Last Box to Move

Dear Readers,

Sorry for the inconsistency of my blogs, once the school year starts on Monday I guarantee you will be reading more and more dares, they are already backing up!

I forgot to mention that if you'd like to partake in this journey with me please let me know :)

Today I moved half of my stuff into my new room in Stewart with an awesome friend and realized that my own life at the moment is going through a move of its own.

I don't know where I will be next year to tell you the truth, and while I am moving in my life, I also find myself realizing that God is right there with me.

Tonight I was driving my friends car, which I literally prayed at every light for safety (as I always do when driving someone else's car). I started fidgeting with something on my purse at the red light.

Just the other day I was praying about a friend who got into a large wreck over the break, and I realized I've never seen someone really run a red light...to the point where it is dangerous.

As I looked back up I noticed the light turn to green, but something in my gut told me to wait a second...I usually count a few seconds regardless but this was a solid ten seconds after the light had changed or so and a car completely ran the red light, to the point where if I had gone forward at all I would have been completely crashed into and the car next to me could've gotten hit as well.

Just then I thanked the Lord so much for protecting me.

Life is kind of like waiting at that light. Sometimes all it takes is that Holy Spirit tugging on your heart to be a bit more patient before He reveals something incredible. I feel like that has been my job at church for the past few months. I continue to be surprised at how wonderful my co-workers are and what a joy it is to be on a staff that genuinely takes care of me in and out of the office.

Like the other day, a few of the girls from work invited me to Laguna for dinner and I can honestly say it was one of the best nights I've had in a good while!

Tonight's dare is a bit different. It is for the entire week.

At college group we talked about treating others as you'd like to be treated (typical golden rule verse). But my discussion group was so frustrated with how many times we say we will apply something and don't. So on my way home (before the car running the red light) I stopped at the gas station.

A man next to me began talking to me, nothing weird or creepy just small talk. In our conversation I realized I had two options, completely ignore him, or actually hold a conversation. I chatted with him about where he was headed. He was actually driving to Oregon! He said he was a truck driver for FedEx and I explained how I would love a job like that where you can travel to different states!

The conversation wasn't super spectacular beyond that point. I didn't share the Gospel or tell him to try Yorba Linda Friends church on Sunday morning, but in those few moments of small talk I realized how easy it was to just try and treat others the same way you'd like to be treated.

Tonight's dare: Ask God for opportunities to put this into practice.

Sleep Tight.

Accepting Your Own Dares.

Task 5: Owning up to asking for help.

At camp there is a challenge on the ropes course where you are blindfolded and you are led to a rope where you have to hold on and follow the rope around (sort of like a maze) in order to find the ending. The trick that the campers don't know is that the only way to get off the rope is to ask for help.

Today was definitely the day when I realized I needed to take the blindfold off and ask someone to help.

Since my car has been broken I've realized that there is a deep prideful spirit about me that had yet to surface until a drive home from Disneyland.

I've been having to rely on everyone for quite a while, and it is so hard for me to accept offers when it comes to help...especially if I have to ask for it.

I think it originated when I realized that the vibe of the majority of the people that I spent time with back in the day was that they were all "Daddy's Girls" and got almost everything they wanted handed to them. I was never one of those girls. I've been taught in live to work hard for what you get and to use what you make and be wise with how much you use.

My parents are incredible, and upon the many life lessons that they have blessed me with, using my money well was something that I had to learn by experience versus their great teaching.

I hate that I struggle with being to prideful to ask for help. I think I am just scared that I'll take advantage of someone or use too much or be a pain.

Instead of being dared something crazy today I got hit with a dare that needed to happen. Christ created us to be in relationship with one another, and He blesses us by one another. I'm heading into a new semester, new roomie, new dorm, new friends, and I'm so excited to see where God is taking me.

It is time to realize that help is only a slice of humble pie away.

Spooktastic Failure!

Task 4: Ride the Haunted Mansion Ride 13 Times.

Today's dare was one of my favorites slash one of the more difficult ones to complete. We went to Disneyland around six o'clock and hit up a few of my favorite rides like Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones but when we got to Haunted Mansion we realized that it was a prime opportunity to live out this dare.

There was a five minute wait period, and people literally would walk in and walk out. So we jumped in line and enjoyed our first time through the spooky picture room, the crazy storm hallway, and onto the death buggies taking us into the haunted world that was one of Disney's prized creations.

