Summer just got over about a month ago, or a little shorter than that for some of us.

You would think that I should be focusing on today.

Yet I am spending time figuring out what I am going to do next summer.

I think I already have it figured out, which may seem kinda crazy to some of you out there.

But I do not think it is crazy.

Rather I think that it is a good thing that I feel lead to what I am doing next summer this far in advance.

I can more adequately prepare and make sure I am spiritually ready for it.

It releases the stress of trying to figure out what I will be doing in April.

I can relax and just spend time with God getting myself ready to face whatever challenges may come my way.

For those of you who may be curious as to what I am planning on doing this coming summer, I will give a quick overview.

I am planning on staying here in Illinois and doing missions work with my church.

This can, and most likely will, include various aspects of ministry.

From office and administrative, to kids and students ministries.

If I can figure out some instrument stuff, then quite possibly some music stuff will be in there as well.

The specifics are yet to necessarily be nailed down, but they will be the closer the summer gets.

Now some of you may be asking why I would want to spend my summer doing this.

Simply put...I feel like God wants me to.

It isn't anything complicated that requires a ten page answer.

I just simply feel called to do it.

To some this may seem odd, yet to some it may seem like a tremendous opportunity.

I see it as another step in my journey with God.

He has a plan for this coming summer and I have no clue what it is, but I am extremely excited to find out!

I could not ask for a better opportunity.

God has opened a door for me and I feel blessed to be able to walk through it.

 

I feel that although I feel called to partake in this opportunity, I am going to be faced with many people who are greatly opposed to the idea of my staying here and doing this.

I have an idea of who some of these people are.

At first I do not think that they will necessarily approve, but I think that eventually they will be okay with it.

I just do not want to back out of this because of what people think, because ultimately it is God who will grant the ultimate approval for this opportunity.

If I feel like God has called me to do this, then I am going to do it.

It may upset some people or even make some people blow me off because they don't understand.

But I'm not supposed to be pleasing people, but rather God.

I may feel sad that people may feel negative feelings toward this, but I feel like if it is in God's will I will feel at peace about this decision that I have made.

 

I am just going to be continuously praying that God will provide whatever is necessary.

I am also praying that He will give me confidence in this decision as I move forward in the application process.

I am trusting that this is where He wants me to be and that everything will work out for His purpose.

I am confident in His plan and am willing to follow where ever He may lead.

Here's The Thing About Ders...

Ok, so a lot of you that read my posts are also friends with me on Facebook.

Therefore you have seen various posts on there from me from the past weeks.

Many of these posts have been based in frustration about a lot of things that are going on.

Most of you, however, do not know what has been going on.

So here goes a basic recap of what has been going on these past weeks.

Three weeks ago I had my last day of full time work on Olivet's campus for the summer
That very same day I found out something that has completely changed everything.

My mom called to inform me that the judge had awarded full custody of my two younger sisters to our 'father'.

After four years of fighting against this, the worst happened.

Everything we had done to prevent this and it was all for nothing.

Or at least so it seems.

Our world came shattering down around us fast and hard.

Suddenly there were a million things that were starting to fall apart because of this ruling.

Financial issues regarding living situations, schooling, food, etc. were suddenly ten times worse than they were just hours before the letter arrived at the house.
We didn't have a clue how we were going to take care of everything.
We didn't know where money was going to come from or where we would be in a very short time.
We went from having things fairly well figured out for the near future to not knowing what was going to happen in the next couple of hours.
Emotions were (and continue) to run rampant.
Frustration, anger, sadness, fear, confusion, and so on and so forth.

