transition

ok so it's been awhile since i last updated. a lot has changed since then, including my position at Doulos Ministries. i recently started as a house director in the girl's house. along with that in the past two weeks we have doubled the number of littles and bigs. Doulos had a second property, but decided to consolidate into one property here in Kansas City. the transition has been crazy, but also exciting. there has also been a little restructuring going on in the houses. there are now 3 house directors and 1 resident director in the girls house.

along with all this change, my leadtime class just left about a week ago. it has been really hard for me to say goodbye to them, i've spent the last year of my life with them day in and day out and many intense situations with them. so needless to say it has been hard to say goodbye. it's been hard to trust what God is doing, but then again i know that through all of this i have had to continually lean on Him because I can't do this, only He can.

i am excited for this next year. i'm excited to see how God is going to use us and how He is going to continue using all this change to grow us closer to Him and to bring glory to His name. some prayer requests:

-that God will unify the staff

-that God would be breaking our hearts for what breaks His

-that we would earnestly be seeking Him

-community

-that we would be relational and not just about the rules

this past week was our house trip! it was a lot of fun...we hiked, swam in the river, went horseback riding, went to a waterpark, had a nice dinner and went to a show in branson! the show was funny...look alike concert, starring elvis, brittany spears, alan jackson, and the blues brothers! it was a lot of fun and the girls really seemed to enjoy it.

another year

well it looks like i'll be here in Missouri for another year.  i'm going to be wing director starting in August sometime.  i'm excited for what God is going to teach me and for how He is going to use me for another year here.  my heart still breaks for these girls.  

it's definitely going to be a hard transition in August...losing many of the women i've worked with and built relationships with and lived in community with for the past year...and starting to build new relationships with the new bigs...

we just got a new one today and will get two more this week.  one of them will be joining my room.  we also have a girl graduating this week which is bitter sweet.  

this next week we are going on a house trip which shall be interesting with 3 new girls...

we'll be going horseback riding, hiking, swimming and going to a show and dinner.

that's it for now i guess

summer

two weeks ago I was able to go home for our pre-summer break. i drove alone which ended up being some good time in prayer and much needed time alone. it was really good to be home and spend some time with my family and friends.
this past week was our first week of our summer schedule. i'm excited for the summer, there's a lot of things planned and a more of an opportunity for us to lead.
the summer schedule looks a little something like this:
8 Breakfast
8:30 kids in school until 12:30
9-10:30 girls group, fellowship time, class (depending on the day)
10:30-12:30 time off
12:30 lunch
1 the kids are out of school and we are with them the rest of the night until beds at 10:30
Each night a different activity is planned by certain bigs.
Monday: game night
Tuesday: Bible study (we are each taking a time leading)
Wednesday: serve day and movie night
Thursday: Sports night (this is the group i am in for planning)
Friday: Adventure day and house night
Saturday: Room night
Sunday: church and rest

I applied for the wing director postition here and should find out this week if it will be offered or not to me. If you could be in prayer that I am seeking God and that I draw nearer to Him through this, whether I get it or not. That I would be in His will whatever I do after this August, and that He would be changing my heart and preparing my heart for whatever that is.

camp galilee

this past week all of the littles and bigs and some extra staff went to Camp Galilee. we broke into four teams and basically the days we were there were a competition. we played lots of random and fun games, including mission impossible. my team was in the lead the entire week until the end! each team had to do a skit on the last day and incorporate a song into it and some of the theme. we also did some service projects for the camp, which ended up being cleaning up brush and trees from a bad storm. it was some good manuel labor!
everynight we would have a sort of chapel....sing songs and someone spoke.
i was asked to speak one of those nights on the future. most know that speaking in front of groups is one of my biggest fears. needless to say i said i would do it. it was really challenging for me, but i'm definitely glad i ended up doing it. i learned a lot in preparing for it and in actually speaking.
we had a pretty rough night last night. one of the girls cut pretty bad. it breaks my heart so much to think that they think that is the only way to relieve their hurt and pain. i don't understand it and it even makes me angry.
it's really hard being here, it hurts. my heart breaks for these girls and i pray that they will see Christ through me and if they learn nothing else while being here, that they learn that only Christ can heal them and use their brokenness for His glory, that they would seek Him in their time of need.
summer is quickly approaching, next week is the last week of school for the girls, then is break, then summer begins.

this past weekend was parent's weekend for the littles. all the girls families were able to come which was awesome to see. it was actually a really good weekend for the most part. it is fun to meet the parent's and get to know them. we get to go out to meals with some of them and what not so besides the awkwardness of it, it's good!
i got a new little in my room this morning. i am off this weekend so i won't really know much about her until the week begins. you can be praying for her and for our room.
on tuesday all of us are heading to a camp until friday. i'm really excited for it. it will be a great chance for team building and relationship building. i'm excited to see how God works there. we definitely need to be in prayer for the littles and for staff. also, i was asked to speak on of the nights on how my relationship with God affects my view of the future, so i could definitely use prayer for that...that i speak honestly and that i let God speak through me, that He takes away my fear and anxiety of talking in front of groups.
also, august is strangely approaching quickly and i could use prayer for direction on what to do after i am done with LeadTime.

i never really know how to start these things off, so i'll just jump right into it. God is continually teaching me so much and revealing to me so much about myself. He's teaching me a lot about confrontation and conflict, and how without it there really isn't much growth. He's showing me and breaking down a lot of hardness and bitterness in my heart that prevents the Spirit from flowing through me.

we are down to 10 girls now. i think God knew we couldn't keep getting new girls...we had had 3 in a week at one point. so it's been nice to be able to build relationship with the girls here without have to have to try and put more energy into new realtionships.

i guess that's all for now