Well... I'm super sorry its been nearly 2 weeks since I've last updated you on things... terrible me. Anyways :)
Well... its been a totally crazy past few days... I honestly don't even know what to sit down and write about... I just know I need to process through some things, so that I don't forget later.
So, I'm leaving in 3 days... yesterday was my last day of "work" and it was such a great great day! I was blessed, embarrassed and so many other things :) they tried to make me sing my national Anthem at youth... well lets just say I've been out of the country for too long because I couldn't remember all of the words... HA oops :-p But, it was a great blessing and encouragement. This home here I've fit right into is only this way because of the awesome power of God... see when you genuinely commit to God's will and give everything you can, of your time, resources or whatever, a great and beautiful thing grows out of it. I have truly learned that from this community. The outside culture is a dark and dangerous place... but there is a light reaching into the darkness, and that makes such a BIG difference. If I were to tell you all the ministries that flow out of this church, you might think it'd be a congregation of about 1000... it is a large church building, with something going on nearly every single night, there are 18 full-time staff, and several part-time staff as well, the typical size of our congregation... about 400. That is typically considered a smaller church back in the states, but what makes the difference here is the level of commitment from all the people here! There are many people that are involved in more than one facet of ministry, and thus are giving so much of their time to the church and through that, to the community around us. It's been amazing to see the lives of people change just in the time that I've been here! Our God is a good God who has great big plans for people.
Basically, my time here has been so amazing, i'm having a hard time leaving... it's like I'm leaving one home, a great home, to go to another awesome home. But something my dad wrote me in a letter really hit me yesterday... "don't think of it as coming back home, rather think of it as going into a new adventure God has for you" (that might not be a direct quote.. but that's basically what he said) and I thought... of course!! Change is just a way to experience new things with God, He's with us every step of the way and we are never ever alone, even if the whole world turns against us- or if it just seems that the whole world is against us- He Never Is, instead, He's Always With Us... Always.
As many of you know, Thanksgiving was this past week. I was bombarded with many questions as to what the meaning of Thanksgiving is, and I think i might have described it a little differently each time, but basically that it started as a celebration of the harvest, from the pilgrims and all (yay for elementary school lessons) and that its a time for families to gather and remember what we are thankful in this life, something further than the big things that we remember so much its almost fake... but for the little things especially, like the 5 minutes of Sunshine after 2 full days without seeing it, or the smell of coffee, the taste of chocolate, knowing you're loved by someone, the embrace of a friend, and so much more! I was reading something on Thursday that talked of looking for things to be grateful for even among the hardships of our lives. Like in a situation where someone has greatly hurt you... what good has come out of that? What things were you able to see and learn from the change of perspective... be thankful for that. I've learned that in my time here, I'm thankful that I got to learn complete satisfaction in our God- even though it was a really tough path, being here in this place is much better than anything else! And even though the actual Thanksgiving Day is over... we should not stop being thankful and remembering the things that we are thankful for, our God blesses us with amazing things each and every day, and it does us good to acknowledge these things :)
I'm sorry this is a long post... but it has been 2 weeks :D um, but yeah I think that's basically the most of what I wanted to say, I could definitely type so much more, but I'm going to refrain because i'm sure if this gets much longer no one will continue to read. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me throughout my time here, and for those who have supported me in anyway, I am so grateful. Please continue to pray for safety as I travel home on Tuesday! (ahh) and as I try to readjust to being home and going back to Huntington. I owe it all to Him, and I will Live for His Glory
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