Friday, June 19, 2009

for eternity. all my heart will give. all the glory to Your name.

I love visitors. And I love Atlanta. good combo.

Last weekend, my little sisters came and stayed with me. I picked them up outside of Chattanooga on Friday night. We got to Atlanta around midnight. On Saturday, we went to H&M, The Varsity, IKEA, Fellini's Pizza, and hung out with some friends. Sunday we went to church, Chili's, took naps, went to Buckhead Church, and to Parker's host home for dinner. Monday was the first day of VBS, so they went with me and I took them back to Chattanooga on Monday evening. We had a great time, and I'm so glad they came to visit me!

This week was VBS. When I got there Monday morning, I thought I'd be helping with recreation. Soon after that, I found myself teaching a 4-year-old class. It actually turned out to be pretty fun, but it was also completely exhausting. It's now Friday afternoon. I'm laying on Amanda's couch watching Law & Order SVU and blogging. Maclane, Amanda, Parker, Kerrie, Samuel, Anna, and I met the SLU 101 group from Two Rivers at The Varsity today. It was good to see everyone! Tonight is Family Night which is basically a mini carnival in the church parking lot. I'm looking forward to it, and hope I have enough energy to buy a funnel cake and ride the swings. :)

And later tonight, the lovely Heather Pierce will be driving to Atlanta to visit me! I think the plan is for us to relax. I am so looking forward to it! I need some good Heather time.

For now...it's nap time. :)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Beach Camp Ooo Ah Ah

I couldn't help it. We watched Finding Nemo on the way down to Destin... :)

So beach camp is over. Weird. My whole internship up to this point has all but revolved around this event, and it has now come and gone. In spite of some drama and unfortunate situations that always accompany student events, we had a wonderful week of worship and beach time. I made some new friends, strengthened old friendships, and learned a lot about FBA, myself, and my God. All circumstances aside, I love the students at FBA. My heart breaks for some of them because they don't yet realize how much God loves them. My heart rejoices as I watch others live lives that show the love of our God.

Sometimes when I'm away from a ministerial setting, I wonder if I have to do it...but after a week like this I have to think "how could I not??" Ministry is such an exhausting blessing. It makes my life. Literally. I don't know what I would be without it. I'm afraid of what I would be without it. God is so so so good. How can I not try to show and teach that?

My life was blessed by the other leaders, my fellow staff members, the band (EXODUS), the speaker (Brent Crowe), and the illusionist (Drew Worsham). All of these people have such gloriously huge hearts. It was an incredible privilege to get to serve alongside them for a little while. I'm anxious to worship with all of them again--whether it's on this life or the life yet to come.

Am I tired? Duh. Would I go back tomorrow? Absolutely.