See Something More

For the past few years, I have always been in a unique place on my birthday - the beach, Alaska, even Disney World. I feel very blessed to add another special place to that list this year: Jinotega, Nicaragua. Not only was today my birthday, but it was also my first full day in Jinotega, where I will spend the next nine weeks for an internship with Mision Para Cristo . This place holds a special place in my heart, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for our team as we serve and love here in the name of Jesus. This summer is not my first visit to Nicaragua. I have traveled to Jinotega on short term trips twice with my youth group, so driving through and walking around Jinotega has brought back many wonderful memories. Looking out the window of the bus as we drove around the city, I would say, "Hey! I helped paint that fence!" or "I've been in that nursing home!" When we went to the church last night, I saw several people that I remembered or recogniz...

This weekend I checked off one of those items on my list of "things that I have to do sometime during my life." I slept under the stars. Usually when I go backpacking, it is way too cold to do such a thing, but this weekend was perfect. The tent that we brought is unique in that it is made entirely of see-through and breathable mesh. Instead of putting the fly on top, we left the tent wide open to the elements and to an extraordinary night-time view. Before I fell asleep, the last things my eyes saw were the tops of the trees blowing in the wind and a moonlit sky peeking through the branches. This weekend, as I looked up at the sky before I fell asleep, I realized that the moment was a team effort. When you backpack, you never carry just your own stuff. Everyone packs a little something that benefits everyone else. Someone carried the tent, someone carried the poles, someone carried the ground cloth, and someone created a beautiful sky that I could stare at for hours upon...

My first sight of the blue ridge mountains of North Carolina absolutely took my breath away. Steep rolling hills topped with green trees filled my vision for as far as I could see. The ten-and-a-half-hour road trip from Arkansas to North Carolina had just about worn me out, but one peek at the mountains convinced me that it was all worth it. Adventure defined this trip for me. Not only had I never traveled this far northeast, but it was also my first time to attend a writers' conference. To be honest, everything about going to a writers' conference terrified me. The place would surely be full of writers who actually new what they were doing. Then there was me - the little fish in the big pond of publishing companies, editors, agents, and authors with literally one hundred books to their credit. Flashing back to about two months ago, I remember calling my mom with a choked voice and tears in my eyes, begging her to pray because I did not kno...

With my first year of college behind me and some pretty extraordinary summer adventures ahead of me, I felt like this blog needed a little makeover. The new look is a small representation of the new season of my life now that I am away from school and back at home. It feels strange to not wake up to an alarm, to not say good morning to my suitemates, and to not eat dinner with the people that I have been living with the past nine months. It feels even more strange to have nothing to do - no homework, no classes, no papers to write or books to read. That's why this summer is a new season, a fresh start, and an opportunity to meet God in someplace new. Although right now it seems odd to be in a different environment with a different schedule, I know that God is active in "such a time as this." This summer is bursting at the seams with excitement and anticipation for the adventures that lie just around the next bend in the road.Over the next few weeks, I hope to be able t...

"I know the LORD is always with me . I will not be shaken for He is right beside me . No wonder my heart is filled with joy and my mouth shouts His praises ! My body rests in safety...You show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever !" Psalm 16:8-9,11 (New Living Translation)

With my car loaded down with boxes and my dorm room stripped of all its decorations, the realization is just now hitting me. This is first time in my life that I have not wanted school to be over. I've completed all my projects, eaten the last food in the refrigerator, and even taken my last shower in our dorm bathroom. As I sit here and stare at the bare and boring walls, the thought has been sinking into my head that I only have one more final thing to do - say farewell to all my friends. Well, it is really more of a "see you later" kind of farewell because I'll see them again in three months when my car is again packed with boxes to move back into college. Oh, I already can't wait for that day! But until then, as my friends and I all disperse throughout the world (literally) for the summer, we will all discover God's greatness in some way or another and then celebrate it when we meet again. Can I share a "God story" with you? My greatest fear abou...