Wait... Where Am I "Fixin' To?"

I just got done having an almost-two-hour-long conversation with my host mom, Melissa, about forgiveness, learning to not take offense, and letting go. She is full of wisdom, and I am blessed. We have a lot more in common that I could have imagined, and she said it is her joy to have me as part of her family here for this season in her life. Wow.

Sorry for being a slacker and just posting this now, but I made it to Texas alive and in one piece :) That's always a good thing. My host family here is incredible. At first, I was nervous, because I've not known what it is like to fit into a family scene after my grandpa died, but they are great. I have a mom and dad, and a little brother in the 6th grade with autism. His name is Franklin -- such a cutie :) I got here on Tuesday afternoon, and it was his birthday, so after an incredible dinner by Melissa, we went bowling. Don't ask me how this happened, cuz I have no clue, but I scored a 159!

No one here knows what a bubbler is (Nick thought it was a toilet), and the only cheese curds anyone has heard of are the fried ones at Culver's. Definitely missing out! I constantly get teased for the way I say "bag" and "flag", and just opening my mouth is a clear give-away that I am from Wisconsin. So far I have learned that dead armadillo's are considered speed bumps, and no one ever goes anywhere -- they fix to wherever the place is :) So... after dinner tonight, I was fixin' my way to my bedroom to write a blog and read some chapters.

Speaking of reading, I have been given two books to dive into-- The Root of the Righteous by A.W. Tozer and Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels. They look promising.

I absolutely love the church I am working with down here. Solid place, solid people, solid vision. Last night was my first night meeting the youth, and I was able to make some connections with a few girls that I felt plled to. Aaron (overseeing the interns) and Nick (the youth pastor) are going to have me lead a discipleship group with several of the high school girls (emphasis on the juniors). One girl in particular, Chrissy, is from Haiti and has only been in the states for around a year. She is stunningly beautiful, and started opening up to me right away. I pray for growth, and that she would come back, as it was her first time at youth group.

The game last night was kickball! The bases were loaded, there was a lovely warm breeze, it was my turn..... annnnd.... I definitely was not the force behind any point-gain-age for my team. Fail :) Something funny, though,  is that one of my friend's from Bethel stayed with my current host family last summer, and he loved to wrestle with Franklin. Last night as we were playing kickball at the youth group, Franklin was pretty nervous, and so I told him to think of the ball as Shane's head.... and guess what?! He got a home run! Apparently it worked, haha!!!

As of right now, some of the things that I know I'll be involved with and doing this summer are (but not limited to):
-working with the homeless outreach team
-making coffee runs to the kitchen with Nick and messing with Aaron
-event planning
-leading worship for the youth services
-reading crazy awesome books
-leading a discipleship group of high school girls
-meeting with Josh (one of the worship leaders and Bethel graduate) once a week and working on acoustic guitar
-regular tubing down river adventures
-fast food friday's
-regular "backyard service and outreach"
-wednedsay night youth group
-making the youth blog my baby
-other media work (renovating website, facebook group, promoting)
-leading messages
-attending all three Sunday services (one regular, two youth)
-chilling with my awesome host family (lots of tanning at the pool...)

I could probably keep going, but this is good for now. The weather is super nice here -- extremely humid, but better than the 40 degrees I came from on Monday morning. It's been kind of tiring though, and I think it's been affecting my sinuses.

Thank you for all your prayers, and for continued prayer. Much love and great peace to you.