The group of us up on the cement ship before we jumped off two weeks ago
The prices at Triple J
Price at Triple J again
Two losses in one week...
5 years ago
Friday, June 5, 2009
Even More Pictures
The group of us up on the cement ship before we jumped off two weeks ago
The prices at Triple J
Price at Triple J again
More Pictures
The price of a chocolate cake mix
The price of Crest toothpaste
The price of oatmeal
The price of Froot Loops (although we never bought Froot Loops)
The price of one Ramen package
Various Pictures
The cost of rice at Triple J
The cost of Band-Aids at Triple J
Mr. Jordan, Tante, and Terry at our picnic
Our apartment
Me and Sammy
What I've Learned...
6/5/09 This is my last post for this blog (because I've gotten hooked on this whole blog thing and plan to start a new one about my life in general). I keep finding out that more people than I was expected have been reading my blog this year--it was pretty amazing.
Thank you to those who read, to those who prayed, to those who wrote comments and e-mails, to those who sent packages, and to those who tacitly supported me all year. Of course, I accomplished what I did through God's power, but I'm quite sure that your support also played a role. Thank you very much!
I have learned a lot this year, and I have tried to distill it into a list. I just spent about an hour doing so, re-reading my old posts and thinking about the past year. I may not have gotten everything that I've learned, and not everything I learned is able to be put into words. A lot of the learning took place inside me and about me, but I wrote the list of things learned in third person (because I think it can apply to more than just me). I thought that for this last post, I needed to put a summary of the lessons learned and whatnot. There are good things about Ebeye, and there are bad things about Ebeye, but I can unequivocally state that I had a good year there, and I appreciate the fact that God sent me there for the last ten months.
Things I Learned this Past Year
1. Make do with what you have. Don't constantly pine for what you don't have.
2. Water, exercise, and healthy food really are good for a person, and are worth paying for, be that in money, time, or sore muscles.
3. Be patient when things aren't going the way they were supposed to. Build relationships instead. People matter more than punctuality.
4. It is important to stay connected to God, no matter what. He is the only Source of strength, patience, and whatever else a person needs to get through daily life. Life cannot be lived without Him, and that's on more than just one level.
5. The focus should be on where a person is and what they're doing, not where they were and did, and not where they could have been and could have been doing. A person chooses their attitude about situations.
6. It's not about being in foreign missions, but about not being foreign to missions. It's a lifestyle, not a once in a while thing. Thus, "SM-ing," or "student missionary-ing," is a verb, albeit a partially grammatically incorrect one.
7. Being inadequate is not equal to being a failure. Failure is not letting God use a person despite their inadequacies. God excels in taking raw, messy, imperfect people and using them for His work.
8. When a person trusts God, they obey Him, whether they can see the big picture or not. (Usually they can't.) Because of that trust and obedience, God gives back joy, despite difficulties that may be looming.
9. Negativity affects everyone and everything, even if it wasn't intended to do so.
10. Life is, if a person decides to live, is completely full of risks. However, life is also completely worth taking the risks. Life is an adventure worth taking.
11. A person may be completely safe from being hurt if they aren't open with other people, but they're also completely alone. People need people. That's just the truth.
12. Spiritual lessons can be found anywhere in daily life, if one is open to be told them.
13. Anything that affects great change is inconvenient. However, if that great change is a good change, inconvenience is totally worth it.
So, like I said, I don't know if that's everything I learned. It is a large chunk of it, however. I will really miss keeping this blog--one of the reasons that I plan to keep posting in a new one. :) So, I bid all my readers a fond farewell. A good number of you will probably see me soon enough, and I look forward to that. I'm very tan in this world of pale people. :P (And very cold. I've been shivering.)
~Ashlee
Thank you to those who read, to those who prayed, to those who wrote comments and e-mails, to those who sent packages, and to those who tacitly supported me all year. Of course, I accomplished what I did through God's power, but I'm quite sure that your support also played a role. Thank you very much!
