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Sorry!

Hello friends... I know, I know, I haven't posted in forever and I am really sorry about that. Life has been crazy and hectic with the start of a new semester and life for me has changed dramatically in the last month. As I said goodbye to Duncan, God has opened the door to me in Edmond.

I have started my first year at UCO. I transfered, thats a huge change. It is way cheaper for me to go to UCO. I live in apartment by myself (I hope to find a roomate soon!) and really enjoy it! I have FOUR, yes four, jobs, and I am a full time student. My life is crazy, and sooo busy. I am praying for less bussiness lately. I need more time with God and more time with people. God is great though. Everyday is a new and beautiful day! More posts to come, I promise! I just wanted to apoligize for not posting in a while! I will soon when I have some time, ooh..and a laptop.

Good 'Ol Duncan!

I just wanted to update you on some things that I get to experience this summer while I am living in good 'ol Oklahoma! Due to the fact that there is usually nothing to do in a small town, I am determined to always find an adventure. 

One thing that I have grown found of are the antique and thrift stores all over town. The antique malls are filled with tons of cheap old stuff, and some of it is actually really cool! I find myself in there buying awesome jewelry and old books. I have been searching all summer for an old bike that I can paint and restore, but I haven't had much luck on that one yet! Also, the Goodwill right down the road has brought me many treasures! Amy gets mad at me every time I come home from there because of all the stuff I buy! The other day I found a dress that I loved! So I went to buy it, and the lady told me that since it had a yellow price tag on it, I could get anything I wanted in the store for free if it had a yellow price tag on it! Who knew that thrift stores gave away free things! I was amazed and sure enough found another dress with a yellow tag!

Next door there is a creepy abandoned house. Inside there is still junk left from the previous owners and in the backyard there is a shed filled with kids toys and dirty old clothes. Inside the shed, is what we think to be a home for 8-10 baby kittens! We see them crawling under the house next door all the time. Most of them are orange and white and two of them are black. We have been trying to catch them, but they are wild. I set out water for them every now and then, and keep trying to build a friendship with them by going and visiting ever so often.

Another thing I have become fond of is fishing! One of the first nights I was here, two friends, Stephen and Brett took me fishing! I caught tons of perch and a few catfish! I have never enjoyed fishing all that much until now, because in the pond we go in, they are always biting! It's always a lot of fun!

Ever so often, I peak my head out the backdoor window to check to see if our chicken friends have come to visit. There are a few chicken who love to roam around back there. We never knew where they were coming from or why they decided to make a seen in our backyard. Last night I finally decided to walk around and find out where they were coming from. In our backyard, we have an alley way where other houses back up to also. I walked our into to see where the chickens run off to, and sure enough there is a coop in someone's backyard where they live! 

Living in a small town has brought some great adventures and it has been fun exploring things to do here! :)

Home Sweet Home!

Hello everyone! Just to update you the student mission team to Mozambique, they made it home safe and sound last night! Myself and others from the youth group, parents, and close friends were there to greet them as they landed in good 'ol Oklahoma! It was great to see all of them, but humbling at the same time. I know my heart connected with thiers as they greeted all of us. All of us are happy to be home, but missing Mozambique with a passion. Everyday I miss it. I can't help but know in my heart that I will be back there again someday, and I pray everyday that God will take me back.

Two nights ago, one of my closests friends, Ashley Carter and I went out to the river to watch the sunset and talk about how amazing Jesus is. As we sat, we could feel nothing but a thick presence of His spirit and could not deny how evident He was. We sat at His feet, begging Him, crying out to Him, and thanking Him. He revealed peaceness in our hearts and things that I can't even describe. 

As we sat and prayed for a while, I felt God calling us just to sit and be silent and wait on Him to speak. We were obedient and did just that. As we sat at His feet and just listened, He spoke, as He promised He would. I felt Him calling me to just open my mouth. I had no idea what He was going to speak, but I felt an overwhelming calling to just open my mouth and start talking. I had no idea what was coming out of my mouth, or how God was even going to put it together, but He always works in the craziest ways. I started speaking and all I could see was a dark cave. I saw the cave with a light at the end of it, that was guiding me. I kept saying the word "light" and "light in the darkness", which I know is a constant prayer for Ashley. Her favorite verse is in Matthew where it talks about letting your light shine before men. Everytime I even hear the word light, I think of her because of that, and because of the light of Jesus Christ that she radiates. It's so true, and if you know her, you know that Christ is evident in her, and that the light of Christ in her is the best way to describe her.

