Crazy Dreams are Nothing

It blows my mind that God's plan for our lives is far greater than even our wildest dreams. Y'all, I have some crazy dreams for my future, yet He is greater.

If I were to list out my dreams, these just skim the surface:

I dream to TEACH in an ORPHANAGE.

I dream to ADOPT a child.

I dream to have a FAMILY and a HUSBAND.

I dream about working in CAMP MINISTRY.

I dream about a life full of CHILDREN.

I dream to go on MISSIONS all throughout South & Central America.

I dream to be a VESSEL through which God moves on my polo team.

I dream of living in the COUNTRY with land for my children to grow up on.

I dream to be KNOWN and LOVED.

Ministry. Children. Adoption. Family. Missions. Orphanages. That's not a small order! But yet those dreams, as wild as they may sound now, are NOTHING compared to what the Father has laid out for my life. He looks at my dreams and says "But, Beloved Daughter, I want so much more for you". MORE than those dreams? More than a life of ministry? More than a family with a heart for adoption? More than journeys and missions? More than loving and teaching orphans?

YES. He plans MORE. Our dreams are too small. Our dreams are worldy, earthly dreams. His dreams for us are Heaven-sent and God-sized. 

How crazy is that? We are so blessed by a Father who is so good to us.

Seeing Growth

This week has been a mix of emotions. It is exciting as a new semester is upon us, full of new opportunities. It is stressful as I'm trying to finalize water polo stuff before the season begins. It is sad as my heart is still very much in Livingston at Cho.

As hard as it is to not be at Cho (it is a real struggle that I battle daily now), God has shown me something super cool this week that has made being back at school a little more okay.

At the end of the Spring semester we had a water polo officer meeting to begin to plan this semester. The meeting was near disaster. We were a hot mess. I didn't know how to lead very well so I allowed others to just take over the meeting, and when I tried to butt in my opinion, it was talked over. We all argued and couldn't get on the same page. I was not an effective leader or communicator.

Fast forward to now, after spending 3 months in a leadership role.

Monday night we had another officer-meeting. This time there was order, there was a plan, there was communication. I knew how to get my points across. I knew how to nip side-conversations. I knew how to keep everybody on task. I understood the vitality of clarification and making sure everybody was on the same page. It was a completely different meeting!

Y'all. As much as I long to be back at camp and being apart of that ministry year round, it is so rewarding to see how what I learned this summer is being reflected in my life here in College Station. God is so good, and I'm so thankful for those realizations as He provides encouragement. This semester is going to be challenging as I know I'm going to struggle with wanting to be at school and being motivated to be my best. But I also know that the Father is faithful and He will keep providing these little remembrances of who He has made me to be to remind me that He has me here for a reason. He is good, and I will trust in that.

Resting in His Peace

6 weeks ago I didn't know if I would even be coming back to A&M to start my junior year. Now, here I am, staring fall semester in the face. I'm not sure what my purpose is this semester, but I am able to rest in the always good peace of knowing that God has a plan for this year and I am back here for a reason. So, here we go. Junior year starts now!

Santa Fe

Well y'all. I did it! I officially was able to make my favorite meal growing up for dinner tonight!

Granted, it took me a bit longer than it should've...

• I forgot that my chicken was in the freezer so I had to thaw that
• I somehow broke our can-opener trying to open Rotel so ended up stabbing the top until I got a big enough slit in it to pour out the Rotel.
• ^^ That hole wasn't actually big enough, so not much Rotel was actually used...
• I am not the best at multi-tasking in the kitchen... so flipping the chicken and cutting the vegetables was a challenge to do at the same time!

But, at the end of the day I had a super yummy dinner with enough leftovers to last me another 2 meals, the apartment was still standing, and I got to make another trip to HEB to replace the can-opener that I broke... All in all -- GREAT meal and a yummy reminder of home!

That Apartment Life

I love this feeling of home. I love waking up in the morning and having a quiet room to myself. I love walking into the kitchen and pouring myself a glass of juice before sitting down in the living room with whoever else is up. I love getting to go shower when I want to, regardless of whether or not my roommates need to use the bathroom, since we all have our own. I love getting ready in my bathroom. I love getting to sit down on my bed and have my Jesus-time without anybody else coming in/out of the room. I love making food whenever I want to eat. I love random spur of the moment trips to Dairy Queen when Rachel and Maddie discover that I’ve never had a blizzard. I love spreading out all of our craft supplies in the living room, turning on a Disney movie, and wasting the night away laughing.

I love the apartment. I love my own space, and I love the people I share our home with. So many blessings in this one apartment – excited to spend the next year living like this!

Living and Loving Life with The Guys (and the girls that kept me sane)

Well, this summer at Cho-Yeh is officially over. My 13 weeks spent at camp have come to a close, and I couldn't be more blessed than I was over the last 3 months.

These are the guys that I spent day in and day out with all summer. I cannot imagine a more selfless, servant-hearted, caring, genuine and Jesus-seeking group of guys who showed me Christ's love daily to have been surrounded by this summer.  They served me daily, picked on my hourly, and loved me constantly. They displayed so many characteristics that I know that I now want in my future husband. On that note, meet Will, Matt, Ethan, Cullen, Caleb and Nate. My brothers.

But, in order to deal with all of the guys, I did end up with a new best friend. Meet Allyssa: the one who laughed and loved me so well all summer. She listened when I was confused, she held me when I was upset, she loved me at all times. I can't imagine what this summer would've looked like without her!

And of course, couldn't leave out my precious summer roommate, Kelly. Through the flooding cabin, the spiders in our beds, the crickets in our clothes, and the roaches that were everywhere, we took every challenge with laughter.

Crossroads

Well y'all, all I can say is God has been SO good to me this summer. I love my job, I love my team, and I love what my role is at Cho-Yeh this summer.

And in all that love, I have found myself wrestling with a huge decision. There is a new job opening at Cho next year that I have been encouraged to look into, and been told that I would be given if I applied. It is a Summer Camp Internship, where I would spend the next year helping the directors recruit and plan the next summer.

Essentially, it would give me the opportunity to do what I love for an entire year.

The only problem is that if I accepted the job, that would require me to take a year off from school. Obviously, none of my family is too thrilled or supportive of this, and I understand because school is important.

But at the same time, this is an incredible opportunity. For the longest time camp ministry was what I wanted to do with my life, and then once I applied for college that passion was suppressed.

I know that the logical, reasonable and rational decision is to go back to College Station: to live with Rachel and Maddie, and to lead our polo team to another successful season. But the Lord doesn't always call us to make the safe decision, sometimes we are asked to take a bold step and trust Him.

David Platt, author of one of my favorite books, "Radical", puts it like this: “Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”

Regardless, God is good, and He is more than enough for me. While I'm in the middle of this crossroad I will put my trust in Him. He will open or close the necessary doors and allow me to be where His Will is next year. And no matter how this turns out I am thankful that He has refueled this passion of mine for camp ministry.

Location:Camp Cho-Yeh