The Adventures of Darcey & Watson

I am so blessed to serve with a Body of Believers who are really like the Church in Acts. We are all here for two purposes: to grow closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to proclaim His name and His glory to those millions who havent heard His name.

The reason I write this post is because I have been struggling with headaches consistantly everyday for the past… 7 months? And when I walked down the hallway today, someone stopped me to see how Im doing, when I mentioned the headache, they stopped what they were doing and prayed for me right then and there. This is not an uncommon occurance, actually it happens all the time. We are a people who pray together constantly, are transparent with one another as the Body should be, we are there to encourage and give of ourselves (out of the strength of God) to help others, we love others even when its hard to do. The staff here at Gospel for Asia are living out what it means to be the Body of Christ. And I am so encourged by it.

Im sure there are other places out there that are similar. But Im blessed to be a part of this family.

Source: A Little Taste of Heaven

My last day at the Allume conference was interesting indeed. After spending the morning in sessions, enjoying lunch and an inspiring keynote speaker, I decided to walk to the CVS down the street to collect some packing tape for the boxes we would send back to Gospel for Asia.
I was looking forward to my walk so that I could take some pictures of the city life in Harrisburg from ground level. Slowly I approached the CVS, discovering that it closed an hour earlier. A little bummed I decided to just walk to the end of the block to get a few more pictures before heading back to the hotel to man the booth. As I was taking pictures of this really cute cafe this couple that was sitting on the steps called me over and proceeded to tell me all the interesting things I could take pictures of in Harrisburg. Which was interesting because I dont normally get people that stop  me on the street and talk to me at length, quite exciting if you ask me.
While I was discussing pictures and arcitecture with the couple, this cute little boy who couldnt have been more than 2 or 3, came up to us and posed for the camera a few times, then his mother came and took him by the hand to lead him in the other direction. Every few steps though, the little boy would turn around and pose again.
A few minutes later I was back on my way taking photos of Harisburg. I saw a few painters painting this brick building red, so I took a few pictures of them. After those pictures, the three ladies sitting outside another cafe asked me if the painters looked safe enough. I said that Im sure they know what the are doing, and went on my way.
Soon I decided I should probably head back to my hotel and started on my way. On the way back i saw a sign with the history of some guy. I took a picture of it and then heard the gu from that first couple call to me from across the street asking if I liked history, then he crossed the street to talk to me more. He told me about the Whig part and a president that was elected at the church down one block, and how that president died and his vice president wasnt part of the Whig party and then they disbanded. It was very interesting, but as he was talking I saw a RiteAid behind him!
After he stopped talking, i asked if i could take a picture of him. Then I headed to the RiteAid for packing tape. When i got the tape, i decided to take a picture of the church the guy was talking about since it was at the end of the block, and this old lady asked if i had some change she could have. I was about to say no when the Lord said to give her something, so i gave her the $5 bill i had in my wallet and smiled at her wishing her a good day. I took a picture of the church then started back to my hotel again.
As i neared the hotel a homeless fellow that i had passed a few times that day asked if i took a picture of the oldest church in Harrisburg that is by the river a few blocks from where we were. I told him that I havent, but I would see if maybe later i could.
Finally back at the hotel, i gave the packing tape to Sara and Rachael and started running through the happenings of my outing. Things like that almost never happen to me, but im so blessed that it did! I loved smiling at people and taking the time to listen to them. Im sure they dont always have people that will stop and treat them like real people, so i was glad the Lord would allow me to be that person that could stop and listen and smile.
Now there were only an hour or two left before my mom would pick me up from Harrisburg to stop by my aunt Kristie’s house to congradulate her on her wedding and then stop by my brother’s calvacade for marching band. So i went upstairs to m room and became a master packer and fit all the millions of free gifts i got at the Allume conference into my carry on suitcase. Then went out to find my mommy in front of the hotel. When i stepped outside there was this homeless guy who wanted to know if i could help him because this store wouldnt let him buy a coke, but i told him that I couldnt help because my mom was there to pick me up.

Talk about an interesting day!

Source: What’s so Interesting about Harrisburg, PA?

Recently my friend Sieka and I were going to hang out at our friend’s house after work and just chill. A seemingly simple task right? Well, it didn’t quite turn out the way we expected, but I think it was better that way.

After work we had decided to take her car to the store, pick up some super healthy ramen, head over to our friend’s house and eat it there, then just hang out the rest of the evening. We got to her car, and our plans were changed right then and there, as she went to turn her key in the ignition, it wouldn’t budge. Her car was locked, we tried everything from holding in the brake pedal, to turning the steering wheel while trying to turn the key, but nothing worked. Eventually we called our friend Kevin who knows cars better than most people I know, and even he couldn’t fix it! So, we decided to just take my car instead.

