Another Adventure :)

I am really looking forward to what the Lord will do in my life this summer. He is sending me to Peru for the whole summer, and I cannot wait! I am ready to go now, but it's a good thing I have a month to prepare myself mentally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually.
I am having to step out on faith that God will provide for me to go, and that I will be used solely this summer to glorify Him. I have no clue what I will be doing, but being flexible is my main vocabulary word. I realized last summer that without flexibility, I will drive myself crazy.
Thank You God for using me to glorify Your name. It truly is a remarkable privilege to be used by You!!!

Last week!

Last night was a great night, because Rebekah and I were able to go to the girls home. We did facials and nails and just hung out with them. They are great girls, and I pray that they will keep growing in their faith.
I can't believe this is my last week in Florence! It doesn't seem real to me, but it is definitely bittersweet. I am ready to get home and see everyone, but I will sincerely miss the people I have grown close to this summer. But the week is not over yet, and there is still work to be done!:) I cannot wait to see how the Lord will work during this last six days!

Blessings

So far this week has been a great week! Today at the YMCA we had 4 children come to know Jesus! Two boys and two girls. I was soo pumped after that! The lesson we have this week is about the man with leprosey and how he was so thankful Jesus healed him. I reminded the children that they too should always thank God for their blessings. But I am the first to admit that I don't thank God enough for what He has given me!



He had blessed me with sooo much! My wonderful godly family, amazing friends, a Christian education, a great church family, and all my needs are met! But mostly I am so thankful for Jesus dying for me and making a way to salvation. My Savior just blows me away by His awesomeness!!!! When I see a rude person or just a hateful individual, I am in awe of how Jesus also died for them. I am soooo thankful of His loving compassion to us! We, as humans, are constantly screwing up, but I am also glad God is more patient than I am. And now I am thankful that I have 4 more brothers and sisters in Christ!!! Hallelujah!!

Jamaica = One Love

There is one word that pops in my head when I think of Jamaica. And that word is LOVE. I fell in love with this beautiful country full of beautiful people!!! They are so compassionate and generous. My team went there to serve them, but they would also want to serve us and make sure we are enjoying ourselves. It amazed me that they would constantly have a smile on their face even though they barely had anything. I would see the poverty that they lived in and it completely broke my heart. I could not imagine it!


It was an amazing week though, and I feel sooo blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in Jamaica. We had VBS at Springfield Baptist Church, and it was of course not what we expected. My class was actually full of young adults instead of teenagers, and we did not have 500 as expected. But God still was glorified this week! In our class alone, we had two women that came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior!! I was so excited!!! It was a blast getting to know everyone, and the children stole my heart! I call the little girl in the picture, Tia, my baby girl. I fell in love with this precious child! She was by far the happiest baby I have ever met. All the children were so loving..


We went to Garland Hall Children's Orphanage, and that was a very special day for me. Immediately I had several kids grab onto me and would not let me go. I could see the hope and the love in their big brown eyes. So I tried to give as much love to them as possible. I wanted to take all of them home with me of course.


I have learned so much from their culture... they have taught me to be more laid back. No Problem Mon... IRIE... which means everything is good or will be okay.


Friday was the hardest day for me, because I had to say bye to everyone. I could feel the Lord working inside of me, and I cannot even describe to you what it felt like. It was an overpowering feeling, and I ended up having a complete melt down when I went back to my room. My heart breaks for these people, and I have a feeling the Lord will take me back there someday to once again work and to serve them. I ask you to pray for the Jamaicans, that they will all come to know God and that they will never stop smiling those beautiful smiles!

long days

So i am already exhausted this week and it's only Tuesday!!! Today was extremely long.. i had to go to the doctor, and it turns out i have a sinus infection and an ear infection all in one. There is some kind of big word that describes that but I'm not the best speller :)
But last night was a good night with the girls. We watched Akeela and the Bee, and our devotion was about letting our talents always glorify God. We also went to the senior apartments, and those ladies are precious! You can tell that they really look forward to visitors. So I'm super excited about our bible study we are going to do with these incredible women. I am also going to pray extra hard that I get well before I leave for Jamaica! I will appreciate all the prayers I can get...hint hint..:)
But this long day is not over, because I still need to work on the lesson for the YMCA! I know days like these will pass, and I also realize that I will probably look back and laugh!

