Tuesday, May 31, 2011

June 1st

It's June 1st!  Do you know what that means? 

We are now officially halfway finished with the year 2011. 
AND,
only 26 days until Ecuador!  AHHHHHHH.  <3

The team lists will HOPEFULLY come out later today!  It's currently 1AM.....I don't expect them to be posted for a while.  What am I even doing awake anyways?  I think the excitement has kept me awake....and a newfound addiction to tumblr. 

I'm just rambling now and I should really go to sleep.  I will definitely be posting whenever the team lists come out :). 

Friday, May 27, 2011

One month

Well, folks, we only have one month to go.  One month until we're united with each other (or in my case, reunited with old friends).  One month until we're overcome by exhaustion from working for the Lord (don't worry, newbies, the exhaustion is TOTALLY worth it, and you'll come home stronger than ever before ;D).  One month until our lives are forever changed, and we're NEVER THE SAME.  One month until we rock the country of Ecuador for Jesus.  One month....it's so unbelievably crazy to realize that it's almost here, especially for the alumni such as myself.  Last July when I got home from Guatemala, I felt like it was going to be forever until the trip to Ecuador came, but it happened sooo quickly, and yet so much has happened since then.  It's all crazy.  It honestly hasn't really hit me yet that it's so close, and it probably won't until I board the flight to Miami. 
I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.  Don't forget to keep the country of Ecuador in your prayers!
Team lists should be arriving any day now, and so should the t-shirts and costume assignments!  I'm sure I'll be posting a very excitment-filled blog post when that happens ;). 
Love you all, and I'll see some of you very soon. 
-Heather

Thursday, May 19, 2011

39 days :D

So, am I the only one who finds it absolutely crazy we only have 39 days left until the trip?  It's still kind of surreal to me...like we really aren't that close.  This year has gone by so ridiculously fast, and I feel like we should still have months to go!  But we only have a little over a month left.  Are you ready?  I am! 

Friday, May 6, 2011

It's funny how God works like that..:)

Well, God is awesome.  His timing is perfect, His plans are perfect, and He teaches you exactly what you need at the exact time you need it.  For me, Wednesday night was a perfect example of that. 

I'm going to be entirely honest with you all right now.  I've been struggling.  I've been going through a really dry time in my life, I haven't felt close to God, and I've honestly been feeling like I'm going through life alone (not in a depressing way, I just haven't felt the presence of God in my life).  At youth group on Wednesday, God really spoke to me. 

The teaching was on John 6:35 - "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'"  Imagine something for me really quick.  Imagine that you haven't eaten in a few days (or you're just really really hungry).  Now, I come over and place your most favorite food in the ENTIRE world right in front of you, and I start describing every little detail about it to you.  How it smells, how it looks, how it tastes...everything.  You can see it, and you might even be able to smell it, but if you don't eat it, you are still hungry.  That's exactly what it's like in our relationship with God.  We can go to youth group and learn about God, and we can spend time with Christian friends, but if it's not on a personal level and we don't spend time in God's word or praying, then we're not fufilling that hunger. 

For the past few months, I've been spiritually starving myself.  That is why I felt so far from God, and why I felt dried up in my relationship with Him.  I wasn't spending time reading God's word and I honestly wasn't even praying that often (sure, I prayed at meals and before bed and what not, but I didn't specifically take time out of my day to spend time with Him). 

Have you been spiritually starved?  I encourage you to start reading God's word more often.  I encourage you to write down a list of things to pray for and spend time with God praying about them.  I encourage you to just talk to God as if you were talking to a friend.  He WANTS to hear from you, and He wants you to read His word.  A few people in my youth group have been following a schedule to read the entire Bible in 90 days, and I've joined them!  It is a HUGE responsibility, because there is a lot to read in such a short amount of time, but it's totally worth it.  I'm only on day 2, but to be completely honest with you, I'm starting to see little changes in my life already.  No, it's nothing huge that happened overnight, but I can see them. 

I hope this helped you as much as it helped me.  I will see you in 52 days :). 

-Heather