It's only for a moment you were mine to hold. The plans that heaven has for you will all too soon unfold. So many different prayers I'll pray for all that you might do. But most of all I want to know you're walking in the truth. May passion be the wind that leads you through your days. May conviction keep you strong and guide you on your way. May there be many moments that make your life so sweet. It's not living if you don't reach for the sky. So if I never told you, I want you to know that as I watch you grow I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams. And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things. Don't ever forget that I'm here for you whatever this life brings so let my love give you roots and help you find your wings.

Sometimes a song says everything you need to say to every person in your life.

I'm sorry for not always being there.

I love you all.

"Find Your Wings" by Mark Harris

Sleep... no I never get enough.

Well. That's the theme of my life today.

I didn't get that much sleep last night but I still got a normal amount. I went to work and was super tired all day and then got back at 2:30 and slept till 8:00. CRAZY! That's when I remembered about the tick bite and yea, the bite mark is getting bigger and has a rash, I have swollen lymph nodes and I'm pretty tired. All of the symptoms at this point point to Lyme Disease but there have been no reported cases of Lyme Disease in Colorado ever ( read that when I first looked up stuff about tick bites). I could be the first, people! Woot! It is probably not Lyme Disease but I am going to go to the doctor in the next few days just to make sure that everything is alright. So Mom and Dad, if you read this, I am going to try and call you tomorrow. For some reason, my cell phone is not working at all in my room when I had lots of service before.

Besides that, everything is great! I read the Bible for like an hour and a half and I didn't even know it had been that long which was really cool.

I also had a great discussion with one of my co-workers about relationships. She has been dating this guy that she has known for a year and a half for a month and she already knows they are going to get married. She knows that it will be a few years but she says they just know. She was telling me about her and her ex-boyfriend and how even thought she dated that guy for two years, she knew she wasn't going to marry him. And now this! It's so so so cool. The coolest part of the whole thing is that she knows that her boyfriend loves God more than he loves her. That is amazing and that is what I want-a man who loves God more that he loves me. Along with other things but that is the most important.

God is so good people! And he loves us even though we are screw ups... so awesome. Have a wonderful day!

RAWR!

I am sitting here after work and I am upset because I cannot go outside and boulder like I wanted to!

The reason I can't is because it is thunderstorming. Rain wouldn't bother me as much but thunderstorm + me on a mountain =  asking for trouble.

But speaking of the weather, today is June 13th and it snowed today in Estes Park Colorado. Though brief, it still did happen. Crazy!

Working in food service has been both a blessing and a curse.

It's a curse because you get to see how all of the food is prepared and let me tell you, cooking for about 1,000 people at a time means low low low quality food.

It's a blessing because you lose weight really fast because you never want to eat! haha perfect weight loss plan and I don't even have to try. 1,000 people is definitely different than 22,000 people so the food at school... I don't even want to think about it.

Anyway, I think that's all I got for you all today. We had a roomie hang out last night and Karissa, Katie and I were all SO goofy. We played UNO but we were just acting so ridiculous. Haha. Love it. Well hopefully I'll have some fun stories for you sooooon!

Much love!

Shmer Shmer. So Much.

SOOOOOOO.

On Friday we had project group which was awesome. I really can't believe that another Friday has past but that's beside the point.

We learned more about evangelism and stuuuuuuffff and this upcoming Friday we are going street evangelizing in Boulder, CO. I'm actually super nervous about it because I don't really know how I feel about street evangelism. We also hiked up Bible Pointe (yes that's pointe with and "e") as a group and we got to hear the testimonies of two people. I love hearing about how God transforms lives.

Saturday, I thought I had the day off.... but I didn't so I ended up just skipping work but my boss was okay with it because there was a misunderstanding. I got to meet up with Michelle from ISU (she's the pastor's wife) and we went on a walk near Glacier Creek, a sweet creek near Eagle Cliff. I got to hang out with her and her kids till lunch time which was awesome.

Sunday we started our workshops. The one I chose was Questioning Evangelism. It was pretty cool. Different than I expected.

Tuesday through Thursday, Jonalyn and Dale came and talked to us. It was pretty cool because they talked a lot about the gender gap in the church. Interesting stuff.

Well. That's all for now!

God is GOOOOOOOD!

So so so much to talk about people! Long post....again :)

So the day after my last post (climb up Thunder Mountain) I climbed Eagle Cliff after work with Chelsey and we had dinner at the top. It was beautiful and if you haven't seen the pictures from that hike yet, check them out on Facebook! Unfortunately I got a tick but I found it before it buried itself in my skin. I told Karissa and Katie and they have now decided my nickname is Love Bug....great... haha

Monday night, Katie (my other roommate) came and Karissa and I got to talk to her and just hang out and stuff which was a ton of fun! I love all the people I have met here. They are all very amazing.

Tuesday was the first night I got to lead worship with Eric, Jared, Tyler, Karissa, Ricky and Brett. It was amazing and I was TOTALLY filled with the Holy Spirit. I was not nervous in the slightest because I knew that I had to completely trust God and sing my heart out for him, not the people in the audience. I love when that happens, when you really connect to the words of a song and I love watching corporate worship. Just looking out into the crowd and seeing all of these people praising God and giving them all they've got is the coolest thing to see.

Wednesday, I had work....again. haha. And I was pretty ill but that's alright. I took a nap which was so nice. That night Katie, Karissa and I just had another incredible talk about guys and making sure that we aren't sending the wrong message and just how to have pure, intentional relationships with guys. Katie left to go to the Admin and Karissa and I grabbed dinner (at 9pm haha) and then continued the best talk. It is crazy when I talk to her because she has so much wisdom about God and I feel like we are SO similar it's crazy. I thank God for putting her in my life!

