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It's been a while....








Let’s just be honest. Jesus is so powerful.

I feel like the transitions are almost complete. Camp to home and home to school. What a crazy time and what a blessed time. We will go in that order. Update time!

End of camp. What a beautiful last few weeks. The Lord was moving in my heart more than I have ever felt. It was all real and so growing. Jesus taught me so much in that last month of camp about who He is. I learned that my joy is constant and that it never is about how I am, but who He is and that is constant and perfect! My Jesus is in love with me. I am the luckiest girl in the world because He desires me. He pursues, allures and loves me more than anyone else could ever compare to. What a beautiful God! My beautiful friend Katie shared a verse with me that pushed me hard through a major trial this summer and sent me running faster and stronger than I ever have before to His throne.. Okay, maybe not just a verse, but a whole chunk of scripture…I’ll highlight what smacked me in the face.

>God had planned something better for us so that ONLY TOGETHER WITH US would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:40)

>…because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son. (Hebrews 12:6)

>No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. (Hebrews 12:11-13)

Unbelievable Lord. Your Word, Your Truth. YES JESUS. The first verse really hit me maybe the hardest because I was in the state of mind where I was just waiting, not doing anything and being a lazy servant (is that possible?) But right there, there it is. I was created for a purpose, to do His will while I am here on this earth. I was created to glorify Him by my life and with my actions. He created me so that He and I TOGETHER would make it perfect. This really kicked me in the butt and got me moving. During this waiting time, or so I think, I am still His servant, I was still created to be able to do His perfect will. What was I doing was just sitting and just waiting, now I am waiting and DOING. Thank you Jesus. Praise You.

And then the last two sections really showed me how much my Lord loves me. These trials I am working through are not God forgetting me AT ALL, it is more so His love pouring over me. I am being disciplined and broken and molded because I am His child and He loves me and I take delight in this brokenness because it says IT PRODUCES A HARVEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE for those who have been trained by it. HOW SWEET IS THAT?! I want to sow righteousness and peace from the discipline the Lord used to grow me. Yes. Please.

The Lord’s Word became so vivid and real to me this summer, He is the Living Word and is speaking to me SO much. My daily bread, my nourishment for each day, each step, each breath. Without it, I am empty and with it I am satisfied.

Try this on for size: “Jesus answered: Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” – John 13:8b. Yeah really I know. This is my pray that you each run to Him to be purified and renewed and to have confidence that He will cleanse you of all unrighteousness when you ask. This verse stuck with me a lot this summer because I think I always have it together. I think I know what’s going on. I think I can do it. I think I can clean my act up and gain righteousness on my own. What I think is wrong. I can’t. I won’t. He is the only way to righteousness. Accepting and being cleansed by ONLY His love is the only way to righteousness. And also, I learned a lot about never lessening the Word. The Maker, Creator, Savior of this world spoke these words and we try to mold them into something easier for us to live by and feel more comfortable with. Granted we do live in this world, but let’s not be of this world. My desire for this world fades as my love for the Lord grows. It is one of the most beautiful things to watch! Think of what it would be like if every Christ follower took our Redeemer’s words and followed them. Maybe a world as God intended? Yeah yeah, then we go back into the circle, we are humans, we can’t, we never will be able to reach the perfection God has called us to, EXCEPT through Jesus Christ. Incredible.

I also went through an intense period of literally being stubborn enough to cover my ears from God’s voice. And it’s true, sometimes we don’t want to hear truth, because it’s not always the way we want. And then my Psalm for the day was Psalm 81. Thanks God. Exactly me, right then.

Psalm 81:8-14: Hear, O my people, and I will warn you- if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.

Bah, seriously. If we would but listen to our Father, how quickly He would respond and satisfy us. I think I need to hear this everyday, over and over. LISTEN. LISTEN. LISTEN.

So the end of camp was amazing. I spent so much time with my BEST SISTERS EVERJ and brothers for sure! And grew and had the time of my life. Some highlights from the last part of camp….

>Gabrielle in general seriously. How did God know I needed her? >JET SKI RIDE. Life changer. >my 5 weeks of family camp<3>Katie and Bailley and Ellie! >THANK YOU! >Star gazing with Jamie! >Last night in LC with all the leftovers! >Knowing that I was an honorary Charles girl. That is the biggest compliment/accomplishment EVER, I finally know what having a sister is like. >My crazy week in Atlantic, brokenness. >ETC….I am missing so much!

And then I went home…for a day and a little more. That was amazing, so good to see people, so good to sleep in my bed, so good to see FlipJ and so great to be back in Wisco!

Then off to Portland we go. My mom, dad and I took a trip to Portland/Willsonville OREGON to visit my brother Luke and his wife Kate! The West Coast is BEAUTIFUL!!! I really enjoyed seeing more and more of God’s creation and basking in His glory. I got to see a lot and have great family time, which was nice. AND I got to go SURFING. That was incredible and I absolutely cannot wait to do it again! I cannot believe I went 8 months without seeing Luke and Kate! That’s crazy. What a trip! 5 planes and 5 states later, we returned for a couple more weeks of summer.

The next week of summer was packed with seeing friends, getting my Spain stuff done, applying for so many things and maybe catching a few extra winks. It was amazing to be with my best friends- they are incredible and I truly am so blessed by them. My last week of summer was one of the most relaxing weeks of my life. Everyone pretty much had already left for school and I was alone a lot of the time so I got to scrapbook, go for walks with mom, have many dates with Jesus and actually have a lazy summer- which I don’t usually want, but one week was amazing.

One of the biggest things I took advantage of this summer was God’s creation. What an amazing God we serve. His love is constantly all around us and He is showing us His passion for us in each sunrise, each blade of grass, each bird’s song…wow Jesus. Thank you. I probably intentionally saw over 20 sunrises, which is amazing, saw the West Coast, spent countless nights watching the stars and at home running in His splendor. Psalm 57:5, Psalm 74:16, PSALM 98. Gosh, the bible is just packed with scripture telling us that His creation reflects Him! What a BEAUTIFUL, HUGE GOD WE SERVE!!!

And one amazing thing I learned while at home during my last week of summer was how romantic Jesus is. HE IS STUNNING, PERFECT, PURSUING, AFFECTIONATE, TRUSTWORTHY…the list never ends. But seriously. His constant pursuit of me became so overwhelming and humbling as summer concluded. I spend three days on dates with my Lord. He took me running under the stars, hiking through state parks and He wrapped me in His arms each day with grace and peace. I felt so giddy for Him and my relationship with Him. It is a perfect relationship, what it is supposed to be, ultimate love, to lay your life down for another no matter what the circumstances and to make a promise to someone and to keep it no matter how hard it gets, to be faithful to the end of time. That is my God, that is my TRUE love and that is the One I serve. PRAISE HIM. AH, SO IN LOVE.

And then I came back to school on the 4th. I love UW-LaCrosse so much. It was the perfect place for me to be. God totally planned it all. I never thought I would ever go here and now here I am already a week through my sophomore year. I am living with 4 other girls in a study and it’s a little crazy but perfect just the same. They are all wonderful roommates and we are having so much being around each other all the time. Classes are great. 18 credits again, this could be an interesting semester. I am getting into a lot my education classes and it is really confirming my desire to teach. I am super busy like always and I am excited to see what God is going to do here. I am also leading a bible study in my hall with two others and I am PUMPED, pray for that, please. Yeah, there is a lot more about school, but I’ve only been here a week, to be continued.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son, has life; he who does not have the Son of God does have life. – 1 John 5:11-12

I love you all. Thanks for reading my rambling. More to come sooner than laterJ

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