Wrapped Up In Love.

In 29 days, I will be on my way to the Dominican Republic for the 5th time. This year most of my best friends in life are going to be right beside me for a week in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I couldn't be more excited. But this year is extra special because my Mom is getting to go with us, and she will get to see why my heart is wrapped up in love with the Dominican. In the Dominican my LOVE for God doesn't waver, my struggles and stresses seem minute, my blessings and riches become more apparent, and my love for others and everything in my life just seems to pour freely from me without effort.  It is just a week full of love for God, love for others, and love for myself. This year I want to look for God in places I haven't looked before. Of course, it is easy to see him in the beauty of the Dominican, the kid's faces, the missionaries down there, and just the people in the DR, but I want to challenge myself to look for him in the wood shacks, the dirty water, in the dying people, and in myself. It is most of the time hard to find God in myself, but I know without a doubt he is there, it is just about me finding him because he knows where I am.

Dear God, Let me see you in ways that I have never seen you before. Let me see you in myself and let me see you in others. Please keep my friends and I safe and prepare us mentally and physically for this trip we are about to embark on. Let my mom find comfort and a new love for you and ease her stresses about this trip, Lord. Thank you for all of the blessings you have given me, especially getting to experience something as life-changing as the Dominican.

If you read my blog please send up prayers for this trip and everybody who is preparing and a part of it!

Thankful for the "NOW"

Why is it so hard for me to be thankful for what is happening to me in the present time? I usually always learn how thankful or how much I loved something after it has already passed. I know it is better to be thankful anytime than not be thankful at all, but I just wish I was more aware of the blessings happening in my life than waiting until they have passed. Mostly this applies to my time in the Dominican or my summer spent in Haiti. But it also applies to my time just in every day life. A time that I think about almost every day was when I was in Haiti. I could name numerous people or things I would give anything to go back and see or do. But one specifically was that I fell in love with my little orphan named Christine. She was the one that I would purposely seek out to hang out with every day when I was over at COTP. I would try and teach her how to walk, but Christine would get tired or maybe she is just lazy. So we both figured out that we loved to take daily naps, so I would just pick her little chunky butt up and lay her on top of me and we would sleep under a hut out in Lagosette, Haiti. Now that I look back on those days, I realize I always took those times for granted. I would love to go back and take one more nap with her, feed her, or just watch her walk now. Even nights in the dorm with my best friends, time at home with my beautiful family or high school friends, or just being in the car with E, it is easy to look over and not be thankful until it has already passed. Today I'm going to start focusing on the present and being thankful for what I have and am doing in the "now". 

Thank you, God! Thank you for all the blessings you have sustained me with! Let me be aware of the blessings that are happening in the now and not forget the most precious times in my life! Please keep my friends and family in your arms of love, and let us always remember you and why we are here. 

Christine:)