A New Year

It has been so long that I have blogged that my computer didn't even recognize my own blog site. I hope that all of you are doing well, and that your new year is off to a great start.

For those of you that are wondering what is happening here in War...I will give you a quick update.....well, maybe not quick! ;)

Things with YoungLife are going awesome! God is so good! First of all, the 11 students that we took with us to camp in July of 2011 are all still on board and doing a great job at helping us lead our club nights.

Currently we are meeting every other week for club. Club is basically like a youth group--games, songs, skits, ridiculousness....and a Gospel talk. It has been awesome getting to share about how wonderful our Jesus is with these kids...hopefully in a clear and real way. We have anywhere from 15 to 30 kids at clubs. The weeks that we don't meet for club, we are with our campaigner kids (our leaders). I love being a part of Young Life! It has been so exciting to see how God has taken us through each step of this.

We have been working with our committee (community leaders that help us keep Young Life going in the right direction) to write letters and get money for our kids to attend summer camp for July 2012. This is truly a life changing experience...I've been able to witness this first hand with several of our leader students. One senior girl who went with us to camp was scared to let Jesus take over her life because she didn't know what that lookedl like. I remember getting to talk, pray, and read Jesus' Word with her that week at camp, and she did accept Jesus into her life. She knew that her life had to be different...even though she was already an awesome student and girl...however, she didn't know what that looked like. She was afraid to fail. It has been simply amazing to see how her love for Jesus is growing and how she is getting more confident. For Christmas, the one thing that she wanted was a Bible that she could really understand. Her mom got her one, and she wanted to open it early. Things like this have blessed my heart so much.

Please pray for McDowell Young Life. Satan is everywhere and telling these kids that they need to turn to everything else. However, Jesus is alive and working....and He has already overcome Satan! Thank you, Jesus! Pray that these students would not only have the head knowledge but that they would enter into a love relationship with the King of Kings. Pray that me and the other leaders (Laura, Dan, and Heidi) would have wisdom and discernment with how we lead and that Jesus would be our first priority every day. Also, please pray that word would continue to spread about Young Life to students, adults, and the community of McDowell and that Jesus would be honored in everything!

As far as my class, things are going wonderful this year. I am in my third year of teaching...second at Fall River. I am so blessed to work with a wonderful family of teachers that have welcomed me so much! I enjoy going to work, and I love my kiddos! I have a wonderful class of 20 students, and this year is flying by so far!!!

Another blessing in my life recently has been Aaron. I have been dating him for the past three months, and he is an awesome man who is so wonderful to me. Aaron teaches science at the high school with Dan and Heidi. Dan told me about Aaron for over a year, so I had heard of him. He plays bass guitar in a band that is well known around here and in the southern states called the Blackwater Outlaws. God has blessed him abundantly with musical abilities. We both have a lot of mutual friends, and after he was told about me, .he added me on good ole Facebook! ha. Then, he invited me to hear him at one of his concerts which was close. Things have been great ever since!

This coming week I will start my second semester of graduate classes which will add to my schedule. The first semester went well; however, I felt overwhelmed with time many nights. Please pray that I would manage my time well, and that even in the midst of busy...wonderful...things, I would put Jesus above all and not get sloppy in my time with Him.

I appreciate your prayers! I hope that today you feel loved and blessed! :)