The first time was wonderful. Here are a few things we noticed: 1. There is a crow in every room. This is because when the ride was first created they had decided to make the crow the narrator; however, after the ride was finished they decided to nix the idea, but leave the crows in because they are a well-known symbol of death, especially in poetry. 2. There is a hidden mickey in the party room. 3. The girl ghosts are leading the boy ghosts in the dancing: This is because the ghostly images are a reflection and when it was originally created, they forgot to switch the image so that the boys would naturally lead.

After the first time we got out, ran back around and entered for our second ride. That is when I realized we should probably just ask to stay on the ride, especially since there was only a five minute wait and it was useless to get out.

We asked and enjoyed 2 more rides. Let me tell you, you may or may not find the Haunted Mansion to be a scary ride, but if you stay on and go up around the back of the ride it is a different story. Honestly, that room alone probably freaked me out more than the ride as a whole. You enter this area that is pitch black aside from a glowing light beneath you where you can see the machine push and pull as you are guided back to the loading section. (Semi-creepy) Oh, and to make matters worse, there was a black curtain which I felt like someone was watching us the whole time!

At our fourth time through, one of the workers leaned into our buggy and told us that this would have to be our last ride, seeing as how the park was closing soon and it was unfair to continue on our great adventure. So sadly, I have to report that we got kicked off the ride after a lame 4 times; however, I don't think my mind could take another round of the Spanish translator trying to creep you out by lowering his voice four octaves. The dare was all in all a good time because my ride buddy and I had a chance to catch up on a few things and spent the majority of the time discussing life concepts and lessons we had been learning. So thank you to the dare creator for making this a memorable time at Disneyland and for marking this the first time I've ever been kicked off of a ride :)

Keep your dares coming,

Kendra

Achey Brakey Car!

Task 4: Go to Chuck E. Cheese and be a kid!

Hey guys, sad to report I'm a day off on my dares because my car broke down today. I don't have money to fix it but I was looking to sell it regardless because I work at a church 30 minutes away and have to pay about 20.00 a day to get out there. (That's bad gas mileage!)

Please pray for me that somehow God uses this situation to bring me closer to my trust in Him! I don't have much money in general but I really need to work on trusting Him through these situations as well.

Thanks guys!

Like A Melody in My Head :)

Task 3: Sing a song in front of a group of 3 or more.

So, my best friend from Colorado dared me to sing a song. The problem is that I don't mind singing songs...I just usually do them in an awful way to semi-mock the fact that I am not willing to really try in case people don't like it. I have confidence in my voice, but the truth is that I don't like when people who know they can sing really well sing EVERYTHING, causing you to feel self conscious about your own talents.

Tonight I went to 242 Group, which is the small group that I lead for junior high girls on Wednesday nights. They got to go around to different stations to connect with God in different ways. At one of the stations they were to pray with one another...that was my favorite station to watch!

Isn't it interesting how sometimes we can get so caught up in teaching other people that we forget to check ourselves? I can't tell you the last time I acted out those 6 stations in my life, and the girls only spent about ten minutes at each one...totally doable!

After group, many of the girls left when I decided to play piano for a few of my girls. As I played, I sang a worship song to my girls. They really liked how it sounded and told me I had a beautiful voice! You know, it was actually really cool because singing has always been a passion of mine, but there was something about singing with those specific girls that made it so much better than just merely performing.

Although today's dare was small, it kept me in check in realizing that God truly has gifted me in a way that I can connect with Him...by song. So tonight, I am going to try and grab a practice room at my school and own that skill by spending some quality time with Him.

Keep the dares coming :)

Into the Mud Puddles

Task Two: Play a game of mud football with jr. high students!

You know, today started out like any other day in the office. In fact, it even started out a bit better seeing as how I decided to skip starbucks today and make a nice cup of own coffee! Sometimes, it is the little decisions in life that can make our day that much better! For instance, last night after my sushi task, I was trying to start my car in the Stewart parking lot and it wouldn't shift out of park!

After turning it off, turning it on, trying almost everything I could have...(yes boys the car was on, I put my foot on the break, the steering wheel wasn't locked, my thumb pressed in the shift button, and I'M NOT CAR STUPID!!!!!!) Sorry, but if you heard half of their suggestions you'd get the hint that they may think I might be :) But I loved them nontheless, and that is what I'm getting at. You see, after realizing my car may be broken, I texted a few of my friends to try and solve the problem. One of my best friends was first on the scene, trying his hardest to figure it out, going the length of even calling his best friend from back home who works with cars.

