Featured on Blogger.com Front Page

I was flipping through stats tonight and noticed a rediculous point on October 20th, where the daily visitors to the blog went from a usual 4-5 to about 100. Wow! After thinking for a few seconds that I had become very popular on the internet, I researched a little more and found that all but 3 of those visitors were refered to me from blogger.com. This means that my blog isn't still at 100 vistors per day, but it is pretty sweet that I was randomly featured! And also interesting to think that some people(97!) actually click on those links.

North Carolina!

Well, I'm in North Carolina now. That's cool, but even cooler than that is that I flew over Maple Valley on the way out. I saw everything. Awesome. Here's a picture I took, while the flight attendants weren't looking!

In a few hours, I'll be in Louisville at the Fall PSALT meeting. Should be good. I'm excited to meet all the people after reading their applications.

This is a great adventure, but I'm ready to have a weekend in Bellingham. Actually, a day of doing nothing would be sweet too. Soon!

Some quick Stats

Summer Stats Calc:
I Drove 4679.5 Miles
I was in Alaska for 2.5 months
I logged 264.25 hours behind the wheel
That's an average of 17.7 mph.

Awesome!

Retreat 2.0!

Wow! We're back from the INN's 2008 Fall Retreat: When INN Rome. Pretty crazy weekend. Lots of new people who were very excited about meeting other new people. As I glanced around the 60 or so students there, I rarely noticed anyone alone. Not only that, but I didn't notice the same people hanging out all the time either. Interesting.

The weather couldn't have been any better. The one bad thing I remember about every fall retreat I've been on is wet socks. Always wet socks from walking through the field to get anywhere. This year, I don't think I had near as much of a problem with it. I'm either used to it now, or maybe it wasn't as wet. A few students slept outside each night and they didn't seem to get too soaked, so it couldn't have been that bad.

I led the hike up to the deception pass from camp. Not too long of a hike, not too short. On the way up I forgot that on this specific hike, as soon as we get to the bridge, everyone tends to scatter. Some walk all the way across the bridge, others stop midway and admire the view. Still others hang out on the other side or go explore other beaches. Crazy. Either way, on the way up I shared in some great conversations with new and old friends.

I also led a forum on Money. It was interesting to discuss how each of us spend and save money in our culture, what we view as important, and how even though most people nodded at me, saying that saving was important, when the time came to nod if you actually saved, there were quite a few less heads moving. Why is this? Why is it that in our culture we seem to have an obsession with spending so much? Even worse, why do we have an obession with spending so much more than we earn? More on all of these later when I post the forum in a little different format.

All in all, great retreat. Those who planned did an excellent job of ensuring things were running smoothly. Anyway, now I'm off to the office to write some stuff up, teach Sarah about iMovie, and possibly even make a poster. What a great day to relax!

Looking for a chance to hear more updates about what I'm doing? Fill out the little contact form below and I'll put you on the INN's mailing list!

This information will be used to help me subscribe you to the INN University Ministries Mailing List. This is a monthly newsletter from the director, as well as student stories. The mailing list also presents an opportunity to give to the INN. If you do give, understand that you're taking part in God doing something great in the Northwest, as well as around the world as alumni spread over the globe after graduating. the INN has been the greatest factor in my enjoyment of school. If you're able through finances or prayers, please help it continue to be that for others. :)

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Retreat 2!

Here we go again! Tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading out to Deception Pass with the INN staff. Jim pointed out today that this will be retreat 4 that we've been on together in the last six weeks! Wow, I can't believe it's been that long, or that many retreats. I can't believe this is my job. Awesome.

The retreat tomorrow is different then any other retreat I've ever been to. I mean, it is the INN's fall retreat, to the same place I've been going as a student the last three years, but different still. Instead of the traditional retreat model with big speakers coming to teach us things over the weekend, we're having staff led discussion groups. Being creative we(Lindsay, actually) came up with funny song titles to represent each seminar. Mine is, "Money money money money. Money!" You might be able to guess the topic. I'm pretty excited about it, but having a little bit of a struggle coming up ways that it can be discussed. As of tonight it doesn't seem to lend itself to much of a forum, but we'll see. I've got tomorrow to do some more planning.

