Beauty in Worship

It's pretty incredible that I have only been at Holmsted Manor for a week.  Chalk it up to God but it is amazing how class I am to these people in 7 days.  I feel like I have lived here forever : ) I can't wait to reach the world!!!! I want to see cultures and to see how God moves in those culture and I want to see Him move in those cultures.  In our DTS we have 13 different nations represented.  It is beautiful!! I have never heard so many accents or languages.  During worship it is so wonderful because some of us will pray in our own language, so we hear Farci, German, French, Danish, and Spanish.  It is also so beautiful to experience different kinds of worship.  We can worship in our working, in our fellowship, and in our music.  I've never thought of praising God this way.  I have so much to say now, about how blessed I am to be here, and about what God is doing in my life and what he will do, but I don't have words.  There is so much already and I haven't had time to process.  I miss you all, but more than that I wish you were here to experience this with me.  It really is God, and it really puts you outside of yourself, to reach out to him and seek his will.  I apologize again for the grammar which is getting worse because now I have language issues.  I'm beginning to speak like English is my second language : ) Hopefully I will pick up a few new languages while I am here!!!

Mind your head

I really don't know where to start, so I will start with this cliche : )

I started at Colorado Springs airport at 10a Thursday Morning, arrived in Chicage at 3:45p transferred plans and left to Heathrow International Airport and arrived at 6:30a on Friday morning.  I proceeded to look for the National Express Bus, which took about 45 minutes to locate because I was to embarassed to ask : ( I found the bus and proceeded to Gatwick International Airport South Terminal, where I was supposed to call Holmsted and let them know I was there, little did I know there is no payphone in Gatwick International Airport.  Luckily a nice man at the Information Desk let me call and he dialed the number!!! : ) Anyways I finally got picked up and headed to Holmsted.
in and immediately I was welcomed by my name, smiles, and hugs.  Instantly I felt at home : ) I walked around the grounds, that are covered with huge trees, that touch overhead, and beautiful gardens full of yellow roses, and places all over set up just be alone and to think.  The whole day I spoke to people that shared with me their testamonies, that were full of God's miracles and unheard of healings and blessings.  Everyone here is on fire for God, and lives for serving God's people and bringing them to know the God that they serve.  I am so excited for what God is going to teach during the lecture phase of this DTS, and even more I can't wait to bring God's love to his people. 

Keep praying for me please : )
Letters are coming soon!
and please send support if you can!!!

The Final Countdown...

Wow, so much to do, so little time.  I mus say thugh, that I am great at maing lists, and getting things done quickly and efficiently (Thank you Starbucks)  I have 4 days left full of call, emails, storage, packing, and then repacking.  It's going to be so fun!!!

I got to go to Tracy and Matt's yesterday, and Tracy made AMAZING greek food : ) It was great spending time with the fam, I love Bryn and Reed and all their crazy!! If you didn't happen to see us on the streets of Denver I'll fill you in.  We played follow the leader, and walked in every way you could imagine, from penguins to howling crazies running down the street.  Best night ever I recomend this if you need to get in shape.  It was sad to say goodbye for so long, but I'm praying I'll see them again with tons of life changing stories, and witnesses of God's perfect timing and protection.  Last post for a few days, unless I procrastinate and then this will be the first of many!! 

San Clemente

I finally made it to the Ocean!!! It's beautiful and salty,  I love that combination : ).  So it's lovely to be here! I missed Eric because he is shark diving...yeah I know.  Eric would rather be in a cage in shark infested waters than see me, his wonderful and only little sister before she leaves overseas.  I see where his priorities are and accept them : ) I'm thinking of pranking him somehow before I leave,  I would love suggestions! 

