Sundae Sunday and Eight Minte Abs

    This morning I sat at the breakfast bar eating my typical breakfast of cheerios with milk and bananas, and it hit me that I am really going to Africa! The farthest that I have gone from home is to Mexico, where I went for a mission trip two years ago. I am going to a country that I have never seen with a group of people that I have never met, and I can’t wait! I can’t wait for the people that we are going to meet in Africa, and the language that they will hopefully teach us when we are there. I am so excited for the work that God has in store for me. This summer I have truly seen God open doors for me and I can’t even imagine that there could be more. I feel that I have learned more about myself, and my relationship with God, this summer then I have in the past few years. College was probably one of the most amazing times of my life along with one of the hardest times of my life. I learned how hard life can be, but that no matter what God is always there. There were times that I turned away from God because I couldn’t understand how he could let me hurt the way that I was. But God used those times to hurt and anger to show me that he loves me no matter what. One of the ways that God blessed me in college were the friends that he provided me with.
    Four years ago I went to hope with such excitement for what God had in store for me. I longed for a group of friends that I could laugh and cry with, friends that loved me for who I was in Christ. Looking back at college I know that God found that group of friends for me. There are ten of us who still keep in touch and I know they are all gifts from God. We are all similar in our faith, but also very different, and that is what I love about us. Some of us are quiet, while others are the life of the party. We have been through ups and downs together, from heartbreaks to weddings. My life at Hope would not have been the same without them, and I truly feel that a piece of me is missing without them. I feel sad that I couldn’t go back to school this fall and live with all of them again. No more beach weekends, no more sundae Sundays or eight minute abs, no more What Not to Wear or elaborately planned surprise birthday parties, no more Mad Gab and sharing clothes, no more dance parties or chores, no more late nights at Meijer or walking downtown, nor more pranks or trips to see the sunset, no more screaming to scary movies or sleepovers in the living room. I just want to say to those girls that I love them so much, and I will think of you often even though we are all spread throughout the nation and now the world. I ask that these friends and everyone will pray for me as I step into this new group of friends, and through God I will create new bonds.
    My next update should be when I am in Africa, and I can’t wait. I am excited for the language, the culture, the clothes, the food, and most of all the people of Africa that I am going to meet. I pray that I will be able to impact their lives with the love of Christ as much as they will impact my life.