Sit Down!

So today we are having our first rain! Its actually kind of fun, the air is finally clearing all the smoke from the fires and hopefully this can help contain them. But that is not the nature for me writing this blog....

We just finished one of the more intense weeks of my life and between the extended solo time at wildwood, writing my week-in-review, and class with Bob Phillips this morning I have done a lot of thinking. The past few years I have really come to a better knowledge of who Jesus is and what it means to be a follower. But knowledge is not what makes a change in someones life. Its trust and faith. To put it simple, its like putting a chair in the middle of the room and looking at it and studying it, then saying you believe it will hold you up... but until you actually sit in it you don't really believe. You haven't had faith and trust that it will hold you up. And I guess God has been pressing on my heart this week that it is time that I sit down. I don't know what it will look like to let Jesus take the reigns on my entire life, but with me holding them its just steering me in a million different directions. Its hard to write this because my pride wants to let everyone think that I was already sitting in the chair. But the truth is I wasn't. However God has been sooo patient with me, and His grace and love abounds more and more every minute. I am stoked to let the God of the universe take control... I mean he did create everything, and I suppose He knows a little more than me ;).

I guess the other part of this blog, would be to challenge you to examine yourself and see if you have "sat down"... OR if you, like me, need to know Jesus in your heart rather than just in your mind....

Some Pictures

First off I just wanted to put a couple pics from Etiquette and Kindergarten dinners...

Some of us girls

My Date :)

The Room

Din Din

Tonight we have our first "themed" dinner! It is kindergarten night! We all have to dress up like the first day of kindergarten and I am sure we are going to have super good mac and cheese and hotdogs or something :). And tomorow is our etiquette dinner, where we get to be a pretty and learn to be proper! I will post pictures hopefully this weekend from it....

La Familia Nueva

Tonight we met our "Pause" families. Pause families are full-time staff members up here who take on or adopt 5-7 of us Joshua students for the year. It is a place to just get away for a little while frmo the craziness of the program. They will be making us dinner and hanging out with us this whole year. We have the Butlers (Ryan and Carrie). They have three amazing daughters Megan (8), Abby (4), and Chloe (18months). And when I say amazing I mean amazing. They are so smart and friendly and energetic. I am stoked to get to know them throughout the year. I'll leave you with my favorite quote ever, said to me tonight by Abby :)

Abby: Are you married?

Me: No, not yet...

Abby: Do you want to get married?

Me: Yea, someday for sure....

Abby: Well you know you have to be saved before you are married...


HAHAHA! Glad I have the saved thing down, now I just gotta get the married part!

Goodnight Love you all!

It Begins

So I am now about 24hours into this whole Joshua experience. Yesterday was move in day, a little parent meeting, some get-to-know-you name games, and a lot more hanging out. Today we had orientation for 4hours (which surprisingly went a lot faster than expected). That took us until lunch....

We then took our first of MANY treks down "the hill". We are required to WALK the hill (which is about a mile to camp). We are not allowed to ask for rides, but we are however allowed to accept rides if offered. However many find it humorus to watch the new Joshua students walk. We toured various places we will be working over the year and then enjoyed a couple hours of free time in which we cruised around the lake on beach cruisers.

Tonight we were blessed to have Sam Meier as our speaker. He is here for two weeks and his insight is already astonishing.

The past couple of days has actually been really tough because I was feeling that I was just at another social camp expierence, but tonight God really showed me that He has so muxh in store for me up here. I am stoked to dive into the teachings, readings, interactions, etc. So anywho I'll let you all go, but there is at least a little bit of the last 2 days of my life. And I will post pictures of my room and stuff soon... I love you all!

Going Home

I'm here in San Diego packing up my stuff to head back home for a couple days before the big move up to Hume, and feeling highly inadequate to be going to this program. I think that today is the first day that it has really hit me that I am actually doing it. Knowing that God has allowed me this opportunity, I just want to fully allow God to change my heart. With that being said I am going to finish packing... See ya back in C-town.