Anyhow, I started praying and all of a sudden, behind us shines the brightest light. I thought maybe a cars headlights pulled up and shined our way, or maybe a street light had turned on. We both turn around shocked by the light. The clouds had just moved away from the giant bright moon that had lit right where we were at. We could bearly see anything before the moon came out from behind the clouds, but as soon as it did, we could see everything it seemed like. I couldn't hold back my tears because of the spirit pouring into that moment. God is a god of big things, and the way He shows them to us is amazing. I can't really describe that night to you, but I have never felt the Holy Spirit like that before. I am amazed at how the Lord is showing me more and more of His own heart, but yet at the same time, my very best friends are seeing just as much.

God is good, all the time! I am astounded and brought to amazement everyday because of what He continues to do. Thank you Jesus for showing me more of you! I love you!

God of the City

This is such a powerful song that has been on my heart for the last couple of months. The first time I heard it at FUEL I fell in love with the words. In Africa, I couldn't get it out of my head as we drove along the busy streets of Muputo. It was a perfect prayer then. Now, I still seem to find myself singing it or thinking about it anywhere I go. It is so powerful, just like our wonderful God!

You're the God of this city,

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation,

You are

You're the Light in this darkness,

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless,

You are

There is no one like our God,

there is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come,

and greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come,

and greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come,

and greater things are still to be done here

Mid-Summer Updates!! Sorry It's Been so Long!!

Hello all! I know, I know... It's been so long since I have wrote on here! Due to a call from my Dad today, saying that I needed to update it, here's to you daddy-O! :)

Well, the Lord is CONSTANTLY teaching me new things in every moment. I could never write in one entry all that He has been doing, but I will try and do what I can!

After Africa, I had MAJOR culture shock and over a month later, am still feeling it. I am constantly running and staying so busy that it can sometimes be hard for me to focus all my thoughts from what I experienced and I still don't think I have completely processed everything that happened in Africa. Just to give you an insight on a few reasons why I cannot completely process everything. I held babies who had been raped and thrown on the streets and left for death. I played with children who's mother and father both tried to kill them, but with only the strength from the Lord had the courage to live. I hung out with teens who had been taking care of the children at the orphanage for years, but let alone, never had anyone to take care of them.

I slept in a house the size of my room with no power or running water with a 10 month old baby crying through the night, due to thirst. I walked on top of a dump, my shoes were melting while the trashed burned and Mozambiquians dug for thier food and anything they could use or sell. I watched a woman maybe my age, eat some sort of fruit with maggots all over it. I saw dying children in a run down hospital, many with large tumors and infections. I talked with people who had never heard of the name of Jesus before in thier lives, and watched them fall to thier knees in shock of what He did.

Through all of this, I have never felt so much of the Lord. I saw the Lord moving in all of these things, despite the seeing the horor of it. I have never felt so much promise by God and the way He tells me that He WILL take care of these people. I have never seen healing the ways I saw it in Africa and among the people we simply layed hands on. The Holy Spirit was evident! God is powerful!

I couls sit here all day and write stories among stories of what God did in Africa. It would take me forever. I am still shocked and amazed by everything. I have learned to seek God in every situation, and to be able to see how God is so evident in EVERYTHING we do has been something huge on my heart. The Lord is providing, He is healing. My God is mighty to save!

Anyhow, I have been finding comfort in simple things everyday. God has been providing me with so many opprotunites and I have been jumping at every one of them. This summer has been a constant rush, but I have been finding myself drawing closer and closer to the heart of God like I never have before.

Soon after Africa lead me into a new adventure! Duncan, Oklahoma! I LOVE Duncan! I am working with the United Methodist church with Amy and Wopsle and learning so much about church and the ways it's done. The first week of June we took our middle schoolers to Disciple camp. I know I grew there and I pray that the kids got just as much out of it as I did.

The week we got back, Amy and Wopsle left for Falls Creek, only for me to be left in Duncan all alone for a whole week.. Not knowing anyone! I spent A LOT of time with Jesus that week, finding myself craving to be with Him when I wasn't. I also jumped right in and made a few friends! I am so blessed that God has put some amazing people in my life here in Duncan and it makes life so much fun!

A few days ago I returned from Student Life Camp in Roach, Missouri. I went with Crossing's Community Church where I had an internship before I came to Duncan. Seeing all the kids again was so much fun and experiencing that camp was the best! I have stories and stories to tell about it and loved every min. of it!

Tomorrow we leave once again for a week in Lawton for a camp called Youth Force. I have never been before, but we will be fixing up old houses and building relationships with people who do not go to church.

Life has been fun this summer, living out of suitcases and spending time with kids. I feel more and more equipped everyday for a future in ministry with youth. This summer has been amazing and I have never felt so blessed in my life. I will try to continue to post as much as I can, but it has been such a busy season in my life! But reguardless of what I am doing this summer, God is still at work in everything! God is moving people!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big day! Nearly 24 hours from now, we will all be together, preparing to jump onto a plane in just a few hours. What a journey! God is amazing and thats all I have to say, only because I do not have the words to describe His goodness.

