Home Sweet Home

Hello everyone!
I want to apologize for how overdue this post is. The last few weeks of project were a blast and they flew by so quickly! It has been a little over a week since I left Juneau. Last Monday, I checked my bags at the Juneau "International" Airport and made my journey home. Since then, I was able to spend one full day at home before packing the car and heading north to Fayetteville with Kelly. We were able to spend one night with Spencer and Christa (my brother and his new bride of about two months!) in their new house. It was so good to see them again and spend time with them. Since then, I have been immersed in the schedule of RA training while trying to get unpacked, settled into my new room, and spend time with friends here in Arkansas. It has been fairly hectic but I have enjoyed being here.
Leaving Juneau a few days early and knowing that project was still going on was definitely difficult. I have missed project girls so much! Talking over text and facebook is no where close to the same as waking up to their lovely faces or being able to walk over to the apartment next door to hang out. They have been a huge blessing in my life and I am so glad I got to know each of them this summer! God has huge things planned for each of their lives as they go back to their schools and homes. They can definitely use your prayer as they begin to transition back to time on their campuses.
KELLY- University of Minnesota
EMILY-Wayne State College
ABBI- Wayne State College
KELSIE- University of Kansas
SAMANTHA- University of Arkansas
ASHLEY- Graduated from the University of Wisconsin. Will be working and continuing to take classes.
Another prayer of mine is for the people in Juneau that we had the opportunity to get to know over the summer. There were many relationships built with people from our churches, coworkers, CRU and around town. I hope that we can be intentional in continuing those friendships and staying in touch.
As I look back over my summer, I see several ways that God decided to teach me new things and grow me in new ways. One of the things that God showed me during the last few weeks especially was about my concept of home. This summer was interesting as I become comfortable and familiar with the city and people of Juneau, it was a temporary home for me. At the same time, I missed being with my family in Texas and the comforts and familiarity of the home that I have there. Along with that, I was eager to be back in Fayetteville, where God has blessed me with a solid group of friends and Christian community that makes Arkansas another place that I consider my home. This feeling of having several homes and, in way, not having a single place to call home, compounded with a concept about time that God showed me changed the way that I see my life on this earth. Time is a funny thing, if you think about it for a moment. When we look back on our life and conjure up memories, some things feel so recent even though they were years ago and other things seem so far in the past even though they may have happened more recently. Time can be weird, frustrating and hard for us to grasp. Sometimes it moves so slowly and we would do anything to make it speed up. Other times it seems to fly by and we wish we could slow down the clock. Most of the time, we tell ourselves we don't have enough of it. About halfway through the summer, these thoughts hit a climax as I was thinking over my time spent in Juneau and the time I had left. Then God helped me to see that the reason time is such a difficult thing for us to grasp is that He did not create us for a place governed by time; He created us to be with Him in a state of eternity. Time is man's imperfect way of measuring our lifetime on earth. This world is not our home, so we are not meant to be completely comfortable in it. This simple fact blew my mind and gave me such a reassurance of who I am in Christ and the fact that I was made for more than just this life on earth and what it has to offer. Philippians 3:20 is so cool, it says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the LORD Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body." That's what we have to look forward to! Also, 1 Chronicles 29:3 says, "I have set my affection to the house of my God." This is a close to "home" as we can get, this side of heaven!
This is one of several things God taught me this summer, thanks for letting me share! I appreciate your support throughout this summer and would love to have your prayers throughout the school year. God is doing big things here on campus and I am so excited to see the ways that He will work!