A Tuesday Rambling

Hey hey! So I was just wanting to write a little about life today.

1. I have become a baking fiend. I used to enjoy baking but not to this extent, this summer I've tried a few things and there is no end in sight!

Blueberry brown sugar cookies!

Last night since my family was away and I was up for some serious cooking experimentation I invited my best friend Kari over for a 'friendship appreciation dinner.' I made Parmesan crusted chicken, grilled vegetables and some grilled flavored corn on the cob. We topped it all off with some Ben and Jerry's Ice cream.

I just don't know what it is about this summer but lately I've become so interested in cooking & crafts I can't quite stand it! There are just so many things I want to try out! So if you enjoy free samples and/or are near me often beware: there may be baked goods coming your way!

2. This week at camp is the 4th of July parade. Each group comes up with a costume theme and then come to arts and crafts to bring it to life! I'm excited to see how it all turns out!

3. Last week the campers were learning about Hosea, after having a conversation with the bible teacher about it I realized I didn't know the story of Hosea at all (to be completely honest, I was always under the impression that the name Hosea sounded like a girl so I just assumed that Hosea was a girl- I know, insane). So I decided that I was going to read it- I was astounded by the story. Hosea is such an example of following the Lord's call despite trials,it's a story about God's redemption for all. I could not stop reading it. First of all Hosea was asked by God to marry a prostitute and Hosea did it. Then God gave them names for all their children with meanings like: not loved, not my people, and one was named after a massacre. These things (marrying a prostitute, the names of their children) were all so that God could use them to better share a message with the Israelite. Many of the messages Hosea shared with the people of Israel were based around their adulterous, stubborn hearts toward the Lord. God expresses His desire through the messages for His people to seek Him wholly, to turn away from the things that distract their hearts from Him and to earnestly yearn after Him. It spoke of how destructive idolization really is, no matter what you are idolizing, in Chapter 13 verse 9 God says through Hosea that when we live for the world and seeking the things of the world we are working against God. The book of Hosea really made me think about what I myself seek other than the Lord and what our society seeks in place of the Lord. If you haven't read it- do it. It's good stuff.

4. Really missing Togo and my team from last summer. I'm still working on reading through my journal from last summer and the stories almost always make me tear up- I miss it. I hope that someday God takes me back to Togo, but if not they will forever be in my heart and a part of my daily life. I know I've said it before about a billion times but Togo taught me so much and is still teaching me things. I'm so grateful for that opportunity and can't believe it's been a year already.

5. Last but not least, I came across this verse sometime last week and it's been on my mind ever since and so I am going to share it with you all:

"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 2 Corinthians 3:5

Conqueror, Provider, Protector

Happy (belated) Easter! He's alive!

I spent the morning with my family eating jelly beans and chocolate eggs for breakfast. Then headed to church, and home for leisurely ham lunch before I headed out to Lancaster to spend a little bit of the day with Ethan's family, and have some more ham.



On my drive out to Lancaster and then the rest of the way to school between belting out songs along with whatever cd I had in at the time I thought about how many different qualities God has and how truly faithful He is and has been in my life.

Let me go back to the beginning of my weekend.

Friday night I hurried home after a short visit to Lancaster for lunch because I had an interview with a potential family for nannying this summer. I walked in the door when I got home to my mom yelling throughout the house "Dinner's ready, come sit down!" I dropped my bags in my room and headed to the table to realize it was one of my favorite home meals (Fried eggplant Parmesan with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil mmmm mmm mmmm!!)! They made it special for my weekend homecoming :)

After dinner I went to my interview. I have been looking for a second job to supplement working at camp this summer. I really wanted to spend this last summer home working at camp again, ministering to the kids and loving on kids in a way that at camp you only can. Without working during the school year and planning a wedding and things like moving out I was in need of a little bit more than what I would be making at camp alone- and after all I'm not really at camp for the money. I shyed away from working at a store because I knew it would be really difficult to get the hours in around my camp schedule; I called a few places for tutoring and things like that but the doors were shut immediately. A few months ago I had joined an online nannying service and I saw that a woman ten minutes from my house was looking for care for her baby that fit my camp schedule so perfectly, so I applied. The family was SO nice and the little girl SO adorable! andddd.... I got the job! God provides! That job just fit soooo perfectly that I know it was His hand leading that fully!

Saturday morning I got to spend almost the entire day with my friend, Kari, and at as always it was such a blessing just to talk and hang out together. Our hearts are so alike and she is the one friend who knows me better than I know myself, who will be completely honest, and I can do/say almost anything and she'll still accept me for who I am. She's the loving,genuine, godly friend that God has provided me with along this journey, who I don't know what I would do without.



That night her and I went to visit our other good friend Brittany. Late at night (around 9:30) the three of us decided, like typical college students, that we were going to go to get some Rita's water ice. Then came a pretty scary event: After Kari had ordered and Britt was ordering I was glancing around our surroundings and saw a man in a hoodie and mask walking briskly towards us! He came right next to me and said to the three of us "Get the __ out of here!" my friend yelled "Run girls!" we ran to my car, locked the doors, and I turned my car on. Scary stuff. We saw the man run off into a neighborhood behind the Rita's so I turned my car off, figuring the police would be there soon, and they were. The police asked us to stay around because the three of us were really the only ones who got a good look at him, and were the main witnesses since we were the only ones at Rita's. They asked us what happened and what he looked like over and over again to get a solid description and then asked us if we could get in a car with them to identify a suspect they had found nearby. It turned out that we didn't think that they man they found was the same guy, and I'm not sure what happened to him afterwards but what keeps hitting me is what could have happened. He could have had a weapon, so much could have happened, but it didn't and I'm so grateful. God is the ultimate protector and He was with us through that whole night, just like He is every day. I'm still a little shaken up about that night, but I know that I have the one who conquered sin and death and fear through the cross and resurrection living inside of me and I have no reason to be afraid in any situation.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:28-379