Then, another friend immediately got online, trying to figure out what the problem really was, keeping me posted when he found out new information. The cool thing was that, regardless of the fact of my car not working, I am surrounding and blessed with some incredible friends! I went back to my room last night a bit defeated and told the Lord that I honestly had nothing left but to trust Him. Isn't it interesting how some situations, trusting God is our last resort, our "default" if you will, when in reality it would've been much easier to turn to Him in the beginning?

Well, this morning when I woke up I went to Stewart to grab a few things from my car when something tugged on my heart to try one more time. So I did...and with that my car easily shifted into reverse and I backed out! God is so good! I'm sure that you could explain what had happened by justifying the car problems with the weather conditions (raining) at this time, or the fact I hadn't driven it in a while, or even the fact that something the guys had suggested must've worked....but at the end of the day, I know what I truly believe in the situation.

SO back to my task today. After the nice cup of coffee was in hand, I settled down at my computer to start on some work when I received a phone call about going out to lunch with one of my friends, Becky. It was semi-work related, but we still got to spend the day in Anaheim touring the Hilton hotel and visiting nearby restaurants to map out site locations for our upcoming youth retreat! After that, I came back to work, now POURING DOWN RAIN OUTSIDE, to get dressed down for our mud football game!

When I arrived at the field I was a bit underdressed, wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, and began shiverring to death! NO GIRLS showed up from my ministry, but I was so pleased at the turn out, seeing as how our students had school of today! Plus a few minutes later two of my favorite staff women showed up to take action in the sport! The game was honestly one of the best football matches I've ever played.

We got to tackle one another, and it turned into one massive mud fight and sliding game, but I really do think that I proved my worth as a girl on my team! I was tackling, catching, running, and getting beaten up pretty good not to mention that I loved blocking and think I found my football position!

After the game we had a massive sliding contest, and I have to say that I've never really slip and slidded in my life before this. See, we had one at camp a few summers ago but I always just ended up sliding on my booty or waiting to play the soap games, rather than actually sliding down the hill like you are supposed to! So, it was my first true slide, and I have to say it was one of the most fun things I've ever gotten to try! So much so that I kept going back to try again!

Then we headed back to get cleaned up for our work-out, which I sadly failed to complete due to being so beaten up and tired from the football game (don't worry I'm doing cardio tomorrow morning!) And after that it was off to my friends to watch the Bachelor! I have to be honest with you, these dares aren't super intense yet, but they are truly making my days that much more exciting!

Thank you all for your posting!

Keep it up! (By the way, as the days progress, feel free to up the dares as I get more and more daring!!! Don't forget: post it as a facebook comment so I don't miss it!)

Sushi is as Sushi Does

Task One: Make Sushi. Thanks for the dare :) It was actually a rather enjoyable task but I have to start out with a quick summary of how my day went. I currently work at a church roughly 30 minutes away from my house. In order to get there on time I should leave my house around 8 am. When I started the care this morning it was 8:10....

To make matters worse, the gas was stubbornly remaining on empty, regardless of the fact that I kept hitting the dashboard repeatedly...then again by the third or fourth time I realized I was already defeated and quickly made my way to Chevron. When I got there I tried to use my gift card but couldn't understand how to work the machine...causing quite the display of my Oregon nature...marking me one of the worst fuel pumpers ever.

Then, I was headed to work when I realized I needed cardboard boxes for the art activity we were going to do so I pulled into the nearest Stater Bros and rushed in only to find myself face to face with one of the youngest looking store bag boys I've ever seen. He was sweet and tried to help but sadly I ended up leaving with only paper bags to use instead....the clock read 8:45.

Just then, I got back in my car, ran over to the church to miss the morning welcome time but still catch the group prayer and get settled down before church began. You know, when you have to sacrifice Starbucks to be on time...things get a little bit more interesting (due to the lack of alertness).

Church ended around 12:30, but the youth leaders loved the art project so much that we continued making our own t-shirts (the art project had to do with spray painting our leadership meetings' name on them). We didn't end until about 2:30 when I was then asked to go to Disneyland...which I would usually have loved to have gone but my pass has been expired for about a year.

I decided to buy a new one on the whim (which by the way doesn't mean I have the budget to do so, equaling the next two weeks of my meals consisting of top ramen and tuna) and we headed out. I also had chosen to wear flip flops which at Disneyland (slick pavement) and in the rain (even worse slick pavement) made me walk as though I had just pooped my pants the majority of the time, clenching on to my friend each step of the way. When we returned at 9:00 pm (which our ETD at Disneyland was supposed to be 7:45) we found our cars locked away in the horrible security bars of yorba linda friends. Therefore, my friend and I had to track across the campus in the pouring rain, wearing nothing but a tank top (that was my own fault...I'm just dumb) and hike up the hill to our car.

