Oh heyyyyyyyyyyyyy God!

Helloooooooooooo everyone!  

(at least I like to think there's an everyone to say hello to...maybe its just one person haha!)

I'm sitting at registration for Surge 5!  How in the world is it already session 5?!!?  This summer is flying by.  This is our 5th session back to back and to say we're exhausted in definitely an understatement.  Also, I decided I wanted to wear myself out a little bit more by spraining my ankle last Thursday.  Well, what had happened was...we were about to go out to lunch so I went to get my car.  Of course I had parked down at the bottom of the hill (because we had to) and I was going to bring my car up to drive other people to lunch!  Well this hill I had to walk down is not my favorite.  I've fallen down many many times and this trip was just like the others.  I was walking with JB and he fell and stood up and I said, "Man, I hate when I fall down this hill!"  What do you know but as I was finishing my sentence, my right ankle turned underneath me and popped SOOOOO loudly and I went rolling down the hill.  This is definitely the worst pain I've ever felt.  However, I was really calm...kind of like the same feeling I got when I got in my car accident.  Honestly, the thought that went through my head was..."oh yay, just one more thing!"  All I could do was scream, no tears!  Crazyyyyy because I love crying but I just couldn't cry at the  moment which is a blessing in disguise.  

Literally the day before, I finally got things worked out from my car accident.  We are settling and things will be good again!  Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!  But hey, let's add another thing to my plate.  All I can think of is James 1:2-4:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

In my Christian Education class last year, I had to do a mini-lesson on this verse.  All I remember was talking about Ashley who worked with me last summer and she would always say, "Consider it pure joy!  Consider it pure joy!  Consider it pure joy!"...even when you definitely don't want to be considering any of this joy!  I don't see the joy in this injury.  Honestly, I'm tired and exhausted and hurting and just feeling like a failure.  I have to depend on others for almost everything and I'm really really bad at that.  I want to be able to do things on my own but I just can't.  I held in my emotions for Session 3 but by the time Session 4 came around, I was so tired of hurting that my sassy side came out.  I guess everyone saw the other side of me?!  I try to be super positive and happy and stress free in the summer so this is dampering what I'm going for.  I'm trying to be as nice as I can but its getting really hard.  To just be in pain ALLLLLLLL the time, it sucks....really bad!  Then when I'm tired from the day, I have to go back to the house I live in and since it was built in the 1920's it doesn't have an elevator!  And then I'm climb up to the 3rd floor where I live.  Its a struggle!

Sorry for the complaints but I'm in desperate need of some encouragement right now!  We still have 4 weeks here (with two little breaks) and I've got to get feeling better soon or I don't even want to see how sassy I might be at the end of the summer!  Also, I'm a little bummed out because I hurt my right ankle of course and can't drive.  I'm supposed to be going to ADPi's Leadership Seminar for all the Presidents today.  There's no way I'd be able to drive 3 hours home then another 3 hours to Atlanta.  I think my ankle would just fall off.  But I know God is using this in His plan.  For some reason I'm supposed to be here for this session and not in Atlanta even though I'm going to be missing out on serious ADPi time!  We have a break next Monday-Wednesday and I would really like to go home but it will all depend on my dang ankle!  I might be chilling at the lake for a couple of extra days but hopefully I'll get to see my fam!!!!!!!!!!!  (wink wink family)  Keep me in your prayers because I'm going to see the orthopedist tomorrow!!!! Praise the Lord because the doctors at the Urgent Care suck as well.  Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you're having a wonderful summer! :)

God is too good to me!

Whoa! I don't even know what to say.  God has seriously been blowing my mind.  

Yesterday was the beginning of the second session of Surge already!  This is CRAZYYYYYY!!!! These sessions fly by so fast :(((  First session was a little rough.  And by a little rough I mean, I just wanted high schoolers sooooooo badly!  I had middle schoolers in my living group (small group) and I just struggle with middle schoolers.  I just don't really have the patience and when I do have the patience its usually because they don't talk.  I know some middle schoolers can be awesome but I still just struggle with them.  I was so sad that everyone else was having an awesome time with their groups and I got the middle schoolers who wouldn't talk!  I know God has a purpose for everything so I knew there had to me a hidden meaning in there.  

