Are my parents crazy?

In case I haven't told you, sometimes I think my parents are strange. Or ridiculous. Or hilarious. Or inappropriate. Or wise. Or silly. Or sometimes, awesome.

A while ago, I heard a gal say she had never been on a plane or out of the Midwest, much less the nation. To some, this is their norm. However, I was surprised. While I understand many people have not had the same opportunities I have had or share my love for travel, her remark made me reflect.

• I flew in a plane for the first time at age 9.
• With my family, I've traveled to various places within the nation.
• I left the country without my parents at age 13. And again at 14 and 15.
• I flew and left the continent with five people my parents didn't really know at age 19.

WHAT were my parents thinking?!?!?
That they were not going to stand in God's way. 

When I first left the country, I went with my youth group on a week-long mission trip. I was a freshman in high school, the youngest person on the trip.

Let's not judge the fashion, okay?

Again, when I went to West Africa last summer, I was the youngest person on the trip.

Six years later and I'm still pale. Good.

When I told my parents that I was thinking of going on a mission trip for the summer, they were behind me. Sure, they had questions, but they were in step. My dad said that it helped that many things were in order and organized (Shout out to Missions Staff) as well as the fact that I wasn't going to a super dangerous part of the world.

But he also said that he knows God is doing big things with or without you. If God "invites" you do get on board with something, you can say yes or no, but saying yes will take you on a wild ride full of "turbulence." He'll get you through it, and it might not be easy. It will be crazy, and you might even see great, wild "God things."

As my dad and I parted ways before my trip, he told me, "I can't wait for you to go because I can't wait to hear the stories you'll have when you come back."

So mostly, this post is not to brag about my rockstar parents, but to encourage other parents to let your kids go and do great things for God. Your kid and you won't regret it. (And your kid might recognize how cool you are.)

Encouraging encouragement

Well, that's all folks. The title gave me away.

Every Tuesday morning, I have the extreme pleasure of waking up before dawn (thanks winter) to see six wonderful, mostly smiling faces! There's always Jesus and usually some coffee involved. I love these ladies so so so much! And today, our fearless leader charged us with writing out ways we've seen God working in one another's lives.

"But encourage one another daily as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 NIV 

Aside from hearing things other people see in me (which is always welcome,) I loved sharing ways that God works in others! Reflecting on all that God is doing allows you to broaden your outward look. I don't know about you, but I love to see how God is moving around me! And He's moving in really big ways!

Also, make sure to tell that person verbally or even in writing! I love looking back and seeing how I've grown and how God has been faithful!

How will you encourage someone today?

And thus begins my return

Today is Friday. The last time I blogged was a Thursday, so think of it like a continuation. (just tons of months later)

I returned once again to Iowa State!
I came back from Africa! God is doing crazy powerful things there. Can't wait to go back and see the fruit He produces!

Sights I love:

*image taken from http://about.eserver.org/IowaStateUniversity

1. Campus. I love being here and seeing people I know!

2. This book I borrowed from my grandparents! (Thank you!!) So much truth in a short read. I recommend it with a cup of tea or coffee. :)

3. My church filled with college students. They said it well last night. It feels like coming home. :)

*image taken from @ISUSalt twitter page

*image taken from
 http://shadowlilies.wordpress.com

Happy Friday everyone!

Connection group adventures!

Well, what a semester it has been! Today I got some shots for my trip overseas. Much to my surprise, I survived. There may have been cute bandaids involved. Here's how my past however long has been:

 In April, one of my connection group girls got baptized! My church has baptized so many people within the past month; it's so wonderful to see each time!

 This past week, most of my group and I went to a super park in Ames!! It doesn't look like Ames at all, so it's fun to sneak away! We walked down the crick, traversed a path, hunted for mushrooms, probably got a little sun, and enjoyed the nature all around us!

A cute elderly man walks his dog on this path.

 We all want to return in the fall and enjoy the leaves! These ladies have been a huge blessing to me this year.  I can't even write all their fabulousness in words! I love each and every one of them!! They've grown so much this year; it's been fun to see!