Yesterday I got to go to Wednesday night service at St. Micheal's and it was incredible!!! Kristen Madison led worship and she did such a great job.  It's incredible to see how people grow, and how when they find their talent they just flourish!!! Again that's incredibly corny but I love it : ) I got another blessing!!! I am so touched to have so many people supporting what I'm doing and I can't wait to go out and be their hands.  It hit me yesterday, the fact that so many people want to reach out.  That I have an incredible opportunity and the means to do it, and that is not always the case. I'm privileged to be able to reach places that not everyone can get to.  One of our regulars at Powers and Stetson (Starbucks) gave me support money, and even though we had a relationship it just really blew me away that someone I didn't know outside of work would give me support in that way, and she just said, "Thank you for being my hands, I've always wanted to do missions but I have never had the means to do it."  That really humbled me, and put what I'm doing into perspective. 

Church of the Ressurection

I had a busy weekend of Desert and driving. 
First we drove two hours to Yucca Valley to see Fr. Aaron and Lily Appleby so I wouldn't miss them before I go on my mission.  It was great seeing all the new things they did around the church, a chicken coop being one.  They also have an awesome garden so we ate stuff that they grew, I LOVE THAT!!!! : ) For any of you who didn't know I plan to have my own farm one day and live off the land...
It was a great time catching up with them and I got prayer before I left and some great words of encouragement to keep me going when I'm gone.

After leaving Yucca Valley we headed East for another hour to Rancho Mirage for a wedding.  Megan and Alex finally got married : ) We all knew it was going to happen, ever since their crazy minds found each other in High School. They are perfect for each other, they love to jump off things, and skate down huge hills.  The higher risk of injury, the better : ) They made it to the wedding, and their beautiful son James was the ring bearer. It was insanely hot, but a great service and great people. 

We then headed back West to Hemet where we finally stopped, and stayed for the night.  This morning I went to church for the first time in a year at Church of the Resurrection my home church.  It was an incredible service full of prayer and healing.  I got to share about my mission, and why I am going to another country, instead of staying here. Everyone in the church prayed for me and I just got huge support for what I'm doing.

I can't wait until I leave.  It's going to be incredible being in a new atmosphere, and being able to help people. The classes hopefully will help me find out what's next.  I love the idea of being a missionary, and I hope I can do it, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it.  I've been helping out my brother and sister in law for a year hoping that the next thing would line up.  Hoping that my life path would suddenly become clear and I would move from one place to the next, but I feel like all I got was another waiting area.  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for this waiting area, I get to reach out and share Christ with people, and hopefully set people free.  But, I just really hope that God opens up the door for me, and answers the, "Why am I here?" question.  I'm praying that God uses me in whatever capacity that he can while I'm on this mission, and that I get a clear answer on where he wants me to be for long-term.  So any of you reading this, that's my prayer request : ) I guess we will know in about 6 months time.

Excited!!!

So, as of now I know that no one is reading this blog, but I am going to put a much happier spin on this post!! I am in California, and although I miss Colorado a ton, I am glad to be back in Cali. So I got to thinking about England again, and I just got a huge rush of excitement!  No more dread, or stress, I can't wait until I get there. The past few months of preparation will be over and I will be on an incredible adventure : ) So corny, but that's me.  I'm hoping to see some great people this week, and catch up before I take off.  Because the more I think about the more I am unsure of how long I will be gone : ) Oh and please, please check out the pictures of Holmsted Manor, it is beautiful. http://www.ywamholmsted.org/media/photo-gallery/

California

Things are wrapping so quickly!!!!
I'm done with Starbucks and so torn because I love it there, and I will also miss having a paycheck : /...
But YAY for missions it's definitely going to be a great thing. 
I'm headed to California in a couple of days to see the family before I go, because who knows I might just stay : ) I'm doing my best to not procrastinate, and maybe get some sleep. However, I am doing neither!! 14 days and counting until I'm in a new place, with new people, doing something new.  I'm freaking out! I try to stay calm but basically end up running myself into the ground, so I don't have to think about it. I know how incredible this opportunity is, but I keep getting lost in the magnitude of what it means for me.  It seems selfish almost. I get to go to another country, learn how to be a missionary, love people, and share the gospel, but I can't think about because  I'm so scared to be on my own : /  No family in sight, just different and new...