adventurous and living God

I have been so busy going from place to place I haven’t had time to just sit and think about all the crazy awesome places that I have been this summer.  Being at the beach with my family for a few days has given me some time to reflect on how Jesus has worked through me in such a short amount of time yet has worked in large measures.  My first trip this summer was life changing to say the least.  My home church, college group, went to Honduras.  We traveled there and began the process of building a church for a local village that was in need of a space to worship.  When you are in the comfort of your own home and even your own country, it’s hard to imagine what life would be life anywhere else.  That is…until you witness it first hand.  Seeing life in a new light as it was shown in Honduras is the hardest thing to describe.  Yes, it is full of poverty.  But when our group sat down the last night to talk about our experiences and our thoughts about our time there, we realized something that is hard to grasp back home.  There are three types of poverty: material poverty, community poverty and spiritual poverty.  Honduras lacks in material poverty.  From the every day essential to us being a bathroom, to the lack of clothes, food, and shelter.  These things are just that to them…things.  They see these things as extras.  As far as community and spiritual poverty, Honduras has abundant life.  Witnessing people love of each other and us so well is amazing.  They have nothing, yet they rejoice in the fact that they have each other and especially that they have a relationship with the Lord.  Life in Honduras is very different, yet I find myself desperate to go back.  We are desperate for a life that is full of joy.  While in Honduras I found myself encountering Jesus in ways that might be a little more rare in the states.  When I was building the church we were working on, I found myself marking cement blocks to be cut, while at the same time in deep prayer for the people who will one day stand in the very spot I was working and fall on their knees and give their life to Jesus.  I also encountered the love of Jesus through the faces of the children in the village we were working.  A simple piggyback ride lit up a child’s face.  When a little beautiful creation comes running from across an open field into your arms looking for comfort and someone to love on them and play with them, there is no better picture of Jesus.  Honduras wrecked my heart in ways I never knew existed.  Jesus truly does show up in the most unexpected places and in the sweetest faces.  I pray everyday that my sweet friends in Honduras know that they are loved beyond belief, boldly prayed for everyday, and little miracles to me and everyone who has witnesses the joy and love of Honduras. 

the quiet one, yet loves to look at all the cute pictures that he takes

Deuteronomy 11:10-12

Our Team 

My favorite fútbol team

my wild child Anderson

After Honduras and a few weeks of work back home, it was time to head to one of the greatest places on earth.  YOUNGLIFE CAMP.  Western Wake Younglife spent the best week on our lives at Sharptop Cove in Jasper Georgia.  I could not ask for a better week than a week with some crazy fun high school kids at a camp that allows them to escape the pressures and pain of day to day struggles and be released into this new atmosphere full of adventure, fun and learning.  Getting to lead the BEST high school, Middle Creek High School, was so great! From a muddy obstacle course, ropes course, jumping off a telephone pole to hit a bell, a hike, volleyball tournament, zip lining, the hoedown, formal night, and pool Olympics we had a blast.  Its amazing to hear that after all that exciting stuff though, the kids favorite parts of the week were the times in club, real life, cabin time and just hanging out with their leaders.  This was the time when they got to hear the great truth of the gospel.  When they were shown how life with Jesus could change the hardest heart and the messiest of lives and give them full and abundant life with a God who is crazy about them.  Watching my high school friends have the time of their lives this past week truly shows that we have a God who is adventurous and one who shows up in the midst of any situation.  Getting to lead alongside my best friends just adds to the joy of this ministry.  Waking up every morning and sitting on the porch while spending time with Jesus and looking next to you and seeing your closest friends digging into His word is encouraging in it self.  The Lord works in some pretty crazy ways.  One thing I love about camp is the opportunity to talk with your kids one on one.  One night, after we had heard to truth about the cross and had cabin time I realized one of the girls was still being quiet.  She had not opened up as most girls had that week during cabin time.  I watched as she went to the bathroom and then I followed.  There, I found a sixteen year old weeping in the corner.  We decided to go on a walk that night.  That is when she opened up.  Telling me the struggles and the pains of her life.  But it was then, when she told me that she realized that Jesus was the part of her life that she was missing.  It was then that we spent the next hour talking about the mystery and the grace and truth of Jesus.  The thing that happened next shows that God shows up anywhere.  By this time we had gone to a coffee bar they had set up outside that night for campers who wanted to talk more.  In that moment my sweet friend didn’t want to do life alone anymore.  She sat down her coffee, got out of the rocking chair and fell to her knees crying out to a God who she desperately wanted in her life.  My friend started a new life as a new creation with the Creator that night.  Her brokenness and emptiness was no longer hers.  Watching a hurting and broken teen fall on her knees and giving everything to a God that she realized loved her through it all, just shows that Jesus is working all around.  It also shows me that the boldness of the Holy Spirit is captivating.  It takes a lot for a sixteen year old to fall on their knees in front of strangers at a coffee bar.  That’s not an everyday sight.  But it is a sure sign of a living God. 

ropes course was our favorite

my main homie Anna Grace, also known as "AG"

the best team eva

sharing with my high school friends the story of how Jesus captured my heart

This next weekend I leave for Colorado.  I am working for a month at a Younglife camp called Crooked Creek. My sweet friend has new life because of the truth that was poured into her at camp.  I am so grateful that I get to spend a month serving campers as they play and run and hike and eat, but most importantly serving them as they experience the love and grace of Jesus.  Getting to do this along side my best friend Sarah will be a month I know will change so many others and me from the inside out.  I pray that I have the patience when I am tired to push through for those who are weary and broken in need of Jesus to rescue them.  I pray that I have strength when I am weak to push through for those who are wondering and lost.  I pray that I have boldness when I am timid to push through for those who are eager for that moment when they meet the Savior.  

and hey, I guess the view wont be that bad for a month!! 

 

favorite place at every Younglife Camp!!