Adult Adventure #1

Today I had my first big adventure of adulthood.

I woke up at 6:40 am, left the house by 8 (which is hours earlier than I have left in a very long time), and headed off to my first day at my full time job!!


Today wasn't that big of a deal, just a lot of paperwork and "this is what you'll be doing," "you should do this in this situation," "this is what you say here," "go get that paper so I can show you what to do." But it was great. I got to come home early, work out with my dad and eat a wonderful dinner that my mom had prepared (yes, living at home, and totally okay with it).

Tomorrow, unfortunately, will be much different.  I have to actually do the things they told me I would have to do.  I am fully expecting to be in tears at some point during the day.

I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with this. I am clinging to him, confident that this is exactly where he wants me and that he has an incredible plan for this season of my life.  I know there will be days and weeks and months I will cling to Him like I have never clung to him before. And I am looking forward to those moments more than anything else!

I can't believe that this stage of my life is actually beginning. I just am absolutely shocked at how fast college went.  There were days, months even, that I thought it would never end.  But it has. And yes, I miss college, I miss my friends like no other, I miss the nights of flag football, and I miss the endless nights filled with drama. Yes, I do.  But here life goes, on to the next stage, and as far as I can tell, I think it is going to be great!

So there you have it, my first day as a full time tax payer. I think I'm going to go to bed at 9:30.

Promise

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord bestows favor and honor;

No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

I am clinging to this promise right now.  

Even though it may feel like God is holding out on me for certain things I desire, 

those things simply would not be a blessing today.

He withholds no good thing.

Thats a promise.

thankful

Today I am simply thankful.
I am thankful for exactly the place God has me in my life right now. So thankful!

Let me share a little of my thought process.

I am planning a trip to Auburn, Alabama this weekend. I'm also planning on stopping in the ATL to see a friend on my way to Auburn. As I was talking to Tara, my friend in Atlanta, she shared that she may go to a Lecrae concert on Friday night. Oh my gosh! Yes, please!! So I just changed my plans and decided to hang out in Atlanta with Tara Friday night and then head to Auburn Saturday morning. How great is that? I mean really! I am just simply so thankful for the fact that I have the freedom to make those last minute plans (because actually this whole trip was last minute) and then change them! I don't have to work around a work schedule, or a family.

This was actually the coolest part of this revelation . . . I am so stinkin' thankful to be single! 

Yeah, I never thought I'd hear myself say it either. It has not come easily, I will tell you that. But after 22 years of never dating a single boy, and 22 years of God working and molding and shaping my heart, I am finally at a place where I can genuinely tell you that I am thankful to be single. Its so fun! I mean I don't have to check my plans through with someone else, or make sure they don't conflict, and no one is keeping tabs on me! (I think I like that part the best! ha!)


I spent my evening with Jillian and the 30 Day Shred and Tami Taylor and four hours of the Dillion Panthers in Friday Night Lights (yes LE I've finally caught up to where you are!).  Then I read my wall and my sister had posted the most hilarious memory from our insanity days in high school. And again I was just reminded of how thankful I am for this time in my life.  This time of singleness, simplicity (really, life is simple. school, flag football, and Friday Night Lights, yeah, that's simple), friends, road trips, late nights, Jillian, homework, and excitement is so priceless. I'm so thankful for it. I'm usually one to look ahead and plan, but I'm really seeking to stay focused here. To enjoy this time and truly live in it for the next 58 days.

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

Acts 17:26

I love this verse. It is a great reminder the the Lord has not only determined where we should live, but when. That not only does he have a plan for your life, he has a specific timed plan for your life. He knows the exact times of our lives. I just think that is the neatest thing. Tell me we don't have a God who loves us when he plans out the exact times set for our lives!

Happy Birthday

This post is dedicated to the two most incredible women in my life.  My mom and my sister.  They share a birthday. Its today. Happy Birthday Mom and Carrie. I love you.

