And so it begins

Hi! If you are reading this, then I would like to personally THANK YOU once again for the investment that you are making in my life either financially or through prayer this year. I am honored and humbled to have a community full of people that love me and are interested in what the Lord is doing in my heart. So thank you, thank you, thank you; your prayers and encouragement impact my life much more than you know. 

     I'm going to be honest, writing a blog is very intimidating to me. I have attempted to start this very first post multiple times and have gotten stumped over how to begin or what to say... but I basically I just want to be able to be real with you on this blog. I want to invite you into the way that I am processing through the events of this year (and I am an over-analyzer to a fault so accept this invitation with caution : ). I want you to view this as an open dialogue between you and me; if you read something that you would like to clarify or speak truth into my life about... then please do so! I would love to get feedback from you about my journey through the Greensboro Fellows Program this year. 

     Speaking of "journey", I titled this blog "Cherish the Journey" because I often find myself keeping my eyes fixed on whatever prize that I am working toward. I have always been goal-oriented, so feeling like I'm progressing toward something gives me a sense of satisfaction...but I tend to miss the hidden treasures in the process of reaching my goals. However, this year I don't want to focus on an end goal or a finish line or anything like that. Instead I want to see the Lord working in and through every step of this incredible journey. I want to learn to appreciate the unknown and live in the tension of this transitional period of my life. 

     A very wise friend of mine (the one and only Michele Bascom) once counseled me on this very topic with the verse Psalm 119:105 "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." She pointed out that lamps do not light up that much around our feet; a lamp lights up a small area right around where it stands. In the same way, God does not promise that I will always see where my path is leading; He gives me what I need to know in order to make decisions and move forward on whatever phase of the path that I am on at any given time. This is how I want to live out this year; accepting that I cannot control everything about my future and allowing the Lord to transform me in the present. For me this will be very difficult and definitely stretch my faith, but I know that this is what the Lord is wanting form me right now. I need to trust HIM with my plans instead of attempting the control them myself.

That's pretty much the broad idea of this blog... it should be a fun ride : )

In other news, here is a recap of my life the past few days:

1. I moved into Drew and Natalie Hill's house on Saturday, September 7!

~my cozy new room/home in the Hill basement~

2. I had my first Sunday worshipping at Church of the Redeemer with all of the other Greensboro Fellows on September 8, and afterwards we had a church-wide lunch and fellowship time and a church member's beautiful home. I also got to meet about 15 of the high school students that I will be doing ministry with this year at a Discipleship time that Drew hosts in his basement (right outside my door : ) every Sunday night at 7!

~my lovely new family~

3. Monday-Wednesday kicked off our orientation week, which consists of lots of team-building activities designed to help us get to know each other and the city of Greensboro before starting our internships next week! So far we have:

• gone on early morning runs through downtown together as a group
• touring Battleground Park to learn about the history of Greensboro
• been a part of Young Life's city-wide All-Freshman Club which had about 300 students from schools all over Greensboro at it

had a surprise road trip to go to the Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert... which was awesome : )

• visited Hope Academy, which is an amazing private school in downtown Greensboro that offers affordable Christ-centered education to 5th-8th grade students that live in low income/high crime areas and are at a high risk for getting involved with gangs and prostitution.... some of the fellows are working with this school as their internship this year, and I hope to be able to volunteer with them!
• toured the Civil Rights museum; we learned about Greensboro's role in the Civil Rights Movement and how that phase of history still impacts the culture of this area

It is hard to believe that I have only been in Greensboro for a few days because we have done so much already! That is all for now, I look forward to updating you more in the next few days!