September... what an adventure!!

I can't believe that it is almost October. In a few weeks I will be half way done with my first semester of grad school. I'd like to take a moment and just say that God has been so good and so faithful. This past month I have experienced more joy and more satisfaction in my day to day life than I have in a long time. Sure grad school is super busy. But I feel like I am thriving in it, which happens to be one of the words God gave for this season- that I would thrive.

Here is a little recap of what the last month has looked like:

JH Ministry

What a beautiful lifegroup we have! I am so expectant for what God is going to do over this next year with this group of world changers. We had our first lifegroup this month and it was so fun.

Band Alumni Day

I got to relive the glory days early in September when alumni were invited back to march with the band. Whenever I get a chance to be in that kind of environment, it makes me miss it a little bit to be honest. I mean, band was my life for so long. I have wondered if I did the right thing by pursuing social work. The peace in my heart tells me I did the right thing. But I still miss it some days.
I'm glad I was able to connect with the directors and old friends. I am so thankful for the impact they have each had on my life!

 Friends

This past month I have had the privilege of making many new friends, especially from my masters program. I also had the privilege of saying goodbye to a few friends who are headed overseas to change the world for Jesus. 

Tortilla tossing with some new friends

              Saying goodbye to Megs for a year. What a faithful friend!

Saying goodbye to Chantel for 2 years as she heads to Asia.

World Mandate

World Mandate was this month and boy was it good. I had so much revelation about things relating to my heart and where God has me right now. Also so fun to worship with thousands of other believers!

I am so excited about what God is doing. I keep telling people, I think I can tell that when I'm done with my masters I'm going to look more like Jesus. That's just the nature of what I'm learning about and it's so exciting. 

Be looking for more updates. There might be a trip to Asia for me coming up at the beginning of the year...

Blessings!!

A Little Life Update

It's been close to a year since I last posted anything on this blog (which goes to show how I am about blogging... the worst!). But I wanted to take some time to share what's been going on in my life.

1. New house. New roommates.
In June I moved into a house close to church. I now share a room with a lovely girl from England who really loves Jesus.

2. Parents moved to Waco.
In July my parents moved to Waco to be closer while I'm in Waco. I love having them here.

3. Summer trip to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming.
Over the summer I traveled to Idaho to meet my birth mom and her family. It was amazing. Hopefully more on that later. I then headed to Montana for a friends wedding and then decided to take a few days to check out Yellowstone. It was beautiful and needless to say, a lot cooler than Texas. 

4. Grad School.
A few weeks ago grad school kicked off with orientation and an intro course. I have now completed my first official week of classes. I am also interning at Antioch and have a graduate assistantship with the Texas Hunger Initiative.

5. Still teaching some private lessons.

6. Still working with the amazing Junior High students at church. And I love it.

7. Falling more in love with Jesus.
I'm happy to say that I'm not the same person I was even a year ago because I keep falling more in love with Jesus. One of the things my roommate and I prayed earlier in the summer was, "Jesus, if you asked us to do anything and 'no' was a not an option, what would you ask of us?" Well, I felt like He wanted me to take a break from media in the fall and change some of my eating habits. So here I am... pulling the plug on Netflix, movies, twitter, instagram, and facebook. I will be updating this blog as I can (no promises) and then hopefully have my roommate post the link on facebook as me.

You know, we all have a lot going on. And I've found in myself that sometimes my fallback is to check facebook or watch some episodes on Star Trek on netflix to clear my head. But really, it never gives me rest. Jesus promises more. And none of those things are bad, I just feel called in this season to remove myself from them... to really see if what Jesus offers in their place is really better.

I have a very full plate in this season and can use any prayers or encouragement you want to send my way.

PS. I will probably check facebook every once in a while to check for messages and event invites but nothing else. Basically for the purpose of communication. Just wanted to say that up front.