It's All About You, Jesus

I have been here in Hampton Beach almost 5 full days now. This week has been slow, but I have enjoyed it. I have been able to get all settled into this new town and into the house--which is awesome!

It is this great old boarding house/ hotel that a wonderful couple bought in order to keep the Hampton Beach Summer Project here for a few more years. So great of them to follow the Lord's leading. It has been a true blessing to see them work so very hard all week in order to get this house just right before all of the other students arrive on Tuesday.

I have one roommate during project, and she is also babysitting another family this week. We love the room that the staff picked out for us and are making it feel like home little by little. Leopardy is already comfortable on my bed! And the Tiffany/Robin-egg blue that all the bedroom furniture is painted is SO ADORABLE! I am in love….

Also, we are SO incredibly close to the beach! 

And do I LOVE the New England coastline.

This song came to mind as I was working on this post, so feel free to listen as you continue reading!

So Wednesday evening I wrote out a post, and actually ended up posting it. I will go over briefly what the post was about and then explain why I deleted that first post. Wednesday was my birthday, and it was hard. I woke up and the first thing I did that morning was cry, because I wanted to be at home, running down MY own stairs and seeing balloons on MY chair and having some presents of MY own waiting on the table for me. It was all about ME! ME! ME! After I cried for like a minute I shook myself out of it and said to myself, “Rachel, what are you crying for? Are you 4 years old? Seriously, you are going to cry over this?” But Ben Folds has it right when he sang, “Everybody knows it hurts to grow up.” I turned twenty. That’s pretty old (or feels old). And I should not be worried about silly balloons and presents. But even more importantly, it’s not about ME. I would not even be celebrating if God did not have some purpose to bring me down to this earth. And so that changed the whole mindset of my day.

Immediately following that little epiphany I went downstairs to read out of my devotional (let me just say, if you are looking for a good devotional Mornings with Tozer is phenomenal!) and what do you think it was about? Oh yeah—it was talking about how we need to live our lives so that in EVERYTHING we may glorify our Lord, Jesus Christ! I Peter 4:11 reads: “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Even though it was my birthday, it was neat to really not have people showering my with gifts and constantly saying happy birthday.

The funny thing about the first post, however, was that I wrote about how I had no celebration. Everyone was busy all day, my roommate had no idea it was my birthday, and only one of the staff members said anything to me. I wrote about how even though that was rough, it really made me grasp what God was showing me—that every thing that we do, say think, needs to ultimately bring Him all the glory. We should not desire any glory to come to us, because He is the one who enables us to do anything. So…minutes after I posted that about how even though I was bummed I got no celebration, it was still an ok day, what do you think happened? I heard some whispering outside and then ALL of the women on project came through the door singing happy birthday and kidnapped me for a trip to get some ice cream. I was so very thankful for that—mainly just for being able to spend some time with these awesome women who love the Lord with every fiber of their bodies. While I am grateful for them, I will still work on realizing that it truly is all about Him. The sooner I am actually able to wrap my selfish mind around that fact and then put those thoughts into action, the better. 

Collin and Cora!

I have been babysitting these two cuties all week. Let me just say, anyone out there who is thinking about having kids, seriously just babysit some little guys for a couple days and then ask yourself once again if you are ready. Kids are tiring. They are a WHOLE LOT of work and they will use up every single ounce of energy in you. My little guys are great an lots of fun, but they wear me out! I should actually rephrase what I said before: those of you who are thinking about having a second or third child, rethink. While having one child can be difficult, trying to keep an eye on two little boogers is near impossible—especially when we go to the park! Talk about some anxiety! Ha. Serious props to you parents out there with several little tikes rompin’ around everywhere. Not sure how my momma did it!
Here are a few photos of the precious little ones:

 Cora is a honest to goodness BEAUTY!

 Collin's smile warms the depths of my heart!

Now here is a very neat little something I wanted to share with you all. My sister gave it to me the morning I left to come on project, and I think that its worth everyone’s read:

“A young figure skater with a dream of winning an Olympic gold medal does not just read about skating, watch videos about skating, sing songs about skating, listen to advice about skating, and hang out with other skaters. She devotes her heart, soul, mind body, energy, and time to skating. She gets up before dawn, practices tirelessly for countless hours, and spends every spare moment of her days, nights and weekends on the ice. That kind of passionate, unyielding dedication is a picture of what it means to build our life around intimacy with God in the inner sanctuary of our hearts. Don’t settle for hearing about intimacy with Him, singing about intimacy with Him, or reading about intimacy with Him; really discover true intimacy with Him by building your entire life around Him!”

Thank you so much Mary for sharing that with me! It really gives an interesting perspective and encourages me to press forward, full-steam ahead, into a deeper relationship with Christ. 


Please continue to pray for me here: that the Lord would continue to work in my heart, and that the rest of my support would be raised! If you want to donate a few dollars ONLINE, please do!
Blessings to you all!
Rachel