its crunch time

exactly one week from today i will be leaving my home to start the trek down to atlanta with mama and daddy. these next seven days are going to be filled with trips to target and packing going up and down stairs so many times you get dizzy.  i still have so much to do its not even funny. i have to pretty much do all of my packing and having to figure out how on earth im going to fit everything for 3 months into my suitcase. i still need a laptop. and trying to make time to say bye to everyone seems next to impossible. i am stressed but at the same time i have this weird peace that i know is only from God. last night was the first time i have actually cried about the seemingly impossible task of getting everything done in time. but shortly after i started, i asked myself why i was letting myself get so discouraged and why was i letting the devil have control of my thought process. i started quoting a verse i learned way back in 4th or 5th grade at vbs. im not sure of the reference but the verse says "he comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others with the comfort he has given to us." over and over i was quoting that, he comforts us in all our troubles. he comforts us in all our troubles. what a wonderful promise. as i then started to pray, philippians 4:6-7 (that reference i remember) came to mind dont worry about anything but pray about everything. tell God your needs and thank him for all he has done then you will experience God's peace which is greater than anything we can understand. thats exactly what i did. i put the situation back into God's hands rather than doing it on my own and told him exactly what was going on and immediately i had that peace again. it is one of the most incredible things in the world.

alright well im headed to the mall to get some last minute clothes. please continue praying for me this week especially.

how it all began

 missions has always been a very important part of my family and its importance has been instilled in not only me, but my three siblings as well. for about the past ten years, my family has gone down to north carolina for an average of ten days. however, while down there we don’t do the “normal vacation-y” stuff, we volunteer at the jaars center which is part of wycliffe bible translators. i am usually assigned to housekeeping with my mom and sister, but i have also served in the day care they have for the missionary kids as well as the kitchen. i have also been a part of a team of a little more than 20 students and leaders that went to costa rica for a short term missions trip during the spring of my junior year. it was on that trip i found out about the gap year program and thought it sounded like an amazing opportunity, but it wasn’t for me. i was going to school to be a special education teacher; i had known that since seventh grade. however, god had another plan for my life. it wasn’t until the beginning of my senior year that i really started second guessing my future and questioning whether it was my plan or god’s. it was october, during the mission’s conference, that i knew for sure i was being called back to costa rica. it started off with a skit that i had been asked to be a part of.  my character was in the position of figuring out what she was going to do with her life and was having a conversation with God. i don’t think i ever expected that skit, any skit for that matter, to be so real and life changing. God really used that skit to speak to me. it was so amazing to realize how clearly i could hear him. but it wasn’t until a week or two after that that i really committed my future to God.  i was still holding onto my plan of going right to college, it was comfortable. not too long after that i was at youth group and the worship set that night was so convicting and i knew that i had to give my plans to God and let him lead me. the song that really affirmed God was calling me back to costa rica was i will follow you by chris tomlin.

where you go, i'll go
where you stay, i'll stay
when you move, i'll move
i will follow...

all your ways are good
all your ways are sure
i will trust in you alone
higher than my side
high above my life
i will trust in you alone

where you go, i'll go
where you stay, i'll stay
when you move, i'll move
i will follow you
who you love, i'll love
how you serve i'll serve
if this life i lose, i will follow you
i will follow you
light unto the world
light unto my life
i will live for you alone
you're the one i seek
knowing i will find
all i need in you alone, in you alone

in you there's life everlasting
in you there's freedom for my soul
in you there joy, unending joy
and i will follow

consider yourselves warned

disclaimer: i am not good at this type of thing and im by no means an english major. so these may possibly be the worst pieces of writing you have ever seen in your life (hopefully a little better than most letters to the editor in the syracuse post standard- im making no promises tho). my grammar and spelling as well as punctuation and capitalization will make any english teacher cringe, quite frankly i dont care:) this is just a way that i thought would be easiest to keep everybody up to date on whats been going on while im in costa rica.