"Why, yes. Yes I am!"

My lovely sister Sarah turned 15 yesterday. She also spent half a week with me because the rest of the family was at camp and she had to work at here semi-new job. We had a lovely time.
She is such an earthy home girl at heart. Right now she is in the kitchen going on about the garden. Picking cumbers and squash thrill her! She sent me a text the other day that said "hey! guess what? we have lots of garden goddies ourselves. today i picked a cucumber, squash, and a beautiful zuchhini. dont you judge!"
She also has a wonderful creative imagination that only a few people see. She loves to scrapbook, collect buttons, write out words in funky ways, and organize things in a unique way. She enjoys taking things that can no longer be used for their original intention and makes them into something useful or decorative. In her room she has an old cookie sheet in a book holder with magnets on it. She also displays her large earrings on tennis rackets. She loves to read blogs. Most of the time when I write mine, I act like I am only writing to her.
Anyone who has known her more than a day knows she is basically the most hilarious person a person will ever meet. She knows how to tell a story well and always creates the best come backs. She also has a large supply of one-liners that she seems to pull out of nowhere. the other day I did something utterly clumsy and she said, "Hey, you want some nuggets to go with that fail sauce?!" She was only jesting of course. And while most people know Sarah was being hilarious, there is so much more to her than that. Many times that funny mode is a way to smooth over an awkward moment, release tension, or mask what she really thinks or feels about something.
In reality, she is quite sensitive. I do not mean that she is emotional, which she can be sometimes, but that she is in tune with the feelings of others. She knows how to draw people out of themselves, to make them comfortable, and to feel loved. People are drawn to her, yes because of her humor, but because when she is with someone, she sees them. Exactly how they are.

Trusting has never come easy for Sarah, but when she does you see a very beautiful woman. She shows you that she loves you by the time she spends with you.
She can be a girly girl. She loves to where a dress, put on a pair of heels, and accessorize, but she has never passed up the opportunity to play a game of football. When all the girls are sitting inside and chatting, many times you will find Sarah out with the boys, not flirting, but beating them at whatever they are doing.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like hot chocolate, going for a walk, or swinging on a hammock.
Last year, I wrote her a letter to explain to her some things that where going on in my life. In it, I shared my prayer for her life. While those words where written under different circumstances, they are still true today.

"I love how you can make anyone and everyone laugh, how hurt when you see the pain of others, the injustice in the world. I love your tears, because they show your sensitive heart. I love your dramatic flare, because it shows your desire to create laughter and smiles. My prayer for you, my dear sister, is that your eyes will fill with tears because of an aching heart at the thought of people spending eternity in hell without Christ. I pray that the Lord will take your dramatic flare, and use it to win people to Himself, to bring them a deeper joy than laughter. Your gifts and abilities are God-given. Use them for Him!"

And now as she stands on the threshold of womanhood, I see that prayer being answered. I am learning to step back, watch, and answer with pride when someone says to me, "Hey, are you Sarah's sister?!"

"Why, yes. Yes I am!"

The Dot Game

Many times throughout a day at day camp, I may have a kid with me for some reasons or another...they are not feeling well, the are waiting to get picked up, or maybe they forgot a swim suit (how someone could do that at Aquatics Camp, I have no idea!) Whatever the reason, I love to do things with them, instead of just having them sit there. The Dot Game is one that I pull out frequently because all it requires is two people, a sheet of paper, and a writting instrument.

"Changing Lives and building Character"

It is an oh-so-true motto of a wonderful place called Camp Hope.
Not a summer had gone by where I have not laughed, cried, made friends, learned about my Savior, discovered things about life, played, and more at that little piece of heaven.
Well, not a summer until this one. And let me tell you, it is strange not being there at all this summer. I mean, I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be, but I missing being at camp. Badly.

Last and Next

Last
My weeks are starting to run together. Oh the joys of a job! So, sorry to bore you again with little pieces of my week, but it helps me keep it all straight. So here goes....
* Hawaiian week at camp. Did we really do anything with that theme? Of course not.
* Giving a group of kids bottles of paint and telling them to use their fingers. Good one.
* Talking to an average eight-year-old middle class white kid from Augusta, GA. He was having a rough day at camp. Whenever I talk to kids on-on-one like that, I am always praying I will have some way to change the conversation around to the gospel. Through the conversation it became clear this kid had no concept of who God was. No idea.
* Riding in car with my brothers and two of my sisters.
*Dinner with Dad and the siblings.
*Dressing up and going out with roommates. See ^.
*Jumping on the trampoline.
*Counselors getting sick, which meant I got to fill in. :)
*Coffee with Becca.
*I John 1:2
*Reading.
*Sunday School.
*Wasting time watching a movie.
* Tuesday Night Dinner.
*Missing Camp.
* Practicing Socialism.
*Getting sunburned.
*Emails.
*Rejoicing in souls being saved.
*Clepto.
*Dancing. Hahaha.
*My siblings giving me an intervention about conversing habits. Basically, I talk a lot.

Next week....
The theme for camp is "Pirates and Treasure!" Now this is a theme that I stoked about! Hopefully more about that after the fact, though.

Nationals

My sister, Ashlyn is a rower. She made it to nationals this year. They were in Cincinnati. I had never been to a race before, so I went. She is 9th in the nation and top in the Southeast in her the women's lightweight four division. Pretty good, eh? I'm proud!!

Highlights from my week...

* Filling up water balloons with the older boys from camp.
* Dinner at the house Tuesday night.
* Going to Lincolnton for a night. Refreshing.
* Sliding on hardwood floors, building a fort, and playing salon.
*Early mornings and late nights. Those kinda run into each other.
*Reading
* Hearing kids say the funniest things.
* Reading Romans.
*Sitting around after work with the counselors telling story after story from the day.
*Laughing and crying.
* Experiencing God taking a horrible situation and molding it into something beautiful.
*New friendships.
* Getting payed.
*Time with siblings.
*Studying.
* Learning what unconditional love looks like.
*Good conversations.

