Prayer Time!

Hey guys! I've been enjoying the summer posts...from those of you brave enough to contribute :-). Also, has anyone watched Wipeout?? It's FREAKIN hilarious. Wow, I should feel bad laughing at people getting hurt, but they know it's coming! You should check it out sometime if you can :-).

I actually have a prayer request, so I figured I would just post it here because I figured it would have a pretty high likelihood of being seen. First off, Amanda's flying to Africa!!! Exciting but scary...I'll be praying for her as she flies tomorrow, as I'm sure all of you will be, too. Also, I have a very busy week ahead, which our family needs lots of prayer for. And sorry this is so long, I just don't know how else to condense it!

So this last week, my grandmother (Xantha...I know, it's pronounced Zantha...it's a flower) went to the hospital with abdominal pain which turned out to be acute pancreatitis which was caused by escaped stones from her gall bladder. They took out her gall bladder on Friday and were hoping to release her today but an X-ray showed that her lungs are starting to fill up with fluid so they're keeping her longer. She hasn't been doing her breathing exercises or walking as much as she should and needs to really get on top of these two things in order to improve and go home. So, if you could pray that she would find the strength and motivation to do both, and that she would heal quickly, that would be awesome.

The other thing is that my grandpa, her husband (yes, the same one who came to graduation and was yelling at people :-)), hasn't been handling it all very well because he is understandably exhausted from his treatments/his cancers. He doesn't have a lot of energy and cannot walk very far and these long days in the hospital have not been helping. He's also not the most tender of people (he loves my grandma, he just isn't very gentle) and it's been hard for him to see her in the hospital, so it's been making it more difficult on my grandma. To make matters more complicated, he has to go Tuesday for another round of chemo and my grandma is usually the one who takes care of him. So now they're both gonna be pretty under the weather, and we're gonna be trying our best to take care of them.

To top it all off, our 2nd cousin Randee and her 19 month old are flying in Wednesday morning for a two week visit (which we're stoked about)...but it makes the whole grandma/grandpa/Randee-visit a little more complex, especially if Grandma's not home from the hospital soon. I know Randee will understand, but it's just a little stressful for everyone, especially just trying to handle all the illnesses, etc.

So anyway, please pray for both of my grandparents and their respective health issues (which is so weird to say cause my grandparents have always been so strong and awesome!) and for our family to have strength and be able to support them in the way they need it. Also, my uncle who lives with them...pray that he'll be able to anticipate needs and be able to meet them. Pray for Randee who greatly needs this vacation and for our conversations with her--that God would be in them and that we would represent Him well to her (as she's in a place where she doesn't really see her need for a personal relationship with Him). Pray especially for me in the next week as I tend to get to the end of my rope rather quickly--especially that I would have peace and patience and not try to control things, since I have had much difficulty with those in the past! I am so thankful for all of you and miss you terribly! I can't WAIT till the Fall when we can all come together...CJ, you'll just have to come on down for the first week of school :-). Love you guys!

My Rip-Rappin has been a Slick-Slackin...

I've been feeling that some of my talents have not been properly used since the end of school, especially my sweet rhymin' skills.
So my solution for this has been to try each day while I am at work to come up with really random short raps. This task has not gone so very well- until today.

I hit GOLD!

And since you people are the ones that have had the pleasure to experience my unique propensity for lyricism, I decided you should be the first that I share this with.
Some background information first:
If you remember, at Splash we have a code, AFR, which stands for Accidental Fecal Release, a funny joke just within itself. However, we have been experiencing a high level of these AFR's lately and so when they happen, all of the lifeguards on the Lazy River or the Aqua Play (kiddie area) get to take a 20 minute breather and just sit and chill. Unfortunately, I now hope for an AFR so I can sit and just chat with someone because it gets really lonely when you are just left to your own thoughts! I was inspired today when I realized I was chanting, as I walked, "take a poo in the river, please" because I just wanted to sit! And this is what came out of it....

Take a poo in the river or the aqua play
Take a poo in the river or the aqua play
It's ok, you don't even have to say,
Just take a poo in the river or the aqua play.

We'll call it an "Accident" and scoop it right out
Then close for 20 minutes while the feces filters out
As children complain and parents restrain
A Routine maintenence is how we'll explain.

it's definitely a work in progress, but I've got all summer... and hopefully a few more AFR's!

My new favorite quote...

"I still remember trying to sleep under the stars but unable to because of the ridiculous marine-related conversations you girls were having, accompanied by an abundance of giggling."

--from Tyler

Meet Katie (& an update on my life)

Meet Katie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJkaKAIl_Fc

& An Update On My LIfe:

Okay, so I realized today that I miss you all too much. It's driving me nuts. I've been back in La Mirada for about two weeks and it stinks to know that you all aren't around. End of Story.

