to take a walk or take picture of the flattop mountains with. Or something to do besides nothing.

I'll be expecting your letters...

double rainbows, huge skies, and Jesus music

So even though today was terribly long - I had a mountain of paperwork, texts, and phonecalls to make, and the "people in charge" weren't really concerned with why I was there - it seemed - God is still good. Even if I can't teach simply as a substitute teacher in the classroom I was hoping to get until Tuesday. Even if I have to share a trailer with an older woman and her two yippy dogs. Even if I didn't get as lost in Gallup tonight when I ventured out to get groceries. slash Taco Bell.
Even if I miss people terribly. . .
There is a radio station here called K-Luv or K-Love or I'm not sure what their actual call letters are, but yeah. They followed me all the way to Sanders from Colorado, and God's put a lot of good songs on while i was in the car that have been just what I was supposed to be hearing.
And last night I saw a huge double rainbow covering the whole sky above Sanders.
and it was amazing - did you know that on a double rainbow the two arcs' colors are reversed? it was spiffy. Especially since I saw one over Wyoming's skies two nights before that!
So even though things are maybe not going to stop being frustrating, God is still there, and He cares for me and has a plan for me - whether that be in Medora, Sanders, or Michigan.

Your job?
Pray for me, that I stay faithful to the one who has called me thus far.
That i will be a salty lightbulb for Jesus.

summer's end... and summer, summarized. or at least, some guys...

This summer was amazing. I got to spend three months in a little town smack dab in the middle of the Badlands of Southwestern North Dakota - Medora, ND to be precise.

I went there not knowing what to expect and not knowing anything about the town or the people with whom I would be spending a few months, and I left this morning.
I set out for Medora at the end of May and left with the idea that I would be going there to help lead worship services in town and in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which just so happened to be in the town's backyard.

The first few days were rough, because I didn't know anyone at all, and everyone seemed to know everyone else already. Somehow I got sucked into a group of people out there on summer project and then I got connected with everyone else simply by scanning meal cards at the pizza parlor I worked.
*side note - I bought a personal pan pizza from the Pizza Hut in Deadwood, and I definitely really, really miss the pizza parlor pizza right now. It's amazing pizza.
Then I made some even closer friends because a few of us were having "boy issues" and needed people to vent with, and God used those women - and some high quality men in my life to push me ever closer to Him when things didn't turn out the way everyone thought they would. "Things," however, actually turned out far better than I could have wished for. God is amazing.

Anyways, I was going to write a few observations about this summer, slash appreciations and mentions of random things that made my summer what it was.

First, the smell of sage and old wood permeates the senses on a hot day - in Medora, this was almost every day. Except for the few completely random downpours and hailstorms...

and the sun. is amazing. ly hot. and not muggy like Michigan; the locals know 90 degrees is nothing to sneeze at, and the winters are ridiculous... But I'm not writing about the winters because I haven't experienced a Dakota winter. All I know is that Everyone has an electrical plug hanging from the hood of their vehicles to plug their motor (engine?) in somewhere in the winter when it hits negative 40 or so...

and when you can walk 20 minutes and find yourself in the middle of a field on top of a butte surrounded by prickly pear, prairie rose, and tall grasses - and maybe some buffalo (which are also known as bison, for those of you who may be confused),... well. It's hard not to see why the west called to so many people in the middle of the 19th century.

and the small (small being less than a hundred official locals - maybe a few hundred with the seasonal workers) town atmosphere is definitely something every city slicker should experience. I'm so glad I got to, because I know now that I can definitely survive without a ginormous grocery store and malls only 10 minutes from home. And being able to wave at everyone because you know them (except for the tourists, but you still wave) is so great... it's like a bond of some sort that you can only understand if you've done it. Whee!

and getting to put in everyone's orders for pizza and subs taught me quite a bit as well - some people never change... ;) Double pepperoni with ranch. . . pepperoni with lite cheese, ...to go, never to stay because they eat it after the musical... and when they order something different, you wonder what's going on. :)
and once they ordered their pizza i would usually have a few minutes - or seconds - to chat about life with whoever, and i think those few moments are what I am going to miss the most about this summer. The time when the hungry people-who-will-soon-get-filled come in and chat. about life, about roomates, relationships, jobs, being real, travel, Jesus. The time when - if just for a few seconds, the people in the musical get to kick back and be themselves. (I hope). The past weeks by myself after the CRU people left I got to spend some time with people - not as much as I would have liked, because of work - but enough. Well, maybe not enough. I could stay there forever and ever, but everyone else would leave... and i actually probably couldn't.

I've learned that even though I started the past several paragraphs with "and," there were people this summer that left a huge impression on my life.
Firstly the men -
Dedy: from Indonesia. I worked with him; he didn't speak much English... I hate writing in past tense. he was real sweet, though.
Andy: ridiculously musical. Not fair. He let me sit and listen to him play, which was amazing. because some people don't like that... but he did. and he let me watch mice with him at midnight. And we had some good chats about life, and it's always great to have a manly perspective on things. :0)
Seth: he taught me a bit of what I already thought I knew (re: guys in leadership and what it really looks like), and I really, really, really appreciate his listening to the Spirit leading in preparing for the services with ACMNP; we had some good conversations, and even though things got confusing, he stayed true to what he knew to be true and helped keep me on the right path. thanks :)
Chris: even though he kinda pushed the whole guy issue on me, (i don't know if he realizes this or not) he grew a ton this summer from what I saw of him, and was a veritable rock to myself and several other people.
Alan: oh my goodness. It's like my little brother came to Medora with me. He listens to the same music, is about the same height, looks the same, and gives great hugs. And he has that look of someone who you just have to hug. haha.
Kristan: One of the harder-to-see-leaving-me people... meh. even though he's younger than me, I'm pretty sure I see him as an older-type-of-brother that I never got to have.. He is a wonderful listener, prayer, singer,... and I'm pretty sure he's wise beyond his years. :) And he got me to like Skillet.
Chad: he sings and plays the keys in the musical. and still talked to me at the pizza parlor. Last night when I was frustrated and couldn't figure out a driving route, he took a look at my atlas and helped straighten out my brain. And I'm sad that we were just beginning to be friends. meh. Guillaume: sure, he's from france and has an accent and amazingly blue eyes, but he and I had some good chatation. and I hope he stays in touch somehow...

I think I am going to maybe write about more people later, but for now...
I am in Lusk, Wyoming. And there is a king-sized bed, a refrigerator, microwave, and tv and wifi... more on this new adventure later, though.