My number one goal for this trip is to draw near to God, and to love Him with everything in me.

The Lord has been faithful! He has been pouring Himself in me more and more everyday! One thing that Blake keeps saying, that really sticks out to me is the word "Harvest". When he prays, he will say things like "the feild is ready for harvest", or "We will be your harvest".

This reminds me of a few scriptures, that I think will be really important for this trip.

Leviticus 23:9-11
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

Psalm 67:5-6
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.

Psalm 85:12-13
The LORD will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.
Righteousness goes before him
and prepares the way for his steps.

Matthew 9:36-38
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

"Ask the Lord of the harvest". Ask and we will receive. This is what our prayer needs to be. Ask the Lord for more workers. Ask Him for more "harvesters".

Lord, my prayer is to be Your harvester. Let me walk beside you so you can use me is ways which I can further Your kingdom. Let me never loose sight of Your glory and you righteousness.

You are enough for me Lord. I desire to be broken. I desire to be broken of myself and of this world, and molded into You. I desire for Your heart. You are my rock, You are my strength, You are my refuge. You are everything that is good and I delight in YOU!

Lord, we are faithful that you will protect our team. Keep us safe and FAR from danger. Keep the enemy away from us and leave a peace with our families. Lord, you are mighty and I love you so much!!! Thank you!

"Love is Here" -Tenth Avenue North

Come to the waters,
you who thirst and you'll thirst no more.
Come to the father,
you who work and you'll work no more.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed:


Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from His hands, from his brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
Cause love is here.

Come to the treasure,
you who search and you'll search no more.
Come to the lover you who want and you'll want no more, no.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed,


Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from His side.


And to the bruised and fallen,
Captives, bound, and broken hearted.
He is the lord He is the lord,
By his stripes he's paid our ransom
From his wounds we drink salvation
He is the lord He is the lord


Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brows.
Love is near, It satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.


Cause love is here
Love is here.

Rid us of Ourselves

In a week from today, team Mozambique will be frantically trying to catch planes and get as much sleep as we possibly can. The LORD is moving! Like NO JOKE! I have never felt so close to the Lord as I do at this very moment. God has been doing amazing things through everyone on my team.

Last night, the team from 2007 came to our meeting and talked with us and prayed with us. They were so encouraging and really helped us prepare even more for what is in store for us. When we prayed, the Lord revealed to us so many things to us. God is HUGE. He is bigger than I can even fathom.

Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.
"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!"

Lord, this trip is Yours. Everything. We want this trip to be cosumed with You, and only YOU. You can bring words and peace and justice, that we cannot. I ask that you consume us with your passion and your love. Let everything we do, be for you. Let us speak of only Your words and let us only recieve Your thoughts, and nothing more. Guard our hearts Father, and protect us from the evil one. Rid us, of ourselves, of our sin, of our guilt, and fill our hearts with nothing but you.

We declare that we want to recieve You, and know You more. Lord I pray that you will cleanse our hearts, and our minds. We want to start fresh. Give us a clean pallet, an open heart. Rid our hearts of the things that are not You. We lift our hearts to you. We give you a blank slate. We ask that you will take them and write on them. Write Your Words on our hearts. Write your thoughts and you voice. Make it clear to us what YOU want, and nothing else. Again Lord, GUARD OUR HEARTS.

Ephesians 6:19-20
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

We are madly in love with YOU God. We want to serve you as your people and as your sons and daughters. Thank you for loving us, and thank you for being so evident in our team, and in our prayers, and in our lives! You blow my mind LORD!

Mark 12:29-31
Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Thirsty
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD's renown,

for an everlasting sign,

which will not be destroyed."

Kentucky Mission Trip 2008!

Hello all! I have been SO bless to travel to KENTUCKY over Spring Break and I wanted to update everyone on how the trip was! So… I am going to enter parts on my journal entries from the trip onto my blog so you can read all about my time in Hazelgreen Kentucky! :)

Thanks! ENJOY!! :)

Sunday, March 16 2008

DAY UNO!

