Summer 2024 Reflection - Curly

-

Before getting started, I wanted to let you all know about a pretty important moment that you are currently participating in - this is the 300th post in the history of the Geographist blog!  Would you believe we're also rapidly approaching the 5th anniversary of the very first entry?  Seems crazy to even think about how much has happened over that time, but I'm amazed this little endeavor has carried on this long.  Thank you to all who have read, contributed, or been a part of it!  Now on to our next summer reflection, brought to you by our newest high schooler.


So first of all I am known as Curly.  I am the Geographist's middle kid.  This summer I probably did the most.  My summer kicked off with our trip to California.  We went to California Adventure, Disneyland, Universal Studios and to the San Diego Zoo.  At California Adventure I got to meet Iron Man right outside of the Avengers compound and I might have broken his brain by accident by responding "yes" to all his questions partly because I did not know how to answer.  At the San Diego Zoo there was this one bird and it sounded like a car alarm.  When we went back to the area that the bird was at again later he was still chirping.

My second summer adventure was to camp with my church's youth group.  I met some amazing girls, did fun activities, and hiked A LOT.  If I had to choose one activity that was my favorite I would say worship.  Every year worship is life changing for everyone in the room, especially the last night when my friend accepted Jesus and I was so glad for her.

Next we go from the middle of Texas to the west coast - Portland, Oregon.  Our church choir got the opportunity to serve the people of Portland by providing lunch for the homeless, helping a woman with opening her store, and much more.  While my group was giving snacks and water to the houseless citizens a guy accepted Jesus.  One of the leaders talked him through the process and shared the gospel with him.

Now for the part that I had been dreading for the whole month, thinking about school.  I attended my first band camp for my school marching band to memorize our music and learn our drills.  Every year we have a march-off on the last day, and for the last three years it had been the same person but this year he was finally dethroned.  Every other year a big belt that was $15 at WalMart was what you got if you won, but this year the band director got a better one off Amazon and really did not want to give it away.  This was my summer.  I hope you enjoyed it and my stories.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Story With God, Episode 11: Kings (And One Queen)

-
Decisions, decisions.  We all have them in life.  Solomon ran across an interesting one when he became king: God gave him a chance to ask for something.  What would you want?  By asking for wisdom, Solomon pleaded God and also received wealth and success over his enemies.  But as promising as this beginning was, his end showed that his heart wasn't fully devoted to God.  Each successive ruler had to decide whether God's commands were important, and that single choice determined if his reign was successful or not.  Each king was measured, as we all are, not by the financial or political success they achieved, but by how faithful they were to their Lord. Our Story With God, Episode 11
Read more

Founding Fathers - Samuel Adams

-
Image
Samuel Adams Born: September 27, 1722 (Boston, Massachusetts) Died: October 2, 1803 (Cambridge, Massachusetts) When I considered who deserved to be the final entry in our study of America's Founding Fathers, it only seemed appropriate that this week's focus was the logical choice.  As perhaps the person more singularly identified with the movement for independence, Samuel Adams embodied the passion of the patriot cause.  As the eldest son of 12 children born to Samuel and Mary Adams, both of whom came from families involved in the shipping industry, the younger Samuel was raised with the ideals of Puritan virtue and self-government.  The elder Adams had become a successful brewer and served as deacon of the nearby Third Church (the congregation occupied what is now known as the Old South Meeting House , a building that was then the largest in Boston) who kept active in local politics as part of an informal group known as the Boston Caucus.  When young Samuel completed his educa
Read more

Founding Fathers - Samuel Huntington

-
Image
Samuel Huntington Born: July 16, 1731 (Windham, Connecticut) Died: January 5, 1796 (Norwich, Connecticut) This week we'll turn our sites to the final delegate from Connecticut, but although he might be the last on our list he can claim several other firsts.  Born on a farm just east of the town of Windham as the fourth of ten children, Samuel Huntington was the son of a farmer and clothier named Nathaniel Huntington and his wife Mehetabel.  The family was active in life of the community, as Nathaniel's father had helped found the town, but young Samuel was not given the advantage of a formal education.  Instead, he worked with his father on the farm and was eventually apprenticed to a cooper who trained him in the building of casks and barrels.  Samuel enjoyed learning, however, and began borrowing books to study, particularly focusing on the subject of law.  A nearby minister named Ebenezer Devotion was a source of both information and encouragement, and by the age of 23 Samue
Read more