Swingin' and Campin'
That's right... last night was the Horn Camping Trip! But before I get to talking about that (which would be the main part of what I have to say in my blog today), I want to just talk about swing dancing first.

Friday night, I finally gave in and to the swing dance downtown for the first time ever. Robbie Bauer was teaching me and a friend of mine how to do a lot of the easier moves. It was a LOT of fun and I'm so glad I decided to go. Plus, swingin' is a good way to get 'physical' with a lot of guys... ;) hehe... j/k. Seriously though, I'm a pretty Independent Woman, so this was a change of pace for me. Robbie keeps saying that 'its always the guys fault', but the girl still has a lot of responsibility in the matter. The girl has to trust the guy and follow his lead. And unless the guy is sitting there verbally telling the girl what he wants her to do, you have to pay attention to the guy's lead. You have to pay attention to the movements in the his body (mainly his arms) and follow his lead. Even if it is 'always the guys' fault', you still have to go where he wants you to go or else you won't be able to do anything and you'll just make him look bad... and the guys certainly don't want that... cause we're there to make him look good! ;)

Anyway... camping... SUCH a good trip. I don't know what it is about the horn camping trips, but I feel like I've gone on these and 2 of the 3 times I've come back feeling more'spiritual' than I left... which is kinda odd if you take into account how much underage drinking, etc. that goes on at these types of things.

Anyway, by the time people were passing out for the night, there were only 3 of us left awake, Robbie Bauer, Brandon McKagen's step-dad (we were using their land out in Floyd County), and myself. Anyway, after a while, I crawled into my sleeping bag to keep warm (since the fire had been put out for the night) and to just lay there looking at the stars. The sky was so clear there... so beautiful. Robbie and I sat there talking until some point past 4am. Not about one single thing... but it was a nice conversation!

The past 6 months have kinda been a 'low point' (if you will) in my spiritual life, and ever since I decided not to go to the Air Force Academy, I've kinda lost touch with the 'passion' I once had for space and flying. But last night, I think the magnamity of the night sky reminded me of these things that had been so important to me but I had lost touch with... my love for going beyond the bounds of Earth and the magnificent power of God.

I don't think I've ever seen so many stars as I did last night... we were so far away from any populated areas, so human-generated lights weren't interfering with the stars; but also, the sky was just so clear that nothing was in the way... So many stars are there... and just think... maybe one day, we'll visit some of them... I want go there -- I always have... at least as far back as I can remember... to be able to pass through the confines of the earth's atmosphere and go out where so many of the physical laws of nature we're so used to just don't apply anymore.

It is humbling to know that there's so much out there that noone's been to... never been touched and never had the chance to be jaded by the human influence. And all of it, God created... its amazing... He knows everything about every one... there are so many we can't even count them. Not only does he know how many there are, but he knew every detail needed to create such a magnificent array of stars, of beings, of plants, of colors... I could go on forever I think.

"... He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good." --Genesis 1:16-18

I don't think I believe that once you are truly a Christian you can loose your faith, but I feel like over the past 6 months, I've come pretty close. And I still can't say that I'm back to the 'strength' I was before... not after one 'spiritual' experience in the most unlikely of places (a horn camping trip...). But there was something about the night sky last night that brought me a lot closer to where I was when I left high school to become a Hokie.

"Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!' Yet you say , 'What does God know? ... Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vauleted heavens.' Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod? They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood. They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?' Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. ... Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: if you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows." -- excerpts from Job 22

I'm including one more passage from Psalms at the end of this post. I found it relevant. I don't know that this post has had much organization to it, but there's just so much going through my head that its difficult to put it down in a sensical manner.

But, before I leave... I just want to say that talking with Robbie last night I was reminded of what a great guy he is. He's a completely GENUINE individual... He's an amazing guy and whoever he marries is going to be a incredibly lucky girl! I can only hope to find someone like him for myself!

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, teh work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

~~~~PSALM 8~~~~