We head over to my apartment, so we can change out of work attire and into comfy clothes. As we get to my door, on the third floor of the apartment complex, I discover that I left my house key on my desk at work, behind a locked Web Department door. So instead of changing, I drop Sieka off at Kroger to pick up the food as I drive 10 mins back to the office to retrieve my key.

As I get to Gospel for Asia, I realized that my fob, to get into the building, is with my housekey behind the locked Web Department door (and the key to get into Web is with the housekey as well). So I call Sieka, and at this point we just laugh at this interesting adventure that our simple journey turned out to be. Thankfully she left her purse in my car when I dropped her off at Kroger, and her fob was in her purse. So I took her fob, let myself in the building, tracked down Uncle Keith who opened the Web Department door, grabbed my keys, locked the Web door, drove back to Kroger, picked up Sieka, drove back to my apartment and changed, and then FINALLY we arrive at our friend’s place with a rather exciting story to share.

Overall I am glad that I had Sieka with me, would have been very frustrating to go through alone. And this way we are building memories as our friendship continues to grow.

Source: That Took Longer Than Expected

It was a happy reunion indeed when our dear, long-lost roommate showed up in the grand state of Texas to bless and surprise those serving at Gospel for Asia. Three years ago, on August 15, 2009 seven students arrived for Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship program. Twas a year of intense growth for the students, and at the end of the year four stayed on to join staff, one lived there anyways, and the other two went their separate ways.

Last time Chantelle visited we had grand plans to create a music video like old times sake. For the Bonsai girls loved creating videos… sadly, time slipped by and she was back on a plane to Florida and the plan for wonderful videos was lost. This time however, the night before she was to leave, we gathered together and created a music video.

So, I introduce to you, our evil plan to save the world.

My Evil Plan to Save the World – by Five Iron Frenzy

Source: My Evil Plan to Save the World

(second day to the Easter weekend 2012, spent in Colorado)

Today (the Saturday before Easter) is the day we are going to celebrate the birth of the most adorable toddler named Wesley Hewitt. However, before this glorious occasion, Josh took our gang to the far end of Boulder to the foot of the mountains that you could see from the parking lot in front of the Hewitts household. Because of the altitude, and the very dry air, walking, let alone climbing a mountain, although an easy task, was not very easy this time around.
We started our trek up the mountain, and took quite a few photo breaks to attempt to capture the mountainous terrain (something you won’t normally see in Texas), and those breaks served very well to help catch our breath as we made our way higher and higher into the mountain. After a while, we stopped for a longer break where Katie and I decided to climb some of the natural rocks there in the mountain side. She went up one way, and I went up another. It was very relaxing to sit by myself in a rock crevice, as I overlooked the landscape of Boulder, the lower parts of the mountain, and sit in awe of God’s creation.
Sooner than I would have liked (I was enjoying sitting there in the mountain side) we all decided to head back to the cars because we were quite tired and there was still a LOOoooong way up the top of the mountain. Maybe next time we will get a chance to go all the way to the top, I’m curious to see what it would look like. As we made our decent down to our cars, I decided to fall back behind the group so I could have some alone time to think. So, I took lots of pictures of the nature around me, took time to just be silent in God’s presence, and prayed a bit as well. Was nice to have a bit of quiet in the hectic, yet fun, weekend.
Before heading back to the Hewitt’s, we decided to stop yet again at Jax. A few of us got some stuff like… military pants, I got a ninja star (which I’ll practice with tomorrow at the Bale’s house), Josh got some sand for the sandbox, and then some Cream Soda in a cool bottle. Then it was back to the Hewitt’s house where we decorated for Wesley’s birthday party, met Josh’s sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids (Aiden and Chloe), and celebrated Wesley turning two. At this point we had given Wesley the Giant, red, crab sandbox with the huge eyes on the front. He and Annie loved it! Of course, more sand ended up outside the sandbox, and the wood chips that make up the Hewitt’s back yard ended up mixed in with the sand in the box.
All too soon, it was time for the kiddos to go to bed, while the adults (and Aiden and Chloe) played some Catch Phrase. After Josh’s family left Tim, Katie, Josh, and I played Settler’s of Catan together. I won! Mwahahahah! After my big victory, we all headed to bed (at least the girls did, I’m not so sure about the guys, they may have been up all night playing video games… hehe).

And so ends day two of our adventure in Colorado. Stay tuned for Day three (Sunday, Easter 2012) of the journey.

