This semester has flown by! I feel bad for not posting that ofter, but let's be honest, if I posted a lot, I doubt you all would keep up with me. You've got busy lives too. It seems like yesterday I couldn't wait to get started with the semester and now I'm almost done. Two more classes, one more final to go (the other class I already did my final, but I have to sit and listen to a couple more people's final projects). This semester was stressful. I wanted to punch one of my professor's but that's neither mature nor acceptable so I went with just not talking to him which is also immature but a lesser of the two evils I guess. I learned a lot this semester in school. I cannot tell you how much the Lord has shown me over the past couple months. In my counseling classes, I have learned how to grow closer to God and deepen my relationship with Him in order to help others deepen theirs. It's a constant cycle that we have to continue to push through. We may not always feel like pursuing a relationship with God, but we ought to anyways. If we claim to be Christians, we ought to be full out running towards Christ whether we "feel" it or not.
I was reading this book by Kyle Idleman called Not A Fan. In is he talks about losing the love feeling we have for Christ and how we need to fight to get that back. He says this, "When a husband and a wife have been married for a while its natural to find that some of the feelings have started to fade. The commitment might be strong, but the passion got lost along the way. The best thing they can do to rekindle that love is to start pursuing each other the way they used to. He begins to buy her flowers the way he used to. She writes him love letters the way she used to. She dresses up for him. He takes her out on dates. As they come after each other with extravagant sacrificial acts of love and devotion the feelings and the passion will start to return.That's a great place to start in your relationship with Christ." (italics mine). This says it all. Just because you lost the feeling doesn't mean it has to stay gone. Rekindle it. Make it happen.
Speaking of making things happen, I have this huge pet peeve of mine. I hate it when people say they pray about something or they wish this or that would happen and then do nothing about it. James 1 and 2 talk about being doers of the word and have faith with action. Faith is great but needs to be accompanied by actions so that you may grow in your faith and allow God to use you. Things do not just happen because you pray about it. Prayer works and God moves through prayers, but we also have to do our part. We have to be willing to move and work on behalf of God. We cannot be idle in our actions. We must make things happen. If you pray for a stronger relationship with God then start by reading your bible daily and praying and see how God works through that. I promise he will work, just do your part too.
This summer is going to be crazy for me but I am super excited for what God has in store. I will be going to Camp Tippy with the middle school students from CCG on June 4th through the 8th. This is going to be a new experience for me. I help out with the middle school students all the time, but I have never been to camp Tippy so I am excited to see what's in store with that. The theme is The Hunger Games. I find this interesting for a middle school camp. I wouldn't encourage this theme, but I'm sure they're putting a good Christian spin on it.
I'm also going to Camp Friendship with the elementary school kids two weeks this summer. This is the highlight of my summer! I love this camp so much and this summer, for the first time in 8 years, I will be a counselor! WOOHOO!!! Finally! But I am sad to have to move up. I loved being a junior counselor because that meant more time with the kids. Oh well, I'll just have to find that balance.
And lastly, I am going to Haiti again this summer, but only for a week so not as long, but still as exciting for me. This time I get to go to Port Au Prince. I have never been there before so this is a whole new experience for me. I love Haiti. I will always love Haiti. I just can't go as often as I would like and I know God has plans for me here in Greenwood. So, I get to go for a week and it's going to be amazing. A lot of work, but amazing. I am going with Homes 4 Haiti this time with some high school students from CCG. We will be building a home for some Haitians while we are able to interact with them at the site. It is going to be refreshing for me. I want to go back. I have a passion for the Haitians. I wish I could do more for them than I can, but I'm supporting them as much as I can and going back whenever God allows it. I still need to raise support for this trip though. I have sent out letters asking for donations. This actually wasn't supposed to be an update asking for money, but I figure what's the harm. The worst you all can say is no. But if you do want to give some money to help me be able to go on my trip this summer, you can send me a check either made out to me or CCG for however much you want to donate. It will be $1500 for me to go. Send the checks to my address (3175 Stella Drive Greenwood Indiana 46143) and I will get the checks in the right hands to go towards my trip. The trip is in July from the 8th to the 14th. I hope you will pray for the trip whether you can donate money or not. Pray that we would all learn something from this and grow in our faith. Pray we get the house done and that the family who will live in it will see the love of Christ in our work. Pray that we would be a light for Christ and that there would be no question as to who we serve.
