Sit in His Promise

After five weeks here at the new job, new place, new people... I knew that I needed a break.  It's not that I don't like where I am, there is just a lot of stuff going now.  Many long shifts, many grad school assignments, many times where I just miss the calm, the rest, the friends of before, the alone time with God.

This weekend, I got to a bit of all of those.  I spent a night alone at an AirBnB, then got to visit one of those friends from before.  We went to the Aquarium in Atlanta and I got to visit her church, a house church through the 320 Network that my squad coaches from the World Race started.  It was a time that honestly was so edifying that I didn't want to come back at all.

Talking with my old coach and finally getting to speak so much that had been on my heart was great.  And I was able to vocalize how it is easier to give God our youth but not our whole life.  These days I have been a little more worried, because I know that God is calling me in the near future to crazy things, but He hasn't given me the details.  And at this point in life, one is expected to have a plan, not just follow the "whims of the spirit".  Months ago, God and I spoke about this though, and He knows that I will give Him my all.  Though I sometimes need some time to do it.

Anyway, after all this, I went back to my friend's place and she and another former world racer prayed over me.  And the word that she got for me was, "Sit in His promises".  I don't know what this season will hold, or what I am doing half the time, but I know His promises...there is a book full of them.  I can take comfort in that knowing they are for me and confident in my place in His will.

A Video to Thank Laura Jean... :-)

First of all... I need to give God the glory.  There is no way that I could do a job this physically strenuous and time consuming, while doing gradschool, having my garden, housekeeping, making and eating food, having a social life, and getting in the quiet time for myself and Him.  But what is impossible for me alone, it so very easy for God.  And He has multiplied the "oil and flour" (1 Kings 17:8-16) of my days and weeks so that I could get everything that I needed to get done, done...and stay mostly sane doing it.

 

He has also provided me with such good friends...like my friend Laura who sent me a hydration pack for my birthday so that I could stay happy and healthy on the firelines.  This video is to thank you Laura.  :-)

 

I probably don't say it enough.  But I REALLY love God.  And I am finally getting stoked about this next season with Him.  It has taken a little while to adjust, but perhaps southern Georgia will be quite the place of growth for us.

Waste Not Want Not...

When I first got back to the States, I made a habit of indulgence.  I would eat something I hadn't had for a while, because "I deserved it" and the same for every comfort of home.

Though I have been back in America for months now, I still am so excited and thankful for my hot showers. And when seemed that the length of the shower had been increasing over those first few months, I knew something needed to change. Long showers are not good because of the gas used to heat the water but also because of the water consumption itself. According the US Geological Service, old showers use up to 5 gallons of water per minute. With my personal average shower estimated at 15 minutes these days I am using 75 gallons of water per shower. If I only shower every other day, I will be using 300 gallons of water a week on showers alone. This isn't even considering water use in other places, such as laundry, dishes, drinking, flushing (4 gallons a flush, by the way), washing face or hands, and pets (USGS, 2015).

So when my Issues in Biodiversity Class challenged me to a lifestyle change for the betterment of nature, I chose the shower.  I started out by timing my first two weeks of showers just to see what my average truly was. The average shower time was lower than expected at 11.82 minutes per shower.  The next two weeks of the project marked my first action phase.  I calculated half of the average of the first two weeks, and set a timer to alarm me during my showers.  Half of the average made 5.91 so I just set the alarm for 6 minutes each time.

When I aware of the passage of 6 minutes it seemed that my shower time decreased.  The average for the next two weeks was actually calculated to 8 minutes exactly.  One again half was calculated and the alarm was set for 4 minutes for the next two weeks.  Though I am not down with this current two week segment I am looking at an average of 5.48 minutes.

Total reduction to date is 6.34 minutes or a reduction of 31.7 gallons of water per shower. Which reduces the estimated water used per week on showering down to 126.8 gallons instead of 300.  That is over a 50% decrease in water use all due to an alarm being set.

I think my little experiment is going quite well, and I don't plan to stop until the time naturally levels out.  And hopefully by then, I will not even need and alarm anymore.

