First post of 2013!! Just barely
squeaking this in before January is over! How has the new year been
treating you so far? I hope well! I've never been one to make New
Years resolutions, but I always love the idea of a whole new year
with so many new experiences and roads to travel. You never know what
the future will hold, and while that can be scary, it is also
exciting! So here's to a new year full of adventure and growth!
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| At the Baths |
I have really been loving this new
semester so far. And it all has to do with the girls. It's funny to
look back to September when they were first arriving, and compare it
to their arrival back at Storch in January from Christmas break. Very
different experiences! It was awesome to meet them for the first
time, but it's more awesome to have them come back and be excited to
see you again! I loved the squealing, the hugs, the laughter, and the
stories. Now that we've laid a bit of a foundation for our
relationships in the first half of the year, we're ready to continue
building on that. There haven't necessarily been any crazy
breakthroughs yet, but just the fact that we're more comfortable with
each other makes it easier to have conversation and share our
thoughts and feelings. Obviously each person is different, and my
relationship with each person is different, but I'm just so excited
to know these girls on a deeper level. We as a staff are planning
ways to spend more intentional one-on-one time with the girls, and
I'll be having an ice cream date in my room on Thursday with one of
the seniors. :) Please pray with me that the Lord will have His hand
on these relationships, and that He would guide me and the other
staff in how to approach each girl in a way that they would feel
especially loved and important. We want them to know their individual
value as well as our value as a “family.”
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| Zombies!!!!! |
We've already had some pretty fun
things going on in the last few weeks (as well as exams...ugh). We
took a trip to the baths one evening, and enjoyed swimming around in
the warm mineral water while outside in freezing weather. Stacey
brought her underwater camera with her, so we had a grand time taking
loads of ridiculous pictures! Another fun thing we did one day was
play Zombie Tag in the dorm. We bought nerf guns at the Euro store,
turned off all the lights in the dorm, and had a crazy game of
zombies chasing gun wielding civilians haha. They totally loved it!
And some people think girls don't do things like that... :P Another
thing that the girls have really been enjoying (as well as Callie and
I) is the new PlayStation that the Babiches bought for the dorm. We
have a bunch of dancing games that go with it, and most days the
girls go out in the living room and dance away. Great laughs, as well
as exercise!
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| Birthday banners outside my room |
So my birthday was two weeks ago, and let
me just say that it went way beyond my expectations! I think the Lord
knew I needed a boost since I was away from home during all the
holidays, so He provided some great encouragement from friends here.
Callie, my fellow RA, let me sleep in for an extra hour and took over
my breakfast duties, put banners up in the hallway, and had the girls
write notes for me to hang in my room (the notes were SO precious by
the way...melt my heart!). I had small group that afternoon, and one
of the gals made me a funfetti birthday cake, another made Sopa de
Mani (peanut soup from Bolivia!! So awesome!), another made jelly
filled croissants, and our group leader made super yummy baked brie
with brown sugar and walnuts. YUMMO! I got two bouquets of flowers,
gifts from home, homemade cupcakes from a friend, a very loud “Happy
Birthday” song from my girls, a short call home, and tons of well
wishes from all over the place! Oh, and get this...on the way out the
door in the morning one of my freshman got down on one knee, kissed
my hand, and called me “Your Excellency”...haha!What a blessed
day! So a big thank you to the many people who helped make my day
special!
I would like to ask for prayer for good
health. Colds and flus have been going around, and several are sick
with colds at Storch, including myself. It just makes life so much
harder when you can't breathe well and don't have much energy. We
also have been without a stove for the last 6 days...it broke and
maintenance had to order new ones. They're supposed to be installed
in the morning, so just pray that there are no complications with
that! God is good and He's been carrying us through the slumps by His
grace.
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| Dressed like Steve for "Twin Day"...or quadruplets ;) |
When the new year rolled around, I
started reading the devotional book entitled “Jesus Calling” by
Sarah Young. If you haven't heard of it before, each reading is
written from the perspective of Jesus in the first person, and He is
speaking to the reader. The main themes are living in the presence
and peace of Jesus in very real ways. The Lord has been teaching me
more and more about what it really means to live with Him and
how to focus on Him. One thing I would like to do is start practicing
more spiritual disciplines. I would appreciate some helpful reading
material on this, so if you have any suggestions, let me know! I read
“Streams of Living Water” when I was in college, and that had
some great insights, but someone might have another book to
recommend. Thanks guys :)
Matthew 28:20b
“And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.”
