Fireworks in Bartlett!

OOOOOO! AHHHHHHHHH! (CLICK FOR BIGGER IMAGE)

Hello all... it was nice to be able to spend an evening around here with family and friends – including many of you! =) Yesterday afternoon (as has become an annual 'thing')... a whole lot of people met over at the Granzow's house for dessert and games and general hanging out... followed by the walk over to the soccer fields for fireworks. Bartlett usually puts on a pretty good show... and at about 9:30, that familar loud 'whomp!' signaled the start of this year's display! My dad... a bit of a photo geek since he got his Nikon D-200 last December [rolling my eyes]... took this shot! Plenty more where that came from... just ask him! =)

Nice evening! And now I am finishing up laundry and packing once again... and heading for Memphis (thank you, thank you very much) in the morning. More from the road... later!

About halfway there...

FINALLY HOME! NOW... TAKE ME OUT TO EAT, DAD... PLEASE! =)

Hi folks! What's that? I look a little tired in this photo? After a cancelled flight... an unexpected overnight stay in Albuquerque, NM... and mechanical problems on the morning flight out... YES... I am tired! Hard to believe that my summer travels are almost to the halfway point now. In a couple of short days, I'll be heading off to Memphis (thank you, thank you very much!), Louisiana, and then back again to Memphis (thank you, thank you very much!). I'll be leading student trips this whole next month... something I've done a lot of over the last several years. Yeah... a whole month out on the road before I'm home again.... and enjoying home cookin'. These are great times... but can be very tiring as well as the heat of summer wears on. So when you think about it... I would appreciate prayer for perseverence and wisdom as I'll be in constant contact with these students and closely involved in their lives over the next few weeks! Pray that God will make a difference through me... and their time 'out there' with LeaderTreks.

And tonight? Fireworks, of course! =) And some good food!

Summer Schedule

So now that I've already been out on a couple of trips... maybe it's time I told you what's ahead for me these next couple of months... (sorry)...

MAY 31 – JUNE 6
Honduras... spent the week training staff and preparing for the student teams to come. DONE

JUNE 8 – 14
Pippa Passes, KY and Pawley's Island, SC... On-site evaluations and encouraging the staff and interns. DONE

JUNE 22 – 26
Big Horn National Forest, WY... On-site evaluation, one day on the backpacking trail and encouraging the staff and interns. DONE

JUNE 30 – JULY 3
Houck, AZ... Navajo Indian reservation – 0n-site evaluations and encouraging the staff and interns. DONE

JULY 6 – 14
Memphis, TN... (Thank you... thank you very much!) Leading a trip – a student team from Texas. Actually, this is the first time I'm leading a trip like this since about a year and a half ago!

JULY 15 – 21
(Somewhere in southern) Louisiana... On a student trip, but NOT leading it. Hurricane relief... yes it's STILL necessary!

JULY 22 – AUGUST 4
(Back in) Memphis, TN... (Thank you... thank you very much!) Leading two student trips... one from Minnesota... and then one from Illinois.

AUGUST 6 – 9
San Jose, Costa Rica... On-site evaluation and staff and intern encouragement. No bebe el agua! =)

AUGUST 12
Indiana Dunes, IN... Intern debriefing and general goofing off.

As the summer goes along, I'll try and post updates as I can... and pass along a few photos now and then as well. Ask me later in August... I WILL have stories to tell you! =)

My Office Life!

PART TWO
“Lauren... what do you do when you're NOT on trips?'
A few weeks, maybe month ago now, I told you about part of what I do here at the LeaderTreks office. Now I'll tell you about the other side of my job... the Director of Trips. It may be easier to tell you what is not included in this role. =)

After someone buys a trip and all the details regarding money, etc., are worked out and the contract is signed... the trip gets turned over to me. From September to February, I am the youth pastor's contact for their next summers trip. During that time it's like I am working on a puzzle, that seems to have no right or wrong answer. Where do I place all of our staff for the summer trips? I put this puzzle together in different ways, many times, and in the end have to rely on the Lord's leading to make it all work well. After the trip leaders are assigned, the trip details are then handed off to the individual trip leaders. From this point on I become the accountablility person. Good communication makes each youth pastor we work with feel less like 'just' a customer and more like a partner. It's my job to make sure our trip leaders are creating partners. After I assign the trip leaders I set up the trip sites, make arrangements for VBS on each site, housing for the teams, rides to and from the airport. I plan the work projects each group will be doing on their trip. Once the summer trips begin, my job changes to a quality control supervisor. I go and visit sites and make sure our trip leaders are running trips correctly. I make sure that youth pastors are happy with the trips. I pretty much make sure that the quality of LeaderTreks trips are everything we promised they would be.

After the summer trips are over, I take all the evaluations from the youth pastors and consider how we can improve trips for next summer. That is my job! =) I almost feel stressed seeing it all typed out. But at the same time excited about the responsibility and level of influence the Lord has entrusted me with. And now I gotta get back to that job I just told you about.