I have learned a lot this year, and I have tried to distill it into a list. I just spent about an hour doing so, re-reading my old posts and thinking about the past year. I may not have gotten everything that I've learned, and not everything I learned is able to be put into words. A lot of the learning took place inside me and about me, but I wrote the list of things learned in third person (because I think it can apply to more than just me). I thought that for this last post, I needed to put a summary of the lessons learned and whatnot. There are good things about Ebeye, and there are bad things about Ebeye, but I can unequivocally state that I had a good year there, and I appreciate the fact that God sent me there for the last ten months.
Things I Learned this Past Year
1. Make do with what you have. Don't constantly pine for what you don't have.
2. Water, exercise, and healthy food really are good for a person, and are worth paying for, be that in money, time, or sore muscles.
3. Be patient when things aren't going the way they were supposed to. Build relationships instead. People matter more than punctuality.
4. It is important to stay connected to God, no matter what. He is the only Source of strength, patience, and whatever else a person needs to get through daily life. Life cannot be lived without Him, and that's on more than just one level.
5. The focus should be on where a person is and what they're doing, not where they were and did, and not where they could have been and could have been doing. A person chooses their attitude about situations.
6. It's not about being in foreign missions, but about not being foreign to missions. It's a lifestyle, not a once in a while thing. Thus, "SM-ing," or "student missionary-ing," is a verb, albeit a partially grammatically incorrect one.
7. Being inadequate is not equal to being a failure. Failure is not letting God use a person despite their inadequacies. God excels in taking raw, messy, imperfect people and using them for His work.
8. When a person trusts God, they obey Him, whether they can see the big picture or not. (Usually they can't.) Because of that trust and obedience, God gives back joy, despite difficulties that may be looming.
9. Negativity affects everyone and everything, even if it wasn't intended to do so.
10. Life is, if a person decides to live, is completely full of risks. However, life is also completely worth taking the risks. Life is an adventure worth taking.
11. A person may be completely safe from being hurt if they aren't open with other people, but they're also completely alone. People need people. That's just the truth.
12. Spiritual lessons can be found anywhere in daily life, if one is open to be told them.
13. Anything that affects great change is inconvenient. However, if that great change is a good change, inconvenience is totally worth it.
So, like I said, I don't know if that's everything I learned. It is a large chunk of it, however. I will really miss keeping this blog--one of the reasons that I plan to keep posting in a new one. :) So, I bid all my readers a fond farewell. A good number of you will probably see me soon enough, and I look forward to that. I'm very tan in this world of pale people. :P (And very cold. I've been shivering.)
~Ashlee
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Traveling Back (Second to Last Post)
6-4-09 Sorry for the long break between posts. But I am happy to report that I am safely back in the United States. I left Friday Ebeye time, and arrived two days later on Saturday evening.
I actually had a very nice surprise when Alan, Jordan, and I got onto the plane at Kwajalein. Two friends who had been SMs in Chuuk were on the plane--one of which is a friend from Southern. We spent the flight to Majuro talking back and forth. Then, on Majuro, another "Southern"er got on the plane. He'd been on a outer island and had been traveling for over a week to get to his plane. Eight hours later and a day earlier we arrived in Honolulu. At 2:30 AM.
Jordan's parents (I think) had set the three of us up with two hotel rooms. We took the airport/hotel shuttle, checked in, and went to sleep. We all slept in a bit, and ate at the continental breakfast. Then we checked out (or else we would have had to pay more). However, the hotel let us store our luggage (we had ALL of it), and then we took the city bus and went to Pearl Harbor. It's free to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, and so we did. It started out with a half hour documentary about what happened at Pearl Harbor, and then we took a ferry ride to the memorial, walked around, and came back. Then we headed toward Waikiki so we could eat. However, we had hit some traffic (besides not truly knowing how the city bus system worked) and realized we couldn't make it to Waikiki before I had to check into my next flight. So we ended up at a shopping centre, got our supper, and tried to make our way back to the hotel (to get my bags and the shuttle). We ended up taking a cab back to the hotel. It was very hard to say goodbye to Alan and Jordan at the airport, partially because it was the end-end (if you know what I mean) of our time on Ebeye. Thus ended my second Friday of last week.
