Hello From Wet Florida

Yes you read the title right. Here in Florida it is very wet, it is probably down pouring outside as I type this. It has been raining on and off since I arrived on Saturday, with the sun attempting to come out for a few minutes before being over taken by the dark clouds. [the sun just broke through again]

So this whole trip started on Friday morning bright and early at 3am (atlantic time, 2am EST) waking up to head to the airport with my Dad. My flight left at 5:30, and part way during the flight I started to worry......I could not find my iPod. It had been in my pocket before but it wasn't there. I checked my bag but it was not there.....I would plan to check my other carry on that had been side checked (small plane, big bookbag, so i put it underneath). I was getting worried and thought that I would need to make a trip to Walmart once in Buffalo as I could not find it. As I was getting out of my seat to leave the plane i notice the Tim Hortons tea bag wrapper (which had been in the same pocket as the ipod) stuck between two seats, and sure enough there was my ipod that hadn't fallen through thankfully. Mind you if I had not looked down at the seat as i left, I would have actually lost it and had to get a new one. Once I got my bags I met my brother and he drove me to the Bus Station in downtown toronto.....my first time in T.O. So it was pretty cool.

The bus ride to Niagara went well......the bus had free wifi that worked!!!!!!!! (thanks Greyhound for the bus makeovers you done so far) so that made the trip better. Once in Niagara, I met up with my roommate from BBC, Meredith, and her sister and we went to see the falls and then headed back to their house in Buffalo, NY. I will say that I love the McLaughlin family, Thank you so much for having me at your house, I'll have to come back and visiting longer.

So the next morning I headed to the airport with Meredith and her mom, checked in and headed to my plane to fly to Atlanta. So this was when I first noticed that my foot was bothering me when walking. When I would go to step off my left foot, the back of my ankle would be in pain..(it is now Tuesday, still hurting, and i still don't fully know what happened.) My first flight was good, my flight attendant was really peppy, you could tell she really enjoys her job. Once in Atlanta, I had to change terminals (which included a subway ride), and waited about an hour for my connecting flight. That next flight to Miami was good......I slept for over half of it...infact I was gone before the plane even took off. This has never happened before. I even missed when the flight attendant was serving drinks. I landed in Miami and when wlaking through the terminal, my foot was really bothering me. But I was happy because I had found starbucks. What was even better was that when I came out of security I saw Bethany Giglio, I had not seen her in 3 years so that was pretty exciting.

We arrived at the hotel and I had to wait for my room for a couple hours. Eventually I did get one (one of the last three) and then some Leaders and LIT's all went to Gators for supper...it was yummy. I then went the the grocery store and bought a ankle brace for my foot...not really that it ended up helping at all. At 7:30 we started Leaders training and I got a chance to ice my foot.

The next morning we got up for breakfast and we had a time of worship in the hotel, and then continued on with leaders training. After lunch, we had the after to chill before the students arrived the next day. So a bunch us decided to head to the beach, which was nearby.....I got to go swimming in Florida....but shortly after it started to rain, and i wanted to make sure my camera stayed dry. (a BIG thank you to the kind people who let us put our things under their canopy until the rain stopped.) After it stopped raining we wnet back in the water for a while and then it rained again but this time with thunder....so we got out again and decided to come back as it was downpouring, but by the time we got back to the hotel it stopped so we went to the pool. It was a nice time to just chill. We continued our last round of training and got some rest.

Yesterday, the kids began to arrive all throughout the day. And last night we had our first FUAGNEM. (Fired Up And Going Nuts Every Minute), Thanks Jaime for the worship time. Following the service we began drama casting for Spellbound.... These teens were really good. I'm looking forward to watch them perform the drama. Afterwards we all headed to bed after a long day.

This morning we had breakfast, ahd some team time, and now the students are beginning their drama training and it is almost lunch time!!!!!!!

Thank to everyone who has been praying for me and this trip......please keep praying for my foot and that I can figure out what is wrong with it, and also pray for safety as we travel on Thursday....I'll check in in a couple days.

