2016!

Happy New Year! I hope that as we are now over a week into the new year you are holding fast to your resolutions and getting back onto your "normal" post-holiday schedule.

Holiday Updates:
We've had some really wonderful Christmas parties around Clarkston. I decorated more trees, made more ornaments, and celebrated the birth of our Savior with more people from more countries than I ever have in my entire life. It was such a blessing. I also had the true honor and pleasure of sharing American Christmas traditions of caroling, lights, gifts, nativities, and hot chocolate with some sweet families in the community who were spending their first Christmas in America with the help of an awesome mother/daughter Bible study group. Those seven seven-year-old girls and their moms brought some serious holiday joy to the families we visited.
After celebrating in the community with other's families, I think I appreciated my time at home with my family that much more.What a blessing to have most of my family living close enough together that we can see everyone over the holidays. For the family that does live farther out (love you Kentucky folks!), it's such a blessing to have the technology that keeps you always on my mind until we can be together in person again. My heart was definitely filled to overflowing this holiday season.

Jolly Ave Community Garden Tree
(decorated by the community)

Girls' Group Christmas Picture

Life Lesson:
I've recently been reading C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, I'm not finished yet but I highly recommend it. As I was  reading the other day, I came across a quote that I really wanted to share with you. So here it is:

"And all the time the joke is that the word 'Mine' in it fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything." pg 114

As I've said before, living off of support really has changed my perspective on life. I have come to understand more and more every day just how true it is that humans do not (and should not) own anything on their own. All I have is the Lord's. My time is not my own, my resources are not my own, and my relationships don't belong only to me. The more I let go and stop trying to own these things, the more I am blessed by them. By opening up our house for others to use as a place to fellowship, by giving freely and without expectation of something in return, and by valuing relationships with others as a gift and not something that I deserve, I have found more joy. A close friend of mine often reminds me the importance of open hands. The Lord gives and He takes away. The thought of something being taken away is a scary thought to us sometimes. But as soon as you close your hands around something, you are no longer able to accept whatever else might come your way. Since even the lessons the Lord is teaching me are not my own, I wanted to be sure and share with you what's going on in this life I get to live.

Donations for youth programs by others who understand that what they have is not their own

2016:
We are excited for all that the Lord has in store for us this year. 2015 was pretty incredible, but the cool thing about serving an infinite God is that he can always do immeasurably more than we could every imagine. That's amazing. All the wins we had last year: 17 summer camp interns, a $50,000 check for youth programs, a brand new girls' tutoring group, and so much more...it can all be topped this year.

I hope that you will pray with me that 2016 is a year where we watch the Lord outdo himself. A year where He gains more glory and His Kingdom grows bigger than it every has before.