Snowstorms Mean Changes of Plans

That they do. The earlier part of the week was so nice; we had a few sunny days, then a few rainy days, and we were doing just dandy. Unfortunately, when Friday hit, we proceeded to get buried under about a foot of fresh new snow. Jamie (Calgary, AB) and Chad (Michigan) made a less than wise decision to drive into Concord despite the weather. They ended up getting stuck and were forced to spend the night at a motel! 6 of the girls went together in their car to drive to Lebanon but were in for a bit of a surprise as the car got a flat tire on the way. In the meantime, I just stayed put in the house, playing on the piano and doing other random stuff to pass the day's time. As part of dinner, Noah Zehr (Utica, NY) made all of us Vanilla ice cream shakes with lime flavoring, while I made French Toast for all who wanted some. While it seems like an unlikely combination, the both of them together actually was really delicious!

We were scheduled to go to Rhode Island for a conference from Saturday to Sunday, but due to the snowstorm and the roads icing over, leadership canceled our trip out there. I was somewhat disappointed because I wanted to add another state to my list of states I'd been to, but I definitely would rather be safe than sorry.

My living quarters

I decided that since there was more time to do random things now that we weren't going anywhere, it was time to clean my room and take a few pictures of it. I've put up one of the better shots of my room for you to have a look at. The closet (off to the right of the picture) in my room is quite small; I have to duck every time I go into that closet, and I can barely stand up when I'm in the part of the closet with the highest ceiling. The view from my windows overlooks the side yard and the mini-highway that passes by this house. I can't wait until it is springtime, so that I can leave my windows open and the fresh smell of the outdoors can come into my room. Right now all that comes in is a lot of cold...

As our alternate event for the day, there was a youth worship event happening at the New London Bridge (our home church) that evening. I have to say, it was absolutely sensational! The music was just so well done, and led us all into that place of praise and adoration of God. The house was really gettin' down, dancing away as we went through the more uppity songs. I was movin' 'n' groovin' the whole time, too - I'm starting to think that worship is the best form of cardio on the planet! There was also a surprisingly large number of adults present for the evening as well; I suppose since we're all young at heart in the Lord, it's all good. We experienced a pleasant surprise when Kevin (the youth leader from the Wakefield, MA Vineyard) brought his wife & kids and some of the youth from his church up for the evening. It was unfortunate that we didn't get to spend a lot of time talking with them, as we were in worship the whole time and they had to leave early to get home to Massachusetts at a decent hour.

The auditorium at church

Something else that made the worship night special was that Kelly Guerra (Texas) was involved on the worship team as vocalist and guitarist. I'm not sure if she is going to be playing on the worship team for church tomorrow, so it could very well have been the last time we got to hear her sing and play guitar. Kelly has an incredible voice; the very essence of it imparts healing to those who listen. We have a special going away party for her happening on Monday evening, and then she leaves us on Tuesday morning. A few weeks ago, Kelly was proposed to by intern alumni Josh Steeper (Victoria, BC). Kelly and Josh are set to be married this summer, so Kelly is leaving Streams to go to marriage counseling and then marry Josh this summer. We will miss her dearly, but we are so happy that God is taking her to that stage of her life. Adios, mi amiga!