Trying Times Come, but Good Things Can Shine Through

This week has been rough! It has by far been my busiest week while in Florence. We had Lifechangers this week (which is a youth camp that can come and work on houses for residents in their own city of Florence) It is based off Worldchangers,and I believe this is a great way for teenagers to give back to their community. Anyway, Rebekah and I helped on a crew for a few days,chaperoned all week, and pretty much did whatever Louanne told us to do! We still went and taught at the daycare and YMCA. Which something must of been going around, because pretty much each group of children acted like they just drank a liter of mountain dew! Which wasn't good, because I also got sick and was losing my voice. But it all worked out, and good things did happen this week! We had 3 youth come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior! We went to the back chapel building, and I went to see if any girl came that wanted to talk. Well it turned out that there were a few there, and I talked to Emily. She was a sweet girl, but she was a very confused teen. We talked until we had to go to bed. I praise God for allowing me the opportunity to help Emily hopefully understand that her #1 priority should be her relationship with her Maker. I have to give God all the glory for this! It has been an extremely hard week, but great things did happen! The picture you see is of the house my crew worked on, and let me say that it was in VERY poor shape, but by the end of the week it looked soooo much better!
Trials are going to come into every Christian's life, but attitude and faith are the two best attributes to have! I had to force some smiles this week due to my exhaustion and sickness. But I knew I could either have a lousy attitude and have a horrible week, or I could have a faithful attitude and have a great week. I think everyone should choose the faithful attitude easily! But so many times we choose the opposite,and it can kill a person's witness!! If a person is unsaved and sees a Christian viewing life as lousy, then how would they expect that lost person to want to become a Christian? I mean, why would anyone want to be saved if they see Christians acting like or viewing life just as they do? I am always battling to have a faithful and positive attitude, so I too won't ruin my own witness to others. I am the first one to admit that there are days where i just want to look towards the negative, but then I try to remember how truly blessed I am! This week I was in the hot, working hard under the sun, and once i started to feel kinda crappy I walked around that house I was at, and that neighborhood I was in. WOW.... I had NO reason to feel or have a bad attitude!!! Praise God for your tough days, because I guarantee that He will use those days for His glory!!!

Christians on Mission

Today was a pretty great day! Rebekah and I went to Southside Baptist to talk with the children at their VBS. They wanted us to talk about our different mission trips, and I made sure I stressed the point that each of them could also be a missionary too. One doesn't need to go far away to do mission work. I know that If I didn't go to Florence or Jamaica this summer then I would be serving in Greer! Rebekah and I were talking about this earlier, and we both think that many people view missionaries the wrong way. when they think of a missionary, they think of Africa or Asia, but that is not the case! Yes, there are international missionaries, and we desperately need them, but America is also in need! Just because you may not be considered a full-time missionary,doesn't mean that you are off the hook and don't need to witness to others.Every Christian is called to serve in their own jobs and community. Most people want to "go" on a mission trip, and they forget about their own city. I have to admit that I was one of these people, but now I realize that my own town needs to hear about the love of God too. there are children here in Florence, SC that have never heard the gospel before. This breaks my heart, and these children are so precious! One boy said that he wanted to be in Heaven too, and Jessie(Louanne's daughter) asked why, and he said "because that is where my daddy is." Talk about a tear jerker! But these awesome kids need to hear the message, and know that there is someone who loves them UNCONDITIONALLY!So i want to encourage every Christian to step up and be missionaries (whether it is in a grocery store, a homeless shelter or at your job).