Suddenly we had a million and one questions that needed answers, a lot of which we did not know.
What is the appeals process?
When can the appeals process be started?
How do we go about filing the appeal?
How long will the appeal process take?
When do the two girls move in with their father?
What will visitation schedule be for their mom?
What will happen in regards to finances?
What, if any, part of this will affect Shelbi and her schooling?
How do we pay for school?
How do we pay for rent for our house?
Etc, etc, etc...
The questions go on and on and they get more detailed and even harder to answer.
My mother and I have been working on answering these questions for the past few weeks.
It has been stressful and more times than not extremely frustrating.
Life is once again being completely controlled by lawyers, judges, and courts.
It is hard to sit back and watch them become the dictators of everything that can and cannot be done.
After years of it however, it is nothing new but it still is not something that is necessarily positive.

This all happened, with a lot more detail and emotion than I have shared but may share at some point, and I did not have any idea what I was going to do to make it through.
I was being faced with the very real possibility of not being able to stay here in Illinois at ONU.
It scared me and I did not know what I was going to do.
I did not want to leave and had more than a few break downs that first week.
One of those just so happened to be at my pastor's house.
(That was right after I had one in my apartment, which happened to include my lanyard flying across the room.)
I had a few more that first week, one of which resulted in my blowing off a good friend completely unintentionally.
Thankfully God has blessed me with friends who are understanding and are there for me even in my worst moments.
I ended up getting a job shortly after I found this all out.
I started that job the first week of classes.
Talk about stressing myself out and overworking myself.
So many things being thrown at me and a million things to learn and remember.
I'm still trying to get my feet firmly planted and a schedule set so I don't lose my mind.
Although I am pretty sure I lost it last week in amidst the craziness.
I keep being told of more things I need to do for classes, such as my multicultural hours for my Education class.
I have no idea how I am going to fit it in, but I hope I figure it out soon.
I am starting to enjoy work but at the same time I am not sure if I can keep the hours that I have right now.
I feel like there is a possibility that I might need a few less in order to fulfill my requirements for classes.

Well it has been a long few weeks.
God has been here through it all and I see Him in many different ways in the various situations.
But the devil has also been playing his cards throughout this whole situation the past few weeks.
He is constantly throwing in new things to tear me down and cause me to stumble.
Yet every step of the way I can see God working through it all.
It may not seem like it at the time but it is all working out the way that He sees fit.
At this point I am still at ONU and funds have been provided for me to stay for the year.
I don't know if that means I will be here next year.
I don't know what that means for the future at all.
I am currently in the process of possibly changing my major, so I don't even know what i'm going to be majoring in yet and that is kind of frustrating and makes it all hard.
But I am trusting God that will lead me in the direction that He wants me to go.
I do not know where that direction leads but I plan on following it where it takes me.
As long as it is in His will then it will not matter where it goes, but rather the things He has for me to do for His kingdom.
Even through the hardship, I know His way will prevail.

It's All Coming To An End So Soon

Can you believe it's August next week??

I can't.

The fact that it's August next week means a few things.

1. School starts in a month.

2. Summer is almost over.

 (and most importantly...)

3. The Summer Mission Team leaves.

The third thing hit me this week as the guys have been gone at a camp while Patrick and I have been working with the Arkansas mission group to do Block Parties in the community.

It feels like they just got here and we've all just started getting to know each other.

And now they are going to be leaving.

I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that fact.

I guess i'm just having a hard time accepting it.

(This is going to sound so girly and like i'm super attached to them all, but I don't care.)

I'm not ready for them to leave quite yet.

I think the part that is really getting to me is that I have this feeling that i'll lose contact with them all as soon as they leave, just like what always happens with people.

They leave and that's it.

It really just makes it hard to say goodbye when that's the likely outcome.

Watch me be a girl and get all emotional when they leave.

(Highly unlikely, but there is always that slight possibility.)

 

Even though they'll be leaving I have to thank God for everything He has taught me through the guys this summer.

He has showed me show much through them and I wouldn't have been able to see any of it or learn anything had it not been for this group of guys that God put in my life.

Although I would much rather they didn't leave, I know that God has things in store for them as they all head back home and/or back to school.

God has some great plans for these guys I have no doubt and I hope that I get the chance to see what He does through them and for them in the future.