I spent all of Saturday sitting in Terminal C of the Houston airport. My flight to Chicago was a little turbulent, but we still ended up coming in ten minutes early (and then spent that time taxiing!). My parents were right there at baggage claim (where my bags had been sitting since the earlier flight [the one I didn't take]). We took the shuttle bus back to Michigan City, my parents took me out to dinner, and then I finally made it back to the house. It had been a long two days.
Sunday I went and bought clothes that fit. I don't think that unless it's happened to you, it's difficult to understand how NICE it is to have clothes that fit properly. It is very nice! So I've been sleeping and getting unpacked and buying things I need (like getting a new cell phone; my other died while I was gone. I now have a new number). I am looking forward to camp, which starts in a week from today.
There will be at least one more post after this one. More later.
~Ashlee
I actually had a very nice surprise when Alan, Jordan, and I got onto the plane at Kwajalein. Two friends who had been SMs in Chuuk were on the plane--one of which is a friend from Southern. We spent the flight to Majuro talking back and forth. Then, on Majuro, another "Southern"er got on the plane. He'd been on a outer island and had been traveling for over a week to get to his plane. Eight hours later and a day earlier we arrived in Honolulu. At 2:30 AM.
Jordan's parents (I think) had set the three of us up with two hotel rooms. We took the airport/hotel shuttle, checked in, and went to sleep. We all slept in a bit, and ate at the continental breakfast. Then we checked out (or else we would have had to pay more). However, the hotel let us store our luggage (we had ALL of it), and then we took the city bus and went to Pearl Harbor. It's free to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, and so we did. It started out with a half hour documentary about what happened at Pearl Harbor, and then we took a ferry ride to the memorial, walked around, and came back. Then we headed toward Waikiki so we could eat. However, we had hit some traffic (besides not truly knowing how the city bus system worked) and realized we couldn't make it to Waikiki before I had to check into my next flight. So we ended up at a shopping centre, got our supper, and tried to make our way back to the hotel (to get my bags and the shuttle). We ended up taking a cab back to the hotel. It was very hard to say goodbye to Alan and Jordan at the airport, partially because it was the end-end (if you know what I mean) of our time on Ebeye. Thus ended my second Friday of last week.
I spent all of Saturday sitting in Terminal C of the Houston airport. My flight to Chicago was a little turbulent, but we still ended up coming in ten minutes early (and then spent that time taxiing!). My parents were right there at baggage claim (where my bags had been sitting since the earlier flight [the one I didn't take]). We took the shuttle bus back to Michigan City, my parents took me out to dinner, and then I finally made it back to the house. It had been a long two days.
Sunday I went and bought clothes that fit. I don't think that unless it's happened to you, it's difficult to understand how NICE it is to have clothes that fit properly. It is very nice! So I've been sleeping and getting unpacked and buying things I need (like getting a new cell phone; my other died while I was gone. I now have a new number). I am looking forward to camp, which starts in a week from today.
There will be at least one more post after this one. More later.
~Ashlee
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Waiting for the Party to Start
5-29-09 As I was waiting for the seniors' feast to start last night, I got a chance to chat on Skype with my friend Desi, who is a student missionary in Nairobi, Kenya. We were glad for the opportunity to type to each other, and we talked about stuff. She was very surprised by the fact that I was waiting for a LONG time for the thing to start. One, I've gotten used to it, and, two, it's the last time I had to do it, so yeah. The people setting up the feast kept saying, "It'll start soon, it'll start soon," and every once in a while, something would happen that would herald the soon start of the party. I did something (talk to Desi) while waiting for the party to start. In fact, I got a spiritual application out of it.
Christians are waiting for the Second Coming. That is going to be one massive party, and parties have lots of details that need to be in place before the party can start. God tells us that He'll get us when the party's ready to start, but until then, we must wait. Now, we have two options. We can sit around, do nothing, and gripe about the fact that the party hasn't started yet--but that doesn't put us in the right mindset to enjoy the party. The second option is to do something productive with our time. In the case of me waiting last night, Desi and I were able to talk and encourage one another. In the case of Christians waiting for the Second Coming, we have a job to do, a Commission to fulfill, and we all have different parts to play in the setup. We must use what time we have wisely, and to always live in readiness for the party to start. We must live in such a way that we can lay down whatever we're doing and be ready for the party to start.
