Regarding My Duo

Unfortunately I have lost my partner. Her family is leaving in less than 9 weeks for Uganda. So I probably can't compete in this category unless I can find someone else to "Be my partner". Yup thatsallthatIhavetosayrightnow. Bye Bye, Heidi

Duo

As some of you know, I am doing a duo. A duo is a piece of literature acted out by two people for the purpose of competition or entertainment. Kristen and I are doing one. It is crazy. We actually only cut it yesterday and started blocking it today. So far so good. It is the story of Prince Kamar and Princess Budur from a thousand and one nights. Yup. Its really funny. I get to be lots of crazy characters.

So what are all my readers up to? I hope you are all doing well. Oh and comment on anything that I need to change or add to my blog. I appreciate feedback.

The next Tourny is March 12-14. The one after that there is one in Idaho. It is the 18-21st. So I will be pretty busy and most likely won't have time to blog. Sorry guys! =)
God Bless and Have a GREAAAAATTTT DAAAAYYYY!!!!
Heidi

A Few Facts about Heidi

I must warn you, THIS IS LONG! DON'T READ IT IF YOU ARE BUSY!!!!!
Okay now you can't say that I did not warn you.

Place an X by all the things you've done:
() Gone on a blind date
(x ) Skipped school
() Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico
() Been to Florida
(x) Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
() Been on a helicopter
(x) Been lost
() Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers (and cowboys & Indians!)
(x) Recently colored with crayons
() Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
() Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
() Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
() Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
(x) Been deep sea fishing
() Driven across the United States
(x) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(x) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a star and made a wish
() Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
() Seen the Statue of Liberty
() Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle ....I have not even though we live near it!
(x) Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
() Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
() Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Been to Disneyland/ Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(x) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
() Ridden on an elephant
() Ridden on a Camel
() Swam with dolphins
() Been to the Olympics
(x) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(x ) Been water-skiing
(x) Been snow-skiing
() Been to Westminster Abbey
() Been to the Louvre
() Swam in the Mediterranean
() Been to the Great Pyramid in Egypt
(x) Been to a Major League Baseball game
() Been to a National Football League game
()Been to a National Hockey League

I hope this gives you a better picture of me. I have done some things and not done others. Have a great day!! Heidi

A few tourny pics

Kristin Tracht....SCARY!!!!
(notice my worried look?)
Like dude, like peace, man, like totally......JUST KIDDING!!!

Now that is one wierd look

Kristin Tracht being herself..... She was....I don't know what she was doing....

Hanging out.... having a GREAT TIME

Rebekah Ptak having fun with friends:)

I love the look on Will's face!!!

Any more chips left?

Cale one of My bro's best buds...

(Interesting fact about Cale: He was born with eleven fingers)

Another of Connor.

Harry Scott... How do you describe him? Definitely different.

Grayson Haugen....... one awesome debater/speecher/friend.

The Famous Connor McMurray....... one of my good friends..... being cool.

Two lovely ladies, Katrina Freeland and Bridget Rowe taking a break

AppleTree Tourny

The Tourny is finally over. IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!! My sis won the lincoln douglas debate for the second time. I also qualified to regionals in impromptu!!! Its actually my first time to qualify in anything!!!!!!! Soooo exciting!!! I will try to put some pics on next post. Overall it was the best tourny yet in my opinion. Everyone was so friendly. I have a few highlights:

Stomping on the ground to get the worms to come up. (Yes the Frye's taught me this and it actually works)
Being so tired that when I was told that I had already eaten my pizza, I actually believed this and yes my brother and Krissy convinced me while they were consuming what once was mine. I still don't know how they did it.
Getting freaked out by a locked door that kept banging even though the room it led into was dark. The reason it banged was a varience in air pressure.
Ducking just in time to save myself from getting hit in the head with a flying basketball.
Winning in Apples to Apples.
Breaking in impromptu for the first time ever.
Timing a really fun debate between Grayson and JE. They kept having podium and google wars.
Watching Kira play with a rubber chicken.
Seeing my sis sodge debate Kathryn Knight in finals round.
Getting a free lunch.
Hanging out with the coolest people ever!!!! (Grayson, Cale, Will, Connor, Calvin, Bridget, Katrina, Sarah, Acacia, Kira, Kris, Rebekah, Krissy, Mathew, and all the rest of you)
Running around like crazy!!!
Sinking into the ground with my high heels.
Taking random pics of a few friends when they were not looking!!!!!
Watching Margaret's jaw drop when she got third place in apologetics. This was her first time competing in it.
And much more.......

