Where is Hayden???

Hayden. most lovable, rambunctious little one on our base.

where did he go?

maybe the prayer room?

caught him red-handed!

Hayden...are you planning on driving your parent's car today??
you are just so cool.


oh good heavens. i found him. maybe i can steal a kiss :)


love,

Hayden & Violett

Faithful

Where to start? But to say that God is faithful to my heart.

Ready?

With my heart: Challenging me to grow in areas only He can see. Rooting out fears with His love. Rooting out wrong motivations. Bringing me into situations that grow my trust with placing all my life into His hands.

Revelation of His love is what changes us. What moves us to live for Him.

With my job: Challenging me into job positions in ywam that I wouldn't normally choose for myself, but showing me that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Ephesians 4:19. And there is JOY that comes when we work for Him!

With my finances: Today, as i was going through the process to renew my license, i started to wonder where the money was going to come from after paying my normal bills... and when i reviewed my bank account, i realized there was JUST enough to pay for the renewal. Wow. He knows my needs before I ask Him!!!


whew.


He also provided all my needs on my three week trip to Minnesota! The two weddings i went to were wonderful. The first was of my dear friend from ywam, and the second was of my older sister. Both weddings brought so much joy and richness to life! And i am so thankful i got to spend time with a best friend and with my family :) here are some pictures!

For an update on our base, we just commissioned the spring school off to Asia this morning! So please pray for our team of ten people as they venture where God is going to use each one beautifully with divine appointments.

We are transitioning into our summer seminar quickly (Reformation Generation!), which we are excited about. Starts in less than two weeks!

Also, I am moving from 'kitchen manager' to 'kitchen head' for the summer quarter and will be tackling more logistics within the job such as budgeting, planning meals, grocery shopping, and making sure the kitchen is running smoothly. I would appreciate your prayers as I transition into this :) that I will have a servant heart, creative ideas, make wise decisions, and work with the joy of the Lord :) :)

Thankyou for being supportive and interested in my life!

~Violett

Reformation Generation

Check out this video for our new summer program! We are so excited!

This seminar is designed specifically for students getting ready to go to college (open for anyone 18 and over).

"Reformation Generation Seminar is a 4 week college prep-experience designed to equip high school graduates to stand firm in their faith and make a difference on their campuses. The seminar will focus on thriving in faith and relationship with God in the midst of the moral, intellectual and spiritual challenges of life in the world. July 3 - 29, 2001 Maui, Hawaii www.ywammaui.com"

Statistics show that there is a 50-50 chance of a student staying an active Christian through their college years...don't be a statistic!

This Winter school has flown by! Seems to have gone by faster than any other school for some reason. Tomorrow, the students will be leaving for Asia. Bittersweet! At times it is hard to continually say goodbye after getting to know the students/discipling them/growing with them, but God has been faithful to refresh my heart during those times. Even saying goodbye to staff that leave after their committment is finished can be hard as well. I hope I never stop loving the people around me. The Lord continues to remind me that when I keep Him first in my life, He will be the love that flows out of me to others.


The picture below includes the Fall school (after returning from Asia for their graduation), along with the Winter school that is just about to leave for outreach. During each school's graduation, there is a week of time that two schools overlap...so the base is hopping with lots of energy from so many people! It is one of my favorite times during each quarter :)


This past weekend the staff took the students for one last "weekend activity" before their outreach. Starting at 8 AM on Saturday, we drove an hour on windy roads to a popular scenic area called Hana. The day consisted of cliff jumping, swimming by caves and a black sand beach, hiking through bamboo forests to get to waterfalls up to 400 feet high, eating packed lunches, sharing water when people didn't bring enough :), and driving home to a sunset when everyone is wonderfully dirty and tired :)). Staff try to have several "weekend activities" for each school to give fun options for the students, and saved the best for last this time!



Also, God never fails to teach me new things every quarter! The last few months He has been showing me fears that I have, and helping to root them out of my life. Hasn't always been easy, but I am so grateful to serve such a loving Father that knows me better than I know myself. The verse that continues to come to mind is 1 John 4:18 which says: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love". I continue to learn that His love truly does drive out fear...bring on freedom! :)




The picture below is of the wonderful kitchen staff I worked with this quarter! I also just found out my next job has been changed to kitchen supervisor for the next school. Stoked!




Thanks for readinggggg!

