huh!

Oh look! My blog! maybe I shall pick this up again!

Well it's been over a month since I got back from Uganda...guess it's time to post about it. lol
I'll be posting by days from my journal with pictures...first one coming soon! Thanks for being patient :)

11 hours til lift off!

The errands are done. The bags are packed. The goodbyes have started. The plane leaves in 11 hours. Good bye America. Hellllooo Uganda!!

6 days and counting!

6 days till I leave for Uganda!!!

I am so excited about this trip words aren't even fathomable. I have wanted to go to Africa for the last 4 years, and God has finally shown me the right place and time. I'm going with a non profit organization some friends of ours started called Ten Eighteen. There is a team of 6 of us going over ..Mrs. Jennings (the founder of ten eighteen), her daughter Ryan and son Zeke (who both worked at camp with me this summer), one of my bestest friends Erica, and another college aged girl names Catie. It's a 10 day trip ...Thursday the 4th we leave!

While we are there, we will be doing a 4 day basketball camp with 40 kids from the slums of Kampala, distributing clothes and medical supplies, going on an over night safari, and just loving on the Ugandan people.

I know God has so much in store for these 10 days, I can only just pray I will be His hands and feet.

Summer at NLC

I have had one of the most amazing summers yet. A summer full of character building, new friendships, strengthening old friendships, discovering new things about my self, growing closer to God, humbling experiences, hilarious moments, quotable talks, and memories that I will never forget. I have spent my summer working at New Life Camp. I grew up going to NLC for a week every summer, starting when I was nine years old, along with my brothers and sister. I always loved the staff there..I looked up to them, and thought they were just great. Well this year, I had the opportunity to work on this Staff, and it blessed my socks off. Living there for 1 week of orientation, 6 weeks of overnight camp, and then working 2 weeks of day camp, I wouldn't re-do a single day. I wasn't a counselor but was on Service Staff for the 9 weeks. Though I would of rather been a counselor, God knew exactly what he was doing when he put me as a service staff member. I washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms, and took trash out..but you know what? It was all Awesome. not because those jobs are awesome, but because I got to serve others through those jobs. I was able to serve the counselors, while they poured into their kids. I was able live and work with my sister for 2 weeks before she moved to TN. I was able to work with one of my best friends for 2 weeks as we protected our cabin from killer beetles. I was able to get to know campers from all cabins, and spend time with them. I was able to create new friendships with other non counselor staff. But the best of all was that I was able to serve God through all of this.
I finish up working on Friday, and it's going to be really hard to say goodbye to people as they all head back to school. I am extremely thankful for the 9 weeks I was given at New Life Camp. I don't know what God has for me next summer, but all I know is that the 2011 NLC Staff will always have a special place in my heart.

lists.

- WEIRD LOVE? Lists are probably one of my favorite things. There is just something about bullet points, numbering, lettering, organized columns that make me happy. I guess that's where my slight OCDness comes in...and probably why my heart jumps for joy when multiple choice questions come into play in school.

- READ IT. I have a new favorite blog. it make me happy. I read it all the time. and you should to. www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/

- PROM is in 7 days and I am extremely exitedddd.

- HUH. ..have you ever noticed that when someone wants to emphasize a word they just repeat the last letter a lot....or am I the only one who does that?

- ROAD TRIP..The day after prom I'm setting off with my seester and best friend to my lovely friends Kelly and Rob's wedding in the mountains..hoooray! :). And then off to Nashville, TN for a few days to help with Safe World Nexus (the organization Sarah and Ellie will be interning with starting in July) event to launch their new campaign - join a new story.

- TORNADOES. everywhere. My family has been lucky and blessed enough that it hasn't effected any of us or our home. I pray for everyone that was affected... the lives that were lost, the homes that were destroyed, the injuries. it's all just awful.. ...No one likes tornadoes, and they should just go back to where ever they came from.

- GRADUATION IS IN 37 DAYS. wait what? yea. 37 days. I have 37 days of highschool left. I'm so not excited and sad. AND I'm so excited and happy. you would think, that you can't have these two emotions together, but let me tell you. it's possible. I'm so not excited and sad, because I liked high school. I'm gonna miss playing volleyball. I'm gonna miss playing basketball. I'm gonna miss my lighthouse sports family. I'm gonna miss going to classes with my friends. I'm gonna miss having all my friends around. I'm gonna miss life as I've known it for the last 4 years.

But, I'm excited about what kind of changes are in the future. I'm excited about where the Lord is going to take me. I'm excited to see how He is going to work in my friends lives. I'm excited about road trips to go see my friends. I have no clue right what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what I want to do or where I want to go. I am just waiting on the Lord. But I am ready where ever he wants to send me. For now I'll be taking classes at community college in the fall.

Passport.. Check!

My passport came in the mail yesterday! Now I can legally travel the world when ever I want. Besides the fact that the picture is horrible..and no I don't mean the kind of pictures that people say they look horrible in , but really they look awesome. I mean I don't look so hot.. I'd like to thank the lovely lady at the post office who told me the camera had taken the picture, but really it hadn't until I started talking to her after she said it had. But hey, I figure the only people seeing the photo in my passport will be the people who will see me in person after an extremelyyy long amount of time in an airplane and traveling...and believe me I'll look like a super model in that photo compared to in person under those circumstances. Oh well. luckily I get to try again in 2021... one step closer to Uganda!

Today I got up at 6am..on a Saturday..to go to a school so big that even the illustrators of Where's Waldo would lose him..then I tripped up the stairs after the third time of going up them to find the right classroom...then I sat at a desk for 5 hours..then I came out and it was raining. yep. ACT's...I don't like you very much.

Then on my way home I stopped to pick up a package at the post office to find out that the national Passport day didn't get canceled. EVEN though the website said that it did due to the silly government not being able to make any kind of decision. But then they did. and so they had it. but didn't fix the site. Thanks a lot US postal service. Anywayyss. I then preceded to stand in line for 2 hours to get all my passport application paperwork in order. Now it's all on it's way to Philadelphia where it will be processed and I should have my passport in two weeks! (paid a little extra to make sure I get it quickly) ANOTHER STEP CLOSER TO UGANDA!

Speaking of Uganda, I am a little more the $400 short on my fundraising, with 5 weeks to go! It's been so amazing to see how God has provided in ways I couldn't of even predicted. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me so far! God has taught me such about relying on him and having faith that he will provide. I can't wait to go! 124 days til I leave! whoooot!

Another exciting news...I have a summer job..and I'm so excited..eekk :) I am on Summer Staff at New Life Camp for the summmmerr :) 7 weeks of overnight camp and 2 weeks of day camp. So I'll be gone most of the summer, home on the weekends. But I'm really excited about serving the Lord this summer with all my new friends whom I love mucho mucho.