We are already signed up for Puget Sound Regional Qually, and Inland Northwest Regional Qually.
I hope to see all of you there!
Heidums

Bibles

On Friday and Saturday our family passed out Bibles. We did around a hundred. So many were grateful to recieve the word of God. The people who were deeper in sin were more grateful and receptive to the scriptures than anyone else!!! So many were UTI(under the influence) and not living good lifestyles. Yet seeing them reminded me of how Christ saw them. He looked at them through eyes of love and forgave them. He did not condemn them. So many times we look past people and say oh they will never get saved!! But every person on this planet is going to one of two destinations, Heaven or hell. Our pastor told us that once he was talking with a person from a different religion. They said to him"You don't actually believe that God would send people to hell". He said "Yes I do." To that they replied, "If you really believed that unrepentant sinners go to hell, you would do everything and tell everyone about Jesus, to keep them out of that horrible place." We all know that there is a hell and that everyone who does not believe on Jesus Christ will go there. Yet most of us do nothing. People are dying every day and spending eternity separated from God. I can't think of anything worse than that.
Share the gospel with somebody today.
Will you let God use you to do something great? Or will you limit him with your disobedience and disbelief?
I know that it can be pretty scary to talk to people. I happen to have had plenty of experience(thankyou mom) talking to people who I have never met before. Lets just say that it is now in the hundreds. I find that it helps to tell yourself, "Jesus loves this person, I can love them for his sake."

I hope this helps you some. Please leave me a comment.

I am so excited!! We are going to pass out the next hundred and fifty bibles on or before easter!!!

Oh and bye the way, ARE YOU RAPTURE READY?!!!! more on that later........

Clarion Tourny Pics

A few pics. I hope you all like them. This year at Clarion was the best it has ever been. The fellowship with other believers was amazing. Everyone at Clarion is like one big family.


My little sis Kristina with a few buddies

Nathan and Colleen Sleadd. Aren't they the cutest couple?

The two sweetest little twins I have ever met.

Sorry I am prejudiced. And yes, I can tell them apart, can you?

(Murren, Kristina, Mailee)

Sarah is second in impromptu.

Kira Clark is third.

Sarah taking third in expos.

Kira Clark takes 5th in apologetics....

Sarah takes 8th.

Sarah taking ironwoman and sweepstakes.....

The unforgettable Deems duo in action.......

The lovely Kira Clark and Sarah Chaffee, two

of my favorite people in the world.

Sarah and Colin deep in debate cross-examination.

Tait Deems...... Who is he pointing at?

The amazing Creighton Deems!!!!

A few friends eating ice cream bars...........

(Sarah, Kira, Lacey)

My Amazing Sis SARAH!!!!

Sarah won the following at Clarion Regional Qualifier:
1st place Lincoln Douglas
1st place Persuasive
1st place Sweepstakes
2nd place Impromptu
3rd place Expos
3rd place Lincoln Douglas Speaker points
8th place Apologetics
WOW!!!
On Saturday she gave 17 speeches!!!!
Because of this, on Monday, she passed out during class. Lucky Duck got out of chemistry!!! Oh well, I just thought you might want to know how she did. Ta ta, Heidi

