i love

camp hebron.
people.
God.
people who love God.
trees.
creeks.
crayfish in creeks.
sunny days.
rainy days.
nights with fireflies.
the pool.
the slides at the pool.
the laundromat.
camp songs.
life.

i love life. :)

yikes!

i'm leaving for Camp Hebron in a little less than two hours. and i will be there pretty much all summer, working as a counselor. i'm excited, but nervous too... it will be good to meet some of the other summer staff tonight. :)

i don't think i will have much internet access this summer, so my blog will probably be pretty slow. if any of my readers want to write to me, my summer contact information is

Emily Harnish, summer staff

957 Camp Hebron Road

Halifax, PA 17032

you can also email me at emily.harnish@emu.edu, but i likely will not respond for several days (probably i will check email on Saturdays).

i think i will have a great time this summer; here's hoping that all of you do too.

interlude

in·ter·lude
Pronunciation: \ˈin-tər-ˌlüd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English enterlude, from Medieval Latin interludium, from Latin inter- + ludus play — more at ludicrous
Date: 14th century

1 : a usually short simple play or dramatic entertainment
2 : an intervening or interruptive period, space, or event : interval
3 : a musical composition inserted between the parts of a longer composition, a drama, or a religious service

these weeks between coming back from colorado and working at camp are an interlude for me - definition 2. and its weird, because it means i have time. space. silence and stillness. alone.

it leaves time for seeing friends and hanging out with family - going canoeing, listening to my dad play guitar - reading, scrapbooking, sleeping. i have time to think and to write. its really nice.

one of the things i've been thinking about a lot is how i will live and speak and be this summer. what are the best ways to explain why i am christian to a bunch of kids? (especially when they range in age from ... 8 to 17?) what is the gospel? what does it mean to be saved? what language can i use? how can i avoid christian clichés? or, perhaps better yet, how can i reclaim the clichés so that they mean something to me and to others?

so here is one beginning-of-an-answer to these questions.

http://blog.sojo.net/2010/05/18/what-is-the-gospel/

let me know what you think. :) and i will post some pics from my colorado trip sometime.

Off on an adventure ~

A word: Kansas.











the view from Thia's front door.

final blog post of the year!

This year was...
a really great year.
stressful. fun. new. exciting. scary. empowering. life-giving. weird. lonely. full. alive.

I did a lot. Academically, I have experienced:

1 ten page research paper on "learning outside the classroom"
2 major lab write-ups for biology
3 labs (Concepts in Biology, Gen Chem I, Gen Chem II)
4 speeches and 4 presentations
8 chemistry exams
12 professors
28 arabic letters
30+ books
48 pages of written responses to five books in Intro to Theology
99th percentile on the American Chemical Society exam
700 math problems (approximately)
7000 pages read, give or take a few hundred

Socially, I have experienced:

1 time getting stuck in a tree
2 dumpster diving trips
3 times dying my hair
5 pancake parties
15 (or so) collage marathons
10+ late night walks
100 (give or take a few dozen) nights of drinking tea with thia and friends

and many new friends
and an infinite amount of joyful moments

I have experienced different church, different spirituality, different prayer.
I have watched more movies than I have in the rest of my life combined.
I have read, written, thought, experienced, grown.


----Tell me - what will you do with your one wild and precious life?

dumpster diving!!!!!!!!

reasons why i love this school:

-singing the doxology in the caf - you know, a whole table just randomly bursting into song

-redeeming food, AKA dumpster diving!

-study breaks in common grounds: free coffee! everything half off! (including the chocolate covered espresso beans...)

-bruce coming to deliver food to my dorm door...

-----EDIT-----

Thia reminded me of another totally awesome thing:

while we were dumpster diving, WE RAN INTO OTHER EMU STUDENTS. AND BARGAINED DUMPSTER FOOD WITH THEM.

I seriously adore EMU. :)

Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels

I discovered some beautiful new music tonight. This weekend is EMU's springfest and tonight there were bands playing. The last band was Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels. I had heard about this band before - they play at EMU relatively often, and several of their members graduated from EMU. I had never heard them before tonight...and now I am a dedicated fan.

I told one of my friends that probably one of the best things about going to a school south of the Mason-Dixon line is the music. I will let you decide for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olQCcrn-Zjw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkNzWZcME8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgRTTlYpZOE&feature=related


I went back to my room after they finished their concert and went straight to google to see if they had youtube videos. They played all of these songs (among many others) and I couldn't decide my favorite so I put up the links for all of them. You should *REALLY* listen to at least one video. Just imagine sitting on the steps below the plaza outside the Campus Center - probably 200 college students sitting outside in the dark, listening to bluegrass/folk/blues music. People clapping, talking, enjoying the last Friday of the school year before finals and graduation. Oh, what a beautiful night.