Total Abandon

I will go, I will go, I will go, Lord send me
To the world, to the lost, to the poor and hungry. Take everything I am, I'm Clay within your hand I will go, I will go, Send me

I wanna live for you
Go where you lead me
I wanna follow you
-"I Will Go" by Starfield

This past month as second semester started up, I decided that things would be different, that I might have a renewed passion and desire for God. Let's just say I totally set myself up for a major emotional roller coaster. Through regular chapel services, Holiness Advancement Week, my D-group a recurring theme seems to rise and I think that God was trying to tell me something. The aspect of dying to one's self and surrendering to God completely is something I've been constantly hearing, after having it come up some many times I thought, I think God is trying to say something.

Well tonight at BBC we had what is called Abandoned Devotion Gathering, which is a 5ish hour long service consisting of worship prayer for the unreached, and a whole lot of surrendering to God. We call it Abandoned because that was the focus, to abandon our lives to God. This could be said many ways, surrendering our lives, giving up our lives, or even.....dying to ourselves, our hopes and dreams, and fears, and completely giving God every aspect of our lives. Tonight, I did that. I was sitting there as the Starfield song was being played and I knew God was calling me to commit my life to his service in missions, but I was scared, and for awhile I held back, I kept thinking about if I really wanted or could actually do this for the rest of my life. I was essentially doubting God. But as the song continued to play, images of the people I met while in Peru, the kids and thir faces, they began to flood my mind. It was like God was saying, "See the joy YOU brought to these people and the joy YOU were filled with? YOU can do this." I began to cry out to God. Tonight I died to myself, to my hopes and my dreams, I abandoned myself to God. The thought having absolutely no control of my future scares the crap out of me, but that is the beauty of God, we can trust in that he has control. Bumps may arise, some small, some large, but God gives us the strength to overcome, as long as we trust in him.

Well spiritual stuff aside, (not that I have stopped thinking about it). Life has been pretty good. I am no longer a teenager, and I actually forget a lot that my birthday was a month ago. Nothing really changed.
Life is crazy busy which school. Next week is Mid-term week and I have 3 to do plus a test type thing in a class, so my weekend is pretty much going to be consumed with studying and project working. Two more weeks of work work work and then I get a break for Marh Break. That is pretty much the shinning light amidst all of this school stuff.

Be praying for my missions trip to Guatemala, funds still need to be raised as I have two remaining payments, also please pray that I might find a Job. I could really really use one, and it seems like I can't get anything around here. Sussex is nothing like SJ when it comes to looking for a part time job. SJ just has way more opportunity, but I guess that is due to the fact that it is so much bigger. There are still a few more places I can try, so here's hoping!!!!

Well I guess that is all for now. Good night.

2009, The year of NEW.

So It's the new year. Many things are new. A NEW semester of College with all NEW courses, (which officially starts tomorrow), many NEW faces of returning interns I have yet to meet, Brio Missions going to a NEW country... Guatemala, and I turn 20 in about 12 days....so I guess that means a whole NEW decade.

The thing that I really hope for this year is a reNEWed passion for God, that I would have a never ending desire to find ways to just totally worship God with my life. 2008 was just a constant longing to be close to God, no matter how much I tried, my heart was just never in it. I know it was probably the lack of effort on my part, but I just can't seem to understand why I could not WANT to do it. I guess that would be the work of Satan trying to pull me away and giving me doubt. But no more.

Soveriegn Lord, You know the deepest parts, I thank you for unflailing grace. Oh when I'm far away, You love will never fail. My rock, my fortress reveal you face. Take my life, Take may heart Take the sin that keeps us apart. Come revive us, send your fire You're the only one I seek. Your name is higher Your name is higher Your name is higher Your name is higher -lyrics from "Renew" by Tim Milner

This song just happened to play as I began to write this.....funny how God works. What amazes me is that even when I do a really crappy job at trying to draw closer to him, and pretty much put him on a shelf and not really even let him in, he still is there ready to take me back. Why? Just because he loves me, and he doesn't ever let go of us , no matter often we try to let go of him. I hope that this year I can draw close and actually work at it and not just go with the flow of things, and read the bible for me. I go to a Bible College, and it is pretty easy to feel like you are getting enough of god through chapel, small groups and bible readings for class. But I need to do it for me and not for anyone else. I think I'm going to start by doing to One year bible plan ( i know i've already have days to catch up on), and I think that this is the perfect place to share about my progress and what God is teaching me.

I could go on a lot longer, but I really must get to bed. It's late and I have classes starting at 8am. Have a wonderful year in 2009.