This year has been so wonderful co-leading with this wonderful lady!! It's been so much fun, we're going to do it again! Can't wait to see Mia after we each have a great adventure ahead of us this summer!

Somehow, I don't think we'll both come back this pale. Oh well!

BIG NEWS!

The last weekend in February, the campus ministry I participate in had its Spring Retreat! The speaker, Todd Ahrend, spoke on missions. He taught 600 college students about the global ministry God had in mind from the beginning (Genesis 12:2). Have you heard of the 10/40 window? (I put the link to Google images, so you can see not only the countries but also the religions focused on.) Have you heard the acronym "Thumb?"

Tribal
Hinduism
Unreached or Chinese
Muslim
Buddhism

I loved the retreat: learning from and teaching my small group girls, learning about so much about the history of missions work, and feeling so much more excited and prepared to go!

I'm so crazy excited to tell you! This summer 5 of my friends and I will go to Africa and share about Jesus!

      

Would you like to know more? I would love to inform you of what I will do and where I will go. Send me your address, and I will send you a letter! (I really hope to see elephants!) 

Also, if you enjoy the "Harlem Shake" Youtube trend, check out this video! I'm on the right side (somewhere around 1/3 of the way down from the top) shaking a light blue coffee mug! Can you find me? :)

Thank you SO much!

Your prayers were definitely felt over the retreat! It was a great weekend filled with prayer and love and learning!

Katie and I think we're pretty smart!
(L: Meghan, Katie, Me, Deanna)

Dance theme: Space Jam! We're pretty cute!
(Back Row L: Me, Aislinn, Liz, Renea
Front L: Deanna, Meghan)

The next weekend, we decided to have a main street adventure beginning at Cafe Diem! :)
Sometimes, we get fancy. And by we, I mean my lovely small group girls!

I am my father's daughter: straight black coffee for me!

Prayer Does Wonders

And I need them! I will be attending a retreat through my church! I will lead my small group of ladies as we all learn more about walking with God! I'm really excited and can't wait to see what God does this weekend! Look for an update after the retreat for pictures and how your prayers help!

Some things to pray for:

• A record-breaking 625 people are attending this retreat! Pray for soft, teachable hearts for everybody.
• Staff members and speakers- Bob Thune, Jr. is speaking! I really enjoy hearing God speak through this great man! Pray that God gives him the words.
• Small group leaders- Like myself, other leaders will lead their small group through discussion, digging deeper and connecting on a more personal level. Pray that we can learn a lot as well and that God will sustain us through an emotionally-powered weekend.
• Wisdom for everybody -- James 1:5- "Therefore, if anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to them."

I guess it's been a while.

Here's what I did instead of blog:

Planted a little bit of the garden!

Beans!

Checked on new baby kitties!

Do you see the two black ones? They kind of mesh together and the orange one on top? Mama Kitty does not approve of picture taking.

Drove the tractor!

Never mind the reflection of me. :)

Hung out with my best friends!

Yeah, I missed her face. :) Love you!!

Tried to take artistic-ish photos of my backyard!

Yes, the old plow makes for a good picture. :)

Played with my puppy dog!

Baked cookies!

Made a mess... :3

Before and after! :) Turned out perfectly!

Couldn't give away the family recipe!

Woke up early and caught the sunrise!

Red in the morning sailor take warning.

Did you know the phrase above has Biblical background? Check out Matthew 16 to read the whole story! Who says the Bible isn't relevant today? (P.S.: Thanks Dad for the new info!)

Played dress up!

We love to dress up!

Being a princess is hard work!

Rockin a smile in the pj's

He had the cutest socks! And I <3 elephants. 

Saw a turtle emerge from the road!

See it in the bottom left hand corner?

Hope you've had a cool time like I have!

First, Last, and Everywhere Between

Goodbye ISU. I'll see you in August! :(

5 Things I'll Miss:
1. Friends that have become family
2. Weekend nomlettes at UDCC
3. Walking almost everywhere
4. Almost daily coffee
5. 10th floor. The view of Jack Trice from my own windows, the view of campus and north Ames from the den, the breeze that comes from being the highest up, the people, noise, ukulele/guitar/voice jam sessions, and my room/door.

