geekway to the west

Boy, do they know how to have fun at Geekway to the West! This was my second time attending this convention - and I count myself very, very lucky that it is held in my hometown. People travel from across the country to attend Geekway and I drive for about ten minutes. I’m luckier than the two people who won Wingspan from the Play and Win! That’s a joke. Nobody is luckier than those two people - but more on that later.

3.17.17 [write_on 2017]

I've been amassing a collection of cards, envelopes, stamps (vintage & current), vintage postcards, and more to send to my friends for this year's write_on. Last year, I had ten days of April in which I sent letters to ten random people who submitted their information on my write_on 2016 blog post. It was so wonderful - I loved picking through my collection of images and papers to find things that suited these wonderful strangers. That's why I want to do it again!

7.23.16 [prague prayer calendar]

It's that time of summer again where I post about my favorite destination on Earth - Prague. Our Calvary Church Prague Missions Team is headed back on August 3. This year's camp theme is really fascinating! We will be using fictional modern means - Twitter feeds, newspapers, birth certificates, blogs, etc. - to investigate the real life of Jesus. If Jesus was born in this current era it would be a media circus, as they say. It will be fun to imagine just how our society would react to Jesus if he was here, in the flesh, today.

Czech Republic, PersonalJillian SchoettleJuly 23, 2016prague, czech republic, CZ love, teen english camp, norovirus, prayer calendarComment

the beatitudes

My church asked some artists in the congregation to create pieces for our current series, The Whole Story, as we began delving into the New Testament. I was assigned The Beatitudes. I must have read this passage dozens of times. It's fairly well-known and certainly referenced quite a bit in sermons. God is very gracious with us and knows we read and read and often do not retain or think about what we're reading. And sometimes, when we've read it for the thirty-fifth time, God tells you to slow down and listen.

write_on 2016

Last April does not seem like it was a year ago, and yet, here we are! I've been looking forward to Write_On since I sent off my final campaign letter on April 30. I have sent plenty of letters since then but there was a real air of excitement throughout the month of April as I sent off letters and anticipated replies in my mailbox. Because it's a simple joy to receive a handwritten letter in your mailbox. This simple joy is becoming less and less common and it's a shame to see a perfectly good simple joy slip into obscurity, especially when beautiful stamps, pretty paper products, and the postal service still exist.