No Internet = No Blogging

Well, internet access has been somewhat limited lately after quitting working at the university. It's a lame excuse for letting stuff slide, but it's the only one I have. Life has been interesting for a long while at God's Resort, but summer brings a whole new element to the playing field. No school = lots of kids bored and looking for something to do. We have had a blast swimming, going to church camps and VBS, playing at the parks, and going to movies and the library.

There has been a lot of shifting in the neighborhood. One of the families moved away and that was really hard to see them go, even knowing it may be the best thing for them at this time. Eddie and Emilie moved up to Iowa for the summer to work and we were very sad to see them go, but they have come to visit a lot and that has been wonderful. Josh moved in with our friend Brandon and that has been a great time having them there serving alongside us. Abi moved out this past weekend back to Iowa in order to prepare for leaving for North Africa this Fall as a nanny to missionaries from our church. She is so awesome! We have a new roommate Leah who also plans to do missions in Africa but cannot leave for 2 years and wants to spend those two years at God's Resort. We are so excited to have her. She is an amazing prayer warrior and incredible woman. I move soon. Too soon it feels like sometimes.

I move to Chicago August 29th for team training and then go to Atlanta for a time to do group orientation and then back to Chicago for a year! I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with Mission Year, but it is a bittersweet feeling to be leaving God's Resort. One month left. I cannot believe in just a couple days we will hit our one year mark. I remember a time at the beginning where we had no idea if we would make it and here we are :) It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, no doubt. Keep us in your prayers! A lot is coming into play down at God's Resort. We are becoming our own stand alone non-profit organization and partnering with the City of Joplin (!) in a neighborhood redevelopment program! Incredible isn't it? Who knew that one year could see so much change. Almost all of the buildings have been remodeled to better standards, we have a brilliant newly landscaped backyard, a music stage where we had our first puppet show last Sunday, and a fully functioning community house. God is good, very good.

The Past month at God's Resort

This past month has been a blur of emotions and events that my mind has still not wrapped around yet. All of February was so stressful at work because we were recruiting, interviewing, and picking new students for the Honors Program next Fall. It's a lot of work and a lot of emotions in a very small office and to say the least everyday was tiring. Emilie, Eddie, and Abi moved in and that was amazing, but a whole period of transition. I love all three of those people so I didn't expect any problems transitioning to community in a bigger group, but the whole month has just been hard. Reshaping boundaries, letting in new perspectives on your ministry, and sharing life with three extra people in a very close and personal environment has been rougher for me than I thought it would be. No idea why actually, but I do know I have experienced a range of emotions from godly to ungodly this past month and in the end I hope to come out of it a better person. God has really opened my heart to the selfishness that still lurks in its crevices and the ugliness of it all has really defeated me at times. As Megan said there is a difference between having community and having a community that does communal living. When community now means giving up what I considered my personal space it brings a whole new set of challenges. Figuring out how to operate in a Christlike manner communally is something I have got to figure out though if I am going to live on a team with five strangers next year. Having Eddie, Emilie, and Abi down there though has been a huge blessing. I hadn't realized how much I had cut myself off from my community until they all started showing up and I wanted to push them away. I no longer wanted to be transparent or share life honestly with them and that was a pretty fruitless place to be in life honestly. So I guess all of the stress and confusion of reentering my community is God trying to bring me back to a Truth I had pushed away. He has exposed the shallowness I had allowed in my relationships with the people He has given me to love and when I see that sin exposed I cannot help but strive towards eliminating it no matter how ugly the process is. Our good friend Peter and Eric are moving in as I type and it is just incredible to see the little community of close friends God is placing in our greater community at God's Resort. I know these next few months we will see something incredible if we are sensitive to His spirit and continue to strive after His teachings. We can use your prayers for our community that we will trust and love each other to the fullest capacity we can each day.