The greatest summer of my life is coming to a close. It has come with a flurry of feelings, some sad ones, some joyful ones, some regretful ones, but mostly excited ones. Summer Project ended this Tuesday, and I got home in the late afternoon, after flying about 5 hours into D.C. from Daytona Beach.
The last days of Project were weird. There wasn't much closure . . . all of a sudden,
it was the night before people would be boarding their planes for home, and we were saying our farewells to people hours before they were actually leaving, everyone at different times on Tuesday. Which meant some awkward second goodbyes in the morning . Which made it all the more sad to be leaving, and the more I hugged people goodbye, the third or fourth time for some, the more I realized that I wouldn't be seeing many of them until the end of our lives, in His Kingdom. But that said, I have never been more passionate about the Lord and my desire to see Him glorified this semester has intensified since I've been home. And since we're on the subject . . . I got into a car accident yesterday! Holy cow. I'm 
fine, but the woman who hit me was pregnant. They took her to the hospital as a precaution, and I'm supposed to be getting a call from her husband or the sheriff to hear where she is or if she's even okay. It's a really unpleasant experience. Other than that, things have been nothing short of great: God has taught me so much over the summer, like how to depend on Him for everything, and how to draw strength and fruits of the Spirit from the Holy Spirit, that is indwelt with us the moment we accept Christ into our hearts. And for the biggest and greatest news of all:
I ACCEPTED CHRIST THIS SUMMER!
These were my roomates for the summer, minus Fran, who came in three weeks in and left only a few short weeks later. From left to right it's Amy, me and Lacey. Both girls were gorgeous and an enormous encouragement after I accepted Christ.
All of the 603 girls with our Discipler and Bible study leader, Katie. She was absolutely amazing . . . the woman who ultimately showed me how to open my heart and eyes to Jesus Christ. Her husband, Mark, came on project too.
Lacey and me, watching the shuttle Atlantis take off from the Kennedy Space Center. We all had a cookout, it was fun and goodtimes.
Lacey, me, Julie and Amy.
The last days of Project were weird. There wasn't much closure . . . all of a sudden,
it was the night before people would be boarding their planes for home, and we were saying our farewells to people hours before they were actually leaving, everyone at different times on Tuesday. Which meant some awkward second goodbyes in the morning . Which made it all the more sad to be leaving, and the more I hugged people goodbye, the third or fourth time for some, the more I realized that I wouldn't be seeing many of them until the end of our lives, in His Kingdom. But that said, I have never been more passionate about the Lord and my desire to see Him glorified this semester has intensified since I've been home. And since we're on the subject . . . I got into a car accident yesterday! Holy cow. I'm 
fine, but the woman who hit me was pregnant. They took her to the hospital as a precaution, and I'm supposed to be getting a call from her husband or the sheriff to hear where she is or if she's even okay. It's a really unpleasant experience. Other than that, things have been nothing short of great: God has taught me so much over the summer, like how to depend on Him for everything, and how to draw strength and fruits of the Spirit from the Holy Spirit, that is indwelt with us the moment we accept Christ into our hearts. And for the biggest and greatest news of all:I ACCEPTED CHRIST THIS SUMMER!
