For the love of the porch

Today marks the end of my 7th week @ SNP an I'm amazed how it's flying by. Of course I miss Andy, Lucy and Ethel and the ever so slightly less ghetto house in Ship but I'm not about to wish the rest of my summer away.

Since this whole thing is really about birds, I should give a falcon update (just pretend like you care!). All five juveniles that have been released at the site are flying around, diving, playing and doing their falcon thing. My work is really entertainment as I root for them as they fend off ravens and turkey vultures and laugh at their antics as they hang out on the cliffs. A lot of my day is spent talking to park visitors and answering questions. Most of the time I feel like a tape recorder as I recite the same info over and over but I am amazed that others find it interesting and care to ask. Most other students here are on work crews and don't have contact with visitors and I'm so glad that I do. Not only do I get to talk to more than the same ten people everyday, but also, a visitor's enthusiam is a reminder that this is a great place to be.

A huge part of my life here is the folks that live in the park for the summer like me, filling up four houses of students and some seasonal employees in the 'circle' at headquarters. I have definitely hung out more with my neighbors here of 7 weeks than I have with my neighbors of almost 4 years in Ship. A typical night, if it’s not the ever so hallowed volleyball night, includes hanging out on the front porch, eating anything cooked on an open flame and consuming intern-budget beer (i.e. kind of a waste of calorie consumption). No one has other commitments or other friends to hang out with and so it goes, as strangers are brought together thanks to the NPS. I could tell you story upon story about these crazy people but instead I'm going to throw a personal thought out on the blog. It all started with my friend Emily talking about the relationships that she made in her five months in Peru when she said 'I hope that somewhere down the road my girls realize that they have only fallen in love with the Jesus in me. " Are these people in HQ circle falling in love with the Jesus in me? I hope so. I love to be the center of attention; I want to be a well-liked staple of the evening porch-sitting but these accomplishments pale in comparison to loving on these people and showing them a little bit of Jesus in me.

Eph. 5:1-2
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.