So, what to do with this info?  Think about it, is there a small change that you feel you can make in your life?  Something that won't be a big or difficult thing but over time will add up?  Why not give it a shot?

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USGS (2015, December 21). Per capita water use: How much water do you use in your home? Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-percapita.php

How to PIT Tag a Snake

So a researcher and a group of citizen scientists showed up at my doorstep as I began eating my grapefruit and honey on my day off.  They said that they were coming onto our preserve to PIT tag the eastern indigo snake, which is a really cool rare species but we have it here.  So of course, despite exhaustion, I agreed to come when they offered the invite.  It was neat to see the process since I recently did a report on tagging and tracking methods for my graduate studies.

Below shows you a little bit of that process:

This Girl is on Fire!

 So I didn't get those photos from my co-worker from the training burn, but I actually risked taking my camera to our second fire as a team.  And I didn't drop it into oblivion so that is a plus.  

My team and I began the burn day by analyzing the burn site. We then set up the pump from the first photo in the creek and filled our ATV tank and Engine tank with water (Just in Case!)  Then we split the team and burned from two sides.

My fireline seen in photo 3 was bordering private logging land so we had to be extra careful.  I got a pretty good blaze going with a drip torch and backburned a good section of black to start with.
My teammate Mary Nell is showing you the drip torch in this photo.  

Overall we made some very happy trees and got rid of some things that don't belong there.  But we did have to rescue this little guy from the fire.  Luckily he only got a little warm and after I gave him some water he was good to go.

And that was a typical burn day. For more information about the benefits of a fire in this region check out: 

http://www.fws.gov/southeastfire/what/ecology.html

I Shouldn't Be Typing This Now....

...because the pile of gradschool work sitting next to me on the hotel bed just screams out for my attention.

But let's face it, it's been a month since I last typed and there is a lot to share.

I am currently in a hotel because I have been flown down to Georgia to finish off my wildland fire-fighting training and prescribed burn training with the Nature Conservancy.  They offered me a job in southeastern GA for a yearlong land management internship.  This means I am no longer subbing, janitor-ing, or cooking at the restaurant.  I got another big girl job in my field...

After MANY hours of online training, which competed with my "current" (at the time) jobs, gradschool, and life in general, I am happy to say that I am very close to being certified as a Fire-Fighter Type 2.  And after running off to Colorado next week to visit my dear friend from undergrad, I will drive down to Georgia for good as a preserve assistant in this internship.

I don't know what this next year will hold, but I guarantee challenges, and lessons.  I know I will learn so much, and I know it is good.  Wish me luck, and hopefully the next time I check in, I can tell you more about the preserve. (Hopefully I will be caught up on school work by then too!)

Hello 2016

Looking back on what 2015 and honestly 2014 brought to the table, I am thoroughly unprepared for this whole 2016 thing. Truly, I am nowhere that I would have picked for myself, but I am seeing God show up in mighty ways. I spend half the time crying out for His timing to look more like I want it to, and I spend the other half apologizing for doubting when I see how His awesome timing worked out so wonderfully!  I mean, I get "gobsmacked" by His perfect timing.... EVERY TIME.  (You think I would come to expect it eventually...but I am human...and flawed.)

But right now it looks like the follows:

• I have an interview lined up for a wildlife rehab center next week.  I would be the education coordinator for all their programs.
• I am applying to be a substitute teacher for the surrounding counties.  This was something that was suggested to me by 3 separate people (one in Atlanta) and the money for the license came in a God way too...so I think I am supposed to be doing this.
• School starts back on the 25th of January and I am going to be doing two online classes until my field study in June to Mongolia to study Steppe Ecology and Civic Media.
• I am meditating daily on scripture which is super hard since stilling my mind is like hugging a cat....haha.  But it's peaceful at times, and it makes me more likely to come back to scriptures in my prayers and thoughts.

And that's probably all the stuff worth mentioning.  I don't know what this year will look like, I mean, January itself is going so not according to plan...but it's going to be good. I have a feeling about that.  Let's have another adventure!  Hello 2016!