We are FINALLY in BEAUTIFUL Hazelgreen, Kentucky! After waking up at 4:30 a.m. and traveling 15 very long hours to arrive, myself and all the kids are SO anxious to start our work here. Everything I have seen of this state has been beautiful. The grass and water is green and we are surrounded by rolling hills. Not the Oklahoma kinds of “hills”, but the beautiful Kentucky hills. There are animals everywhere and it seems like ever one here must own some kind of farm animal. It’s gorgeous!
For lunch, we at in a town right outside of Hazelgreen, about 30 minutes away. We ate at good ‘ol Dairy Queen and it was delicious! It seems like they have all gone out of business in Oklahoma, so it’s nice to eat at one every once in a while. At the restaurant, we met up with Mike’s (the middle school youth pastor) dad and a man named Jim who put together the whole mission trip for us. They told Mike that the academy that we were supposed to be staying in was not going to be safe for us to reside at. Apparently there was some unsafe mildew caused by the basement that was flooded. But not to worry! God had a different plan for us and Mike’s dad and Jim had us all taken care of. We pulled up to Hazel green’s Day’s Inn, which seemed to have possibly been the only hotel in the whole town. I was shocked that we were going to be staying here and a bit disappointed we weren’t going to “rough it” since we were on a mission trip and all. But God showed me and everyone else that that’s not exactly what a mission trip is all about.
After unloading all of our things, we head over to the gym, where they tell us we will be spending a lot of time this week. It is a small elementary school that is very old and smells kind of funny. Jim tells us that we are about to split up into our team and go meet the families that we will be working with for the week. We load up and soon enough get dropped off at a trailer house. At this point I am pretty much thrown into this project not knowing a thing. The bus drops my group (5 middle schoolers) and I off outside, where I have no idea who the family is, what they want done, and no one to introduce us or tell us what to do. Great.

As we walk up to the house we are greeted at the window by children, and they just keep coming. We go inside and meet this 8 person family, living in a VERY small trailer house. There are SIX kids, in order:

Kaitlin (7)

Austin and Ed (6) who are twin boys

Brandon (6)

Chastity (5)

and Abigail (4). The mom’s name is Ellen and the dad is Jeff.

At first, it is really awkward. I introduced myself and my group and told them that we were here to serve them this whole week and we were really excited about working with their family. Since Jim told us not to work today, I asked the family if they wanted to play outside, since it was kind of nice out and the house was way too small for all of us to stay in. I was curious to see the rest of the house and what we would be doing, but Ellen was sick with the flu/strep thought, so Jeff came outside with us and the kids.

Outside of their house was a disaster. Out front, there was a little shed the man was in the process of building. There was also a large piece of wood covered in glass. Along with that was an old pick-up for sale, and a little dog who the man said had been in his cage for over a year. Also, there were two piles of sticks and trash being burned. In the back, there was trash everywhere. There were old toys, to dishes; even a toilet. Mostly, there was old insulation all over the yard. There were three fires burning in the back as well and an old truck half way in the stream.
We had a TON of fun playing outside with everyone! The kids LOVED us and opened right up for us. That was totally a blessing from God that we could spend that day with them hanging out and building a relationship with them. One of the twins, Austin, was playing down by the creek up me. We were talking about how awesome his cowboy boots were when I heard him say, “Ava, this is for you”. I looked down and he had a folded up dollar bill in his hands. I told him to keep his money and save it. Then he reached back in and said, “here, how about this?”. He had reached back in to pull out a few pennies and dimes he had. I said thank you, but I really want you to save your money so you can buy your mom something nice. He said that was a great idea and put it away. We continued to play with the kids for the rest of the time we were there.
While the kids were playing in the back, I got a chance to sit down and talk with the dad, Jeff. God is amazing and I am so glad that He opened up this door. Jeff really opened up to me and I was excited about what he had to share. First I started to ask him about his family and he could talk forever about it. Just to summarize, he told me that he and his wife had only been married for a year. None of the kids that we were playing with were his and his wife’s kids. They had both previously had kids before their marriage. The three older kids were his; Kaitlin, Austin and Ed. The three younger were his wife’s; Brandon, Chastity and Abigail. That explained why some of the kids were the same age.
He started to talk a little bit about his past with the three older kids. The oldest girl Kaitlin has a different mom then the two boys. She is only with her dad on the weekends and she stays at her mom’s house during the week, but still attends the same school as the other kids. Jeff has joint custody of her. As for the twin boys, their mom is a drug addict. Jeff said that their mom was not taking proper care of the boys and found drugs to be more important to her than her children. He said that one day, he found the boys dropped off outside his house and took them in. A few days later the cops came to arrest him for kid-napping. He was appalled that he could be arrested for taking care of his own children. He said as soon as he was released he tried to fight the mother in court for custody. He spent two months and thousands of dollars to get his children into his home. He ended up winning the case due to the mother never showing up in court. Earlier I had been joking around making fun of one of the boys for being clumsy because he had been stumbling around. Jeff said that the two boys stumbled and fell a lot because they were neglected and malnourished when they lived with their mother. He said they had fragile bones and bad hips. I could defiantly tell before he had even said anything that they were falling all over the place, but I did not realize that was the reason why.
He did not go into much detail about his wife and her previous family. I do not think that either one of them have been married before. At least that is the impression he gave. He said that his children know Ellen as their “momma” and that is who she is to them. He talked about having a great relationship with his mother and how she had died nine years ago. He said that her house used to be where his trailer was and that when she passed, he was so depressed he could not keep up with the house. He ended up lighting it and burning the house to the ground.