Secondly, I started my Internship on the 9th and its been great fun. Here's what happened my first day:

My supervisor, Shea: "Hey, Anthony. Here's three books, a treatment, and a script. Just read each one and write coverage for each of them. Don't worry about finishing this week. It's not urgent."

Anthony: "Okay. Great. Thanks"

Fast forward to the end of that day when I walked into her office.....

Anthony: "Hey Shea. I'm done."

Shea: "What? Oh. Okay."

(at this point, she looked a little uncomfortable)

Shea: "Well, I guess I'll have to find more work for you to do."

(My conclusion: She didn't have more work for me to do)

So aside from coverage (which is just writing a one page summary of what I read), I've sorted and alphabetized hundreds of DVDs, searched the internet for fan sites, emailed a bunch of people, and done research on all the top children's tv networks. Oh, and watched every available episode of "Kings." Great show.

Other than that, life is great. I miss my family. I miss you guys. And I would love for summer to ACTUALLY feel like summer, but I have my break in August to look forward to. Jess is coming down this week so that will be fun. I hear Amanda is coming too! So.... for whoever is reading this and will be in the La Mirada area this weekend, we should totally hang out. Pazookies?

Finito!

-Anthony

Just a trim

plus or minus a few inches...

.

Real Great News!!

GUYS!!!

This is an awesome answer to prayer and I wanted to share it with you!!

So I was talking to some of you (or maybe all-I can't really remember...) about how I was a little worried about getting to know my co-workers at Splash due to the fact that most of my impressions of them had been that they were mostly partyers and drinkers and such.. basically, I was overwhelmed with the thought that I was going to have to be one of the only lights in that place!

BUT...
About a week and a half ago, I went in to Splash to turn in my time card and I was leaning against a wall when someone saw my tattoo on my wrist and asked about it.. I explained it and they asked if I was Jewish (haha) but I said no, I'm Christian. Then, a girl, Lexi, who was standing by me piped up and invited me to....

A FRIDAY NIGHT WORK BIBLE STUDY!!

that's right, my fellow employees started a Bible study!! I was able to go this past Friday and it was absolutely amazing, like genuine fellowship and a huge wealth of Biblical knowledge and wisdom! I am so extremely excited about this opportunity you guys, I can't even fully put it in words! Really, it's the answer to not just one but multiple prayer requests... I am real amped up to get more involved with it and it has really shifted my attitude and environment while at work!

So thank you so much for praying for me, I will continue to pray for you. =]

Finally Made the Jump

I'M FINALLY A BLOGGER! Wow it feels good. Yes, it has been a long time coming but it took some highly focused energy to get around to making a gmail account and then accepting the invitation. Wow..I feel tired already. Anyways, I am pumped and ready to go full-swing into this new realm of cyberspace. Lookout world here comes Aryn, "The Blogger Extraordiniare!!"
LOVE you all. Miss you more. Glad I can finally read what you all have been writing for the past month!

Favorite Quotes

So I randomly read the quote book again and I think these are my top three favorite.... any other favorites??

(about the theme of the all-hall right after Torrey conference)

“The point is we’ll just have had three days of sex.” – Erin

(Because I remember the context...)

(when everyone was looking for phone, Aryn takes the credit…)

“Look, there it is, right by the Gap bag!” – Meghan

“Oh, I found it!” – Aryn

(doing homework)

“Ok, you really don’t need to give me two pages on why the church shouldn’t use physical weapons to exercise its authority.” – Chris

Good times... Good times...

LOVE love LOVE

I am in LOVE with this weather!

This is my new backyard... covered (ok kinda covered) in hail. In June. Amazing.

Has summer started for anyone else??

So I still kind of feel like summer hasn't really started yet and that the past 3 weeks have kind of been just a reeeeeeeal long weekend. However, several things could be attributing to this strange sense of seasonal dysfunction (and yes that word is spelled correctly even though it doesn't look like it is...)

1. There has only been 1 day in which the sun has appeared before 4 or 5pm... It has been cool and cloudy EVERY SINGLE DAY! What is this Washington? Oregon? bull hucky!

2. I typically associate summer with going home and since my "home" is not technically home, my mind is tricked into thinking it's not permanent for the next 2+ months.

3. I'm not overwhelmed by hours upon hours of working! I typically only get scheduled for about 10-12 hours/week but I've been snatching people's hours left and right! I convince them that they don't really want to work... so I went from 10 hours up to 27.5 for this week! Skilled, I know...

And that's basically where I'm at. Now I really don't want to let all this precious time go to wasted, I want to squeeze all the juice out of it! Any ideas of what I should do??

Also, a side note I'd like to share, I had the first conversation with my dad since Easter today! I know, pretty crazy.. But it went so well and he told me that he checks my blog (my personal one) about once a week and wishes I would post more on it! That was fun for me to hear..

ok, goodnight!

Oh you know...