More exciting than discussion groups are the people coming on the retreat. A great friend from my recent adventures may be coming along. Pray that she finds community, support and encouragement in this group like so many others have found.

More Murdock Retreat Stuff!

Cross-posted from: http://www.theinnministries.org/category/interns/

We’re back from our Vision and Call Retreat for the Murdock foundation! The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is the organization that is funding the internship this year, and we are incredibly grateful for them. As if receiving the grant wasn’t enough though, this last weekend they sponsored a retreat for all the interns they were supporting this year. We gathered in beautiful Yelm, WA near Elbow Lake with 70 other interns from all over the northwest. Together we enjoyed getting to know each other, meals, great speakers and more.

One especially encouraging aspect of the retreat for me was the getting to meet all different types of interns. We met interns from Youth Dynamics, YoungLife, Youth for Christ, and many more. In our small groups, it was great to hear all the different perspectives on ministry and the ways that each of our organizations impacts the culture of our surrounding areas.

Another positive aspect of the retreat was learning how much the trust really cares for the work that we’re doing. Throughout the weekend they put a lot of effort into getting to know us and providing different activities to help us get to know each other. For more than just personal financial reasons, I’m very glad we received this grant this year now. I know that behind the money is an organization that is praying for all of us, deeply interested in how we’re doing, and interested in getting us connected with other ministries to learn and grow.

October 15th, 2008 - Posted by Stead Halstead

Rubicon

I just got back from the Murdock Vission and Call intern retreat. It was a great weekend of hanging out with the other interns, meeting interns from all over the northwest, and a bit of fun. The folks from Murdock were awesome to us and I think we all had a good time, and walked away with a much better understanding of what the trust is all about and how much they care for what we're doing.

Part of our adventure was getting the opportunity to take part in the camp's little activities during our freetime. Our girl interns decided to go horseback riding together, so Ty and I headed over the the Rubicon, aka the ATV driving challenge course. At first glance, these souped up go-carts don't catch the eye as a fun thing to do, as they blaze through the ~200' long track at an incredible 3 miles per hour. I'll admit, I was skeptical.

Ty and I jumped on to try it. These golf cart like vehciles were on a course that was layed out with drops, stumps, pipes, and all sorts of things to drive over. Even with the slow speed, we had a great time out there.

Probably a little more on the retreat at some point in the future. For now though, I need to get some sleep. At tomorrow at 5am I'll be heading down to Seattle to Alaska Marine Lines(aka, the barge). I'm picking up the last of our stuff and bringing it back up to Bellingham before we have Check-in @ the INN at noon. I wish I didn't have to go, but tomorrow is perfect for the trip. It would have been really convenient if I could have picked up that stuff when we passed through Seattle today, but unfortunately they're not open on Sundays.

Oh well.

I hope things are well with all who read this!

Sabbath, Sickness, and Waves

Before I knew it, another week passed by at the INN. We've got all the students in small groups that have signed up so far and things are going fantastically, from what I've heard from group leaders so far. I've had some good student meetings in the last week and heard stories of excitement again and again. This is going to be a great year.

At the end of the second week of classes for the students, on Friday night, we had Sabbath. This is a time of extended worship, rest, relaxation, and discovering different ways to worship. This Sabbath focused on the question "Who do you say that I am?". While this question seems simple, when God asks it of each one of us, the responses vary by person. A big reason for this is that we can't come up with any words or expressions that do God justice and capture all He is. God speaks into each of our lives differently, causing many different responses. The picture is Sarah and I near the center piece of the room for the evening. On a table cloth on the floor, we made a large parenthesis of candles, symbolizing that no matter how many names we come up with for God, we still can't come up with a definite name.

Unfortunately, all the excitement of the last few weeks had me feeling a little under the weather, so I spent all day Saturday sleeping and watching movies. The movies were quite relaxing and exactly what I needed. Feeling better after laying around for the afternoon, Zach, Bryce and I ran out to Z. Point Park to watch the waves crashing on the Jetty. It was awesome, windy, and amazing.

I'm starting to feel more back to normal here. The last month was a tough one with the transition between Alaska and Bellingham and leaving friends behind and trying to pick up with new ones wherever we may have left off. Oh well, I'm getting there!