God has blessed many people through them this summer and they have made such an impact.

They may be leaving but what they did and the impact they made will not be forgotten.

God knew what He was doing when He brought those guys here.

It's been exciting to watch.

Now I am hoping that I will get to watch what He has planned in the near future.

I just pray that through whatever happens we will all be glorifying the Father in everything that we say and do.

May it all be for Him and His glory!

God Only Knows

You hear all about relationships these days.

Boyfriends & girlfriends, people who live together, friends with benefits, and on and on.

Some of these relationships, particularly boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, are encouraged at young ages these days.

Kids in elementary school think it is normal to have those relationships at those young ages.

I am not sure when this became acceptable for kids, let alone when adults started encouraging it.

I do know however that it is something that has been asked of me more times than I will ever be able to count in my lifetime.

The question of whether or not I had a boyfriend was asked off me throughout middle school and high school by family members and people from church.

The answer was always no however, since I never did date anyone.

Even if I had wanted to in middle school or the first two years of high school I couldn't have.

Why couldn't I have dated someone at that point?

Because my mom was strict about the rule of no dating before I was 16.

Not that it mattered much seeing as I didn't date anyone my last two years of high school either.

I got a lot of flack for it, but there wasn't any time for a boyfriend and there wasn't anyone in town that I would have even considered.

It wasn't necessarily that I didn't want to have a boyfriend, but rather that I was preoccupied with family issues and there were not many Christian guys in my town.

Although I managed to get through high school without people worrying about it, that didn't seem to last long after I left for college last August.

You wouldn't believe the number of people who asked if I was dating someone once I got to college.

Literally within the first two weeks my mom was already getting asked about it.

And the fact that I wasn't dating someone and still am not just about blows people's minds.

I have a group of friends that I hand out with and in that group there are only two couples.

My mom gets weird looks and questions from people about whether she is ok with that situation, and if so, why she finds it ok.

This just does not make much sense to me.

All people are worried about is whether or not I am dating someone.

Why doesn't someone ask about how things with school or church are going??

All this focus on dating makes it really hard to be ok with the fact that you're not dating anyone.

Even more so when it seems like everyone else is.

Why so much pressure for me to date someone?

I feel content to wait for God to bring the right man into my life, but it seems as though no one else is content to wait for that to happen.

God's timing is always perfect and I have no doubt it will be in this situation as well.

It is just hard to trust Him when everyone is constantly pushing.

They encourage trusting God, yet at the same time want to push me to date someone just because.

I feel like it is fairly contradicting.

Yes, I think it would be nice to date someone and have someone to share life with.

However, I do not think that I would make the correct choice in who to date if I were the one making the choice of which guy to date.
I also feel like I need to be content with myself and my walk with God before I get into a relationship.
I feel like i'm in that place but God hasn't brought a guy into my life who has made a move towards dating me.
Maybe there is a chance somewhere in the near future.
Maybe not for a few years down the road.
I am just waiting for God's timing.
He knows when the right guy will come along and He will make it work.
It is all about trusting in His will and perfect timing.
God has a plan for my life and my future relationships that I can't even imagine and I am extremely curious to know what His plan is.

Some Things Are Not As Dead As They Seem

I'm really not sure how to go about starting out this post.

I have some good things to share and some not so good as well.

I guess I will start with the good.

God has blessed me tremendously!

I have a church family in Illinois that has accepted me as I am and where I am.

They have more than opened their arms to me.

They have wrapped me up in the church family.

I feel like I am truly accepted by my church family and I haven't felt that way in a church in many, many years.

(Yes, I call them my church family. This may seem weird to those of you in Nebraska, and maybe even to a degree it may seem as though I am turning my back on you all. I still love you all, but this is a new chapter in my life and I have my own life in Illinois and this includes my church.)

God has placed me amongst a church family that is truly amazing.

Without them this summer would have been a very long, lonely, boring summer.

