"I wish that we could sail our sad days away, forever, in deep blue seas of paper maché."

Remember:

{I opened your christmas presents for you}

{We went tubing on the Meramec}

{We stared in amazement at the flying fish in the middle of the ocean}

{Isn't it nice to know the lining is silver?}

{We rode donkeys up a cobblestone path to Greek ruins}

{Our late-night talks}

{We had every song in Aristocats memorized}

{Bike rides in the winter}

{That time we made empanadas together}

{We waded in the ocean at Mykonos}

{You always pressuring me to go on all the rollercoasters}

{Setting up the town at Christmastime}

{We would swing in the backyard}

{Ella Fitzgerald's music}

"There's no better friend than a sister and there's no better sister than you."

So whether it's during the hardest time ever or these cherished moments, I'm thankful to know I'm not alone.

When I wasn't breathing...

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me."
~C.S. Lewis

Be Radiant.

"They looked to Him and were radiant..."

~Psalm 34:5a

Despite how often I change my mind about my favorite book of the Bible, there always is something special about Psalms.  Every summer for the past 3 years I've spent time reading this whole book, meditating on its words, praying its verses, and relating to David's cries and praises. 

In Psalms 34, David speaks of radiance.  I wish I had this.  I want to be someone that people can see Christ's love shining through.  I don't want people to see fear or insecurity or even shyness.  I want them to see a quiet radiance only found in Jesus.  That's my Psalm.  

Never Ever.

 “God never makes a promise that is too good to be true.”

~DL Moody

{For Such A Time As This}

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be doing my first year of college at home... well, I wouldn't have believed you.  Truth be told, staying home for a year wasn't ever really an option I desired or was even willing to settle for.   But here I am, with a year ahead of me before I head up North.  Some people have told me this next year is going to be awful, and for a while, I believed it too.  I would pray about it and tell God, "I know your plan is for good, but I don't get it right now.  I still love you God, but I'm not going to tell you thank-you for this... This shouldn't have happened." I had accepted His plan, but I wasn't going to show joy about it.  

While being a counselor at student life camp, I sat in a service with my group one evening and God really caught my attention.  I realized that God truly has called me into ministry and I am truly going to college for that.  I saw that even though I was a little unhappy about the first year, I should be thankful.  I can go to college.  I am going to my favorite college too, I just have to wait a little longer.  I am going to get an education there to pursue serving God, whether it's at Compassion International (an organization I'm becoming pretty interested in) or on the mission field.  Even though this all wasn't my plan A, it clearly was God's.  He will reward my patience and obedience.  

So now that I'm home for year, I decided to really get more deeply involved in the outreaches I currently do.  For example, now God has really put Golden Acres on my heart.  I want to see more kids there come to know God's plan for their lives.  I've been working with a group of people on the GA Bible study curriculum and now I'm writing a memoirs/book with my friend, journaling the next year of happenings in the community.  As for my involvement at church, I've been interning in the high school ministry.  I've been able to work on this missions/outreach blog (liquidoutreachmissions.wordpress.com/) and then also have been making preparations for this mission trip to Haiti (that my lovely sister is going on).  On Wednesday, on of the youth leaders asked me if I would lead my own small group on Wednesday nights... Exciting stuff! And next week I leave to go help out on a college campus with Student Life camp. I'm learning a lot already.

I told myself that my theme for this summer would be "I'm Ready."  Truly, I haven't had a chance to catch my breath to even think about it too much.  I really am ready for whatever God's put in my path, at least, I have been so far.  I'm learning more and more each moment.

"Here is the world.  Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” ~Frederick Buechner