What a Great Weekend

This past weekend was crazy busy (I might have gone to bed super early on Sunday since I was soooo tired), but was also such a blessing.  The weekend started out with taking a group of 8 element students to a leadership conference at Trinity International University. It was very cool to go and see kids (many who I have known since their freshman or sophomore year) become passionate about their future and what it means to be “Wholly Set Apart”.  That was the title of the conference (a play on wholly and holy). I also got to see a former/current mentee of mine that graduated last year.  It was such a blessing to get to catch up with her and talk to her about her future.  I also left learning a lot and I think that God really orchestrated the timing of the conference to prepare me for Australia and to help me to not stress about Sunday (speaking at church and my mission’s journey luncheon).  One of the coolest parts was having a sole/soul party.  We decorated TOMS.  Mine I am dubbing my “missions TOMS”.  The top of them have a picture of the world and then there are two verses (Matthew 26:19-20 and Isaiah 6:1-8).  I will post pictures of them very soon.

Then Sunday came like a whirlwind.  All before 4pm, I was interviewed in front of the church for both services, helped students fundraise for Revolution (a local missions trip which combines a bunch of local youth groups), and hosted a luncheon.  I was spent by the time I got home.  Minus a few word slip ups first service and combining a few questions and answers second, I think the interviews went well.  I got a few responses and a couple that come up and spoke to me.  It was a huge blessing and I really hope that more prayer and encouragement comes out of it.  The luncheon also went so well (possibly minus the length of my talk…I have been known to run on).  I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE AWESOME LADIES TO HELPED PLAN AND EXICUTE THE LUNCHEON!  I know that I would not have been able to do it without you!  Let me explain that last statement.  There was a group of ladies who I love that offered to help take on the luncheon.  Basically they did EVERYTHING and I had to just take care of napkins (which I ended up forgetting…oooopps) and what I wanted to share.  That made my life a million times easier.  THANK YOU TO THOSE LADIES AGAIN!  The food was so good and there was so much!  A total of about 29-30 people ended up coming and it was such a blessing.  I showed a travel log video of my past mission trips while people ate and then when that was finished, I got up and shared key points from the trips that really shaped me.  I was nervous about it ahead of time because I was planning on sharing some things that were/are very close to my heart and some areas of pain that still remain.  Thank you to those who came for being so loving, caring, and compassionate.  I might have gone on for a long time, but I think that is what God had planned.  I at least finished on time :)  There were also a lot of people who were willing to clean up and stay around and talk.  Thank you again to those who were able to come. I am so excited to see what God is going to do between now and when I leave…under 60 days.