And here I am again, attempting to catch up.

Thursday:

To finish off what you missed after I posted on Thursday..

We had Bible study at Lilly's (a coffee shop by the beach). 

We had a really good discussion

and are definitely becoming more vulnerable with each other. :)

It was a late night of prayer and reflection, but a great first team Bible study. 

Friday:

First day of work at Coach! It was pretty good, very tiring. I work in the 'special projects' department. 

Basically I re-tag things and make them more expensive ;)

So. Woke up at 5 (that's going to get old), then worked till 4.

We at dinner with the boys in the Boathouse, and then began our first date.

We began by playing bigger and better.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, you begin with a penny.

You walk around to houses and ask people to help you out, and give you something bigger or better than what you currently have. 

The playing field we got was a slightly sketchy part of town, and so we began with many unanswered doors.

We finally got someone to answer, but the boy talking explained it so poorly, that the poor lady probably thought we were going to steal from her.

So I jumped in and re-explained things, and we walked away with some old books. 

We then rounded the corner and talked to a few slightly intoxicated people and walked away with an apple...not sure if that was bigger or better, but I wasn't going to argue.

:)

After that, we decided to call it quits, because it was getting dark, and starting to rain. 

We met the other half of the group at Ritas (an ice cream shop) where we all got ice cream.

We then headed to Wal-Mart and played "put 20 random things in your cart-then switch carts and see who can put the items back first"

Fun right? :) It was lots of fun, but we were So tired!

So, I went back and worked on some Bible Study in one of the many hammocks around the dorms. :)

Saturday:

Went to E-Training in the morning, but a quick stop at Starbucks first. :)

In E-Training, we talked about God's heart for evangelism, and how he pursues his people. 

I went into evangelism this week with the mindset that the people are "lost and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36) Instead of a mindset that they have no interest in what I have to say. 

So, there we were about to leave for the beach, and a rainstorm had just passed, but it was still very cloudy and stormy looking. When we got to the beach, we were the only people there besides the lifeguards. Ha. So most of our first half hour was spent walking in two's and praying. 

In not too long, the sun started to peak through, and people began showing up. I shared twice with two who claimed going to church, and Kayla shared with two girls our age who were on a choir tour. So that was cool.

I went out to dinner with the boys from Dordt where we just laughed and talked about Jax thus far. We then hit up Lilly's to discuss ministry things. We got slightly sidetracked by the very loud jazz band playing here, but we got in some good conversation.

This is the Dordt boys smiling for a picture.

This is the Dordt boys as they actually are. :) :)

This is Jason and Jon. They're going to be roomies next year. :)

Sunday:

Thankfully this day was less eventful.

We got up and went to church, I started helping out in the very small children room during second service. After church, a bunch of us went to Chipotle and ate some burritos.

We were supposed to have Thrift Store Prom on Friday, so we went to goodwill and picked out some REALLY cute outfits, but that got postponed till later in the summer.

I took a GLORIOUS nap, then ate some dinner, skyped my wonderful parents, talked to Brandon and went to bed. 

Monday:

Got up at 5 to get ready and have quiet time. Left for work at 6:15. Work was fairly uneventful, and was back to the dorms by 5. Long day.

But, I had to quickly regain my energy because we were off to dinner and then to Rally Night! :D

I know you can't tell from my posts, but it has been raining SO MUCH here. Like, every day. This was one of those times, only this time, it was sunny and pouring. I don't get it. But, I was okay with it, because there was a FULL rainbow. It was fantastic. 

Rally night consisted of some great worship, a hilarious skit, and some good teaching about why we should build our lives on the Word of God.

I really enjoyed his pointes, but I think my biggest takeaway was about spending time with Jesus. I'll share it with you too :)

I don't need to be looking to learn something from my quiet times. If i do, thats fantastic, and praise God. But, if I don't, that is just as good. I need to be enjoying and doing my quiet times because of who I'm spending them with. I have a relationship with God, and just being together is a huge part of that. 

:)

And another little point for fun...

It's not about how much you know, it's about how much you apply.

After rally ended, I met Jason Rivera, a friend of Brandon's. That was fun to put a face to a name I hear very often. 

After that it was a quick talk with Brandon and to bed!

TODAY! Aka: Tuesday.

Got up at 5, got ready and had quiet time. I really tried to focus on just being with God, and enjoying him, not trying to get something out of it for me. 

We stopped by Starbucks this morning for a little pick-me-up on the way to work.

Again, an uneventful day of re-tagging handbags and wristlets. 

Came home, and went to dinner with my girls.

Now, I'm at Lilly's (again) and writing to you, and soon to be working on my Bible study for this week.

Phew. That was long. Sorry that wasn't more spread out. I'll try my best to give more frequent updates. 

In my next post, I hope to give you pictures and quick bio's of my teammates, so you can see who I'm living with :)

Man, God is working. We're learning to trust and enjoy him each day, and in every way. I'm definitely learning about sacrifice, and unconditional love in living with my teammates. 

It's definitely not all smiles and rainbows. You are getting the happy moments of my life, but know that there have already been hard things. Many tears have been shed by all of my team as we work through things together, and let God heal us, and love us. 

Some ways you can be praying...

1) Pray that each day I (and everyone) would be relying on God's strength and energy. If we're still running on our own, it won't last much longer.

2) Pray that my time in the Word would be focused and enjoyable. As I learn to enjoy spending time with God, and how to value the Word as I should.

3) Pray for Dordt, as we already are. Pray that God would be preparing girls for me to invest in, and help grow closer to Him. 

4) Pray for team unity, as the "honeymoon" period is probably coming to a close. 

5) Pray that God would continuously be reveling himself to us in huge ways, and that this program would never be about anything besides growing in my relationship with Him. 

Thanks so much for your support and prayers!!!! :) :) :)

 Love you all!! :) :) :)