after a long week i am back "home" ... steph and i pretty much walked in the house, threw our suitcases down, and fell into bed. now i am sleepy, it's stormy and rainy, and listening to the "once" soundtrack ... it's (almost) perfect.

the orientation went well - it was interesting to meet so many ppl who used to be me less than a year ago. nervous, anxious, with lots of questions and not fully understanding anything ... this morning we sent all of the newcomers home and hopefully they can get through their first weekend by themselves - i'm definitely nervous for them. i really like training and preparing them for their ministries and family life but i miss my kids so much. i don't really know what my role this summer will look like but i want to still love on kids and don't know if i will have a chance to see my compassion kids after all or not... i would also like some people to come with me and visit my kids ... maybe soon?

while i was gone, i celebrated my 4 yr anniversary of being a christian, which is weird and exciting. June 5 was a hard day but now i see it was the best of my life (in a weird way). it was a day of breaking, of everything i thought was most important being taken away, a day after a night without sleep, the first day of the rest of my life ... the day where God caught up with me and showed me my need for Him... these past 4 yrs have been full of tears, struggle, fears, anxieties, new steps, joy, the most amazing friends and mentors, worship, teaching and learning ... they have been the most beautiful of my life and i hope that God continues to challenge and grow me and i never grow stagnant.

i never would have imagined that night that i put myself in His hands that He would have blessed me a million times over with a family of hundreds of brothers and sisters in Denton, that i would be living here in Mexico on His behalf, or the fact that i would hopeful about giving my heart again ...

thank You Jesus.
(i don't ever want to tire of these words)