Well, here is the excitement that is stirred up in my life lately:

• I got two tickets...airplane tickets that it
  
• I have been shot three times...with a needle
  
• I have obtained drugs...by prescription
  
• I am fleeing the country...only to come back within a month
  

This passport is about to get stamped :)

Now that I've updated twice...how is everyone else?

this just in.

The weather is warm and beautiful, about 80 degrees with a light breeze. Golf has been fun and the fam has been a bit much but hey that's family.

Fundraising Update

So today at church, my college pastor asked me to share a little about my Africa trip. I did - I was strangely nervous - but it went well. Afterward, one of the volunteer staff came up to me and handed me $250 cash!! Another student gave me $20 out of his pocket! I was blown away by their generosity and willingness to give right away :)

So currently I have about $1,800 - I need to get to $5,000 but June 24th. Please pray that God will continue to provide.

I just wanted to give you an update on how my fundraising is going and share how God is providing!

All praise be to God!

Najavo Mission Trip Update

So the mission trip to the Navajo Reservation was this past week; Mal and I got back last night and boy were we exhausted! Thank you for your prayers, they were much needed! It was a great trip overall, and of course a lot happened, so I’ll just share a few things.

For the most part, we just had VBS for the Navajo kids Monday thru Thursday for three hours in the morning and then Mal and I watched the girls (and the other kids that were there as part of the mission team) in the afternoon while the rest of the team did work projects or more preparation for VBS the next day. It was really tiring but a great experience and exercise in patience and positivity ☺. I really enjoyed spending time with the girls and spent a lot of moments teaching and encouraging them to find out what it means to have a servant’s heart.

The actual VBS was a completely different experience in and of itself. It was really hard at first to connect with the kids because many of them are so quiet and unresponsive (you ask them a question and they literally do not say anything back). A lot of the concepts were really countercultural to them as well so it was hard to meet them on a level where they cared or understood what you were saying or doing. However, after the first two days, they really started to open up to us and I enjoyed working with the 5-8 year olds, getting to know them and show them love despite the difficulties.

There were a few boys in particular in my class that I really felt drawn to, and one of them that I’d like to share with you. His name is T.J. I think he’s around 7 years old. He came on the second day and was pretty quiet but he had no trouble participating. There was something about him that stood out to me, but I can’t really describe it. Anyway, he seemed to have fun but was not an instigator like a lot of the other boys in our class. I enjoyed talking to him and teasing him and on the last day, after VBS, the other teacher and I were talking about how much we liked him. She then asked me if I had heard what Al, the missionary that lives by the church there, had said about him. T.J. has long hair, unlike the other boys, and it’s sort of folded up and wrapped with a cord. Al said that when a boy’s hair is wrapped like that, it means that they are grooming him to be a medicine man (if you don’t know, that’s like a healer or spiritual leader in Native American culture). Mal said that they probably saw in him the same thing that we noticed that drew people to him. It was very surreal to me—it made me think of the Israelites and the old customs, etc., like that. It just really hit me and I would really love it if you guys could be praying for him this summer. He’s a great kid and it’s amazing that he was even able to come to the VBS. Pray that something he heard would stand out to him and that God would intervene in his life, especially his future.

(T.J...obviously)

(here's T.J. again--you can see how his hair's wrapped)

Overall, I was faced with many opportunities to be humble and it wasn’t easy, but God definitely worked on my heart through trip. I just wanted to share with you guys! It would be great if you could pray that I would continue to seek humility every day because I have been struggling with pride a lot lately. I’m thankful for the things I have begun to learn and am especially grateful to be able to share it with you all ☺. Hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying your summers as well!

Summer Update coming!!!

Just got back...will write soon, hopefully today!! Miss you all, too!

Time for summer updates.

Ready.

Set.

Go.

Summer Prayer Requests

CJ – Direction in ‘the room’ (that DOES have furniture), after summer work and school plans

Aryn – to find work back home, for her pursuit of a deeper relationship with sister Kelly

Steph – to be able to find a place to stay in the fall (CHECK!)

Erin – be able to prepare for the fall semester even with fulltime work and her online class, as well as graduation plans

Anthony – that housing would work out and that a lot of learning would happen through this experience

Chris – his time in Zambia, and time at home and the reality of the situation there

Drew – make good use of rest time when Katie is gone; restful but not wasteful

Amanda – finish strong with Lit, funds for Africa and trust in provision

Katie S – prayer for relationships within the house for the summer, including rules and comfort zones; being an example to the fellow staffmates at the YMCA

Meghan – energy for working with kids four days a week and for the VBS at the Indian reservation and opportunities for conversations with recently divorced cousin and grandpa’s health that’s deteriorating

Katie P – that the summer would be restful and not wasteful and that getting on good health routines would go well; difficulty with current church and really desirous to find ways or a church to get connected to

Tyler - to be able to rest during the summer while not working, instead of wasting the spare
time he has; patience and perserverence for his work situation, that new opportunities for work would open upA

The Ringer Family Pic