I sit here on a Saturday afternoon and am I finding I am content yet eager with where I am in my life. I am a social work major and I LOVE IT! I sometimes find myself feeling ridiculous because I am so in love with this major and the work that I am doing and the things I am learning. I have never felt anything like this when it has come to honestly anything in my life. I have been excited and wanted to make myself love my classes and the things that I have done in the past but it only seemed to a false excitement. It took me getting into youth ministry to be exciting and passionate about working with middle school and high school students, and now I find myself so in love and excited to go to youth group on Wednesdays. As much as I love youth ministry, I never had to go through that process with social work. I knew that the moment I walked into that class my heart was in it and I knew that this was where God was taking me for the future. Interestingly enough last night at the Way, a college ministry of Solid Rock Fellowship Church, the message was about Jonah and his expectation of his life and how it was supposed to all play out but yet it never did. For me this has happened. I had this idea of what my life would be and I told myself and everyone else that my major would not change because I knew this was where God was calling me, into youth ministry. But everything changed and God took that piece of me and showed me that I do not fully understand his plan and that there may be something else God wants me to do besides or even alongside youth ministry. This is exciting and yet scary because it is not at all what I was anicipating! But isn't that how God is, stable yet a mystery. Always doing something that is beyond and above the way we often have planned out.
This week has been a crazy one. We had the retreat last weekend and then daylight savings time during the retreat which meant I WAS TIRED! I also turned 20 years old on Saturday and that was crazy! I am so old now, just kidding. I feel old though when I am around my youth girls who are only 12! I had a few days this week that were really slow and not much homework to get done so I kind of relaxed and tired to catch up on my Heroes watching! (SO INTENSE!). My Wednesday was filled with volunteering, class and then youth group! Then Thursday night I camped out on the Quad and signed up for Jr.'s Abroad trip and froze all night long! :D But it was so worth it! I am going to Rome and then to Berlin for my trip and could not be more excited! Next MAY!!! Then yesterday, Friday, my parents came over and we went to the Olive Garden for lunch and then headed to Target and bought a BeachCruizer bike!!! I rode it all over Target and then came back to Fox and went a bike ride with a couple friends! Today is a nice relaxing day with coffee date in the morning and a clean room and then the Women's Basketball game at 3:30! Overall a great week and filled with God's grace and loving face on every moment, good, bad and ugly!
Well Peace Out till next time!

Ch.. Ch... Changes!

God has been doing so much in my life recently. A lot of changes and new things have come my way and I feel like I am embracing each new thing with an open heart and attitude. I perviously had been a Christian Ministry major wanting to work with youth. I struggled with this major because I felt it was very limited and I could only work in certain areas with a degree with in this. I explored my options, looking at Psychology and finding that was not something I wanted to do and then somehow came up with Social Work. I wanted to help people but I knew that Psychology was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to have people come to me, or me to them, and allow them to tell me what their needs were and then I would be able to pull from my resources in order to help them. I know that this is possible with a degree in Social Work. The first day in my Intro to Social Work class told me that I knew this was the major for me. I have fallen in love with the major and love every aspect of it. I know it will be difficult at times, probably more times than I ancipate, but I think that I am going to love it. There are so many fields and ways to get involved. I love it!!! God has been moving me in this direction and I got into the program at my school and am getting ready to interview for a placement for next Spring semester. There are no words to explain how much I love this major and the things we are learning. I feel like this is one thing I was made to do. I still want to work with youth and I can do that in so many ways within this major.
Also I have experienced recently the love and passion of the youth around me. I have been working with a youth group in Newberg at the Foursquare church and sometimes that is a very difficult place to be. Often there is no respect and disobeying of rules and just a number of things. We have been averaging about 50 kids a week and it has been really good and often chaotic. While I love this kids there sometimes it is hard to go and be there with them for such a long time on Wednesday nights when I have school and projects and papers due. However, I kept going. I never doubted that I was supposed to be there but I have considered some nights not going for whatever reason. As we have been working and praying and pouring into these kids lives we are beginning to see the results and the amazing hand of God working in and through our kids. The last two weeks after youth group I have left feeling like God is really doing something! It has been so encouraging because so often I feel like we are doing nothing and making no impact. But now I see it. There are so many stories and instances where I can point of changes in our kids and it is really encouraging. Please pray for our kids though. Many of them come from broken homes and it makes it difficutlt to reach out to them sometimes and for them to reach out to us. God is doing something and I am so excited to be a part of it!