Source: Climbing Too High in the Mountains Near Boulder

This past Easter weekend Katie, Tim, Patrick, Jessica, and I went on a road trip to Colorado from our home in Carrollton, TX. You see, we were going to visit Josh and Christy Hewitt (Katie, Patrick, and Jess’ family, and former staff members of GFA), and their two adorable children Annie (3, almost 4) and Wesley (just turned 2). The week before we left, Wesley had a birthday, and we were going to celebrate it on the Saturday before Easter. So as a surprise we bought him a gigantic, red, crab sandbox with great big eyes on the front of it. But fitting it in the Volvo we were borrowing from another staff member was not going to happen. Thankfully we had rope, so the guys tied it to the roof of the car, and the Thursday before Easter (right after work, at around 5PM) we were on our way towards a road trip we will never forget.
It started off great with Tim and Katie up front, and Patrick, Jess, and me in the back. Was quite cozy and our intent was to drive till we got to the Hewitts 14 hours later. On we went with a few of us falling asleep periodically (I was drugged with Benedryl for the first few hours because I had a slight allergic reaction to Coconut towards the end of the work day, so I was rather sleepy), and some wonderfully interesting music playing. As we were passing through New Mexico, we saw SNOW on the side of the road! I was rather excited, considering I hadn’t seen ANY SNOW this entire winter. After a few shifts of driving between Katie and Tim, I was getting antsy and was wide awake (at 2AM?). Since Katie and Tim were exhausted, I decided to drive the remaining 5 hours of the trip.
As I was driving, we entered very VERY thick fog. So, insead of going the speed limit of 75 mph, I had to stick with 40 mph since I couldn’t see more than 5 ft in front of me. After a while the fog started to clear up a bit and I was able to speed again (80 mph in a 75 mph… so no worries, no craziness at this point in the trip. hehe). As I was travelling at about 80 mph there was all of a sudden a huge THUNK! and the car swayed a little and gone was the giant red sandbox that had been strapped to the top of the car. Needless to say, I stopped on the side of the road and we all got out to assess the damage and to see if indeed we lost our dear companion.
We had. So, Patrick and I took a flashlight and started walking back along the interstate looking for the sandbox. After about 5 minutes of walking, we figured it must be pretty far away, so we ran about half a mile more, and it still was nowhere to be found. But considering it was 4AM, on a dark interstate, with semi’s and other vehicles rushing by at 75 mph or more, we kept walking looking for the sandbox.After about 5 more minutes I saw a dark shape sitting in the middle of the right lane of the road. THE SANDBOX! We ran over to it and after Patrick picked it up we started our trek back to the car whose hazard lights we could see blinking in the distance. It took FOREVER to get back to the car that seemed to not grow any closer (we had to have been at least a mile away), we tied the sandbox back to the roof of the car, a little more securely this time, and continued on our way.
After a few more hours it started to get light outside and we were ever nearing our destination. Pulling into their parking lot we were greeted by Christy and it was COLD outside! And there were mountains in the distance, and we were all exhausted. After taking a quick nap, we all hung out for a bit, played tiredly with the kids, and once Josh got back from work he took Tim, Patrick, Katie and me to this awesome store named Jax. Jax is a store that has all sorts of weapons, camping gear, military surplus, outdoorsy stuff, etc. I LOVED it!! The first day we went to Jax, we pretty much just took a tour of the store, and then headed to a grocery store to get some needed items for Katie, and then went back home to rest some more.
After our return to the Hewitts house, Josh pointed out that there were a whole bunch of Prairie dogs out in the fields by their house. So Patrick, Katie, and I took our cameras and attempted to get close enough to the prairie dogs to get their pictures. Sadly, these animals are rather skittish and have a very reliable security system. As soon as we reached the closest side walk to their field we heard this chirping alarm coming from the prairie dogs that were acting as the sentries. Needless to say, we didn’t get close enough to get close up pictures of them, but hopefully if we zoom in to the pictures we got from a distance, then it will work well enough.
I honestly don’t remember most of that first day in Colorado…we were all so tired, that I’m surprised that I remembered all that I just wrote about. I do remember when Annie first saw me again, and she said “Alleeeeey! I like you, and I like playing with you. Do you want to play?” Was cute to know that she still remembered me, and was quick to give me a hug hello. Wesley took a little while to warm up to everyone except Jess (he snuggled with her most of the weekend). After a while, I ended up falling asleep on the couch and got sent to bed by the rest of my companions. So I headed down to the basement where the girls were sleeping, put my headphones in and set my ipod to my “sleep” playlist, and promptly fell asleep.

So ends the first day of our journey to Colorado, stay tuned for the rest of our adventures.
(a heads up, the drive back home is quite interesting)

Source: The Adventures of the Red Sandbox