I realized that everything I knew about God and Jesus Christ was only a head knowledge; I had thought for 19 years that simply knowing His word or being a good person and obeying His laws made me a Christian. But it didn't. My discipler Katie expressed to me the day after I arrived on project the dire importance and seriousness of letting Christ into your heart, and physically accepting Him as our Lord and Savior . . . having 'heart-knowledge', if you will. And I'd never had that. Of course, for years I noticed and coveted the sincere devotion and passion and satisfaction other Christians had in knowing God, but I never was able to understand why my faith was so dependent on my feelings or why I consistently felt distant from God. Thank Him that He is persisent on His children's hearts, and that I realized my intense need for the Holy Spirit on that afternoon, with the guilt of my past sins heavier on my heart than they had ever been. I let my sins up to God, and opened up my heart to a knocking Christ and for the first time, accepted God's love and forgiveness and began my personal relationship with Him. I've had a 180 change ever since! And what a better environment to accept Christ in than a community of believers, for 10 weeks? I am so thankful that the Lord brought me to Daytona Beach, more than I can possibly say here or ever put into words. Being encouraged and supported by 40 other students my age, serving alongside them and glorifying our Lord until nightfall was beyond amazing, splendid and terrific . . . is there even a word to describe it? Probably not, it was that great. Here's a photo timeline of my experience for the past 10 weeks in Daytona Beach:
These were my roomates for the summer, minus Fran, who came in three weeks in and left only a few short weeks later. From left to right it's Amy, me and Lacey. Both girls were gorgeous and an enormous encouragement after I accepted Christ.All of the 603 girls with our Discipler and Bible study leader, Katie. She was absolutely amazing . . . the woman who ultimately showed me how to open my heart and eyes to Jesus Christ. Her husband, Mark, came on project too.
Lacey and me, watching the shuttle Atlantis take off from the Kennedy Space Center. We all had a cookout, it was fun and goodtimes.
Lacey, me, Julie and Amy.
Heather, Amy Moore, me and Kelly in the back of our friend Patrick's truck, on our way to Florida's tallest lighthouse.
Kelly and I, being classy, as always . . .
Some project girls and I before the MangoFish concert, a traveling Summer Project band. It was one of our most successful outreaches, and we invited all of the beach community and our co-workers to come.
Dressed as robbers . . . the 708 boys were cops. That's Ben acting like something out of Reno 911.
Wacky Tacky Prom, kids! On the left is our fourth roomate Fran; she came to Project late and left early but she was great and we missed her a lot.
Two more girls with amazing hearts, Jessie and Betsy. They both attend East Carolina, only three hours from High Point.
All four of us on our last Women's Night. We had these meetings every Thursday night . . . for this one we dressed up and filled up the penthouse suite in a neighboring hotel, overlooking the Atlantic. I love this picture.
Staff guys Mark, Katie's husband, Bobby S. and Bobby B. at a Daytona Cubs baseball game.
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That's me and Earle, our Project Director, also an ordained minister. Then there's the whole crew, and lastly there's Sarah, Ashley and me. An outward expression of an inward change!
This is my church group - we all went to Christ Community, the most amazing church I've ever been to. The community and fellowship was just stunning. I'm gonna miss that church and its sunday school so much! That's Lacey, me, then the 703 girls (we were in room 603) with Betsy, Amy C., Elly, Amy from our room then their fourth roomate Bitz. The guys were Matt, Ross and Mike. They were the best . . . fantastic even, and I miss all of them already.
Ashley and me . . . I love this girl so much, she has one of the most warm hearts I've ever known.
Some project girls and I before the MangoFish concert, a traveling Summer Project band. It was one of our most successful outreaches, and we invited all of the beach community and our co-workers to come.Dressed as robbers . . . the 708 boys were cops. That's Ben acting like something out of Reno 911.Wacky Tacky Prom, kids! On the left is our fourth roomate Fran; she came to Project late and left early but she was great and we missed her a lot.Two more girls with amazing hearts, Jessie and Betsy. They both attend East Carolina, only three hours from High Point.All four of us on our last Women's Night. We had these meetings every Thursday night . . . for this one we dressed up and filled up the penthouse suite in a neighboring hotel, overlooking the Atlantic. I love this picture.
Staff guys Mark, Katie's husband, Bobby S. and Bobby B. at a Daytona Cubs baseball game.
Five weeks into Project, I got baptized in the ocean!
That's me and Earle, our Project Director, also an ordained minister. Then there's the whole crew, and lastly there's Sarah, Ashley and me. An outward expression of an inward change!
Ashley and me . . . I love this girl so much, she has one of the most warm hearts I've ever known.
I've been taught so many things, most of all the significance of obeying Him and following His desires, giving myself completely to Him every second of every day in every situation and just how to draw from the Holy Spirit. It's been such an amazing journey . . . I'm so blessed!