They have made Bourbonnais feel like home.

I couldn't have ever asked for what they have given me.

I appreciate it all and I am extremely thankful to everyone for what they have done for me.

I have to talk about the Mission Team again.

They are all amazing and I am grateful to have this summer with them.

I have to focus on the guys because I have spent the most time with them.

These guys are such a great influence in my life and I think God has put them in my life for a reason, possibly multiple reasons.

These guys blow the phrase "Chivalry is dead" out of the water.

They never fail to go out of their way to make sure the females that are with them at the time are taken care of first or put first in general.

This is something that I haven't grown up with and am not used to.

I have to make a conscious effort not to chastise them about it because I know that they are doing exactly what they are supposed to and it is my job to encourage them as their sister in Christ.

I may not have grown up with it, but it is something that I am slowly getting used to.

It is becoming something that I expect.

These guys have been such a positive influence in my life in how I view men.

I have never had this example of chivalry or of guys being gentleman before.

It is nice to know that there are guys who are still being raised with those standards.

It just makes me hope that I will end up marrying a man who is like this guys and who will be the example of a true chivalrous gentleman to any kids he is around or helps raise.

The guys on the mission team have no idea how high they have made me raise my standards.

They're just making it that much harder for a guy to get me to date him.

I appreciate all of their influence more than they can imagine.

I am and have been truly blessed by these Godly men on the mission team.

My boys.

I got to spend time with two of the boys that I have babysat since they were born.

I took them out to dinner this evening and then we watched some AFV and cuddled on the couch after we took a ton of pictures.

I love those boys like crazy and hate to have to say goodbye.

It's hard to say goodbye and watch them get mad because you're leaving again.

It makes it really hard.

I cannot wait until October when I get to come back and see them again.

Ok, so now for the lengthy section of not so good stuff.

I grew up in the Nazarene church (I got to a baptist church now).

I grew up in the church my grandpa pastored.

When I was a kid I loved going to my church and I loved all the people there.

This lasted until probably around 5th grade.

At this point I realized how much the church and those in leadership positions were concerned about the politics of the church. Most of the time the politics of the church were viewed as more important than the church itself.

Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think that that is how God wants the church to be.

I learned a lot of lessons from the church and the people in it over the next 7 years.

Although I have to say that the majority of them were not positive like you might expect.

I learned a lot of lessons I figured I would learn from the world rather than the church.

Some of the things that I learned are:

-People are not necessarily to be trusted (with personal matters or otherwise)

-People  will tear you down and rip you apart to get what they want

-If you don't suck up to people then you mean nothing to them

-People don't really care what you have to say or what you think

-Emotions are also highly overrated

-If you are a child of a pastor (senior, youth, etc.) you're automatically held to a much higher standard than everyone else and the slightest slip means you get looked down upon by everyone

-And many other lessons could be listed.

As you can see I didn't really learn anything positive from the church here.

It's hard to come home and go to the church here.

I feel like I should be excited to come back here and see everyone at church, but in all honesty I have a hard time even making myself go to church here.

I haven't had a connection with anyone here in years.

I hardly even went my last two years of high school.

It wasn't that I didn't want to go to church, because I really did.

Rather I didn't want to go because every time I was there I felt like I was being stared at and judged by everyone there. It didn't feel welcoming at all.

And ever since I left for school last August, the only people from the church who have contacted me at all are the parents of the kids I babysat.

No one else contacted me at all, but they were constantly talking to and conversing with the other college students from the church.

I can tell you why that is but I will refrain because it would end up being a rather lengthy description.

It was just hard being at church this Sunday because I felt very much like people would have even noticed I was there had it not been for the 3 adults that actually did care and make an effort to keep up on how I am doing while i'm in Illinois.

I really just wanted to leave within minutes of being there.

Had it not been for one of my boys coming and sitting with me during service it would have been a very long morning.

It also helped when I got a text from McKenzie.