For as good as the potato salad and spaghetti and rice and other Marshallese dishes were last night, and as good as it was to say goodbye to the seniors and take pictures and give advice, the party that I want to live in readiness for is the Second Coming. I hope you do, too. :)
Just some thoughts from last night.
More later.
~Ashlee
Christians are waiting for the Second Coming. That is going to be one massive party, and parties have lots of details that need to be in place before the party can start. God tells us that He'll get us when the party's ready to start, but until then, we must wait. Now, we have two options. We can sit around, do nothing, and gripe about the fact that the party hasn't started yet--but that doesn't put us in the right mindset to enjoy the party. The second option is to do something productive with our time. In the case of me waiting last night, Desi and I were able to talk and encourage one another. In the case of Christians waiting for the Second Coming, we have a job to do, a Commission to fulfill, and we all have different parts to play in the setup. We must use what time we have wisely, and to always live in readiness for the party to start. We must live in such a way that we can lay down whatever we're doing and be ready for the party to start.
For as good as the potato salad and spaghetti and rice and other Marshallese dishes were last night, and as good as it was to say goodbye to the seniors and take pictures and give advice, the party that I want to live in readiness for is the Second Coming. I hope you do, too. :)
Just some thoughts from last night.
More later.
~Ashlee
Summary of A Jam-Packed Week (without Real Jam!)
5-29-09 Today is my last day on Ebeye--and one of the last blogs posted from Ebeye. (I'll be posting perhaps one or two more once I arrive back in the States; I'll let you know when the last post comes.) I feel a combination of glad and sad about leaving. I'm so conflicted about it that I'm happy to grieve.
My class picnic on Monday was attended by freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. It did not exactly go as Jordan and I planned, but the first half went well. (If you really want to know what went wrong, you can email me.) Tuesday was eighth grade graduation. It started only half an hour late (that was good), and then later that evening, they fed us. Wednesday was senior graduation. It started forty minutes late (also a good number), and it was long, but I enjoyed it and took pictures. I most definitely will be posting my pictures (partially to benefit Emily, who had to go home before graduation). On Thursday I went to Shell Island with Megan's class, Alan, Jordan, and John Mark, and had a good time. Then I waited for three hours for the seniors' banquet (which started at 9PM), and then we ate dinner. After that, we went back to the apartments, and the church Yokwe Yokwe'd us. They said nice things and gave us gifts, saying goodbye (especially because three of us are leaving today). Then some of the high school students showed up and did the same thing. I did not get to bed until 12:10 this morning. I will definitely be sleeping on the plane tonight!
Right now I'm running around and trying to get the last minute things I need to do done. There's a lot!!
More later.
~Ashlee
My class picnic on Monday was attended by freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. It did not exactly go as Jordan and I planned, but the first half went well. (If you really want to know what went wrong, you can email me.) Tuesday was eighth grade graduation. It started only half an hour late (that was good), and then later that evening, they fed us. Wednesday was senior graduation. It started forty minutes late (also a good number), and it was long, but I enjoyed it and took pictures. I most definitely will be posting my pictures (partially to benefit Emily, who had to go home before graduation). On Thursday I went to Shell Island with Megan's class, Alan, Jordan, and John Mark, and had a good time. Then I waited for three hours for the seniors' banquet (which started at 9PM), and then we ate dinner. After that, we went back to the apartments, and the church Yokwe Yokwe'd us. They said nice things and gave us gifts, saying goodbye (especially because three of us are leaving today). Then some of the high school students showed up and did the same thing. I did not get to bed until 12:10 this morning. I will definitely be sleeping on the plane tonight!
Right now I'm running around and trying to get the last minute things I need to do done. There's a lot!!
More later.
~Ashlee
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