Let me tell you about these two women in case you haven't have the privilege of knowing them.

My mom is THE most influential woman in my walk with the Lord.  My mom is the most servant hearted person on this earth.  She puts nothing before her kids and her husband.  But my favorite thing about my mom is her passion for the Word. She is incredible at memorizing God's word and takes hiding it in her heart literally.  For as long as I can remember mom has been quoting scripture for practically everything in life.  That is definitely something I am so thankful for.  I can't even tell you the countless rides to school where she would have us going over Scripture memory to get our weekly pack of gum.  She either knew verses from memory or was able to quickly reference one for any situation we were going through.  She is always quick to apologize even when she had done nothing wrong.  She loves her family and is incredibly loyal to her friends.  She is incredibly creative, but always says she isn't (its just because she is comparing herself to my dad, and I mean he is an artist, he makes anyone feel not creative).  She loves puzzles. She hates t.v. because it means we can't talk.  She loves Jesus and seeks to know Him every single day.  She has a heart that beats to be hospitable to others. She loves having fun and is so goofy and crazy.  She loves watching her kids play sports, and she is quite the athlete herself.  She went to Ball State on a gymnastics scholarship.  She can still do an ariel cartwheel and she learned how to wakeboard this summer.  Today is her 50th birthday. Yeah, I don't feel bad about saying that.

Mom, I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my mom. I love you more than I can ever explain to you. You truly are the reason for my walk with the Lord and my love for the Word.  I want to be just like you when I grow up.  I want to be a mom like you who puts her family before absolutely everything.  You are truly an incredible woman of God and are so so wise.  I'm so thankful for you!! Happy Birthday!

Carrie.
My sister.
She is absolutely my best friend in this whole world.  I cannot imagine my life without her.  She is brave. She is strong. She is confident.  Every important memory of my life involves Carrie.  She used to get mad at me for copying her, which I truly did in everything, but I only did it because she is amazing and so cool.  She has been the most athletic girl on the soccer field since the day she stepped on the field at 5 years-old.  She is funny. She can make me laugh like no one else in this world.  She is very strategic.  She is one heck of a prankster, and everything I learned I learned from her.  She can throw a football better than Peyton Manning. She is tough. She takes what life throws at her with incredible bravery, consistency, and persistence.  She is brilliant. If you ever have a question about school or something related to being smart, just give her a call. Even math. She is smarter than she thinks.  She loves Jesus. Oh she so loves Jesus.  She strives to know him and love him.  She seeks Him every day and longs to point other people to Him.  She has a passion for others. She is the most incredible leader I have ever known.  She has an ability to command a group of people and get things done. Even things like having a blast.  She is hilarious when caught off guard, but she hates being scared.  She is an amazing water skiier and a crazy tuber.  She is so fun. She just brings the party.  She is wise and loves to help people and share her wisdom.  There is not a fun memory in my life that doesn't have Carrie in it.

Care,
I just can't say enough wonderful things about you. You are the most amazing woman I know. You are the most faithful friend. The most loving sister. I am so thankful for how close we are. You truly inspire me and I want to be more like you.  I am so so so SO thankful that you are my sister. I am blessed to be the closest person to you and I am privileged that you are the closest person to me. Gosh, I love you.

Mom and Care,
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it onto completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1)

I love you Mom
I love you Care

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Within a matter of hours

As Kamp continues to charge on, I'm really excited to take a second to reflect.

I am so blessed and excited to say that every single day I am reminded of how much God is at work. Every day kids are seeing the life of Christ played out in our staff, and their hearts are being changed. Not to mention the work Jesus is doing in my own heart and life. I ask that you would be praying for me on this journey as I am stripped of myself and strive to live more in His spirit.

