...and His love is overflowing.

It has been 2 months since I updated my blog. SO much has happened during that time!

These past two months have been monumental for me. I finally feel like I have found my niche and gotten to know my environment. I'm adjusted and absolutely LOVE my life. Phoenix has become my own and I feel at home both at my job and with the people I've met who have become family/friends to me here. The difficult "transition" of getting comfortable in a new place/job/living environment/friendships is over and I honestly could NOT be happier. I've also been super busy on top of feeling adjusted and it has been a blast. Some main things that have happened in the past two months are...

*I've met some PHENOMENAL/AMAZING/INCREDIBLE friends in the last two months. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun that has been and how thirsty I was for it. Girls that love Christ and love life. There is something automatic and deep about finding friends who love God.

*I've started covering the First Impressions ministry for Cheryl while she is on her Sabbatical... so it's basically like having a full-time real job. Love it!

*Helped my host family out by watching their two girls while they went on a mission trip to Nairobi for 2 weeks (SO much fun playing "mom" for a couple weeks-- we went to a water park... watched movies... went to the mall...ate pizza... sat outside on the back patio under the stars... laughed our butts off... got even closer than we were before) I will say I definitely learned how much of a time commitment having kids is! I wasn't even on with them full-time either! AND it's not like they are babies..they are old enough to take care of themselves! So really all I was doing was making sure I was home in the evening to hang out/feed them/take them places and then on my day off hanging out with them. Lots of fun but wow I am so not ready for the huge time commitment/responsibility it takes to be a mom.

*Spent two weeks house-sitting for my senior pastor and his wife while they were on a major trip
*Spent another week house-sitting for one of the girls from my small group

*Two of my GREAT friends here had their babies!! One girl and one boy :)

*Went to a camp called "CIY" (Christ in Youth) in Durango, CO as a youth coach/mentor for 10 girls at the age of 14 from our youth group (LOVED IT!) This was my first experience being an actual "leader" at camp. My whole life I've been the camper and now I was in charge of leading/walking alongside these girls. I have a LOT I could say about this experience but it would take up way too much time. I was SO blessed with a group of girls that were amazing. They opened up/walls were broken down and they bonded together. The coolest part-- 7 out of the 10 girls I had go to the same high school in Phoenix (2 are from California and 1 goes to a diff high school). What does that mean? I didn't just meet these girls for one week of their life and then say goodbye. I built a relationship with them that will only grow stronger because now I get to work with them and grow with them for as long as I'm a youth coach in our youth group. There is SO much potential for them to bind together and walk through high school with the strength of all of them combined. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME PRIVILEGE.

*Went to the FCA Sports Camp up in Flagstaff as a softball huddle leader (AMAAAAAZING experience!) This was very different that CIY because it was a sports camp and it brought in kids from ALL walks of life-- VERY diverse group of kids who come from rough situations in their life. Lots of death/drugs/gangs/violence. I was totally the minority. We had two 3-hour practices a day and combined small group/devotionals into the mix. During the day we had practices and each sport (football, basketball, vball, softball, xcountry) had DI or professional coaches/athletes there to help coach them and pour into these kids. (Did I feel like a fish out of water? YES! But after the first practice I was able to get over my insecurity of not being "good enough" and have a BLAST with the girls and realize God really did have me there for a purpose.) In the evening we had a speaker come in as well as interviews with professional athletes (two NFL players) who took time out of their schedule to coach these kids and pour into their lives and show them the love of Christ. I also acted as the "emergency medical runner"... so for any sport, if they had a kid who needed to go to the hospital I was the girl who took care of them. I loved being able to give of myself and do this. We had two football players go (broken clavicle and broken wrist). Regardless of their injuries, the kids were great sports and loved being there and stayed regardless of not being able to compete in their sport. I also met a few girls that were either huddle leaders or working with the camp/FCA that I seriously bonded with and will continue to be friends with for the rest of my life. I am hoping to be able to go back next year.

It has been an intense couple of months but SOOO MUCH FUN! I thrive on having a lot to do-- especially when I love what I'm doing. The coolest part? I could NOT have done with I just did the last two weeks without having to fully rely on God. I feel so filled up with Christ that he is bubbling out of me.

What have I learned? The importance of having a community around you that you have deep relationships with. People who love Christ and can offer you advice that you know is Godly. That is where true joy comes from that never ends and so that is where I want to stay plugged into. My entire life I've tried to be a Christian on my own. I've tried to figure things out on my own with the help of just me and God. GOOD LUCK! God did not design it that way. We were created to be in fellowship with other believers. When I need prayer about something I'm going into, I ask a group of people to pray with me and for me during that time. Otherwise I'm trying to do it on my own strength. After experiencing what it is like to live in community with others who love Christ, I will never try to do it on my own again. I've also learned how much you receive back when you spend time pouring into others. The two weeks I spent at camps focusing on the girls I was in charge of mentoring absolutely filled me up. It is awesome when the Holy Spirit comes in and literally gives you energy to wake up in the morning and the words to say. I had to fully and completely rely on God during those two weeks because I physically/emotionally/mentally would not have been able to do it alone. Pouring into others in turn will fill you up.

What's next? Well.. I am covering First Impression's until end of August. In the middle of August I am taking a trip back home to Iowa!!!!!!!!!! the 11th-16th I'll be back and I cannot wait. The Adel-Sweet-Corn Festival will be going on, as well as my 5 year high school reunion, as well as the Iowa STATE FAIR!!! I am so excited to get my taste of Iowa in-- going home during that time is my absolute favorite. Can't wait to hang out with my Pangie-Pooh, family, friends. Once I get back from that and wrap up working with the First Impression's ministry, I am hoping to jump into the programming department. I shadowed a couple of video shoots with our programming team this past month or so and I LOVED it. I want to learn how to shoot/edit/create videos and use that for ministry. My big dream/long term is to be able to travel or work for a Christian organization that makes videos/TV programs/short films that point back to God or tell people's story. I want to be in the director/producer/editor role... but I have A LOT to learn. So I'm hoping to get as much hands on learning as I can through December so that way I know at the end of my internship whether or not I need to go back to school and get some intense training or if I have enough knowledge to go work for a company on the spot.

You guys are AWESOME and I am SO thankful for you!!!!! This year-long internship is changing my life and (again) it would not be possible without your support. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn and show people the love of Christ.