After asking about the trip back here, he told me that everyone at Journey was asking where I was.

People have no idea how much that means to me.

The fact that they noticed that I wasn't there since i've only been going for about 5 months is something I wouldn't have expected.

The church here that I went to for 13 years didn't even ask that the first Sunday I was away at college. Not a single one of them.

Journey has been a blessing and I hope to stay apart of the church and their ministry for the next few years at least.

Now to get to family stuff.

If only I could share everything that is on my mind relating to this topic.

I can't do so because some of it shouldn't be shared and there is just far too much on my mind regarding the subject.

The main thing right now has to deal with my mom.

I like to come back here to visit for a few days, but it is very hard to come back.

When i'm at school my mom encourages all of the things I do and has not an issue with any of it.

Soon as i'm back here she treats me like i'm in middle school still.

I'm going to be 20yrs old in 6 months.

I am an adult but she treats me like a kid all the time when i'm home.

It makes it really hard to come back here to visit.

It's making me really consider just staying in Illinois for the summers and for a while after graduating.

I don't know that I will come back to Nebraska to live.

I love Nebraska but I just can't do it anymore.

Well, that is as far as I am going to go into those topics on here for the evening.

I really just wish there was someone I could talk to.

I feel the need to just have an actual conversation and discuss things face to face with someone.

Oh well, I do not have that opportunity at the moment.

It's going to be a long night of packing, listening/singing to music, and praying.

God has gotten me this far and I have no doubt that He will get me through whatever is coming.

It is through Him that I can do all things!!

Tuberculosis

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook you may have seen my status about how today was not such a good day for me.

I wish I knew how to share everything that is bothering me without it sounding like complaining.

However, I do not know how to go about doing so.

So here goes a quick overview of what has made this day not so great.

First off, I could hardly sleep last night.

I got all of about 2 or 3 hours tops all night long.

I had a lot on my mind and just could not manage to get myself to sleep.

It was a long night and an extremely early morning.

My insomnia definitely kicked in, as well as an overactive mind.

If I could just shut my mind off for a few hours every night I might actually get some sleep.

Then there was the fact that all of the divorce stuff is still managing to mess up my life.

My 'father' did not file taxes the way he was supposed to so now my school bill is sitting unpaid because he has all the tax money and will not give my mom her share.

I am not sure exactly what the whole situation is since i'm not there and no one tells me anything anymore, but I do know that it is causing a lot of tension between my mom & I about financial things concerning my schooling.

Staying here at ONU is dependent on the bill being paid.

However, since my 'father' refuses to do what he said he would, I now am  on the edge of possibly not being able to stay for the fall and just the thought is driving me crazy.

I just hate that I am still stuck under the umbrella of this divorce.

My life is still being controlled by it and by the choices that my parents and the judges make.

Everything is hanging by a string and I cannot do anything about it.

Then there is the fact that I was talking to my mom about traveling plans for vacation/family reunion this next weekend and she informed me now that I will not be riding back with her.

Rather she is having me ride back with her boyfriend.

A man I hardly know in the least, and his kids.

I do not know at all how to feel about it, but I do know that my anxiety has definitely been high since I had this conversation with my mom...and that is not a good thing.

Last, although not least, is the fact that I was informed when I arrived at work this morning that I may have possibly caught a sickness from a coworker that could be extremely bad for me.

One of my coworkers has been diagnosed with Tuberculosis.

This is a serious sickness that is centered in the lungs.

It has even been known to kill people in it's worst forms.

That part may not seem like a huge deal to you because you are probably thinking that I am young and my immune system is good and can withstand it.

I have to contradict that.

Yes, I am young.

No, my immune system is not good. Not in the least.

My immune system is very weak.

I pretty much catch everything that I am around and it is 10x worse for me than the person who I caught it from.

This has been so ever since I had H1N1 (Swine Flu) in fall of 2009.

I had it 3 different times for 3 weeks each time.