Clarion Forensics Tournament..... One baby changed lives

Last week we were at my all time favorite tournament. Worshiping together with our friends reminded me of what heaven will be like. One of the families found out during the tournament that their baby, which was due in three weeks, had died. Everyone was in shock. How could something like this happen? We all pulled together. I don't understand why things like this happen. But I know the one who does. Sometimes we just have to trust. Like Joseph in the Bible, we need to trust that good will come out of the pain. Even through this, so many lives were touched. Mine was. My mom lost three babies. That made it hurt more. I never got to hold those siblings, or see their smiles. I never got to love them and sing to them. I still feel sometimes the loss of their presence. Through that I have come to realize how much we take for granted. We take people and lives for granted.
Seeing how much that baby was wanted and loved made my heart ache for the ones who aren't. So many just abort their babies. Millions have been killed. WHY? People didn't care. But Jesus does. HE LOVES EVERY PERSON ON THIS PLANET. Show his love. Shine his light. Share his compassion. Reach another soul.

Have a great week and try to pray for all those considering abortion that they would choose life. Love you, Heidi

Don't worry.......I'm Still Here..........Maybe

Hey,
If you were wondering about the flooding up here, we did not get flooded out. It was acctually very nice because our coop was flooded out. So we did not have to go and take a chemistry test. That was awesome!!!!! But the sad part is that now we have two tests on Monday.
Life is busier than ever. Sarah went to Utah and did terrific.
She placed 6th Apologetics, 3rd Expos, 7th Impromptu, 13th LD, 5th Place Speaker LD!!
Sarah is amazing!!!
She flew back on Sunday(11)at 12:30. The next day her plane left at 6:00am. She is at Masters and comes back home this Sunday at 12:30. Then on the Wednesday(21) we are driving down to the Clarion Tournament. After that we have to drive back overnight to be back on Sunday for Bus Ministry and church. I think I will need to sleep for a week to catch up. I still have to finish some things for the tournament. My persuasive is not exactly in existence yet. :D But I'm working on it. Gotta go now, Heidi

Bus "B", + other things

Hey all readers,
How was your christmas and new years? We had a nice, quiet, white, Christmas. Grandma was here. She taught us new games. Pray for her, please.

I am pretty officially on Bus "B". YEAH!!!! A few years ago I was in a Thursday Bible study with the Tracht girls. The last day my Mom asked us girls how much we were willing to let God increase our ministries. I know that everything is possible so I asked God for an increase of 100fold. He answered. This summer we raised 9,000 dollars to dig a well for orphans in Uganda, got baptised this fall, joined a church, and I am in the neatest ministry. I am in a choir and help teach another. I have a memory verse incentive program for the kids at Pray and Play. WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!! It still amazes me that he can use someone like me. Please pray for my little friend as she has stopped coming to church. Her little brother comes every week. She needs Jesus. He likes coming to church. I am praying for his salvation. Well have a great week and keep "bending the knee". Oh and at church this week I heard the best preaching I have ever heard. God convicted me of some areas of my life that I needed to get right. I have been so blessed this week. The Babbitt and Shoemakers came with us to Preachers Delight at church. Over 70 Pastors came from all over to be built up. Us teen agers also had a conference and learned so much. I have seen God at work. This is the time to Pray. -Heidi

Traveling!!

Sarah is currently gone to Utah. She will get back Sunday. Then early monday morning she heads out to Texas for Masters conference with CFC. Then Jan. 22-24 we are in Oregon for the Clarion Speech and Debate conference. We will drive back that night so us kids can go on the buses Sunday morning. It will be very crazy. So if you are wondering where we are, now you know. God Bless, Heidi

Bend the Knee!!

