Best. Camp. Ever. Part 2

It's been just a few days that the summer missionaries have been here and God is moving! The first night we had a praise and worship session on the steps of our house shortly after we sent them all to bed. But clearly God had bigger plans.

Here's the past week in a picture preview!

A generous donor has pledge to provide bread for the summer missionaries for the entire summer! 

Woody and I were just waiting for the summer missionaries to arrive on a  rainy Sunday afternoon .

Hey they made it! Those are not gang signs, but really the Hiawassee symbol! 

Full-Time Missionaries are so excited that everyone arrived at home! 

A beautiful clear night praising the  Lord. 

Putting up the environment! 

Best. Environment Team. Ever....FOR HIS GLORY 

We get walkie talkies!! 

Best. Camp. Ever

 I have just a few months left in this year of my mission. I have moved to Hiawassee Georgia to put on a summer camp for middle school teens. During camp my roll will be prayer coordinator as well as summer staff mentor. 

I beg for your prayers during this time. I ask you to pray for our middle school teens, youth ministers, summer missionaries, priests, hosts and musicians.

Beginning on Sunday May 19^th and ending on August 5^th I will be fasting from all drinks that isn't water. I ask that you consider joining me in this fast for the souls that will be affected during summer camp. I will also be praying a Hail Mary and a prayer to Saint Michael daily for the protection of all of those coming to camp. I ask you to please join me in that as well.

Preparing talks. Sketching out sets. All in a days work 

Checking out the stars! Our camp site is really awesome!

Here we will house 30 missionaries for the next 12 weeks! 

My first role at camp will be the prayer coordinator. I'm excited to begin interceding for campers, and to work along side of priests, and other holy men and women during the summer.

Struggling to Accept

I just purchased Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and HOLY COW!

Gosh her life is really really REALLY cool. I've only been flipping through a bit of her diary these past few days in prayer but she just has these one liners that hit a place in my heart where God is working right now.

In this section she is explaining how she has know since she was SEVEN that she was being called to the religious life...EXCUSE ME...SEVEN?! I don't even think I knew how to tie my shoes at seven, and this beautiful woman of God hears the voice of the Lord telling her to be a saint. She describes her call as "an invitation to a more perfect life"(DoSF7). Saint Faustina clearly heard the voice of God, and I pray to be that obedient. Anyway, continuing on her journey she is faced with her parents rejecting the idea of her entering into the convent, and she decided to pretend like she didn't hear God's voice calling her. God spoke to her and said "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off"(DoSF9). At that moment she went to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament and God continued to speak to her heart telling her what convent to go to, and that he would provide for her.

After all this time of praying and discerning she finally entered the convent. As she went through her time at the convent there were many things/people that were bothering her and she wanted to get up and run. But again Jesus came to her and said "It is to this place that I called you and nowhere else; and I have prepared many graces for you" (DoSF19). She knew at that moment she must stay.

This beginning journey of Saint Faustina is very much like the phase of life I'm currently going through. I knew in the depths of my heart three summers ago that I was being called to be a Life Teen Missionary. I kept pushing it away in my prayer and God kept asking me that same question. "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off". I was scared, I didn't want to let go of the great control I had over my life, I thought I was doing quite well. I was comfortable.

Then when I finally broke out of my comfort zone is when Jesus started pushing me. When Jesus placed that missionary call to "a more perfect" life on my heart. But as he placed that call I also had my own plans and ideas of what this year of missions was going to look like. Now that I have found out my placement for next year I feel like God is speaking directly to me when he says "It is to this place that I called you and nowhere else; and I have prepared many graces for you" I'm struggling to accept that because Jesus loves me that I will be serving in Atlanta. I'm struggling to accept that there is nowhere else but there that I am called to serve next year.

I ask you to pray for my heart to accept this great and amazing plan that God has for my life. Give me the courage, humility and obedience to realize that he knows better, and this plan is greater.