I'm home! At least for a while! :)

5 Things I'll Love:
1. Baking and cooking in my kitchen with my mom
2. Doing things with my dad (including, but not limited to: playing catch, bettering my gun skills, learning how to run a chainsaw, learning more about cars)
3. Hanging with my friends from home
4. Driving my car!
5. Seeing the kiddos I babysit --- I saw the two girls today, and the younger one jumped into my arms and gave me the biggest hug! She's too cute! I've missed them both!



Okay, so update on life. This post is past due!

We played with colored bubbles! My friend caught them on a sheet of paper making cool artwork, and I made a mess on my hands! It was Crayola, so it washed off. I totally recommend this for any age.

I was super good and studied outside with my sunscreen! Not a very bad sunburn for me! (I got a little sunburned, though... oops!)

Future bonfire :)

This was taken two days ago. We had a wicked storm come through! My sister, neighbor, and I got stuck in town for a while, and on our way home, we encountered two huge trees that had fallen across the road! This one fell in a way that I could still get around, thank goodness, but it took out the power! Storms always make me think of the greatness of our God and how powerful He is. Super cool!

Adventures!

Wow, I'm such the adventurer! jk I'm not really. BUT I did have quite the weekend discovering different parts of campus! 

Look out! I'm trying to get artsy again!

These are a few of my friends
that came with me on adventures!

Larkspur?? I don't know!

We did all sorts of crazy things! Do you think my horse-lover cousin would come visit me if she saw some of my awesome pictures?? 

There were 4 mares and 4 ponies!

Look!
Can you see the chameleon?

Are you ready?

For......

because here we go!!

Might I just add that this is
what my bed looked like before I left!

Homemade goodies: Grandma's buns and Chocolate chip cookies!

Pre

Post

Omnomnomnom... get in mah belly!

Broken cookies don't get to be shared!
;)

Just look at these cookies!

gettin' artsy with the
cookie sheet pic! 

All gone! :S (good and bad face)

Now, I'm very sorry it took so long to post all these, but if you take a peek at how beautiful spring makes Iowa State, I think you'll understand. :) My green thumb has absolutely gone crazy with all this beauty!

These are seriously ALL over campus!!

Do you see both of the swans?
Their names: Sir Lancelot and Lady Elaine.
One is on the left right behind the fence post
and the other one is easier to spot on the right.
ISU Secret: They're both male!

Campanile and Central Campus.
So gorgeous!

Daffodils. Daffodils everywhere!

TULIPS!!!!! The Dutch girl in me is going crazy!!

Check out how cool this is!

This is Sloss House.
It has women-oriented things in it
and a fantastic tree in front of it!

I don't know exactly what this is, but I love it!!

Double tulips in cardinal and gold!

Erica's so pretty!

It was so perfect for a dress!

Nobody knows what kind of tree this is,
but it's the most beautiful of them all!

This is a sculpture in the Lagomarcino Courtyard.
How quaint!

Getting artsy! I love the pure flower against the muck in the birdbath.

Mia! Steampunk worthy??
Cool gate also in Lagomarcino.

This sidewalk leads literally from the very north of campus to
the Memorial Union. The endlessness of this path is so fantastic.

Now that you've seen how marvelous campus is, you'll understand why I love college in general.

I've made some of the best friends. Truly. God has blessed me so much!

Last night, I saw that Zondervan (Karen Kingsbury's publisher) would allow me to read the first five chapters to Loving. I told my friends they better not bother me while I read. 

When I heard my door rocking back and forth, I figured they were just writing something weird on my board. I should have known better. 

When I got a picture message on my phone, I had to check it out. They had post-it noted my door!!!

Then I heard duct tape, so I told them they couldn't ruin my pictures (especially of Sleeping Beauty, my fave princess). 

This is what happened.

(yep, keep going. it's worth it.)

You can see the video of me escaping on my Facebook page!

(almost there)

They not only put post its on my door, but literally wrapped
my door with wrapping paper! 

My friends Jimmy and Ryan with their creation.
Jimmy is proud; Ryan hates pictures.