I was completely bed ridden (actually recliner...) because I was in so much pain I couldn't physically move myself.

That was the worst 2 months that I had experienced with a sickness since 5th grade.

And ever since my immune system has been absolutely terrible.

The other thing that makes it easier to catch Tuberculosis is having asthma.

Which I have.

So I have an extremely weak immune system and asthma.

I am a prime candidate.

I am extremely worried that I may have caught it and that I will now have to once again have to fight through a sickness that could kill me.

I cannot afford to have caught this sickness.

I just can't.

You know, this is starting to really get tiring.

This nonstop cycle.

Things start going really well and then all of a sudden...

BAM!!!

...the devil has decided once again to throw a gigantic wrench into it all.

It seems like he thinks that my life is the perfect playground.

Just when I start to be happy and to think that things are turning around I get slapped in the face.

I know God has huge plans for me, otherwise the devil would not be working so hard to knock me down onto my face every time I turn around, but it is hard to deal with all of this.

I'm tired of constantly being pushed down onto my face.

Being pushed to the ground just as I am starting to get my footing again.

I wish I knew what God's plan was.

Not so that I would know what to do every step of the way, but rather so that I could be encouraged and feel like going through all of this is going to be worth it in the end.

 I just picked myself up of the ground.

And now I feel like i'm falling again.

The cycle continues...

"What The Junk??"

Hey y'all!!

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I have posted. 

I've been a little busy with work and church stuff.

Hmm, so I guess i'll do a quick recap of what I have been up to as of late.

Work is pretty much the same. Long days of cleaning.

I have climbed into far too many lockers, stoves, refrigerators, and other tight spaces for my liking.

(I'm not quite small enough for some of this...contrary to what many may say.)

I have to say that if it weren't for the people I work with I would absolutely positively hate my job.

Last Monday my mom (and her boyfriend) stopped into town and brought my futon and a tv for me. It is great to finally have furniture. (Not being able to get the remote to work the cable and having to settle for watching David Letterman's show for Gay Pride Week...not so much :/ )

After they left I made sure my bike was locked up and went inside to chill.

I came out the next morning (Tuesday) and my bike was gone.

Chain cut and thrown under the bush.

Not what I wanted to find at 6:30am when I had to be to work in 10mins.

However, yesterday (a week after it happened), Public Safety called and said they had my bike.

The police had found some guy riding it around town.

He picked it up off someone else for $15 for crying out loud.

It's good to have it back though.

Other than that things were not all that eventful until about last Thursday.

 But before getting into that I am going to share a little about the missions team at my church this summer.

North American Mission Board (NAMB) sends out Summer Mission Teams to churches throughout the country every summer. This summer my church, Journey Church, got sent one of these teams. There are 7 summer missionaries here, all college age. 

Two of them go to my school here in Illinois and the rest are from various other colleges and universities.

The 7 summer missionaries that we have here this summer are Andy, Malik, McKenzie, Kenan, Joel, Patrick, and Haley.

Andy and Malik are the two that go to school with me.

Most of the missionaries are from some part of Illinois with the exception of three.

Malik is from Maryland, Patrick is from Mississippi, and Haley is from Tennessee. 

The 7 of them are here at Journey to help out for the summer with various things.

As of late they have been going out into the community and going door to door giving out flyers promoting Journey and sharing what we are all about.

Friendship Festival 2012 (Bourbonnais, IL) Left to right: Andy, McKenzie, Patrick, Malik, Haley, Kenan, and Joel

The above picture is a group picture of the mission team.

This was right before we started walking in the Friendship Festival Parade.

Five of the guys, all except Patrick, had been practicing a bucket drum routine that they performed that morning in church and then while we were walking in the Parade.

They did a great job that morning at church as well as during the Parade!!

While the guys were doing their routine (part of the time walking the other part while riding on the float), we had several members of our church walking and passing out beads to kids and cards with our information to adults.

It was a great afternoon and one to be remembered for sure!!

