month one...

Well, this week made a month since I moved my life to the small state of DE. Its been a month of...
...falling more in love with Jesus
...having to depend on Jesus
...growing in my faith
...desiring to grow more in my faith
...working hard
...enjoying life
...making new friends
...missing friends
...being welcomed as family
...missing my family
...building relationships with my new church family
...missing my swords creek church family
...meeting awesome kids
...missing my awesome kids back home

So you get the picture. It's a transition. I don't know that missing people will ever go away... but I am seeing daily that God is more than able to meet all of my needs. I know many have wondered how things are going up here in this new world so here are a few bits of information.

"Where are you living?"-- It's crazy how God works out things for His glory! Joy (my friend from Powerlife who moved from FL to work here at LifeHouse) and I are both living in a townhouse with an amazing God-loving girl name Heather. Heather is a nurse and owns a 3 bedroom townhouse. She had never had a peace about living with anyone else before, but without even meeting us she decided we were to live her. She says that the peace that God gave her about it was so clear! So praise the Lord for that. Not only is she a housemate but she is one of my best friends! She's such an amazing godly person who has become like a sister to me in a matter of a few weeks. Both of my housemates are such a blessing in my life. They truly are the best people to come home to at the end of the day to talk about Jesus, watch the Duggars, and laugh until we cry.

"What exactly are you doing?" -- Well ... a little of everything. I am having the opportunity to work with TeamKid (K-6) on Tuesday nights by working on verse memorization, teaching, and simply building relationships with the kids! At least one Sunday a month I work with TeamBaby! Sunday before last I had my first opportunity to be part of the Praise Team! Outside of these, I work in the office 3 days a week helping out with volunteeer recruiting, children's ministry tasks, and any other jobs that I can help in. My favorite ministry event so far has been the Family Fun Fall Festival. This was a day of reaching out to the community. We had games and food and facepainting. My job all day was to hand out balloons and talk to kids about the fesival, TeamKid, and Jesus. It was such a great day!

"What else is going on in life?" -- Well even outside of church most of my time is spent with members of the church. I have been doing some babysitting, which I love. I've spent lots of time just hanging out and getting to know people. And of course I am still doing my online classes.  Some specific stand out moments.... The first week we got here, two of the kids had a birthday/costume party. It was great night of me being dressed as Minnie Mouse, having a hayride, and dancing... lots of dancing. The "hurricane"... we were predicted to get it bad here so I spent 2 days at Mark and Tammy's. It ended up just being a really windy storm but it was a nice couple of days with the Lashey's. Punkin Chunkin... no, I didn't mispell that. It's literally people taking catapults and cannons and shooting pumpkins across a field... It was an interesting day to say the least. And I did get to go to the beach. Even though it was cold, it was still relaxing for the few minutes I was there. It also makes me extremely excited for warm weather and having a beach so close! :)

These are the two things God has shown me the most since I got here... (I pray they will be an encouragement to you as well)

1st- It is only through God and by His grace that I am capable of doing anything good for Him. I am so grateful that Jesus chooses to use us and then equips us to be used. 2 Corinithians 3.5 "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God." PRAISE JESUS that my sufficiency doesn't come from me. On my best day, I could never be good enough to work for Him or serve Him but HE is and provides all I need to serve Him! Ephesians 3.20 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us." Jesus works in us and through us! And He can do more through us than we could even dream up!

2nd- The Power of the Gospel is so much more than we realize. Growing up in the Bible belt, I feel I often missed the power of the Gospel. I foget that the Gospel changes lives, truly turns people around and gives them hope and peace and joy that they can't comprehend. Seeing this in others also reminds me of that peace, joy, hope, and purpose Jesus gives me everyday through the power of the cross! 2 Corinthians "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." When we receive the gift of Jesus, He doesn't just take away our sins and sprinkle a little goodness on  us... He makes a NEW CREATION! I believe that when we experience that personal love gift from our Savior, it truly flips our lives around. Romans 1.16a "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." When we recognize the true power of the gospel, we want to share it! It changes us and it is so awesome that we want others to hear it so they can be changed to! The more God shows off His power in the cross, the more I want to share it! The more I can't hold in what He's done! The more I want to give my life to spread the news that can change  a heart, a life, and an eternity!