College

First week… completed.

I don’t really know how I feel about it yet. It’s kind of lonely, I loved being able to goof around with friends in class in high school, and now… I don’t know anyone. It’s weird. I feel very independent, but overwhelmed. I already have 3 papers and a speech to write. I don’t really know how I’m going to do 6 years of this.

Pray for me, please! My goal is to become a Speech Pathologist, which requires a masters. I’m not a school person, but I really think this is what I want to do and I don’t want to settle for something I will “kind of” like because I’m too lazy to finish school.

I shouldn’t complain, I’m so blessed to be able to afford a college education. God has been so good to me, I hope I can glorify and serve Him with my life and career. I’m thinking we were all put in the positions we are put in for a reason. I just have to find it! That’s the difficult part.

Another thought, why do I worry about this so much? We are only here for a moment in time, I need to stop worrying and take it in while it’s here, spend all the time I spend worrying and use it for His glory. Worrying is a big problem for me.

I heard a sermon one time and the pastor said that whenever he starts to really worry about something he says to himself, “Look at the birds!”, referring to Matthew 6. I say that to myself all the time now…

²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (NLT)

No, they can’t! Good news.

So, that’s what’s on my mind. Love you all.

Interviews

Well… my dad just interviewed me about my trip and told me it should be airing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on WCRF, 103.3.

Pictures!

Please excuse my tardiness….

They love her!

I'm as confused as you are man...

Expression he made at bubbles...

Braulio and his sister.

Home Again

So I just got home yesterday evening. It honestly feels like I never left. Everything is the same. Isn’t that weird?

I wish I could describe how I’m feeling at the moment. I feel sad. I feel happy. I feel lost. I feel confused. I feel useless.

Who knew those feelings could be felt at the same time? Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy to be home. But I just keep thinking about the kids I left. But tonight at church I realized something important. I can’t save these children and girls from their situations, and God doesn’t expect me to. He is their Savior. I realized that all I can do is pray. Prayer is powerful. I would love it if you would pray for them as well.

I want to thank you all for reading my blog, it means so much! I will be putting pictures up soon! I’d also love to talk to you guys! I will be keeping up with this blog hopefully on a regular basis, but unfortunately my day to day life is not as eventful as my experiences in Peru, but if you want to keep reading… go for it.

I love you all so much, each one of you mean so much to me. Thank you.

Ciao, Peru!

So today is our final day here in Lima. We leave tonight and will arrive home tomorrow. I thought I would try to squeeze one more blog in while we were still here, but I´m sure there will be many updates after I return home.

Today will be our final day in Santa Rosa. Teenage girls that have been involved in prostitution. I hope that through our testimonies we have showed them the hope and forgiveness that Christ gives us. After I said my testimony I got some difficult questions. These girls are so amazing and need hope, because they don´t think there is any for them, and there is… so much!

Today, on our last day, we will be doing the normal VBS program and finish up with the story of Joseph. Then we will have lunch, play with the babies and then do something I have been looking forward to all week. We are going to wash their feet. I am so excited about doing this! I can´t wait to tell all of you how it went!

All of us interns were talking about how we feel this is our life now here in Peru. Waking up, working in a home, and spending the evenings together. The five of us have spent 24 hours together for the past month, it will be so weird to be without them, I´ll miss them for sure! We have had sooo many laughs together and had so much fun all the time!

Well… that´s all I´ve got for right now. I´ll update things in a few days!

Forgiveness

We’re begining a new week at Santa Rosa! 40 teenage girls and 8 babies. In the morning we’ll be with the teenaged girls and then in the afternoon we’ll play/entertain the babies.

This week our VBS is based on forgiveness. We’re going to be talking about Joseph and all of the craziness he went through but how in the end, he forgave his brothers. Today I helped with the craft, which was a water color painting, whatever they wanted to paint. But (there’s a catch), when they were finished we took a paint brush and smeared black paint right in the middle of their painting. Oh man, the looks we got! I thought I was going to walk out of there with a black eye. I tried my best to do it with a straight face but I couldn’t. I felt awful! Here’s the method to our madness, and what we’re going to tell them on Friday. Sometimes things happen in our lives that aren’t fair and hard to deal with, but it’s how you deal with it that makes all the difference. On Friday they will be given their paintings back and told to make the ugly black line into something beautiful. Giuli, on the Buckner staff came up with the craft… genius.

This week we’re all going to give our testimony. I’m up tomorrow and I am so nervous. My first reaction to this was, I have nothing compared to what these girls have been though, but Guili reassured us that we all have a story and even though it won’t be extremely dramatic it can still relate to their problems. So after much thought and consideration I’m going to talk about the time I was a “kind of” Christian and pretty depressed and how I got closer to God and realized I couldn’t do it on my own and that like any relationship, a relationship with God takes time and effort and it doesn’t happen overnight. Our problems don’t disappear but they are minimized! Please pray for me!

I had a blast this afternoon with the babies. There’s something about a baby falling asleep in your arms that just feels so right. Man, I can’t wait to get me some kids! Ok… I’ll wait.

We’ve only got a few more days here in Peru. My experiences are unforgettable and I can’t wait to share some of my stories.

Braulio has still never left my mind, I cried last night thinking about him. I really think he changed my life. These kids are so amazing and so happy. I hope they know how special they are.

I also added some pictures into my gallery, so check them out!