Jeff started to ask me what I saw going to school for. I told him that I was majoring in youth ministry and missions. He was surprised by my answer and he asked if my parents were okay with that. Nobody has ever asked me that one before. I have gotten lots of confused looks and people telling me I was sinning because I am a woman, but never has anyone asked me that one. I still don’t really know why he asked that but I thought it was awesome. I told him that I had only became a Christian about 4 years ago and that I was the first in my family. I told him that God helped me lead my family to accept Christ into their lives. He was really shocked but excited at the same time. He said that his wife loves to take the children to church, but he never went with them. He said they spoke in tongues and that he was a bit taken by it. He did not agree with the concept and decided never to go back. We did have a really great conversation about other religions and what it meant to be a “Christian”. I see a lot of potential in Jeff and I will pray for him when I leave here to go to church with his family and to seek God in all he does to become a great leader to his family and a true man of God. I am so blessed to meet him and I am so grateful that God opened so many doors for us to talk about God.While we were outside, I started walking around by myself for a few minutes. I took my camera and started taking pictures of EVERYTHING! I felt so overwhelmed by the beauty God has placed all around me. The trees and the hills and the children and the family we were with. God’s creations are so beautiful. Everything He has created delicately and perfect, the way it is meant to be. This was a great time for me to just sit and praise God for everything; the children, the conversation I was able to have with Jeff, being in Kentucky...

At about 4:00 p.m. the bus rolls around. We gave all the kids hugs goodbye and told them we would see them tomorrow. One of the boys got really upset when we left and started to cry. He was worried that we would not come back the next day. It was sad that he was crying, but awesome that we meant so much to him and his siblings. I am so excited to get to know this family better and so is my team. The middle schoolers did great with every obstacle we were handed today and I am really anxious to see them Grow in God this week. When the bus picked us up, we headed back over to the gym for some pizza. We ate, and then played a few games in the gym. After that, we headed over to the gas station down the road, which Mike has been talking ALL about. He has been SO excited to hang out at “the gas station”. Well, it defiantly was as great as Mike talked it up to be. You can get almost everything you need there! They also have a little bar area where you can sit and eat. In Kentucky, they have this drink called “Ale-8-1”, which is just a pop drink. It is made only in Kentucky and pretty much found only here as well. It’s delicious! I plan to take some home with me to last me a while!
Well, today was amazing. God is going to work through us here and I am pumped to see lives changed. Jim and Mike’s Dad are GREAT people. I have already seen God so much through my students in my group. They did such a great job today playing with the kids and having fun with them. I am excited about how God is going to change their lives this week.

DAY TWO!

We got off to a rough start today. When we were dropped off at our house, none of the supplies were there. I was told we were painting and doing dry wall. I have never done dry wall before and I was nervous about it since I was the only leader there. Jeff had to return to work today, so he wasn’t there to help. I called Mike and Leslie but did not get a response. We waited around for about 45 minutes, when Jim came to bring us paint. He brought the primer so we could start painting all the rooms. He left and we had no tape, tarp or stirring sticks. I looked around, and it was literally impossible to paint the wall without tape and tarp. We would have gotten it everywhere. The mother had not bothered to move anything so we could get to the walls. There was junk everywhere which made it VERY hard to paint.

We started in Kaitlin’s room. The only thing in her room was a bed, along with only a few toys, and lots of junk, that quite frankly was not safe at all to be in her room. She had a small closet with no doors and a small window that was accumulating mold and dirt all around it. Her bed had rat poop in it and so did every other crevice in her room. Below her closet were 4 drawers we were to paint as well. We pulled the drawers out and inside was a tone of rat poop. Below the drawers was even more rat poop, along with a mouse trap, with a dead mouse to be found inside. We moved the bed to where we could paint and found another dead rat.

