One year ago around this same time, I decided to go to a discipleship training school in a very small town in Germany to get a taste of what missions was about. I had never even been on a short-term mission trip abroad before, but I knew it was something I wanted to experience. In my mind, I was "open" to the idea of doing missions full-time, but I was pretty much convinced I would just go there and get a taste of what it was like and get confirmation that it simply wasn't my calling. Little did I know, I was in for a crazy ride where it would flip my world upside down.
It's really hard to describe everything that happened within the span of the six months I spent out of the country. It was nice meeting new people, learning to love beyond cultures, and getting a different perspective of life. People on the other side of the world think and live completely different from Americans. But more importantly, I got a taste of who God was and experienced Him in ways unimaginable to me. It shook me to the core and I knew that once I got back, I didn't want to go back to the same comfortable lifestyle I had always lived.
I wish it was so easy as making one simple decision, and it would be smooth sailing from then on, but I guess like most things that you value, you really have to work hard for it. The school may have given me the tools for change in my life, but honestly, the change happens when you wake up every morning and DAILY make a conscious effort not to slip into that comfortable lifestyle. And it sure hasn't been an easy task.
This past week, four of us from the DTS had a reunion in Orlando. It was really refreshing, and suddenly I don't feel so alone in this confusing mess YWAM has left me in. ha These girls first taught me what love and community was about. Of course living together sometimes made things messy and ugly, but through the ugliness and messiness, we were actually able to grow in love for one another. How crazy is that? :)
The week was packed with lots of catching up as well as interesting, new experiences. We went to the shark attack capital of the world, New Smyrna Beach, and only had the guts to go knee deep in the water. We got the rest of our tan on from swimming in the pool almost every day. There was also lots of endless walking around. We did the tourist thing and decided to do four disney parks in one day and wet n' wild water park another day. That was insane. I'm not sure I would recommend that to just anyone. I certainly am disneyed out from putting myself through 17.5 hours of it in one day. We ate a mountain of ice cream and saw whip it, which really made me want to bring out the skates! And, I'm sure I can list of twenty other things we did, but really I enjoyed just being able to be in good company. (For me, it's not so much what you do, but who you do it with).
I am incredibly blessed to have such amazing people in my life. :) Want to thank Nancy, Michelle, and Sarah Kate for a great time this past week. Wished the rest of the gang could be there. We miss you dearly. There's always next year, though. ;) Where shall the next reunion be? HAWAII??
Just a few photos from the week. Let me know if you want some wallpapers.
And the mountain of ice cream mentioned earlier is the kitchen sink at Beaches and Cream. Eight scoops of ice cream and every topping imaginable topped with an entire can of whipped cream. It was like a surprise in every bite. Wanna see the video on
how they make it? I don't think I want to eat ice cream again for a while.
Little sad that it melted before we could finish it. We'll have to train for next time. Harder, better, faster, stronger.
Here's a
video link of us riding a kiddie roller coaster. I can't stop laughing watching this because of how much we were screaming.
Next up: Angeline and Paul's wedding slideshow.