Thank you for keeping up with me on this blog. Sorry I don't post as often as I should. I hope you were able to be edified through this blog or at least able to gain a little knowledge and insight into my life. I'm praying for you all. Maybe not individually as I don't know who all reads this thing, but I'll be praying your faith is strengthened. Thanks for reading! Catch you all next time I update!
I was reading this book by Kyle Idleman called Not A Fan. In is he talks about losing the love feeling we have for Christ and how we need to fight to get that back. He says this, "When a husband and a wife have been married for a while its natural to find that some of the feelings have started to fade. The commitment might be strong, but the passion got lost along the way. The best thing they can do to rekindle that love is to start pursuing each other the way they used to. He begins to buy her flowers the way he used to. She writes him love letters the way she used to. She dresses up for him. He takes her out on dates. As they come after each other with extravagant sacrificial acts of love and devotion the feelings and the passion will start to return.That's a great place to start in your relationship with Christ." (italics mine). This says it all. Just because you lost the feeling doesn't mean it has to stay gone. Rekindle it. Make it happen.
Speaking of making things happen, I have this huge pet peeve of mine. I hate it when people say they pray about something or they wish this or that would happen and then do nothing about it. James 1 and 2 talk about being doers of the word and have faith with action. Faith is great but needs to be accompanied by actions so that you may grow in your faith and allow God to use you. Things do not just happen because you pray about it. Prayer works and God moves through prayers, but we also have to do our part. We have to be willing to move and work on behalf of God. We cannot be idle in our actions. We must make things happen. If you pray for a stronger relationship with God then start by reading your bible daily and praying and see how God works through that. I promise he will work, just do your part too.
This summer is going to be crazy for me but I am super excited for what God has in store. I will be going to Camp Tippy with the middle school students from CCG on June 4th through the 8th. This is going to be a new experience for me. I help out with the middle school students all the time, but I have never been to camp Tippy so I am excited to see what's in store with that. The theme is The Hunger Games. I find this interesting for a middle school camp. I wouldn't encourage this theme, but I'm sure they're putting a good Christian spin on it.
I'm also going to Camp Friendship with the elementary school kids two weeks this summer. This is the highlight of my summer! I love this camp so much and this summer, for the first time in 8 years, I will be a counselor! WOOHOO!!! Finally! But I am sad to have to move up. I loved being a junior counselor because that meant more time with the kids. Oh well, I'll just have to find that balance.
And lastly, I am going to Haiti again this summer, but only for a week so not as long, but still as exciting for me. This time I get to go to Port Au Prince. I have never been there before so this is a whole new experience for me. I love Haiti. I will always love Haiti. I just can't go as often as I would like and I know God has plans for me here in Greenwood. So, I get to go for a week and it's going to be amazing. A lot of work, but amazing. I am going with Homes 4 Haiti this time with some high school students from CCG. We will be building a home for some Haitians while we are able to interact with them at the site. It is going to be refreshing for me. I want to go back. I have a passion for the Haitians. I wish I could do more for them than I can, but I'm supporting them as much as I can and going back whenever God allows it. I still need to raise support for this trip though. I have sent out letters asking for donations. This actually wasn't supposed to be an update asking for money, but I figure what's the harm. The worst you all can say is no. But if you do want to give some money to help me be able to go on my trip this summer, you can send me a check either made out to me or CCG for however much you want to donate. It will be $1500 for me to go. Send the checks to my address (3175 Stella Drive Greenwood Indiana 46143) and I will get the checks in the right hands to go towards my trip. The trip is in July from the 8th to the 14th. I hope you will pray for the trip whether you can donate money or not. Pray that we would all learn something from this and grow in our faith. Pray we get the house done and that the family who will live in it will see the love of Christ in our work. Pray that we would be a light for Christ and that there would be no question as to who we serve.
Thank you for keeping up with me on this blog. Sorry I don't post as often as I should. I hope you were able to be edified through this blog or at least able to gain a little knowledge and insight into my life. I'm praying for you all. Maybe not individually as I don't know who all reads this thing, but I'll be praying your faith is strengthened. Thanks for reading! Catch you all next time I update!