Down the hall was where the three boys shared a room together. There were two beds with one tiny pull out mattress underneath one. One of the beds was broken and lopsided. There were dirty clothes all over the room. The walls were plywood, but had been painted an ugly green color. Whoever painted it did a terrible job because it was only painted to about 6 inches from the ceiling. I was shocked to find two holes in the ground in there room in two of the corners. I looked into the holes and could see the ground outside, and feel the cold breeze coming in.
Ellen told us if we needed to use the restroom, her toilet doesn’t work. She said there was a bucket in the bathtub if we needed to go. I walked into the bathroom where the mildew and dirt was so thick on the mirror that I couldn’t see myself through it. I looked down at the sink where rust had over taken most of the inside of it. In the shower/bathtub was the bucket we were to use. Thank God it was empty when I found it. There was also a mop in the shower. The toilet was shut and looked decent; I did not bother to open it. When I talked to my parents on the phone tonight, I told them that if these conditions were found anywhere in the area we lived, DHS would not be happy. The house was disgusting.
It seemed like we only worked for an hour or so before the bus came back to pick us up for lunch. We ate at the gym and soon headed back to work. When we returned, we finished the primer on all three of the rooms; the kitchen, Kaitlin’s bedroom, and the three boy’s room. Right when we cleaned our brushes, Jim showed up with the colored paint to go on the walls. Since the primer was not dry yet, and we did not have enough time to start on the paint, we picked up garbage in the backyard until the bus came. Ellen told us to just pick up the insulation and things that could not be burned. We cleaned up about 15 bags of insulation.
We finished about 10 minutes before the bus came to get us for dinner, so we played outside with the kids until it came. I decided to walk across the street to see what was over there and stumbled across a black snake. It REALLY scared me!
The bus came to pick us up and we went to go eat at Pattie’s Place. It was delicious! After dinner, we went to a small shop in town, which sold miscellaneous items, including knives and swords. I bought a Swiss army knife! Then, we went to Dairy Queen, where Mike’s dad treated all of the students to a cold treat! We did not get to go to the gas station tonight, so we went right back to the hotel after Dairy Queen.

There are two girls in my room who I just met on this trip; Madi and Abby. They are 8th graders at Deer Creek Middle School. I am so glad I am getting a chance to room with them and get to know them better. They are SO funny and think I am too. They laugh at everything I say and it’s so funny to be sarcastic with them. They remind me so much of my girls from Journey. They are great girls and I am so excited to invest more time in their lives after this trip.

I am so happy to be here in Kentucky. God has blessed me with the health to be here. I have been feeling great and I have lots of energy to work and be with these students. I pray that it will continue to stay this way. I think today the students in my group really saw how fortunate they are; I know I did. We all live in such nice houses with working bathrooms and floors without holes in them. We are so fortunate to have parents who take care of us. I am glad that this week we will learn how other live with not as much. Myself along with the students need to see that. God is good!

Day Three

Yum yum yum! We started the morning eating at Pattie’s Place! We soon started painting on the three rooms. My attitude was a bit frustrated this morning. I do not think that any student in my group has ever picked up a paintbrush before. Since there are 6 of us, I started everyone out with 2 students in each room. Since I could not mediate the other rooms, the kids were having fun instead of working, which is okay sometimes, but not in this case. I went to the boy’s room where they had been painting it blue. Well, when I walked in, it seemed that there was more paint on the student then there was on the walls. I had to go by every room and teach them how to paint correctly, so we could possibly get away without having to do a second coat, since we did not have enough paint to.
The dad, Jeff was home today since he did not have to work, which was a big help. Kaitlin came back from her mom’s house because she really wanted to play with us again. With the children all at home, it made it very difficult to paint and get things done. Since the rooms are so small, it is hard to move around with all the junk and a lot of people in them. We tried to shew the kids away but they kept coming back.
We only got to work for two hours before the bus came for lunch, but it seemed like we had gotten a lot done. We were on a roll and I was a bit disappointed to leave so soon. When we came back, the kitchen had been completely painted. Turns out, while we were gone, Jeff painted the entire room. That was very nice of him and very helpful to us, even though we didn’t want him to do it.

We started painting again and the student finally got the hang of it. We were off to a great start when Jim pulls up in the truck to take us horseback riding. We had only been working for 20 minutes. Jim says that we need to be having fun as well as working. I think the fun part overweighs the work part on this trip, but that is okay. I need to realize that these are only middle schoolers and that they don’t completely understand the concept of a mission trip yet, and that yes, should be having fun too. Horseback riding was a great idea. The students loved it and it was a lot of fun, except for the fact that I almost got thrown off of my horse. I thank God that it was me and not one of the students. Mike let me take the horse and trot on it myself, since I know how to ride horses. I went around a few times when and I figured the horse had the hang of it. I wanted to go a bit faster and I guess she didn’t. We flew around the corner and the horse didn’t want me on her back anymore. I was literally hanging off the side of the horse before I just jumped off. Mike thought it was pretty funny, I didn’t agree.