Once getting in our car we realized we'd have to off road to get out of the church parking lot (which wasn't that bad but idk what else to call it) and out onto the road where I made my way home.

Now at this time I had already planned on having sushi for dinner so I reached Albertson's at about 9:45, got to campus with the materials at 10:00 pm and thanks to Annie something or other, had the easiest time rolling my own sushi rolls from a helper pack created for girls like me who sometimes need that bit of help on days like today :) So I finished my first take in some form or another and I am pleased to tell you my stomach is satisfied, my car is luckily back at school, and last but not least I've enjoyed the day with my friends thoroughly! Catch you on the next "dare". Keep your posts coming!

Remember:

1.Think of a dare
2. Post the dare on my facebook as a comment
3. Wait and read my status updates to see what I'm doing next
4. Support by getting the word out :)

Thanks guys!

Goodnight and Goodmorning!

So, when I turn 20 years old on February 7, 2010, I will be celebrating my birth into this world. I have my parents to thank for that one of course. The thing is that life has become somewhat normal for me here at Biola University. I am a Sophomore/Junior single girl with two part time jobs, 18 credits, and just made the official Ring by Spring sign up list for spring of '12 (when I graduate). To those of you living outside of the Biola bubble, or outside of any private small university, this concept may be relatively new, but for me it is just a perk of going to the "Bridal Institute of Los Angeles".

Now don't get me wrong, a school full of men thriving and growing in their relationships with the Lord is appealing to any girl in my major, that of Christian ministry. But sadly so, I got the shaft on picking hearts apparently because mine seems to be full of contentment when it comes to dating at this time. Due to this rare occasion (which if you know me at all you know doesn't come too often), I've decided to live my life with the Lord in a new way.

For those of you who go to my school, you may know that I have been debating returning next fall. We will get to that decision later, leaving you in suspense is one of the only ways of keeping you reading of course :) But on the other hand, let me encourage you that this blog may not be one you are used to. The entries will be short (seeing as how we are college students and have no time to read such meaningless things....yet somehow we have enough time to plant and reap crops from a virtual farm land) and my writing straight to the point.

Two weeks ago when I was home I created a list of things I'd like to do in the next year of my life. I'd like to call it a bucket list, but fortunately for me I've decided to live in denial that my life could end any day and use the term "Wish List" instead. The truth? Coming to grips with the fact that my life could end any day and I haven't even done half of those things is far more depressing than assuming I still have time on this earth to figure the rest of my wishes out.

Each day my facebook status will read a challenge, or "Dare" if you will. This dares are not simply things on my wish list, while I'd like to fulfill several of them while doing this challenge, I also would like to extend the invitation to you for taking part on my journey.

That's right, you will get to be apart of this journey in a very unique way.

I am asking that you dare me to do whatever you'd like to see in this next semester here at BIOLA. Seeing as how it may or may not be my last, I'd still like to live it out in a way that gives me passion to wake up in the morning (aside form my relationship with the Lord!). So, do you dare me to move?

If so, post your dares on my facebook wall. Let me know what you'd like to see in these next 5 months. I will be blogging each night to tell you about the dare I achieved during the day, along with posting pictures and such.

Here are the ground rules: Nothing "too" illegal. (For instance, it can't involve things that are going to send me to jail but feel free to post suggestions and I'll work with them) Nothing sexual, inappropriate, or downright fowl. These dares aren't of the negative sense, like when you are in high school and want to see who can get naked or makeout the quickest. These are live challenges/dares that perhaps you yourself have always wanted to do, but haven't been able to.

I'm also asking for much support in this. I don't want to get ahead of myself too quickly, but if you'd like to see me fulfill your dare and know that it is somewhat ridiculous, let me know anyway and we can work through it! Alright....now it is up to you. Here are the steps.

1. Think of a dare you'd like to see me perform.

2. Write your dare on my Facebook wall as a comment. (Be patient, I'm also receiving dares by mail/e-mail so you may not see yours fulfilled right away)

3. Wait and watch my status updates each day to see what dare I'm fulfilling next.

4. Read my blog to hear about the experience.

5. Support me by getting the word out and having others dare me as well!

That's it! Get to daring :) and have fun!