Camp In's and Car Wash Flyers

Blessed. That is the only way I can think to describe how I've felt the last few weeks. To begin with, I have been blessed to have an excellent Prime Mentor and to be able to work with an excellent Children's Minister while in Michigan. These ladies have so much love for God and for proclaiming His name that I am truly blessed to be able to work alongside them!

I have also been blessed in that I had the opportunity to see a friend from Huntington who is doing his PRIME not too far from me. In fact its only a ten minute drive, so I am very happy to have a friend nearby. We ventured into Ann Arbor for a little disc golf last week. We also got the chance to hit up the dollar movie theatre (which turned out to be a great success because one of the youth I work with works there and let us in for free as well as providing us with some snacks). He assured me that it was all legal....I'm hoping he was right in this assumption!! But I'm not complaining...I do like my movie theater popcorn!

Also this week I found my way to the Saline Public Library and spent several hours working on homework for PRIME. It really shocked me that I was working ahead on something not due until December. This working ahead thing is new to me.....as my HU buddies know all to well :)

Another reason why I feel so blessed this week is because God protected us from the bad weather that plagued the Ann Arbor area last weekend. There were numerous tornadoes all around us! In fact, one touched down and did a lot of damage about 20 miles from where I'm living. Pray for those effected by this tornado in Dundee. Especially pray for the person who was the Valedictorian. Their school was demolished hours before graduation and sadly their father was killed in this tornado.

The family I am living with had quite the interesting experience during these tornadoes! We were worried that they might come during the night...SO...we all camped out in the basement. It was quite the excitement. There were two mattresses, 5 sleeping bags with 5 people, and 2 large dogs. After we put the dogs away, we were able to all get comfy and I'm not sure how, but I ended up in the middle. To my left were the parents and to my right were the kids and I was right in the middle. It was really a lot of fun as we were all tired and giggly.

So to update you on the youth group, since that is why I'm here after all! Right now everyone is busy preparing for the big Mountain T.O.P. trip which will be happening July 10 to the 18th. We are going to be working in Tennessee to aid them in whatever way possible. Everyone seems to be really excited for this opportunity! Also, the church has been expanding and we are currently anxiously awaiting the new youth facility to be complete. Please pray that this will be a reality soon. There have been some major disappointments with this project and it was supposed to have been done by now. The new youth area will be in the new basement, therefore we are experiencing some flooding with the rains and it has greatly delayed the project! Lately, my job has been to make many various flyers. I have really enjoyed this job and I love picking out the best clip art and making everything piece together just right. I guess it's my creative side coming out!

One job that I was recently assigned was to make flyers for the youth car wash (June 26th...if you're in Michigan and you need your car washed haha). I was able to grab a few youth to help me hang them up around town. This gave me the chance to get to know three youth more, which was excellent. We had fun going around Saline and hanging up flyers everywhere we went. This was a lot of fun for me and I was able to get them pizza for helping out. It was nice to have the chance to talk with them.

As I leave you, I just want to share with you a thought I had from my devotions. I read Luke 1:37-38 (which is Mary's reaction to what the angel tells her about God selecting her to carry His Son) "For nothing is impossible with God. Mary responded, 'I am the Lord's servant and I am willing to accept whatever He wants. May everything you have said come true'. And then the angel left".

This meant a lot to me. The fact that Mary realized that she was in fact a servant of God and then went so far as to say "I am willing to accept whatever He wants" really made me think about my level of dedication to Christ. My desire for myself is that I stop trying to pray that God's will becomes my own and instead that I pray for my will to align with what God wants from me. As I walk alongside Him, I hope that I can be a servant to Him and be willing for whatever it is that He wants from me!

So, that is what has been going on in good ol' Michigan. It has been quite an adventure so far and I'm sure will continue to be in the future. I am so happy that I am here and that I have the chance to work with such awesome individuals. While I miss home and the familiarity that goes along with it, I am really enjoying Michigan and the joys and challenges that go alongside it. Leanne, the Children's ministry leader that I work with told me the other day, "I feel like you've been here forever". The funny thing is, I feel the same way (and I'm so happy I do!!!).

Love You all and thanks for reading this :) I do so appreciate knowing people care about what I'm up to!