Well, last night was the first time with my living group from session 2!  I got high schoolers this week so I was pretty darn excited!  Also Jordan and Tyler from the band were in my group.  So pretty much, my living group is awesome.  At the end, I asked everyone what they're hoping to get out of this week and what they think God's going to teach them.  DANG!!!!  I could just feel the Holy Spirit in that room and I know God is doing awesome work this week!  I left them with a challenge that we'll talk about every day this week.  I'm going to ask them where they saw God today.  I can't even wait to her their responses!!!!! I closed us out in prayer and I just started crying.  It was so great!!!! Y'all know I love to cry, not in a weird way!  Well I was just crying and so happy and so excited to see the awesome things God will be revealing this week.  

The youth are out on missions right now and I'm supposed to be working.  I'm finding it veryyyyyyy hard to concentrate because I'm so tired.  I know its my own fault but still I'm so tired!!! In the past two nights, I've gotten 7 hours of sleep total!  WHOOPS!  Saturday after worship, we went to Cookout with the band and got back at 2 and then for some crazy reason, I'd volunteered to make the week's slideshow.  So I stayed up until 4 making the slideshow.  It was awful...absolutely awful but it was done and that's all that mattered.  So last night I was like, "Yeah! I'm going to go to bed early and catch up on sleep!!!!" and guess what I did?  I stayed up until 2:45!!!! Jamie, Clay, Jordan, and I had a little adventure of a night.  We went to Walmart where Jamie bought a scooter.  She's literally a 7-year-old boy!  (love you grandbaby) We got cookie dough so we could make some cookies.  Then we went to Wells Fargo and McDonalds!  Finally we went back to Colonial where the boys finished some laundry and I made cookies, its what I do best!  Then we just waited and waited for the clothes to be done.  Needless to say, I need some sleep.  Fingers crossed that I get a nap today or this girl might not make it through worship tonight.

I am absolutely loving life and loving the lake!  I can't wait to see where this summer leads me.  God is doing great things!!! 

Happy June!

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Here I am writing from the crooked chair in the office at Shackford (the building we have our sessions in for the summer) working at Lake Junaluska (take 2)! I can't believe I've already been here 2 and a half weeks and the youth show up tomorrow.  I'm beyond excited.  God is really teaching me a lot already.  Last summer I prayed for a long time for God to open my heart before realizing God had been working in me the whole time.  So this year I knew I had to show up to the lake with an open heart ready for God to get some work done (not that He doesn't work on me at home or anything).  I just believe God brings me to the lake to take the rest of my hectic world away from me so I can get back to where I want to be.  I hope that makes sense, it makes sense it my head at least!  

Anyways, its been a whirlwind of a 2 and a half weeks at the lake.  I was here for a week before my mom called me and updated me on Nana's health.  The hospice nurse told us to get the whole family to here ASAP.  So I drove home in tears just praying she'd be alive still when I got home--she was and we visited throughout the weekend.  We thought it might be Nana's time to meet Jesus but nope!  I'm seriously convinced she's just trying to set the record for Most Times Surviving Hospice.  This was #3!  Go Nana!

Before heading home, we got our individual assignments and I'm leading the missions team in coordinating mission sites throughout the summer.  This is such an exciting position.  While I've been on plenty of mission trips and I love doing mission work, this position is very unique to anything I've done before.  I'm using my phone skills I've acquired in Admissions (thanks Parker!) and trying to work with as many places that need volunteers this summer as possible.  I know God is going to do great things and I've got a pretty great team I'm working with.  

Last weekend was a highlight I must say.  Saturday night, Miranda and I started watched wedding videos while making what seems like 5.6729 billion bracelets for a response we're doing.  So I found some new videos I really enjoyed, maybe you will too.  Also, I've shown many new people just how exciting and precious wedding videos are.  Of course I love love and I love weddings but what I really love most about these videos is I get to see people happy and in love!!!!!  Since my blog only likes YouTube videos, I can only attach a link but I promise you they're worth watching!!!!

http://vimeo.com/27437953

http://vimeo.com/27602415

http://vimeo.com/30823548

http://vimeo.com/29729997

And this one is definitely a top contender as far as wedding videos go....

http://vimeo.com/32350669

That's all for now! I can't wait to update you with all the fun stuff God's opening my eyes to.  Loves ya!!!