well, i'm back from destin with more tan than i had before i left, which is always a good thing!  the only bad part is that i'm back from destin! hehe... but that does mean that very soon i will be back at ouachita (home sweet home right?) with all my friends!  the only problem now is packing everything before thursday.  i haven't quite figured that one out yet.  i should probably be working on that now instead of updating.

interesting tidbit that scared me a little... one of the florida shark attacks from earlier this summer happened at my condo...  i didn't venture very far into the ocean...

3 days of work left people!  you don't know how excited i am about that!  and then after those 3 days, i get to go to destin... and i am even more excited about that!

some shout outs...

sarah darling... i can't wait to continue our beach tradition this year!

sarahbeth, my dear roommate... you've almost made it... the big 1-9 is just around the corner... love ya dear!

catherine... what can i say?  i'm gonna miss you BUNCHES while you're in colorado!  who knows, maybe i can come visit like we talked about, and if not, maybe we'll follow through with our summer plans for next year!  roomies! hehe

emily, my partner in crime... i mean lab... what?? anyway, i miss you terribly and can't wait to see you again VERY soon!

beth... i'm prayin for ya girl... i don't know how you're going to live with 16 girls in ONE room for a WHOLE semester, but if you make it, you're certainly a better person than i'll ever be.  i really am going to come visit you this year though!

okay, that's enough for now... more later!  love to all and enjoy these last couple weeks of summer!

So being back in the states isn't quite all it's cracked up to be... I already want to go back to Brazil and I've only been back for like 3 days now.  For those who don't know, I went on a mission trip where I worked with the missionary kids of Brazil in a camp type setting while the parents had their annual mission meeting.  It's kinda crazy, because I didn't really think that there would be much ministering going on since we were going to be working with MISSIONARY kids.  I mean they get their daily dose of God whether they want it or not right?  But God taught me how wrong I really was (and I knew I was wrong anyway).  These people were quite possibly some of the most amazing people I've met in my life.  One of them is even coming to Ouachita next year... woo hoo!  I learned so much from being around those kids, and I hope I was able to teach them something in return since that was the reason I was there.  The things that God accomplished through and in me and the entire mission team were unbelievable and indescribable.  But then again, God himself embodies those very characteristics, so that should come as no surprise.  The last night of mission meeting, the youth led the adult missionaries in a few worship songs.  We sang "You are Holy" which I have sung countless times almost to the point of not even realizing the words I am singing.  However, this time I was really stricken (or restricken) by the words of the song and they took on a whole new meaning. 

You are Lord of lords, You are King of kings, You are Mighty God, Lord of EVERYTHING, You're Emmanuel, You're the Great I AM, You're my Prince of Peace, who is the Lamb, You're the Living God, You're my Saving Grace, You will reign forever, You are Ancient of Days, You are Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End, You're my Savior, Messiah, Redeemer and Friend, You're my Prince of Peace, and I will live my life for you.

So often I forget that God really is ALL of those things, and forget that I don't have to do things on my own and that my Saving Grace can take care of anything if I will just allow him to.  How amazing is that?  What an AWESOME God we serve!