Memory Verses

I have always wanted to have the Word of the Lord imprinted on my heart. I have learned verses over the years and memorized bits and pieces every now and then. This summer I am trying to put my desire into reality. My friend Julie and I are working on memorizing chapters of the Bible. This may not seem like to much to those with amazing memories, but for me, this is a huge challenge. I'm not exactly sure why either. I can memorize a song with ease but when it comes to speaking the Word of God from memory, I struggle. Please pray for me on this regard. Currently we are in I John 3. This part of God's Word reminds me that I am His child and that as His child the world will not "know me." I am encouraged by this because the last chapter we memorized was II Cor. 13 and It says that one day I will know fully just as I am fully known (by my Father). I know this is kind of a weird connection, but that is the first thing I thought of when I read I Jn. 3.

So right now I will continue to be persistent and keep trying to memorize and imprint the Word of God in my heart.

Good Breakfast

This morning I had breakfast with a couple of retired missionaries who now live here in Keystone. They are now running the "Keystone Project" which trains pastors from all over the world in church planting and discipleship. Anyway, I felt so blessed today after spending the morning with them. I was able to share my heart for missions with them and also hear about the ways that God moved in their lives to lead them to missions. They told me about the many ways that God has blessed their lives because they have strived to be obediant to Him and follow His leading. Vic and Barb were such an encouragement to me and gave me such assurance in waiting for the Lord to lead me to the mission field. I am so thankful for this opportunity and time that I had to share with them. They shared wise Scripture and teachings as well as struggles they faced. I'm looking forward to spending more time getting to know this couple and learning from them. I feel so blessed to have met them. Praise the Lord!

Genuine--thoughts

What does this mean? I am trying to be a "real" person with the people I work with, live with, and come into contact with throughout my day. At church last night we discussed this at great length. In fact our whole team sat around until about 1:30am learning to be honest with each other. I admit, I struggled with this more than I thought I would. For some reason I find it hard to open up my heart to people that I don't know well and don't know if I'll ever stay in contact with them long term. At the same time, I love the members of the team. We have all become quite close and we are learning how to work together more every day. So now, I think that I'm becoming more comfortable just being me (this is very good:).

But now what does this mean with my roommates? I want to know them, who they are..what they like/don't...what they like to do, read, listen to, eat..,ect. At the same time I want to proclaim the truth of the Gospel because this is what drives me. It is who I am. I am trying to learn how to genuinely care for them and encourage them sincerely so that they will see Jesus. So these are my thoughts on being genuine for now, maybe I'll have more later...

Crazy Dayz

So I went home for a quick weekend to be a part of my best friend's wedding...(Vanessa and Jason Veach) It was so beautiful and I had a wonderful time. It went by so fast and I can't believe I'm already back here in South Dakota. The funny thing is though, I feel right at home here. It seems as though whenever I go to Holland or MI for that matter, I have a huge agenda. Either I need to finish schoolwork, go to an event, or something is always making me extremely pressed for time whenever I'm there. I enjoy going home and love to see my family and friends, I just wish I could do it on a more relaxed time schedule. O well, in all honesty, I'm just thankful that I had the opportunity to go home, see my family, see a few friends, and then return back here and dive back into the ministry.

Highlights from the trip include: Vanessa's Wedding, seeing my family, having coffee with my friend Julie, running a mile in the airport so I didn't miss my connecting flight, reading "Tuesday's With Morrie," and reading "You Are Special" to a little kid in the airport. It was quite an eventful long weekend. Pictures should be posted soon.

Today I was back to work and enjoyed doing laundry with a girl named Andrea. Sometime this week she is moving down here to Keystone from Rapid City. She's a really sweet girl and we had made the best of folding towels and sheets:) Tomorrow I'm back to work at the Museum taking photos and whatever else they need me to do.

Black Hills Beauty

Here are a few photos that just show a glimps of God's creation out here. I'll continue to add more as we go on more adventures. Most of these pictures are from our camping trip to Custer State Park. Which happened to be the same weekend as my birthday, So once agian God blessed my life abundantly with the gift of seeing the beauty of His creation!

Blog Continues....

Ok, so I admit that I have not been able to keep this blog going for the last month simply because life is very busy and my internet connection in often questionable. But now I hope to keep this going and let you know what is happening out here. I feel as though I have to play catch-up and explain everything that's been happening. However, I don't have the time or energy for that. So I will through in the major events and pick up right where I'm at now.

We are 1/3 of the way through the summer and I can hardly believe time is passing so fast. I started out in a pseudo "Gospel Boot Camp." I learned a lot about discipleship, the Acts 2 church, the role of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Warfare, sharing the Gospel, and giving my testimony. Honestly, I feel like we've covered an entire semester of teaching in just two weeks. It was major Intense! In fact, that is my word for the summer. Everything about this place in intense: the beauty, the work, the fun, God's work...I could go on and on.

Right now, I have a variety of jobs. First off, I am a photographer. Let's be honest, I'm a amateur posing as a pro, the most technical camera I've ever used in my simple digital camera. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the boss said, "hey, do you want to learn photography tomorrow?" I said sure and now I'm a photographer (haha). I also work front desk at a hotel, housekeeping and housekeeping inspections at other hotels. I guess I'm what you would call the "go to girl." But I'm having fun with it. When I do photos, I get to meet people from all over the world and I'm gaining the confidence to share my faith with them, which is pretty cool. When I work at the hotels, I work with international students from Poland, Thailand, Philippines, and I live with two Bulgarians. It's amazing! I absolutely love where God has placed me and I love the challenge.