Term 2 has changed my perspective. For one thing I am finally believing that Jesus keeps no record of my wrongs. That the little ways I may feel like I am messing up, He is not holding against me. I can rest in his grace and know that I am exactly where He has chosen for me to be this summer, with the people He has placed in my life.  I am continuing to strive towards Him, clinging to Paul's words in Galatians 6:15, that what matters is a new creation. Oh Jesus! Thank you for making me a new creation!

Whew! I just need to take a breath as I recall the events of the last week. It has been extremely packed and insane, not to mention an exciting adventure. These moments of summer come and go so quickly, yet I am so thankful for each and every one! Moments like telling my osages that we are going to unload a warehouse truck when we are really having a special Panera breakfast. Moments where we are dancing crazy at K-life and start a train, only to turn around a minute later and realize that all 250 people in the gym are following. Days when every time I look in my mailbox and find either a dead tarantella or a plastic cockroach. Afternoons where the trash talking between the boys and the girls over how well we know the devo rap is both ongoing and ruthless.  Evenings where the sun never sets, and every person over 18 years old is dressed as a character from a different country manning a booth at the World's Fair. Nights that we sneak down to campout to find that the barn has forgotten to go and we eat all of their smores. I just continually am amazed at how incredibly special this place is. There is no doubt that Jesus blesses this place beyond belief.

Let me just elaborate on a few of these special moments.

Each term we have Movie Night/Staff Cookie night. The leadership team takes all of the kids to the gym and watches a movie (this term it was Emperors New Groove) and all of the staff hang out on the lower fields and eat cookies. After a rotation of being with the kampers I headed down to the lower fields to find some of the staff hanging out and casually throwing the football. Now, lets just be honest here. I about jumped out of my skin in excitement because I love football. And after only a little bit of convincing we played a quick game. And oh let me tell you . . . my heart is so happy that as the sun was setting I got to catch and throw a football, and run into some people. Even if it only lasted 15 minutes.

Now, let me tell you about one of the wildest 24 hour periods that has happened so far. Saturday night a freak storm blew in. What started as a sprinkle ended up to be a downpour with extremely high winds and lots of lightning. In fact lightning struck a 300 year old tree in the church, splitting it in half, knocking it over onto the slough slide, and causing a power outage for all of Branson Kanakuk. With no power we could no longer have K-Life, so we defaulted to 4 scrapers and base drum and sent everyone to bed at 8:45. Thankfully the power came on by 10:30, but God must have known we would need a good night sleep.
The next day we had our osage ski trip. Just me and my amazing osages on the lake tubing and swimming all morning. I was not a very merciful boat driver. I flipped all of them off the tube multiple times (if they tell you they survived "The Missy" they are lying). It was a precious time together. I'm going to miss these girls. We spent the next hour laying in the barn all nursing our sunburns. Ha, no big deal!
For the next hour of what we call Super Sunday we played a version of "counselor hunt". Several of us dressed up as characters and hid at random places throughout kamp. The kids had to help the princess of the forrest determine if we were good or bad. I put on my default skit closet purple princess dress (honestly I go into the skit closet and try to figure out a reason to wear that dress), a hideous green wig, a huge pink hat, and grabbed an octopus. I went down to the slough where we have canoe class, and climbed into a canoe. I was supposed to be bad. I was Ursula the sea witch with my pet Pinky the Octopus. Honestly, I really had a ton of fun.
Then we had the Galactica Spectacula. A party where aliens have landed on the lower fields. We bring all the kids to the lower fields, and just after they get settled a helicopter (yes, a real helicopter) lands on the lower fields. People from NASA (really just leadership people) jump out and tell everyone they have to figure out what is going on. I was working the G-Force station. We piled kids into the boats and drove them in circles and figure-eights with their eyes closed. It was magical.

So to summarize, if you're still reading, within a matter of hours we went from no power, to crazy boat driver making amazing memories with my osages, to sitting in a canoe in a wig and a purple 80's prom dress, to watching a helicopter land on the lower fields, and back to crazy boat driver.
I love this place. Thank you Jesus for this incredible blessing.