I Am Blessed.

Today has been 4^th full day of project. Let me tell you, this week has been tiring. The rest of the students arrived on Tuesday, and I was not at all excited about them coming, but as soon as the first girl got here, I could not help but love the idea of having a house full of friends! And that is how this week has been—we all have been getting to know one another, spending time talking, learning about each other and laughing. The sense of community, and how quickly the community was built has been truly amazing to me. I attribute it all of God, and do not think that one can say that it is because of any other reason. All 24 of the students share many commonalities but the greatest thing we share is our love and faith in Christ Jesus. That is what has helped us grow so close so quickly and be comfortable around one another and vulnerable. I have loved it. There are some pretty special people here.

Two very special people who are near and dear to my heart are Amy and Dave MacArthur—the couple who purchased this house in order for the Hampton Beach Summer Project to continue. Because I was here a week early, I was able to watch this couple, their sons and family members come quietly into the house, work late at night, then slip quietly out. They are self-less. God has blessed them in great ways and they turn right back around and bless people with what the Lord has given them. I have never met people as giving as they are and cannot even explain how much it has meant to me to watch them. On top of ALL of that, they also decided to use their day off (Memorial Day) to take three strangers (myself and two other students) to Boston to tour the city. We got to go on a Duck Boat tour—which is awesome and I recommend it to anyone who ever travels to Boston—and they fed us at Quincy Market and walked all over the city with us. Completely self-less. Dave and Amy, the Lord truly shines brightly through you two!

Some beautiful Boston scenery (this picture is bad, I know, but I was unable to get other photos from my first trip yet! Sorry I'll try to post them when I get them! )

Wednesday evening we had our first group nightly meeting. All of the students and staff gathered in the church, sang some songs of worship, listened to Jeff Highfield (the project director) bring the word of the Lord and then we got to choose our servant teams. Long story short, one of the members of the staff team basically called me out and told me that I was going to be worship leader for the summer because I was the only student who brought a guitar. This made me very uncomfortable. While I adore music and singing and playing guitar, I in no way, shape or form enjoy playing in front of people. But, as Jeff Highfield recently shared, 

“the great thing about Jesus is that he loves us too much to leave us where we are.” 

I feel like that is going to be a consistent theme throughout my summer. But I have been praying for growth, and what better way to grow than to be put in situations that are awkward? This is surely going to be awkward. But one thing that I have to keep reminding myself of is that this is in no way about ME (once again I am realizing this) and that the focus should not be on me. I do not need to be worried about leading worship, but rather just praying that God would use me as His vessel. That through the music I create through the gifts He has given me others may enter into a worshipful state with their creator. That is my prayer.

Every spare moment this week I have been job-hunting. I have been leaving my name at many different locations and exhausted the main strip along the beach to no avail. Earlier this week I thought that I had a job set in stone, but when my friends Will and Shelby and I returned to the sub shop, the lady told us that she only needed 2 students instead of three. That meant I was out. Sometimes it is hard to just leave things in God’s hands but I know that whatever He has planned for me and whatever job He has for me is better than anything I could have chosen.

Ok, here is something awesome that helped me out a great deal this week. One of the main focuses of this trip is relational and initiative evangelism. I have always said that I prefer relational evangelism—however, I repeat, God will not let me be comfortable this summer. Lisa (Jeff’s wife and a woman on staff with CRU) told me that 

“initiative evangelism should be relational and relational evangelism needs initiative” 

which makes perfect sense. If I am sharing something as close to my heart as my walk with Christ with someone else, I always want to know that person. To have known them. To have had a long relationship with that individual. Something that I had never considered is that I can meet new people and begin relationships with them BY sharing the most important thing in my life with them. This happened on Tuesday afternoon.

After the students arrived there was a group meeting in the living room of the house. We all sat and listened as the staff introduced themselves and their families. Then Jeff just came out and told us we were going to have to go out on the beach and share our faith with people. Looking back, there could have been no better way to start off the summer. So out we went (I went with a student named Kathryn and a staff named Abby) and at first we just prayed as we walked. Abby and Kathryn pointed to two girls on the beach and said we should go and talk to them. I was looking at two completely different girls so when they walked by the first girls, I was confused. In spite of this, we proceeded on to introduce ourselves to these two girls who happened to be from Macedonia!!! Now I will give you a bit of insight into my life: I LOVE PEOPLE FROM OTHER CULTURES. From other parts of the world. Those who have traveled all over. Those who are visiting or who have immigrated to the United States. I love the US and am proud to be an American and all, but my heart for sure does NOT lie here in the United States. I honestly feel the Lord tugging at my heart to work abroad, whether it be in ministry or just pushing papers. So having the first people I share my faith with here in Hampton Beach be from Eastern Europe was just a nod from God letting me know that it is He who has shaped my heart to have such a love for other cultures. Pretty awesome.

Good grief this will be my longest post yet. I will try to post something more often so there is not so much to catch up on! I am even leaving out some stuff just because I can’t fit it all. But this WILL be the last thing!

We have discipleship groups here on project. What these consist of is one discipler (mentor) and then two or three disciples (students). We meet with our discipler and go through scriptures and pray with one another. It is really a special time. Today we took a trip into Boston (yes, this IS the second time in one week that I have been to Boston—I consider myself SEVERLEY blessed! ) in order to have a “Soul-to-Soul” time. 

Abby, Collena, Kayla and I = My discipleship group!

During this time, each woman shares her life story: things that she has struggled with, regrets, hurts, relationships, friends, school, just all the details of her life. Each of the girls in my group took around an hour to tell their story. I cannot emphasize how meaningful this time was to me. To see so deep into one another’s lives just drew us closer as sisters in the Lord. We were vulnerable before one another. We confessed the mistakes we made, realizing that we have forgiveness in Christ alone and wiping the tears from one another’ cheeks to show that no matter what we had gone through or were going through, we would be there for one another. Powerful. This day is very draining though. To hear the hurt that has occurred in the other girls’ lives made my heart ache in an inexpressible way. I found myself growing angry—angry at God for allowing these horrible things to happen to his daughters! Angry because my life has been nothing but a life of ease—nothing horrible has happened and I was raised by an incredible man of God and a humble and strong woman of God. My parents have been incredible…no where near perfect, but hands down awesome parents. I aspire to be half as great of a parent some day. But to sit and hear of broken families made my heart ache something terrible. I found myself wishing that something had happened to me to replace the hurt and pain that these wonderful women went through. I finally just sat and convinced myself that all that happened was in the past. Nothing can be done. These women were hurt, and all that I can do is be there for them now. Instead of desiring bad to befall my own life, I need to praise the Lord for bestowing so many blessing upon me. Thank Him from the bottom of my heart. I do not deserve the wonderful life that I have had thus far but must fall before the King of Kings praising Him for his sovereignty in my life. For his overwhelming love being shown to me each and every day. Thank you, Lord for being so magnificent!

Kayla! Beautiful woman of the Lord. God is doing some great things in this girls life and I am so excited to see where He takes her! I have loved getting to know my fellow-Virginian friend!

Abby, my discipler at Boston Common (is that what you are supposed to call this park?) romping through the green grass! We treasure lush grass when we've been walking in sand for 2 weeks.

COLLENA! My roommate and great friend. LOVE her and her heart for the Lord. He love for God is amazing. Awesome woman of God, for sure.