"Lift your heart toward heaven when the answer goes beyond what you can see. When you don't understand the purpose of his hand, in the presence of your king, bend the knee." This is one of my favorite songs. It brings me to prayer, and reminds me that God has a perfect plan. I do not why God has us go through hardships, but I do know that He never leaves us during them. Every hardship that Moses, Abraham, Daniel, David, Joseph, and Paul went through, ultimately brought a blessing. Did Moses understand why he had to lead the children of God out of Egypt and take them to the promise land? Did Noah see why he had to build an ark? Did Daniel know why he was taken to Babylon, or Joseph to Egypt? No. But every situation in which we find ourselves, that we don't understand, know that God has a plan. My Grandmother lost one of her sons when he was only three months old. She did not understand why God would let her baby die. But God knew that later she would be a missionary to Mongolia. In the place they were the TB rate was 75%. Every single family had lost somebody and since she had lost a son, she could comfort people. Look for the purpose in your trial. A few years back my appendix ruptured. I nearly died. Through that hardship I have been able to relate to others who are going surgeries and are scared. For nearly 8 years my grandmother had Alzheimer's disease, which slowly kills your brain. It hurt us so much that she didn't know who we were, couldn't talk, and didn't even know who her husband of 60+ years was. Now I can relate and help others who have elderly, sick, and dying parents. I could not do that if I had not gone through it myself. Look for the gift in the problem. It may be hidden well, but it is there. So bend the knee through every trial, because He knows eternity!!!!!



Okay so this is a essay(sort of) that I wrote today. I hope you all enjoy it. Sorry for my negligence in not posting. I will try to start again. -Heidi

Bus Dinner at church!!!

The bus dinner at church is this Sunday!!! Please pray for all the kids we are bringing in and for their parents who are coming as well. This is such a neat opportunity. Also pray for the bus and meal staff and for Mrs. Tilton who serves 250 meals in 20 min. She is amazing!!!! Well got to go, Heidi
P.S. How was everyones Christmas? I hope it was a wonderful celebration of Christ.

Merry Christmas!!!

This is a blog post about cookies, friends, and presents.
I decided so. Yes, here is the scoop about sunday. At about three oclock the Tiltons, Trachts, Carters, Nathan Gall, Nitschys, Jonie, and a few others gathered at the big hill for a wonderful time of sledding, snowboarding. I didn't try the snowboard as it looked too dangerous. One person almost went off the 15+ foot drop off. Yup you know you should have been there. Well have a super great christmas!!!!! Just soo you know, this post contained nothing about cookies, but the next one will. Love, Heidi

Extreme Snow, Power outages, Violent winds!!!!!!!!

Hey folks,
I decided that I should let you know. We might have a week long power outage.AAAAAHHHHHH. Plus there is supposed to be about 12 inches of snow. Besides having 90 mph winds, Yes that was 90, it is going to be very cold and we may not make it to church. BOOO HOOO. But all hope is not gone, we have sleds!!!!!! Yup I love sledding. Today Sarah and JE went to the reindeer romp debate. I think that they had a good time. A lot of the people couldn't make it. But anyway, during that time Garrett, Travis and Jacob Tracht came over and Tina and I sledded with them. Then we came inside to warm up, have hot chocolate and pizza and chocolate banana bread. That does sound like a weird combination doesn't it? It was good. We had an interesting day. From a gallon of milk getting dropped on the floor, to somebody getting the wind knocked out of them, to makeing a sledding train and crashing every time, IT WAS A TOTALLY AWESOME DAY!!!!!! Bye for now, Heidi

P.S. Next post I will tell you all about the terrific sleepover and the survival of the fittest banana!! It was a blast!!!

Survival of the fitest banana!!!!