New Students- New Position =D

Aloha!

Being home for Christmas was wonderful. It was great to catch up with family and friends, and I even got the opportunity to speak at several Life Groups (Bible studies)from my church, explaining more of YWAM's mission, along with what God is doing in my life. Woooo! I also had a chance to rest, spend some good times with Jesus and some reading. It helped me feel refreshed and excited about the new school that just started this week! We have 20 students for this DTS and I like them already. =)

I also have a new position on staff, which is in the kitchen department... wooo! I have been in the hospitality department on our base for about a year, so this change of pace is refreshing. So now I help with cooking meals during the day, and will also get the chance to work with the students during their "work duties" Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. This will be one of the chances the kitchen staff can pour into and disciple the students.


What else is new??? Random fact.

It is Winter in Maui, which makes it the rainy season! A fun fact about Maui is that it hardly ever lightnings or thunders here... yet within the past month, stats have shown that there have been over 400 strikes! Just last night most of our base were awakened from their slumber by boisterous thunder and lightning! :D


Thanks for reading! Pictures coming soon.

~Violet

Time is Flying!

Less than a week before the students take off for Southeast Asia! Time has flown by so quickly-I feel as if they just arrived! Here is a picture of each team :-)

Nepal

Bangladesh

Ch!n@*

Borneo

It has been awesome getting to know these students and also watching how God changes their lives during their 3 months of school :-) knowing that He will continue to use and grow them as they bring the message of Jesus to Asia. So exciting! And I am honored to be apart of this process :-D (thanks for supporting me!)

What else is new? This quarter I have learned a lot in my life personally. Living in community tends to bring out many sides in a person-good and bad- faster than in a "normal" life setting. That being said, God has been pruning me in several ways! And I continue to learn more and more how He is my good Father... how He knows what is best for me, and even the best ways to grow me. "...the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in"-Proverbs 3:12...awesome. I like this quote from Max Lucado: "God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus". Yes...please take all my ugly :) Beauty for ashes. Wonderful.

Also, I have come to believe that I don't think people are put into our lives by accident... and that when differences or conflicts arise, it may be pointing out things inside of us that God wants us to grow in, or may pinpoint an area we may need Him to heal a wound from our past. Many times when there are negative emotions stirring within us, that is a sign from something that goes deeper than the situation at hand. An example with me is just ways I have been acting out of selfishness, and my reactions from conflicts were stemming from this selfishness. So...with that said, negative emotions/reactions etc. may just be results from our circumstances, but looking deeper and asking God if there is something He wants to show us is something I am learning more of as I walk in this place of community.

OH!!!!! happy day. On a not so serious note-I am going home for Christmas :-D Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, and will be happy to enjoy it with family and friends. I am immensely excited (that I have to make sure I am not too focused on the future and get distracted from where I am now :) I will be home for about 2 1/2 weeks, and will thoroughly enjoy all of it!!! :-)

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Thanks for being interested in my life.

~~Violetta

*Team Ch!n@ is spelled this way on purpose for security reasons.

Caffeination and Furry Lips!

OOOOH the bonus of working at this base... :))

This weekend was PACKED with activities that my department helped put together/plan...
First of all, this base is known for its strange interest in mustaches and crazy 80's events... and this saturday our base had its third annual "MANNY'S MUSTACHE MARATHON".... what comes into your mind with this title?? bahahaaa.... this is a mini marathon-7 miles long- that students and staff have the option to join... and not only is it a race, but also a mustache contest along with an 80's dress code. Basically, only pictures can give you a better idea of the colorful furry lip filled day!!!

Not only did we have furry lips, but also a "Coffee House" event on Sunday that was filled with snacks, coffee, and lots of talent. The night was filled with different goodness from both staff and students such as: singing, guitar, skits, jokes, poems, dancing, juggling etc... which ended up being the perfect balance of seriousness and laughter. :)) I even got to play and sing a funny song I wrote using the guitar.

The two fabulous events from this weekend are definitely two of my favorite events EVER our base puts on :)) And even though it was quite a busy weekend for us in hospitality because of the extra hours of planning, preparing, decorating etc... it was worth it :)) (and then went to bed at 8:30 pm on monday to recover haha). Events like these are great to encourage community and splendid memories for everyone during the schools!

Just a piece of my life in blog format for you :)) thanks for reading!

~Violetta