Israel: The Israel trip was absolutely incredible. Yes, the historical locations and the geography were very neat. But here the thing, my classmates and I had been preparing for the trip all year long. We had studied and written papers and taken tests and read books. The trip itself was the culmination of the effort already put in. Even more so-- the studying and the writing and the testing and the reading-- it had all been done together. We were invested in the trip and we were invested in each other. That is what set the Israel trip to be incredible. And that I really learned to love Jesus for my own. The most incredible thing.
Summer: The summer was spent working at the camp where we had been living for the last year. At any given day there were +1500 students on campus for a week of summer camp in the mountains. I met a ton of neat people and got to do a ton of new things (like win a kickball championship and cutting all my hair myself?!). And, I hung out with junior highers and made milkshakes all day. Party party!!
Graduation: In August, myself and 51 classmates-- my dear friends-- graduated from the Joshua Wilderness Institute as the Class of 2013.
The closing of something amazing, and difficult, and unexpectedly beautiful. My hope is that these pages showed you pieces.
with the Staff |
The closing of something amazing, and difficult, and unexpectedly beautiful. My hope is that these pages showed you pieces.
And that is the story... by Lainie Ford, 2014.
Lainie,
ReplyDeleteThis blog was a great way for you to communicate about your JWI experiences during the year. I know it must have been a big undertaking, and as you commented, more than you thought it might be for you. I so appreciated your efforts and like how you wrapped things up in this post. New adventures will be on your horizon, expanding your life experiences, and helping you to get to know yourself even better.
Loving you always,
Mom