It all began the day I was tragically removed from my home. It was a sad day. All the other bananas stayed behind. Again I say, it was a sad day. These huge giants shipped me in a crate to a grocery store. It was far far away. Then I was put on display and lots of people looked at me and decided that I was too bruised for them. Come on bananas, they got me bruised with the rough crate ride. But I was still in good enough shape to survive. Then a dude with a dr. coat on came and bought me. I still had enough banana pride to maintain my composure. I was left in the back of a cold car in a bag with other species of fruit. It was wierd. Those guys looked pretty deformed. I mean, imagine being completely round!!!! Soo I just hung out for a while til it got pretty cold. I bagan to wonder if I had been completely forgotten. Then they came. I don't know their names because they were laughing too hard. Saying something about ice and sledding and slipping and snow. It didn't register that I was about to be sqaushed onto one of their laps and forced to fly down the hill on a sled. Needless to say, I was not very thrilled about that. But try as I might there was no hope for escape at that time. Okay so where was I? ........... Oh yes, I was just starting to fly down the hill. When I looked behind me I saw my friends had been able to eject themselves off the sled and were trying to hide. It looked like a good idea. It wasn't. Now I was bruised even more. Oh well. They still picked me up and plopped me back on the sled. The other food was trying to plan their next escape. That one didn't work either. They were all picked up so we decided to bide our time. By now we were being pulled into a yard. More of them came out and started transporting us inside. The warmth and delicious smells wafted to me. I wondered if that was what I was going to be very sadly made into. It wasn't. I was instead left on the counter for a few days before being mashed up and made into a delicious loaf of banana chocolate bar. But I was still the fittest banana. Thus my survival will go down in the accounts of the heroes of banana history. I entrust all you children to remember it and pass it on to your banana kidsa and they should pass it on to their kids. -Uncle Bob the best banana

This is the account of our sledding adventure. I thought you might want to hear the bananas perspective on it as I found it quite interesting. Toodles, Heidi

A gift freely given.......JESUS!! Good Quotes and Acrostics!!

Every day is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

This is a good quote that reminds me to be thankful for all I have. Here are a few of my favorite accrostics and quotes.

FAITH:

Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him

POWER:

Prayer
Obediance
Witness
Education
Reliance

FEAR:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

"The only things we can keep are the things that we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to loose." - C.S. Lewis

"Stay in the Word and stay out of the world."

"Start right for a good finish."

"Everybody is somebody to God."

"Jesus is the reason for the season."

"The tongue weighs little, but few can hold it."

"Where you come from is not important, where you are going is what counts."

"We are not to judge the world; it has already been judged. We are here to love the world because Jesus loved and loves the world.

Do any of you have good favorite quotes? I would love to read them. Please comment them to me. Have a great day.
Just think about it, Christmas is in 8 days!!!! It really crept up on me this year. We are starting our Christmas baking already and our house is being filled with delicious smells. Til next time.
God bless,
Heidi

Off to the YMCA

Hey bloggies,
Aren't you glad to be able to listen to christmas music and people won't think you are crazy? I love singing all the christmas hymns. They are so beautiful and remind me of the greatest gift ever given. JESUS.
Well my mom and sibs are rushing me out the door. We are all trying to work out more. The holiday season does have a way of giving me a few pounds. Not good. Til next time, Heidi

Upon Baptism, Membership and all things snowy!!!!!!

Yes, The news is out. We have officially become members at one of the most outreaching, loving churches I have ever been in. Yesterday all four of us kids were baptised. I had infant baptism, but had never had believers baptism. I was saved when I was three and have been a christian for 12 years. Wow that seems like a long time.
Visit: www.foundedonfaith.com to see all the ministries.
I will be working on bus B. I love the kids, crew and everything about it. One of my little friends on the bus is not saved. Please pray for her.
I hope to join the choir soon and work in the nursery, Shepherds ministry, and collate more bibles.

Okay enough of the serious stuff. Did y'all get snow? First it rained and then it snowed and all the streets were covered in ice. Driving conditions back in our hilly neighborhood were not good. So us crazy people wanted to get to church so bad to be baptised that we hiked out to meet the Trachts at the Gallaghers. We were sliding on ice the whole time. It was pretty funny. Then we all went to the nursing home. Mr. Tracht gave a great sermon and we sang some songs. Kristin, Rebekah and Garrett were all supposed to sing solo verses of Angels from the realms of glory. But Kristin didn't want to sing alone so she made me sing with her. So we squeaked our way through the song. You see I have been suffering from allergies lately and Kristin had just gotten over a cold so we both were not at our best. Yup. Thats the plain truth. On to church and baptism, becoming members and trying to stay warm pretty much wraps up the whole day. So there you have it. YEAH!!!! Signing off, Heidi

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MAKE SURE YOU KEEP IT ABOUT CHRIST!!!!!