Jr. Highers AMAZE me!

Scott Rubin, my old jr high youth pastor, said it all the time. Jr. Highers are absolutely amazing. 


1 Timothy 4:12 states "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."


CLPC Jr. Highers rocked this! 


We just got back from our mission trip to Hidalgo County, South Texas with Mission Discovery where we worked with two families to repair and rebuild their houses. We painted (A LOT), we put up dry wall, insulated, mudded, sided, fixed a bathroom, repaired a roof and so much more. Our students continued to ask, "what else can I do?" or if we asked for help they would step up right away. 

We also ran a VBS (vacation bible school) for the neighborhood kids. The first day we were supposed to start at 10am and there weren't any kids that showed up. We encouraged the students to start praying and Daniel took some kids on a prayer tour around the neighborhood. At 10:45, we had about 20 kids playing with us! God is good! 


The second day we had about the same number and the third day we had around 30 neighborhood kids! 
Our students gave their testimonies, told bible stories, helped make crafts and just played with kids. 


Our Mission Discovery leader, Maury encouraged the kids on the night before the last day of VBS to tell the kids that God loves them. Honestly I had low expectations for this happening, because we had a language barrier with a lot of the kids, but I overheard at least 5 times, our students saying things like "Do you know how much God loves you?" or "Do you know you have a heavenly father that loves you no matter what?" I was blown away. Our kids were asking how to say it in Spanish and wanted to say it more! 

I love this picture because right before I took it, I heard one of my students say, "GOD LOVES YOU!"

God showed up in big ways with our youth and I am so honored that I got to be apart of it! 


We have this week, and then we leave for Jamaica next Sunday for our High school missions trip, also with Mission Discovery! Prayers are appreciated for that trip as well. 


God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

Welcome to Clear Lake!

So, I finally made it to Texas AGAIN!!!! This past week has been absolutely amazing. From spending my last few nights with some of the people I care the most about, to getting on a plane with a great friend who is helping my Chicago world combining to my Texas world, to getting off the plane and seeing the wonderful faces of great friends I have missed! This has been a week of people. I have felt so greatly welcomed back by my Texas family. It almost feels like I never left.

God has already been teaching me so many things even in this first week of my 15 months here. Change is good. It truly is. Change will mold you. It will challenge you. It will make you stronger, so that you are ready for whatever life throws at you. I have experienced so much change in the last month and while it is very sad to leave the North Park part of my life, and to leave my family far far away, I would not have been able to be in this place at this time experiencing a whole new season in my life. God is truly amazing with giving me the peace that makes no sense (Thanks Pastor Judy for engraving this into my head all through school!)

So, I am a week in and the summer is rolling! We are going to be doing some traveling this summer. June 14-16, we are taking the Seniors on a Graduate Retreat to Austin. Then we leave the next day with our Jr Highers to South Texas with Mission Discovery to help build houses and build relationships with the children right on the border. Then we have a week off, and we leave with our High Schoolers to Jamaica, also with Mission Discovery! There we will work with an Orphanage there with some of their needs.


Prayers for this and other activities will be greatly appreciated. Thank you truly for all of your love and support. If you want to know anything about whats going on, let me know! Ask anyone, I love to talk about TEXAS!!!!