Life Keeps Moving On
I know it's been since Germany, but I want to update yal on where I am in life and what I am doing.
On september 7th, I hugged all my siblings with tears in my eyeballs and squeezed my sweet parents one more time and got in my car to make the trek to Pine Mountain, GA (yes, the middle of nowhere).
Impact 360 (pictured to the right) is my new home. This is probably the second biggest step in my life, aside from moving to Germany for a bit. The same feeling of independence rushed back as I re-realized the feelings of "I'm on my own again, I don't have parents with me, I don't know anyone, I am paving my own un-reputable future."
Something interesting about me, is that I love environments where I am the only person I know. I loved stepping off the plane in Germany not knowing anyone! I loved driving up to the Impact 360 campus with just me.
Impact has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. With class every day from 9-12, we are learning so much about God, apologetics, business (favorite!!!!!), my identity, and probably most prominently, community.
We also have a lot of community, a lot of crazy adventures, a lot of singing and learning. We went camping for 5 days, we did a poverty stimulation for 2 days (slept on dirt), we attend corporate every once in a while...
We read at least a book a week. Authors include Henry Cloud, Dallas Willard, Christopher Hitchens, Frank Turek, Barton, etc.
Funny thing: I thought I was going to hate reading that much at first, but I love it. I am learning so much...
Which brings me to my next biggest life change: I LOVE LEARNING. (Or at least I am beginning to..)
Every week brings fresh professors along with fresh perspective. We learn so much from some of the best teachers in the trade. I love it!
Another one of my favorite parts about Impact is my church. I am apart of a small, inner-city church in Columbus, GA called Highland Community Church. It is very interracial and led by a young man who is on fire for the Gospel and the message of it. We have the "breakfast club" which leans heavily to the Gospel side of worship, and then we engage in a really messy, spirit-filled, intimate, rough-sounding time of lifting our voices up together. Every race, every age lifting up the name of Jesus. I love it so much!
Another one of my favorite parts has been the process of living out my own dreams instead of the dreams others had for me. Unknowingly, I had allowed everyone (literally everyone) in my life to dictate where I was going. Rather than setting my eyes on Jesus, who knows what I need when I need it, I ran toward opinions that were comfortable. Ever since coming here, I have been able to realize what God has/is asking me to do, and chase it wisely.
Then I began to understand, again, that God didn't ask me to live the comfortable life that everyone else thinks I should lead.
He asks me to follow Him.
You see, all along, I had taken my eyes off of Him and put my eyes on people that even sometimes look like or mirror Him, but I was missing the point...it wasn't Him.
(By the way, I got to see Abbi in September and it was the best date ever. Ask me about a wedding we crashed..?)
The staff guides gently, leaving so much room for Grace and what it is. The students seek Christ together, diligently. I can't believe that I have already started my second and last semester here!
In 5 days, we will be heading as a group to Brazil. In Brazil, we will be in three different cities: Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Brasilia.
(These are my roomies! ^^)
We will be working with local churches all three separate weeks doing whatever they need. We will be working with Lifeshape Brazil there. I honestly don't know a lot of details, but I will share when we get back!
I am so excited to take this time (away from technology yay) and really ask God what he desires of me in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. I am so thankful that I have a whole band of social media support that wonders, prayers, and asks about me. You guys ALL have impacted me in ways you would have never known. I really want to try and blog more so that you guys can keep up and hopefully learn from my crazy messy life.
...and that's what it is! Messy, unorganized a lot, sometimes I yell and scream and cry because I don't even know what I'm doing. But that's what Grace is about. Its for those people like me that don't have it all together. Praise be to God!
So that's where I am--here at Impact for 4 more months. At home for at least a year...and then who knows? Maybe I'll do something weird and move to Germany or something?
Impact 360 (pictured to the right) is my new home. This is probably the second biggest step in my life, aside from moving to Germany for a bit. The same feeling of independence rushed back as I re-realized the feelings of "I'm on my own again, I don't have parents with me, I don't know anyone, I am paving my own un-reputable future."
Something interesting about me, is that I love environments where I am the only person I know. I loved stepping off the plane in Germany not knowing anyone! I loved driving up to the Impact 360 campus with just me.
Impact has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. With class every day from 9-12, we are learning so much about God, apologetics, business (favorite!!!!!), my identity, and probably most prominently, community.
We also have a lot of community, a lot of crazy adventures, a lot of singing and learning. We went camping for 5 days, we did a poverty stimulation for 2 days (slept on dirt), we attend corporate every once in a while...
We read at least a book a week. Authors include Henry Cloud, Dallas Willard, Christopher Hitchens, Frank Turek, Barton, etc.
Funny thing: I thought I was going to hate reading that much at first, but I love it. I am learning so much...
Which brings me to my next biggest life change: I LOVE LEARNING. (Or at least I am beginning to..)
Every week brings fresh professors along with fresh perspective. We learn so much from some of the best teachers in the trade. I love it!
Another one of my favorite parts has been the process of living out my own dreams instead of the dreams others had for me. Unknowingly, I had allowed everyone (literally everyone) in my life to dictate where I was going. Rather than setting my eyes on Jesus, who knows what I need when I need it, I ran toward opinions that were comfortable. Ever since coming here, I have been able to realize what God has/is asking me to do, and chase it wisely.
Then I began to understand, again, that God didn't ask me to live the comfortable life that everyone else thinks I should lead.He asks me to follow Him.
You see, all along, I had taken my eyes off of Him and put my eyes on people that even sometimes look like or mirror Him, but I was missing the point...it wasn't Him.
(By the way, I got to see Abbi in September and it was the best date ever. Ask me about a wedding we crashed..?)
The staff guides gently, leaving so much room for Grace and what it is. The students seek Christ together, diligently. I can't believe that I have already started my second and last semester here!In 5 days, we will be heading as a group to Brazil. In Brazil, we will be in three different cities: Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Brasilia.
(These are my roomies! ^^)
We will be working with local churches all three separate weeks doing whatever they need. We will be working with Lifeshape Brazil there. I honestly don't know a lot of details, but I will share when we get back!
I am so excited to take this time (away from technology yay) and really ask God what he desires of me in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. I am so thankful that I have a whole band of social media support that wonders, prayers, and asks about me. You guys ALL have impacted me in ways you would have never known. I really want to try and blog more so that you guys can keep up and hopefully learn from my crazy messy life.
...and that's what it is! Messy, unorganized a lot, sometimes I yell and scream and cry because I don't even know what I'm doing. But that's what Grace is about. Its for those people like me that don't have it all together. Praise be to God!
So that's where I am--here at Impact for 4 more months. At home for at least a year...and then who knows? Maybe I'll do something weird and move to Germany or something?
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