We went back to the house and immediately started working. We worked fast and diligently. I felt like I was being bossy the hole time, telling everyone what to do, but it was needed. Brandon, one of the students, and I finished painting Kaitlin’s room so I decided to try to clean it out and organize her things. We cleaned up all the trash on the floors and vacuumed it out, which probably hadn’t been vacuumed in maybe a year or more. We cleaned up all of the rat poop from under the drawers and started to clean out from under her bed. There were three boxes filled with junk under her bed. I looked through them and found two rusty round saws inside of them. I couldn’t imagine a 7 year old girl with a rusty saw under her bed. That is defiantly NOT safe. We organized everything the best we could. In her closet we filled a small box with all of her toys in it. The box was VERY small and had only a few toys inside. Brandon and I were talking about how her toys didn’t even compare to how many toys we had when we were younger.
While Brandon and Carly finished painting the boys room, I tried to move the beds back into their place and organize their toys. They did not have junk in their room like Kaitlin did. We only had about 30 minutes left until the bus came, so I let the students go outside to play with the kids before we left. While they were outside I walked around the house to see what had gotten done today, and what was left to do tomorrow. We only have about an hour or so of work tomorrow, which is great so we can spend the rest of the time hanging out with the kids before we leave. When I went to check out the boy’s room I sat on the bed to take a little rest. I could hear the kids playing outside from the window and I just started to pray over the boys and their room. I prayed that they could find their room to be a safe place and I prayed for their lives in Christ. I was only in there for about ten minutes before the bus came.The bus came and we ate dinner at Pattie’s again. After that, we went back to the gym to play games and do our devotionals. At the gym, we always play gotcha and dodge ball. I love playing dodge ball with the students and find myself to be very competitive, as usual when I play sports. It is a lot of fun. After we finished our devo, we went to the gas station again, which is always a fun time. I bought 2 cases of Ale-8 to take home to my family. When we got back, we went straight to our rooms to get ready for bed. I stayed up WAY to late hanging out with the girls, but I think I got a good work out laughing at them. Today was a great day. We got a lot accomplished and God has really blessed us.

Day Four

I accidentally woke up late today! The girls and I rushed to get ready and go downstairs to load up on the bus. Today is our last day in Kentucky. We headed to Kentucky University to visit the campus and basketball area. We went to the book store (which is about 40 times bigger than our bookstore at OC) and I bought a KU t-shirt. We walked around campus and visited the basketball arena. We got to see where the practice court was, but was not able to see the main gym.

I woke up feeling kind of sick today. I am finally out of energy and needed a pretty big boost this morning. We went to Wal-mart and I bought some fruit and an energy bar, which helped a lot. We ate lunch of the bus on the way back to town. Mike decided to stop at the Ale-8 factory and take a tour, which was a lot of fun. After that, on the bus Mike told us that we were not going to go back to work today, due to the weather and students getting sick. He said it was best that we go back to the hotel and rest for the remainder of the day. I was not happy about that. I really wanted to go back to our site and finish what we started and see the kids for the last time. I had bought them a few toys at Wal-mart and wanted to make sure they got them. I was really upset that we could not say goodbye to them.

Well, even though I was mad, God showed me that He had a different plan than mine. Since I was feeling sick, a nap is really what I needed. I would have ran out of energy if we went back to the site, and as much as I hate it, going back to the hotel is really what everyone needed. Mike was right on his decision. After my nap, Abby, Braden and I went for a hike in the woods behind the hotel. It was a lot of fun.
We went to dinner again at Pattie’s Place tonight. It was delicious as always. We came back to the gym and played a few more games of dodge ball, which was REALLY fun and really intense! After that, we got in a circle and sang a few worship songs. Then, Mike lead into a time where we could share our “God moments” of the week. He asked us to tell how we saw God working this week. I can see that God really worked in the students lives this week. I know that these students will not walk away from this trip unchanged. I have seen them grow closer with God and closer with each other. They have matured a lot this week and have learned things that they could only learn here.

We leave at 5:15 tomorrow morning to head home. I am so thankful for the opportunity to travel to Kentucky this week. I am thankful for the students and the lives changed on this trip, including mine. I have grown so much closer to God, and learned more about leadership, and just being a good friend to these students. I am excited to see what God will do in their lives when we get back. I am excited to see the change that a lot of them will make and to see where God will lead them to serve. They are great kids, and I am blessed to be surrounded by great leaders who put everything together. But most of all, I am so blessed for what God has done. I hope and pray that what we have done in Kentucky will only glorify God and not ourselves. I pray that when our family see’s their new colorful walls, they will remember God and the reason f why we came to help them. I pray that they will not see us, but they will see God at work in our lives. Thank God for that family! Thank God for Kentucky! And thank God for this week to spend with Him! :)
Tomorrow we get to go to a museum in St. Louis called the city art museum! It should be fun!

Dear 2008...

Happy New Years! I cannot believe it is 2008. That is just a weird number! I am very excited with the new upcoming year! But today, I wanted to write about all the wonderful things God did in my life in 2007! :)

2007 has probably been one of the most exciting times of my life! I have embarked on so many new adventures and God has been so good to me! The blessing that He has shown me are unspeakable! But I am going to try my best!

Well... Lets start from the top! In February, I went with student Journey to the Student Life conference at Crossing's Community Church, where David Platts spoke, along with others. Also, Leeland and Charlie Hall led worship! This weekend CHANGED my life! I learned that the bible is FUN to study and I really like to study it now! As soon as we got home, I ran out to buy myself a brand new study bible. Also, during this weekend, I decided to sponser a child from Uganda, Africa. She is so beautiful and every month I anxiously await her letters!

