The Summer Begins

Hey there everyone,

This is the first post of my summer blog, and I have never blogged before.  So sorry if I am doing something wrong.  I made this blog because I will be going to four different countries this summer and would like some of you that I wont be seeing much at all (anyone in the US) to be able to keep up with me, at least by knowing what I am up to.  Hopefully I will be able to show you some experiences I am having and new things I am learning, because I am so excited about what God is going to do.  Here is my plan for the summer: we leave this Wednesday to fly to Cairo.  We will be in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan until we come back June 3rd.  I will then have exactly two weeks of summer in College Station before I fly to Porto Alegre, Brazil to stay for 7 weeks.  When I come back, I will have to immediately move back to Abilene for Resident Assistant training.

It will be a very short summer, and I think it has the opportunity to be an incredible time of teaching if I let God work.  Many things in my life have fallen into place in planning this summer, and I think He is up to something big.

My first trip will be more of a fast-paced sight seeing trip led by Tim Rampey.  People going are my parents, my sister Sarah, Laura Acuff, her friend from ACU, one of my old friends Sam Miller from Boy Scouts who I went to Tamazunchale, Mexico with Summer 2006 (I am very excited to reconnect with him) and his sisters, other random people, and best of all, Weston Schulte and his mom.

Weston will be my travel buddy this summer.  He will be going to Brazil with me also, and on that trip its just us.  We have a special friendship.  Weston and I have been buddies ever since his mom was my teacher in Sonshine school (pre-k).  We have grown up together at the same church and were both home schooled most of the way through.  Everything from early childhood playmates, Boy Scouts, Leadership Training for Christ, the home school basketball team, and ACU now.  We have done A LOT of life together.  His mom Lanette is an amazing woman who has been my Art, Shakespeare, Government, writing, and literature teacher, as well as a life mentor.  Weston is an amazing man of God from an awesome family, and I am really excited to grow even closer to him this summer.  Another thing that makes this experience special for us is that, "its not our first rodeo."  Summer 2005 we went to Israel, Egypt, and Paris together.

I had an absolutely amazing semester at ACU with my friends, some of the best people I have ever met, and I am extremely blessed to have them in my life.  It was a crazy last week there with finals (Greek, ahh!) and trying to get everyone moved out.  It was tough to say goodbye to everyone and leave my room empty, but it was a really good experience.  My life has been completely changed and I have been molded in so many ways this year at ACU and I give lots of credit to my friends for that.  We are all going to be in different places this summer around the world and it will be really cool to come back and share what has happened.

These are my favorites

We are the fantastic 4.  We are sort of random, all from different places, but we mix so well and have learned a lot from each other.  Aaron and I were room mates this year.  I went potluck and ended up getting the most awesome guy on campus.  He has been one of the best things that have ever happened to me.  An awesome and very influential man of God, and I get to be his best friend.  He is going to be a camp counselor this summer at Team Effort in Georgia.  Ill talk more about him later.  Asia and Bronwyn were also roommates.  Asia is from Thailand, and will be in Tanzania this summer. She is the most talented and creative person I know, and also one of the smartest.  Bronwyn and her family have been in Brazil since 2002, and they are who Weston and I are going to stay with.  I will talk more about them in minute.  Bronwyn is a selfless, incredibly interesting person who leads a very intentional life.   What a blessing they have been to me.  I have learned so much.  I will talk much more about each of them this summer.

Now to talk about the second trip.  Bronywn invited many of her friends to come to Brazil this summer and stay with her family, and Weston and I took her up on the offer.  It seemed like a really neat opportunity to live in a different environment for a while and see what God will do, and we are so excited.  From getting to know Bronwyn and what I have seen of her family, I know it will be an incredible time for us to learn.  The Blumes have been missionaries in Porto Alegre since 2002 setting up house churches, working with a drug rehab center, and influencing many people.  We will be going to serve and learn in whatever way we are supposed to.  If you want to know more about them, their blog is blumesinbrazil.blogspot.com.  Again, I will talk much more about them later.

I am trying to get some last minute things done here in College Station before I leave Wednesday morning without stress.  It has already been great to be with my family and friends, even for just a few days.  We got to go to an Aggie vs. Nebraska baseball game with my sister Angela, my brother in law Jason, and my sweet nieces and nephews!

I love them so much.  I am very sad that I will not get to be with them much this summer, but I am so thankful for the time I get with them now. 

I will not be able to blog much at all while I am on the Israel/Egypt/Jordan trip, so sorry that it will be slow then.  But there will probably be a huge post when I get back.  Thanks for reading, blessings.

P.S. Special thanks to Asia Todd for designing this page all the way from Chiang Mai.  Your awesome.  The goofy picture at the top is made from five photos.  One is the pyramids in Egypt, one is the Treasury of Petra in Jordan, one is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, one is a cool building in Porto Alegre, and one is me being weird.