weekend experiences

above: picture of me, chris burton, and her daughter alex when they came to visit chicago! it was so great to visit with them. chris burton is the teacher who i student taught with in fort wayne...it has been so great how God has used that experience to let us become friends! a lot of student teachers and their "supervising teachers" dont have that kind of relationship.

above: family pic of my dad's side of the family taken a couple of weekends ago. everyone is there except my brother will, he is working at the smoky mountains this summer....we all miss him..i just noticed that my parents are the only ones with sunglasses on..must be a city thing :)
above: me and my brother will with my grandparents: bill and jackie clayton. my grandpa is william ray clayton I, and my brother is william ray clayton II.

well, this past weekend, i went to indy (plainfield) to speak to my grandma's sunday school class at plainfield united methodist church. my grandpa was the pastor there for many, many years and my family has been there on numerous important family occasions. all of their children were married there, most of the grandchildren were baptized there, and all of us have been there to hear my grandpa preach on numerous occasions...so there is a lot of clayton family history there. it has been interesting to think about how God has paved the path for me to speak there. i spoke to a class of about 25-30 older people/couples. it was a very relaxed environment, i felt really comfortable talking about my ecuador experiences there. not only are they helping me with support, they have given me a great opportunity just to practice sharing with groups of people, which is a great experience in itself. it helps you realize that you are doing something special...and it is very encouraging when people tell you the same...because sometimes you just forget...ya know! i know we all do, even living here...we just get lost in it all..thats why we need friends and a day of rest...to reflect.

i also got the chance to hang out with 3 of my best friends from college: rachel, allison, and erica....it is funny to think i havent seen them in about a year and a half! i couldnt believe how the time has flown by. it was sooooo great just to relax with them on lake morse, attempt to wake board, and tube on the lake. wake boarding is HARD! it looks so easy on tv :) i tried probably around 10-15 times...i could get up..but once i did...i just fell..the rope was either pulled out of my hands...or i just wasnt turning the board in time..who knows..maybe next time ill do it! congrats to al and erica! they both did for a few seconds! you get pretty beaten up trying!

i forgot how much i needed to laugh and just be my crazy self. its hard not being around friends who i can just be crazy and say my stupid things and people just understand...im weird :) we were all laughing so hard into the wee hours of the night about ridiculous things...i love it! thanks girls!

it is just plain refreshing to hang out with family and friends that you love. God is an incredible God...he knows our desires and loves us very much. but although he loves us so much, are we loving him back?