God made me realize that I am not alone in my struggles. He showed me that even when I feel like I'm the only one failing in a certain area that there is probably someone else who is at the same place.

People, I'm on fire. I have this burning passion to go out and share the overwhelming joy I have in my heart that makes me just want to scream like a little kid. I want this for all of you and I pray for you every night, that you would see the areas in your life that are holding you back from God and a passion for Him and His kingdom that surpasses everything you could ever dream.

I am very excited even to leave Colorado because I know that even if I left now, I would have a solid group of Christian girls that I could go to and talk to. Those same girls I was afraid to talk to are the girls who are becoming such close friends. It's amazing and I'm SO excited that God has given me the courage, even in the last week and a half to be myself. It is so freeing.

I am reading through the entire New Testament this summer and already it has been an awesome experience! I have never read the Bible in such big chunks before and it gives a whole new perspective to what I am reading. I love it! I know God is really challenging me to read through the whole Bible in 1 or 2 days. I mean, I did it with all of the Harry Potter books, why shouldn't I be able to read through the Bible in 12 hours? It's less pages. Haha So I'm planning on doing that eventually. I just need to have a free weekend...

Man! I really need to start doing this everyday because I just have so much to talk about and when I have 5 days worth of thoughts running through my head, it is hard to sort them ALL out and put them all into writing. I will try my best.

I would also love to hear from you guys! Feel free to comment on anything I have said or tell me about how God is working in your life by leaving a comment or shooting me an e-mail or facebook message! I would say just call but I have really bad service here since I'm in a valley sort of. I get fantastic service on top of the mountains though! Haha.

Have a wonderful day! :)

It's Thunder Mountain Charlie!!

Haha. That's the mountain I climbed today but more about that in a second.

So. I have two days off a week while I'm out here Fridays (for project group) and probably Saturdays.

Yesterday was my first project group day and it was awesome! John Drage taught our group a seminar from Sunlife. It was awesome. One of the coolest things that he said during the seminar was "If God needs to tell someone well done, He'll use our tongues. If someone needs money, He'll use our wallets. We are the literal hands and feet of God. He works through us for His purpose. God loves people through people." Such a cool concept and something I have definitely taken to heart.

This year's theme is evangelism. I am WAY beyond excited about that. I can't wait to learn more about the best way to show others the love of God. I really want to show people His love just by loving them. I think this is a great idea but there are some things I definitely have to work on when it comes to this. One being affection. I'm not very good at sharing how I feel about the people I really do care about. I really hope to grow in this.

I am so glad that God is already working in my life to change me and mold me into a better person. It is also cool how much God is already answering prayer. I really didn't feel that I was growing closer to people or building true friendships and so I prayed about it and the next day I had a really good talk with a few people in my project group and I am making so many friends out here that I know I will have for a lifetime. God has also blessed me with the best roommate ever, Karissa! She is just so amazing and we have so much in common. I am very excited that I get to spend the summer with her! We are also on the worship band together so that's cool too :)

So enough about Friday. Today I went on my first hike. I went to Thunder Mountain with Karissa and Default (Justin-my project group leader). It was a pretty intense hike up and I wanted to stop so much but I just kept pressing on. I am so thankful that Karissa and Default were so patient with me and allowed me to take so many breaks (GAH! I'm so out of shape). Summiting was the most satisfying feeling in the world. I couldn't believe I actually made it up this mountain and didn't die of an asthma attack haha. We ended up walking the wrong way down the mountain so it took forever to get back to the YMCA but that's alright. It was such a fun time! Then I went down to the town of Estes Park and we checked out all the cute little shops and stuff that are down there and had a delicious dinner at Poppy's Pizza. It will never replace Chicago style pizza but it will suffice while I am out here. Oh man. Just so many good things happening out here and it has been less than a week!

Well, I have work at 6am for the next 5 days so I should probably get some good rest. More later, beautiful people :) Praise God Always!

Estes Park, COLORADO!!!

Oh my goodness gracious. I am here. In the big CO. Pretty much in the mountains. Oh wait, not pretty much. DEFINITELY IN THE MOUNTAINS! Awesome sauce. 

So. We arrived here on Sunday after a long 16 hour car ride. Felt like forever and I was definitely happy to get unpacked. I settled in and then headed to registration and check in, all that good stuff. I am working at the Rustic Cafe which is this little coffee shop in the admin building. Openign at 6am everyday, people! Which is a significant improvement from my 4:30am open time. 

Either way. Epic. I am pretty much living in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The pictures I have been taking on my less than average camera phone do no justice to the beauty of this place. Even pictures on nice cameras just don't show the depth of AWESOMENESS that is here.

This is a view from my room!

Like I said, no justice.

Anywho. Yesterday I spent 8 hours at orientation learning that people ask questions like "When do the deer turn into elk?" and "Who mows the tundra?" Seriously? Seriously... It is times like these that I am thankful my hair color does not affect the amount brain cells I have. Praise the Lord haha

There was a mini blizzard the day I got here. The beginning of the day was sunny and 60 degrees. Then the temperature dropped and all of a sudden as I was walking outside in shorts and a t-shirt, BLIZZARD!

Then today, I had my first day of work. I worked cleaning instead of at the Rustic because of mis-communication but no big deal. I'm there tomorrow. Sooo yea!

Honestly, this is going to be an amazing summer. Challenging for sure. Difficult, yes but completely rewarding. God has already pointed things out in my life that I need to work on... 1 DAY of being here! And I have 80 more days to go.

More tomorrow!