told you i would :)

a quick highlight recap from april 'til now, (mostly all good) GO:
april - injured my knee
may - TOO MANY chiro and pt appointments
june - started full-time at camp
july - moldova trip
august - new discipleship class at church
september - lots and lots of weekend travel


anddd a little expansion on the updates of life over the past 6 months

1) working at camp, is in short - totally a God thing, from the timing of it, to the way He changed and prepared my heart for being here.  so cool that this place i've been a part of for the majority of my life is now also where i work.
2) this is easily the most happy and content i've ever been in raleigh, nc.  LOVE it here and i know that too could only be a God thing.
3) 1 week from tomorrow is mine and ali's bday!! we're planning to celebrate with a trip to nyc and the taylor swift concert!  it's def fun having a twin to celebrate with every year! :)
4) only 2 trips to the state fair this year...a little disappointing but life is just so busy!



ramblings
Saturday morning, a couple of weeks ago, I went to a meeting for this business that I'm a part of.  The services are great, something I have for myself and believe in, but something I rarely tell others about.  This was the first meeting of this kind I have been to and the purpose of the meeting seemed to be a reminder of how great these services are and a motivator to get you to share, share, share what you have with others.  There were testimonies of success story after success story about how these services had worked for others, and statistics from individuals polled about how if they only knew such a service existed that they would immediately want in.  All of these things are so true and I was definitely inspired and excited again thinking about what I have that I could be sharing with others, but most of the time I'm not - out of fear.  But even more than being excited about this business, I was wholeheartedly, completely convicted about the lack of passion I have for sharing my faith with others around me - mostly, out of fear.


Near the end of the meeting, one of the speakers pointed out what a "unique" opportunity we have with this service, and if that is not also a great word to describe the gift of salvation then I don't know what is!  Fully God and fully human, perfect Jesus took my place on the cross so that someday I could spend eternity in heaven with Him.  Someone loved me enough to die for sinful, selfish me and wants a relationship with me.  Isn't that what most of us are seeking in this life anyhow - something or someone to fill that hole or void we feel?  That place we fit, that person to complete us and make us feel totally satisfied?          


I've been reading in Mark lately and there are a number of stories where God touches someone and heals them.  And each time He does this, that person wastes no time running back to their friends and family to share the good news of what God has done.  Maybe God isn't casting out demons in my life or healing my blind eyes, but there are certainly so many "success stories" of the ways God has been totally faithful and worked modern-day miracles in my life.   And there are so many lost hurting people around me who have never heard or seen that this relationship is for real; that God is real.  I want to continuously be seeking Jesus and being reminded of who He is and what He has done in my life that  I can't help but to minister out of overflow.   

*The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives....I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness....For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to  grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations*

-Isaiah 61:1, 10-11

I'm praying that God will keep changing my heart and molding me so He can use me...and that I won't let my pride or fears get in the way of sharing this amazing, undeserved gift that I've been given with all those around me.  I don't want to just go through the motions or look back at my life and see nothing but wasted opportunities...