In March, I traveled to Reynosa Mexico, again with Student Journey. After having the most amazing experience two years agao on this same trip, I was doubtful that it could get any better. But of course, God blew me away, and the trip may have been even better than the first. I got to meet so many people of the community we worked in and actually got a chance to show off my mad Spanish speaking skills! I got to hang out with kids everyday and LOVED every min. of it! I have such a passion for Reynosa, and pray all the time that God will make a way for me to go back there someday!

During these times, one thing imparticular layed heavily on my heart. In December, I was asked to join a team of college students to travel on a mission trip to ALBANIA! There was not a doubt in my mind that I should go! Not only did I get to go on a mission trip with the MOST wonderful people I know, but I got to share in a mission with my former youth pastor and his family, Robert and Jenny Wheelis, who are two people who have impacted my life tremedously. Not to mention, I got to see thier two sons who I absolutly adore, and their brand new baby daughter they adopted from China, who I had yet to meet! Thinking and praying about this trip was honestly something I did 24/7. We had constant meetings and prayer time for this trip, and spent a lot of time preparing for it.

In April, I was warned that I might not be able to travel with the team, due to the lack of funds I had. I had sent out support letter, and worked as much as possible at the church to raise money for the trip, but Satan was still trying to hender things by using money to get in my way. But he was unsecceful! I prayed and prayed and prayed and relied on God through it all and HE PROVIDED! Just like He always does! I recieved a VERY greatful gift to help me pay for my trip. God had me covered every step of the way!

After four LONG years, I finally graduated high school in May! It was a huge stepping block (for my mom mostly) and a very exciting time in my life. I was offered many scholarships around the state and a few outside of the state. After a lot of consideration, I chose to go to Oklahoma Christian Univeristy so I could major in youth ministry. But before I was to start that new chapter of my life, I had a long summer ahead of me!

As soon as school was out, I was on my way to summer camp. First stop: The beautiful Heart 'O Hills, for Disciple camp! This is a camp for middle school students, and my good friend Emma and I were student leaders. Together, we lead a group of 8th grade girls. I am pretty sure that WE learned more from the whole week than they did! These girls were brought to us for a reason and each one of them has such an amazing purpose for God's kingdom! I am hopeful to see all of them again next year!

As soon as it was time to say goodbye, up comes FOUR charter buses full of STUDENT JOURNEY kids! It was time for Student Journey Summer Camp! And this time I got to be a camper! This week was full of intense games and crazy fun! But more importantly, it was FILLED with God! We had the most amazing leader, who is now one of my best friends.

Even though I had one of the best weeks of my life, the last couple days of summer camp were very hard for me, and I was VERY ready to come home. In March, I kept getting little infections all over my body. Durning the last days of summer camp, it flared up big time under my arm. After I returned home, we found out that I have MRCA, and infection known as Staff, but MRCA is a bit worse and can be really scary. It is a skin disease. It can be very dangerous if not controlled. I was put on some very heavy antibiotics and I have to be very careful about my hygein. It is something I will have for the rest of my life, and I will have to take frequent trips to the doctors office. Through all of this, God has been so faithful to me. I know that He never gives me anything I can't handle and I know that things could be much worse. Thank God for medicine and technology!! :)

FINALLY, after much anticipation and months of praying and preparation, it's time to go to ALBANIA! We spent two weeks in Albania ministering to missionary students. It would be an understatement saying that God taught me SO much! I learned so much more about the importance of missions, and I literally saw God's kingdom being transformed. God has placed wonderful people in Albania to produce His fruits and to teach others how. I cannot wait until the day when Albania becomes a country who KNOWS GOD!!! :)

At the end of July, I went to a summer camp called Day Spring. It was my very last camp as a camper! Without a doubt, God provided a way for me to go there. I went to the camp knowing hardly anyone at all, but left with so many new friends! Also, God spoke to me in ways He never has before. I was overwhelmed with joy in the LORD and learned so many new things about my faith!

Here comes August! I am finally in college! Scary! I moved into the dorms and have met wonderful people and have made so many new friends! I ended this semester suprisingly succesful. Also, I started a new job at a church in the city as a youth intern! It is called Crossing's Community Church and it is one of the largests churches in the state. I love it and I love working with my students and I am learning so much about ministry!

This next year has so many more opprotunities to come! I am in the early stages of praying for a new journey to Mozambique, Africa this summer! I am VERY excited about this opprotunity and KNOW God is going to provide every step of the way! Just like He always has, as everything above has proven! God is AMAZING and His faithfulness never fails. His glory will reign this next year and I am SO very excited to see and live the wonderful plans He has!! :)

God Bless you all and may God lead you in every step you take in '08!