Friendship Festival 2012- Getting ready to walk! (Me, Justine, and Haley)

 Here is another picture from the Parade. It is a bad one of me but the other two look good!

Ok, so now that I have shared a little bit about the mission team I will share a little bit of the last several days.

For anyone who has read my previous posts (which is probably no one...) then y'all know how bored I have been this summer. 

That has changed in large part because of the group pictured above, as well as other members of Journey Church.

This past week was the Friendship Festival (Wed. June 20th-Sun. June 24th).

I went a few times with this group.

Thursday night I went to the Festival with Andy and Malik.

A lady from church works at Great Clips and she had a booth so we stopped and talked to her for a while. Basically we just chilled there until the guys had band practice for Sunday morning.

We then went to band practice and I got to spend time with the most adorable little girl.

Her name is Cali and she is the daughter of our worship leader Nate and his wife Jill.

She is absolutely adorable and thanks to the guys makes a wide variety of animal noises by request. :)

We then went and spent the evening at Chad and Rachel's.

The next evening (Friday) we had a College Student...get together (??)...

We all met up at the church office and then went to the Festival.

Friendship Festival 2012- Back Row: Joel, Andy, Kenan, Emily (?), TJ, and me. Front Row: Derek, Haley, Malik, and McKenzie.

It was a great night!!

We had a couple of additions to the group before we left the Festival and headed to Steak N' Shake.

Steak N' Shake- Left: Haley, Jessica, Kenan, Andy, Justine, and me. Right: Erin (?), TJ, Joel, Malik, and McKenzie.

As you can see we are a decent sized group of college students (except for Emily...?).

(We have some lovely faces going on in this picture...lol)

Then Saturday I worked overtime. We had to turn over dorms for a camp that was coming for a day or two.

After work I went to the softball game. (Journey has a team and we play against other teams from the area. It is a fun outreach ministry and a great way to get to know each other!)

There was another missions group that came from another church to help out.

(I forgot where they came from.)

So we met them at the offices and helped finish bagging up the flyers for the guys to give out while going door to door.

Then dinner at Aurelio's.

Then the guys had to practice their bucket drumline routine and since I had nothing else to do I went with them and was their audience for the evening.

Sunday was a crazy busy day for all of us!

I had to be at church an hour earlier than usual in order to do nursery.

The guys had all been there for a while before I go there and were practicing their routine again.

After church we all went to Burger King to grab lunch and then headed out to BBCHS to get ready for the Parade!

We walked in the Parade for about an hour or so.

It was such a great way for us to reach out and be a part of the community!!!

(We also found out later on that we won the Director's Choice Award for out float and the church got a plaque and everything!!!)

After a crazy time of destroying the float and taking all the staples out of the trailer (which was graciously loaned to us for the afternoon from Jessica!!), we all headed back to Chad and Rachel's.

Little did we all know there was someone moving in next door.

We offered to help them finish moving their things in and they accepted.

So for the next hour or so the guys and I helped them unload their large moving truck.

We all pushed ourselves and I definitely went above and beyond my usual.

As we were helping them we got to talking to them and sharing about Journey and the missions team and everything.

When we got done we got a chance to introduce Mark and his family to Chad (Journey's pastor) and Rachel. We got a chance to share more about Journey and invite them to church.

It was such a great witnessing opportunity!! 

Who knew?!

We were all crazy tired and crashed in Chad and Rachel's living room for the rest of the evening.

Chad grilled up some hot dogs and sausage for dinner.

We all ended up watching The Ringer that evening.

(Joel can do a crazy good impression of one of the characters!!)

Overall the last several days have been crazy busy but I loved it!!

I also have to say that I think that God definitely used this past week to show me some things.

After all of it I feel like I am most definitely right at the place where God wants me to be for the summer, even if it is different to be here instead of at home.

God is doing big things in my life through Journey and through the mission team.

I could not have asked for a better summer.

