So, I totally forgot to say that my 21st birthday was a blast! Sunday I had the pleasure of spending my entire day at church with my awesome 180 friends, worshiping God together! Can't get much better than that! XD

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In other random news, I am officially house keeper here at my foster families residence. I needed a place to stay for the summer and one of the women who works at GBC opened up her and her families house to me. THANKS BE TO GOD! Anyways, the catch was I have to clean their home... They are a pack-rat type family and their house is amazingly messy... So since the summer has begun, I have been running around cleaning out different rooms of junk and making their house a little more livable. I count it as service time. ^_^ And I like cleaning so it's not a big deal, but over the past week or two, I have gotten two major projects nearly finished: The bathroom (which took 10 hours with two of us, the middle daughter helping me) and the front hall closet (which took 5 days, 7 full trash bags, many hours of sorting, and causing the living room to be filled with junk temporarily). Still working on the downstairs family room... Which took me 5 days alone to clean paths that reached the 4 corners of the room, but will continue to be one of the beasts. Along with the garage and barn that hasn't even been touched yet... The rest of my summer is gonna be busy.

ALSO! Oh I am SOOO EXCITED! I'm joining a mentoring group at my church with (currently) 15 other college students who are going to be working toward full time ministry work! I'M SOOO STOKED! Everyone comes with their own goals and ideas as to where they feel God is calling them and the group will be a support for us as we work toward those callings. Our first meeting is July 15th and it couldn't get here any faster! I've been looking for ways to get plugged in using my gifts for a while now, and God was gracious enough to get me working taking photos at the college! Then at church! And now I'm doing full time photos for both and getting paid! PRAISE BE TO GOD! I've been needing this! And now I'm looking for greater ways to get involved... and God is leading the way! So cool! I really hope this will be a great thing for me and my growing relationship with Christ... cause I really just want to know him the best I can and use what I have been given for him. I'm blessed to have a relationship with my creator.

Alright, I think that is all I have for now... Until next time... (I still can't change my mood *sigh* Not that I have a problem with being speechless, but come on... I just wrote a good sized journal.)

God is good... ALL THE TIME!!!
And all the time... GOD IS GOOD!!!

He restores what was broken, and does so to show his GLORY!!!

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There was literally MAJOR healing that went on in my life just a few moments ago! I would love to explain it all, but it really would be a novel of a story to explain... I'm just REJOICING IN THE LORD!!! FOR HE IS GOOD!!!

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY, AGAIN I SAY REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY, AGAIN I SAY REJOICE!!!

The past few days have been really slow. I haven't been in a rush to get out and do much of anything... I wouldn't say it is laziness, but I can say that I have had a lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. I've been doing much thinking... about all kinds of things; Some good, others bad, some indifferent. I've been trying to go a few extra miles in my faith, and somehow, I feel like I've fallen short of where I was to begin with. Though, I have come to realize, that is generally how it works...

So instead of pressuring myself to move forward, I have been just sitting in the silence... Though I can say, even those times have been rare. I haven't been making much time for God... I guess that is what I have been trying to say. I've been trying to memorize some verses this week, lead others in good directions, and yet... It seems that I'm doing it for me currently, God doesn't seem to be a part of it.

After bible study on Thursday evening, I walked the 4 or so miles back to my temporary residence. The air was cool and the sun was setting... there wasn't anything special about this sunset. As I weaved through the neighborhoods around to my home, I was looking up at the sky and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shooting star (or so I thought). My immediate thought was, "Wow. God you are so cool," and then I noticed it again. What I was looking at was a firefly hovering some 10 feet or so above me. It has been a very long time since I have seen one of those... we don't get them on the west coast. And the last time I saw them was when I lived in Ohio (I was 7). Some memories from that time started coming back, good memories. I kept walking along. Saw more, but at one point, almost home, I managed to reach out and catch one... It glowed once, and then flew away. The strangest sensation came over me... I remember being a small child and going with my sis out to the woods, carrying small jars with us. Once there, we would run and catch as many of the fireflies as we could, and basically make living lanterns. Ones that we would take to our rooms and use as night lights throughout the night. It was so sudden, the recurrence of that memory... Filled me with some kind of childhood innocence again. It was kind of an interesting time.

Since then, I have seen so many little things that I have never noticed since I was a child... Things that I now take for granted, and in a way, I guess, that is how I see God working in my life... Just allowing me to enjoy the small things.

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I know this is a totally random journal entry... and probably not a very coherent one at that, but I just felt like writing... (not that I need to explain myself as to why I'm writing. ^_^; I'm so odd.)

What would you die for?

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This question was presented to me and God used it to break me down. What would I die for? What cause, what thing, what people would I really be able to lay my life down for?

At the forefront: Could I die for God? My Jesus? My Savior?

In my brokenness I cried out to God, I don't think I would have the strength had I had the opportunity... Totally puzzled. Any given day, I would probably say, "Sure no problem." But the more I think about where our world is going, the things that are happening in this country, I can't help but think that there is a time coming soon, where that might be a very real possibility.

I took some time tonight to refresh myself with the dream, the mystery, of King Nebuchadnezzar (in Daniel chapter 2). As I refreshed my mind of this prophecy I came upon this passage:

"Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay." ~ Daniel 2:41-43.

The people of this country strive for aimless change... and they are going to get it. The problem is, when they get it, they will regret it. We, as a people have put our faith in the belief that there are no absolutes... We want to live the way we want without restrictions, without a purpose, without having to adjust to some standard... "Truth is subjective," they say. There is major issues happening in this country, and across the world, and Christians need to start getting it into their head that the Word of God cannot be moved. It is the WORD OF GOD. HIS BREATH!

If you think, as a "Christian," for one moment that God's WORD is not his WORD, then you CANNOT BE HIS!!!

The time will come, and if you aren't his then what are you living for? And what do you plan on dying for?

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What would you die for?

Could you die for the ONE AND ONLY God?

So yeah, obviously I am really bored cause I've been adding all kinda of stuff to my profile. A lot of stuff is stuff I had on here at one point, then deleted, and now I am putting it back up... so sorry if you've seen a lot of it before. Though a lot of the stuff from GBC has been re-edited, and the coaster pics and Wellspring shots are brand new! Well, being honest, there is a ton of new stuff end of story... So yeah. Enjoy! Be blessed!

*goes back to rocking out with teh music*