Well I have been back for a few days now...and the trip was fantastic. Really just great. The first half of the week (10 days, actually) was probably one of the most challenging periods of my life, but I feel like I walked away from it knowing more of God than I did before. And that's all I really want from life. More of my God and Saviour.

What the Native people of this country have been forced through is a tragic story, and there's many ways to look at it. You can look at this people as a race with their own culture that's been ripped away from them, who have been left with nothing but some land. You can look at it as a race of people who may have gotten the bad end of a deal hundreds of years ago, but should get over it.

The way I look at it though, is that there's a group of people who have been wronged as a race, who are generally living below the poverty line, and who haven't been shown the Gospel in the right way. I believe that it's my duty as a Christian to help them. That's really it. I don't really care what anyone thinks about the situation, so long as they try to help.

I think I remember how to do this. It has been ages, and for this I do apologize.

Life right now has been crazy. This past week was as crazy busy as I think I have ever been. And I'm standing in front of my upcoming week slightly scared, because it has the potential to be almost as busy. Lord give me strength.

I've been learning a lot right now about God, people, where I'm at in life, etc. I just have to say how incredible it is to look at what's going on and just see God working.

God provided for Lydia's missions trip, and as I write this, she's in Washington state on a Native American Reservation. The way God provided for her trip is incredible in and of itself. God has provided for her not only financially, but by providing just the right type of trip. This was exactly what Lydia wanted. I cannot wait to hear all of her stories and see all her pictures. Pray for her this week as she's far from home serving these beautiful people.

Not only has He provided for Lydia's trip, but also for my missions trip to New York City. I have been praying for a while that I'd be able to serve on some kind of missions trip. I've never before gone on one, but I know it's exactly right. Anyways, I found this trip and went through all the necessary steps and eventually was accepted. The hardest part of committing to this trip for me, was figuring out how the money would be provided. I couldn't have paid for all of it. My parents wouldn't have been able to pay for all of it. I had to trust to much that God would take care of it. About two or three weeks after having sent out my support letter, my trip was completely paid for. ALL OF IT. I do not have to pay for a single thing. My parents don't have to pay for a single thing. I am still so overwhelmed by this. The generosity of the body of Christ has astounded me, and I can say that it has greatly strengthened my faith. It's only possible through HIM! 13 days until I leave!!!

I've been working at my job now for 1 year. A whole year! This job has been a huge blessing and I continue to be blessed by the friendships I have made and the people I have come to call my other family. They are such a blessing to me. When I don't work for several days at a time, I actually miss them. They mean that much to me. I've really been thankful for my job lately because I'm surrounded by people who for the most part don't a faith similiar to mine or who have no faith. This has caused me to grow, and I've come to see that this is my mission field right now. This is the place God has provided to use me now. I want to take and engage these people. I want to love them like Christ loves us. If that means I go without a couple of non-essential items so that I can get something for someone who needs something at work then so be it. I love to do that for them.

OH! And it's summer...yeah...it's so stinkin hot.

So much is going on. Life is moving at the speed of light and I'm holding on for dear life. There is so much to be done in such a small amount of time. I pray that I'll be an adequate vessel that will be used.


Brianna

Assuming everything goes as planned, I will be the farthest away from home I've ever been tomorrow by this time. Another splendid adventure. So thankful and excited! Pictures will be up in 10 days!

<3

I've had some time to read (slowly, like I do) lately...which is awesome. These are some of the books I've finished up the school year/started the summer with:

How Should We Then Live, by Francis Schaeffer (crazy stuff. Really thankful to have read it).

1984, by George Orwell (no comment).

Ghosts of War, by Ryan Smithson (really great. really eye opening. So glad I picked it up).

The Selby is in Your Place, by Todd Selby (mostly photos, but that only makes it more awesome).

Our of Africa, by Isak Dinesen (A hard one to pick up, but I'm really enjoying it).

Living on the Devil's Doorstep (Super, super good. Thanks, Brianna).

Looking forward to:

Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman

Into the Mud, by Christine Jeske


Very exciting stuff....

Goodness gracious it has been a while since we posted! Here's some crazyness from my journal that I feel led to share...

I stand at the beginning and tilt my head back. It's me and a looming rockface over which I'm determined to carve my destiny. It's all planned out up there, I just don't know how it goes yet. Four steps up one day, down three the next. So I will climb. There'll be scrapes, there'll be bruises. They're just part of the journey. It's a dry and weary land, but water finds me, and lots of it. Enough for the rest of my travels, and enough for all the other travelers. I'm a tired sojourner, but I now have tapped into the ultimate water source, and it is my responsibility to make its' whereabouts known. The water of life is now a part of me, and as I continue to climb I must take the time to stop, meet a fellow vagabond, and share this replenishing gift. Sometimes I will have to back track a couple hundred feet to share. I will descend to a lower place in order to offer somebody in need a hand.
This is my life; this is the journey. I'm not alone, I'm not my own, I'm not anybody else's. This world is not my home, it is my way home.This path ends, but it is not the end. My destination is so promising that I will traverse the endless steppe or dive into the unknown if that is what I must do to get there. I've come this far-however far it might be, and I'm not giving up. Death and chaos lie beneath me. Victory over it all is in my grasp. I want freedom, I want rest. I will not give up. I will not forget the places I've been, or the people who need me. I go to find the hand that first pulled me out of the murk, the sweet drink that first quenched my thirst. I go to prove myself better for having climbed. I go to slide my calloused palms across the last layer of rock, to pull myself up with the wind at my backand I go to be victorious at last over the confused darkness of what I left behind.
After a lifetime of clinging to a rock as though it were my salvation, I will stand on top of it and proclaim my liberation to the nations. I will point to the Wind, the Water, and the Rock, and I will laud them forever.