Back to Reality

Vacation is over now and it is time to get back to work. Sorry... this update is a later than I wanted it to be but I was gone then my 'blog manager' (my dad) was gone and time just slipped away. So what did you miss in the last few weeks? Well, at LeaderTreks we had a youth pastor breakfast and invited youth pastors from all over. Bo Boshers from Willow Creek gave a great talk on 'living at 212 degress'.... which in simpler words means living a transformed life, up to your full potential. His favorite quote was 'we live below our privledge'. There's something to chew on for a little while. We aslo had a few youth pastors from all over the country here as part of a new advisory pannel we started. They are gave us great insight into our curriclum, trips and training events and how we can improve them. It's been a busy few weeks!

TAKE THE PICTURE ALREADY... THIS BOX IS HEAVY!

On a personal note, about a week ago I moved back into my mom and dad's house. So you will be able to find Auburn and I there for the next few months. Please keep me in your prayers as I make decisions about where I will live in the fall, and for arrangements for Auburn throughout this summer.

Vacation Daze...

EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD... SMELLS GOOD... IT'S ALL GOOD!

Buenos Dias!!! Still in beautiful southern California for another day... enjoying every minute of my vacation. We've been all over and seen a lot of things... thanks to some very friendly 'locals' (thank you Komos family!)... our trusty rental car and good directions! We've hung out at two spectacular beaches... Oceanside and Laguna. Ahhhhh! =) Close your eyes and imagine... can you hear the surf? Can you smell the water... and the sunscreen? Absolutely beautiful!

And then I stand and look out over the Pacific with waves crashing all around me on the big rocks and I think... our God is BIG! And while it's too bad He didn't exactly decide to make the ocean water warm – hey... no biggie! The rest of what He created is just SO awesome.

YEAH... THESE ARE THOSE FAMOUS PALM TREES

Like typical tourists... we spent some time in Hollywood, and even went to a taping of the Carson Daly late night show, and... well... I can't tell you everything now or there would be no stories left to tell when I get home. =)

CAN YOU SAY... THREE ACROSS... FRONT ROW CENTER? =)

Yesterday we checked out the gas lamp district down in San Diego. Very cool! Then had dinner with the Komos'. They have been SO wonderful opening their home to us and we're so grateful! Thank you Chet and Gail (and Christa... and Chet – LA guide extraordinaire!) More to come on my time here after I get back (coming back late Sunday night). Hope you're having a great week!

Greetings from Cali!

YUP... BEEN HERE... DONE THIS... LOVING IT!

This week... I am on the beach! And where are you?? =) Three of us girls that work together at LeaderTreks are enjoying a week of vacation out here... somewhere between LA and San Diego! In a couple of days or so... I'll post an update to let you share in a little of our down time out here. And by the way... I hear there were snowflakes in the air today back in Chicago! =) Let me check... ahhh... nope... not here! Stay tuned... more to come soon!

My Office Life!

PART ONE
“Lauren... what do you do when you're NOT on trips?'
This is a question that I get all the time. =) And today I am going to begin to answer that for you. I have asked for prayer regarding wisdom for some time now, because I wear 'many hats' at my job. My official titles (hats!) are Director of Human Resources and Director of Trips. Also when I’m not out on trips, I run Leadership Training Weekends with youth groups at various churches around the country. But this week, let me begin by talking about my role as the Director of Human Resources.

PC AT WORK... MAC AT HOME... GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO!

When you think of this title... you think people, right? Right! I am in charge of recruiting and hiring our summer staff (interns) and full time staff positions as needed. That means that I travel to colleges, set up booths and answer lot of questions about LeaderTreks – who we are... and what we do. (And of course about the Cubs and the Sox and the Bears... the usual.) I really enjoy being able to share my heart about what I love to do with so many people. Then after the recruitment trips, I set up and go through the interview process with 18 summer interns AND at least 6 full time staff. (Well... that reflects our goal for each year, and of course it requires MANY more interviews to end up at those numbers.) At the same time, I have to make sure that the summer intern program fulfills all that I am promising. And if I find it doesn’t... I need to make the necessary changes. We constantly ask ourselves at LeaderTreks is, 'Is there a better way?', and often the answer is 'Yes!' For example... right now, I am in the process of rewriting our intern training manual to improve it. And this past fall we produced two recruiting DVDs, reworked an intern fundraising packet, and revised the journals interns use throughout their summer. We've also started an online forum where interns can ask me questions directly about their internship... as well as get to know other interns and staff. Ahhh... technology! =)

I also take care of interns and staff who have been hired but haven't yet started. I bring them in to the office and we do fundraising training (in fact, this weekend I am bringing a girl who is in town for fundraising training with me to church at VCOB in Bartlett... my home church!). It's my job to handle all the details of their paperwork and communicate weekly with them so they begin to feel like a part of the LeaderTreks team – even before they officially 'get here'.

Yeah... like every job... there's a thing or two about mine that 'feels like work'... =) And while I DO love being out on trips, the great thing about working at LeaderTreks is that when I return from the 'mission field... somewhere out there'... I know my mission continues right here in the office! Hiring the right staff is crucial to making sure we are fulfilling our mission... wherever that mission finds us. That gives me a sense of purpose each day. I love 'this thing' that God has called me to do... =) and am excited to be able to share it with you. In a couple of weeks, I will go into more detail about my role as Director of Trips. But for now... this coming Sunday evening, I'm on my way to southern California for a little R&R with a couple of girls from the office! =) And for those of you who know Chet & Gail Komos... I'll say 'Hi!'... we're staying with them. Stay tuned for a report from the beach!