God is showing me that sometimes the simplest of gestures can be the strongest witnessing opportunities that we can get.

Case in point when talking about helping Mark and his family move in.

How could we know that we would have that opportunity Sunday afternoon??

Yeah, we may have all been pushed beyond our limits both physically and in terms of our comfort zone, but look at how God used it!!!

His plan is far greater than ours and who knows what would have happened if we hadn't stepped out and offered to help them move all of their things into their house!

And I have to say personally that God has provided me an incredible group of friends for the summer, and hopefully longer, even when I didn't think I would meet anyone this summer.

I was not planning on all of this, but He is providing in more ways than I could have ever imagined!

These guys have been going out of their way to be chivalrous and to show that there are still guys out there who take it seriously and act on it.

I am not used to it at all and therefore it is weird for me, but at the same time it is incredible to be exposed to guys who want to go that extra step and open the car door, let me sit in the front seat, serve my food for me, or carry something for me (even when i'm obstinate about it...lol).

I was not expecting God to provide that kind of an example for me this summer, but I appreciate it.

(However, these guys are gonna have me all kinds of spoiled by the end of the summer!!)

(And if you guys read this...Thank you for being an example of what true gentlemen should act like! It is greatly appreciated even if I nag you about it!! I have never seen guys treat girls/women with the respect that you all do. You're all pretty amazing guys and i'm lucky to know you all!!)

Well, there ya have it!

A quick (sorta....) recap of my life as of late!

There is much more I could share but I will leave it at that.

God keeps surprising me daily and I am excited to see what is going to happen in the coming weeks and months of the summer!!! :)


***All pictures in this post are courtesy of the lovely Haley Richards, member of the NAMB Summer Mission Team***

God works in amazing ways!!

Hm, life seems like a crazy whirlwind right now.

The summer has gone by so fast already, yet at the same time it seems to be going so slow.

I still have a hard time believing that it is already June.

Absolute craziness if you ask me.

Work is just work.

I can't say that cleaning for eight hours Monday through Friday is exciting.

But the people I work with definitely make those eight hours quite entertaining for me.

I would not like going to work if it were not for those on my team.

I have two amazing ladies for team leaders, Susie and Dawn :)

And regularly the students on the team are Ethan, Robensky, Karen, and I.

However, we have had a few additions the last week or two, such as Emily, Adrian, and Geoff.

Getting to work with various people has definitely been a learning experience.

I have also enjoyed getting to know everyone.

It amazes me how varied all of our personalities are.

I am just curious to see what God may have planned this summer because I have not doubt that those of us who are working this summer are not here by coincidence. 

We are all here for a reason and God knows what those reasons are.

I also feel like God has definitely brought me into a church that is more than willing to welcome me into their groups and surround me this summer.

I am highly grateful for all of the wonderful people at church that God has put in my life.

I am truly excited to see what He has planned this summer with my involvement in my church.

I have no doubt it will be amazing!!

His plans tend to be just that :)

Ya Just Gotta Have A Little Faith

So I have been looking at the possibility of staying in Illinois for the summer and working.

I have applied for three jobs, a summer RA position, a job painting, and a job working security for the Bears Training Camp. I also applied for summer housing. I had to turn in the summer housing application and the summer RA application at the same time, but I turned them in more than a week early. So I am not sure what to expect with that, but I am hoping that I can get the RA position.

I did get a call about the painting job this afternoon while I was in my Finite Mathematics class. I have to call the lady back tomorrow and do an interview of sorts. I am excited but nervous all at the same time. I really hope that I can get this job so that I can stay here for the summer.

It just proves that trusting God to provide can work for your advantage. If it fits into His plan and His will for your life then there is a good chance that it will happen. I hope that this fits into His will for my life and that I will be able to walk in His light through whatever He brings me to this summer, whether that be a job here in Illinois or going home and working and sponsoring district events.

I believe that it will all work out for His good and to His glory.

My life is His.