Yakima Washington - Week 3

Week 3 in Washington has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. God is teaching me and showing me so much. Blowing me away each and everyday, I have constantly been reminded that I serve an AWESOME God!

As I am walking through this phase of my life, I am learning a little bit more of the challenge of what it is like to follow God. God is always at work. Sometimes we can sense what God is doing, and then other times we aren't so sure. I have been asking myself over these past couple of weeks, "What is God doing?" "What is He doing in my life?"

Isaiah 64 reminds us that we are the clay formed by the hand of the potter. God is the one who builds, shapes, molds, and really defines who we are... if we let Him. Sometimes when I am unsure of the mold God is making me to be, I have to remind myself that I need to be clay on God's wheel.

In Psalm 127 I am reminded that God is the builder and we are his workers. It's important that our foundations are built on Christ and Christ alone - Focusing on Jesus Christ alone and putting Him first and foremost in my life.

Our complete and total dependence is on God. John 15 talks about the vine and the branches. God is the gardener, Jesus the vine, and us the branches. I love this passage. It makes some great promises and reminds us that God's desire is that we bear much fruit. It shows how our total dependence is on God. It also encourages us to pray because God answers and it speaks about the the need of God's pruning work. When God prunes the vine it's always for growth. Pruning is uncomfortable, change is tough - but our responsibility is to ensure that the pruning is God led and not man led.

There may be many times in our lives when we're not sure what God is doing. Our challenge is to let God be God. For as we do this, I am confident that God's purposes will prevail - Proverbs 19:21 - as we allow Him to shape, build, and prune us for His glory.

Yakima Washington - Week 2

Yakima, Washington... another part of my journey through life. These first almost two weeks have been absolutely AMAZING! God always seems to just amaze with the way he plans and works things out. I have learned so much since I have been here already, many things that I didn't even expect to learn. The cool thing is that I still have about 8 more weeks and I am so excited to see what else God has in store.

I couldn't have asked for a better person to serve with. Kinsey has been such a blessing and I have really enjoyed getting to know her. Kinsey has such a sweet spirit about her and she is always so encouraging. We are so much alike in more ways than one, but yet we work off of each other's differences. We have been learning so much off of each other too, which is really cool.

Southern hospitality has definitely followed us here! Everyone that we have met has been so welcoming and friendly. We have had people donate beds, food, and families have also been feeding us dinner. It's awesome to see all of the many ways that God provides and I am so thankful for everyone who has given.

The youth here are great! I have enjoyed every minute so far that gotten to spend with them and getting to know them. They really are an awesome group of students and I can't wait to see all that God does within the youth group this summer. We have a lot coming up activity/event wise so I am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

It's crazy that in two days I will be a fifth of the way finished with this trip. As I see these ten weeks quickly passing by, I can't help but think that August 7th is going to be here before I know it. I will soon be back with my family and starting back school, but I also can't help but to think that this time is passing too quickly. We often forget how short life is and that time passes away with every breath we breathe.