In a nutshell, my dad is no longer in the picture and it's been almost a month-long struggle realizing what exactly that means and getting over the initial sadness it brought me. But I know that 24/7 is the best place for me right now and that this is all happening in God's timing. I am incredibly busy every day with things that make me so happy and I don't have time to be sad about all this. And I'm finally at the place where it's not a struggle to get up in the morning and put on a happy face for the day even though I feel so sad inside. Now I'm at the point where I just pray for my dad every single day and give any hurt or pain I feel to God first thing in the morning so that I can have an amazing day.
And the days truly are amazing! The week after I last posted was our "Domestic Missions Trip" which took the place of the 3-week Mexico missions trip we were supposed to go on. It sounded like a total bummer, 1 week rather than 3 and Bradenton rather than Mexico, but it was so fun and rewarding. We helped set up for events at the church, served in other churches in our area that were desperate for help, loved on the girls at the SOLVE House, blessed people with free water at busy intersections, and so many other awesome things. The whole week really taught me how important it is to serve people right where you're at. The lost people who live next door to you need God just as much as those in third-world countries and it's about time we learned that! That being said, I am DYING to go on an overseas missions trip too.
The month-long missions trip in May has an overseas option (I don't know any of the destinations yet) but not everyone will get to go there. It all depends on how much money we raise for missions and how much tuition each of us still have to pay. I am praying that I get to go on the big missions trip, but the other options are cheaper and closer to home. Hopefully God will provide, unless it is His will that I stay closer to home.
Another major thing that has started in the last month is our Eco training workouts. We are going to "Eco-Challenge" in early December (only 1 month away!! so close!!) which is a cross between a triathalon, the Amazing Race, scripture memory tests, and a scavenger hunt. We train every Tuesday and Friday for Eco which means SUPER HARD WORKOUTS. Each workout is harder than the last, and each one is the hardest workout I've ever done. I seriously didn't think it could get any harder, but each week blows my mind! We always say, "If it was easy it wouldn't be 24/7!!" I can't wait till Eco though, it's going to be such an incredible experience and my team is so amazing that I know we're going to do GREAT.
This week is the last one before Thanksgiving break, so we're doing any catching up or finalizing that needs to be done before we're off. We're preparing for the silent missions auction on Sunday night, which is going to help raise money for our May missions trip. Every student turned in 10 items that will be auctioned off, meaning that over 300 items will be up for bidding, and everyone also had to provide a service that they would offer, so I'm going to do house cleaning! I know it may sound lame, but no one else offered it and a majority of people sitting in the audience would or already do pay big bucks for maids. And with the holiday season here, everyone is going to need a little sprucing up! Hopefully a lot of people fight over me and give a lot of money towards missions! :)
The last thing I wanted to mention today was about Venue last night!! Our Venue services get better and better each week, and last night was by far the best. Justin's message on Toxic Influences really hit home with the whole group. He started off by asking the crowd who liked the movie "The Hangover." Of course, the whole group raised their hands. So then Justin says, "Yeah, that was one h*ll of a movie, right?!" and everyone looked kind of shocked. He says, "It's interesting that you guys are offended by me using a mild curse word in church, yet you weren't offended by the 91 f-words, 50-something s-words, 20-something g-d's, countless other curse words and nudity along with everything else wrong with that movie. 91 f-words. That's one f-word per minute and most of you sat through the whole movie, have watched it several times, and even own it." He talked about how just the smallest Toxic Influences, when you're exposed to them repeatedly over time, completely destroy your life and desensitize you to the point where you don't even know what right or wrong is anymore. It's so true!! I've always felt this way and I've been made fun of my whole life for being the sheltered, immature girl, where really I'm trying to be an intelligent, mature woman of God!
Then Justin introduced our 24/7 skit "Everything" and my group and I performed the skit for the Venue crowd. It was amazing and many lives were changed by the relevance of the message and the awesome illustration that the skit makes about how the negative influences in our life draw us away from God and destroy us. My best friend came to me after, crying, saying that the skit showed exactly how she has been feeling the last month or so, and said she wants to get her life right again!! It's just amazing how God works through us and within us to bring about good things. God is good, the end. :)
Hopefully it won't be too long till I post again!