At the end of the day, God is good and knows what's best. Always.

Cincinnati Bridge

I should be seeing it some time tonight.

Different

Sarah and me with our serious looks and Ashlyn's foot. Sisters. Alike in so many ways, but yet different in so many others.

It just keeps going up...

...and I like it that way. Curly hair, sweat, and a tan. What could be better?

:)

I spent the afternoon in Atlanta with Catherine. We went to a locally owned pizza place. This ----> was the tip jar. For some reason I really liked it and wanted a picture.

So there you go.

Simple Joys

Fresh clean sheets and not setting an alarm.

The Story

I have had people ask for the story of my move to Augusta and what is going on in my life now. I figured I would write it all so that they could know, but mainly so that I would not forget what the Lord has done in my life. Because I forget oh so quickly. This is not meant to offend anyone, but just a way of getting my thoughts down. So please do not make assumptions, but ask if you have questions. Because the background of my move is my whole life before...my thoughts, my dreams, the actions I have taken, the people I love, and my goals in life, it is hard to know where to start, so I just will and hope that it makes sense.
I love America. A strange place to start, but please let me explain. By traveling around the country, I have meet so many different people with stories to tell...all people who need Jesus Christ as their Savior. Many of them believe that there is a God, that the Bible at least contains truth, that there is a person called Jesus who supposedly rose from the dead, that they are people who are not perfect, and the list goes on. If that person dies without Christ, they will spend eternity in Hell. They do not realize that Jesus Christ is God, that He died and rose from the dead, for THEM. That He wants, longs for, a relationship with THEM. So many people just need someone to share the good news with them, and then they will accept it. Of course there are many who won't and still others who have never even heard the name Jesus Christ, and they need to Lord too. But it breaks my heart to think of those who know so much, but are so confused.
On top of that, I have spent the past 20 years learning American culture. I am American. I know what they think, how they think, what is going on in society. I do not have to spend years getting to know a new culture,m because, well, I know this one already. This is where the Lord has placed me.
But there is another culture that us becoming a part of our American culture. Anywhere that I have gone in America....a rest stop in Ohio, downtown Kansas City, California, New York, even the Masters in Augusta, I have always met people who I have not been able to talk to, because I do not speak Spanish. I mean, I took it in highschool, but that meager bit was just enough to cause me to embarrass myself whenever I tried to speak Spanish. Ever so slowly over the past few years, my desire to learn Spanish has only increased. Increased to the point that I think I would be wrong if I did not pursue it. I think the best way to learn another language is to be around it all the time...to live in it.
God has also shown me that He loves to work through the church. He wants the church to be see people saved and then discipled, so that others can be saved, and then more discipled, and so on. Not that I do not think that God cannot work through other things, but He has left the church here, with Christ as the Head, to carry out His will. I want to be involved in that to the fullest extent possible.


I also longed to be a part of my family's lives. Not that I was not, but just not the extent that I wanted to be. I know that I will not be closely connected with each of their lives forever, and I was not for almost three years, but again, the desire to be with them, to know them, to share in their blessings and tears, to just be there, well, that desire just kept growing too.
When I originally talked to the men in leadership at my church in Augusta about staying on and working with The Ezekiel Project, they suggested that I commit to one year and see where I was at after that. With that one year coming to an end, I knew it was time to leave, but I just did not know where I was going. I wanted a place that I could be at for a year or so, a place somewhat close to my family, a place where I could finish school, get a "real job" (I had never had one before), save some $, be involved in a church, and start learning Spanish. I also wanted to spread my wings a little bit, if you will. While I was in Michigan, I lived with Christians, worked with Christians, all my friends were Christians, and well you get the picture. I want the chance to grow, to get out of my comfort zone, to be in the place where I would only see God as my refuge.
I started to put all this together about the end of January, but I kept it between me and the Lord. While I was in Germany, I learned that some very dear friends of mine were going to be living together, along with some other girls, and I asked if they had room for one more. They said yes. About a year ago, someone who worked at the YMCA in Augusta told me that if I ever wanted a job there, that they could get me one. I emailed her to ask if that was still the case and she said yes. When I came to Augusta for the Masters this year, I talked with my family and others about what their thoughts were. I also wanted to see how everything was going to fall into place, and while everything was not settled, it became perfectly clear where the Lord wanted me.
So I went back to Michigan, finished out my few weeks there, packed my things, said goodbye, and started the drive to Georgia on May 2nd.
What has happened in my life since moving back, all the little details that the Lord has worked and is working out, the circumstances He is putting me in, the opportunities He is giving me...well, all those things are still falling into place, so I do not feel capable to write about it now, but let me tell you, I am excited.



"...having determined their appointed times, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, thought He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist..."

The pictures are from last weekend, from Sarah.

Breakfast...

...has become one of my most favorite parts of the day. I happen to have a lot of favorite parts, but this is one of them and still special.

Some of us roommates where talking a few weeks back about wanting to have dinner together regularly. But it quickly became obvious that it would be impossible to get us all together one night a week. Things like classes, clinicals, Bible studies, work, and other things stood in the way.

Then the bright idea. Breakfast. We all leave within an hour or so of each other, so it works out amazingly. So every morning at about seven, we all gather around the table to a meal that one of us has made. That means that I only have to cook once a week or so.

We find out what is going on each others' days, laugh, go before our God together, and just talk. Have you ever experienced something and known at the time that it was something you were going to miss? Yes. Those moments are ones that I am going to miss and be forever grateful for.