Last Sunday one of my very best friends made a public affirmation of her faith and was baptized. I cannot express in words how special this moment was. It was only a few months ago that I received a text from her saying that “I accepted God=]” I remember opening this text after church one Sunday and being so overwhelmed with joy that I started to cry. This was one of the happiest days of my life! I was now able to call one of my oldest friends a sister in Christ.

It had been more than a year prior to receiving this text that I could tell that she was searching for something more to life. It was during a coffee date in October 2009 that I remember her asking me questions about my faith and I even invited her to church with me. I continued to pray for her and ask God to open her heart to His great love. Of course, God did not work the timing I had hoped for. But His timing was so much greater! Not only was my friend’s life transformed through her new relationship with Christ, my faith was strengthened in seeing the power of prayer and God’s faithfulness in answering. I am so excited for her new life in Christ!

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” -Romans 6:4

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8

I am getting really excited for Kids Summer Adventure (aka VBS) at church next week. I helped with decorations on Tuesday which fueled more of my excitement! The church is going to look so cool!

I’m excited for 2 reasons. One- I’ve been attending Bethany for over 2 years now, but because I am so involved with YL I haven’t really had a chance to serve at church yet. This opportunity with Kids Summer Adventure is a great chance to serve the church and get to be more involved with the church body. Two- The last few months I’ve been doubting whether or not I really want to teach…I spend a lot of time with kids through YL and nannying, but I haven’t been in an elementary classroom since September 2009. While this will obviously not be a classroom setting, I am hoping that spending time with elementary age kids in this structured environment will clear some of my doubts or maybe shed light on what I might what to do instead of teach.

The Pandamania all starts Monday night!!

There haven’t many times in my life that I have been genuinely thankful for being single, but these past few weeks has been one of them.

Because its summer I have so much time on my hands. Outside of work, I have no obligations or commitments. This means two things…I can come home from work and do whatever I want, and I get to hang out with my Young Life girls all the time. Now as great as the first one sounds, its been the second that has brought me so much joy! Taking kids to camp has been the highlight of my summer for the past 2 years, but I did not think hanging out with these girls was going to be such a close second. These sixth grade girls are hilarious and so sweet!

Now how does this relate to being thankful for my singleness?? Its pretty simple…I don’t have anyone, specifically a man, who is taking my time. I can do whatever I want with my time. These girls can be my first priority. I can devote as much time as I want to these girls with few limitations.

And it gets even better…while building relationships with these sixth grade girls is a high priority in my life, there’s one Being who deserve the most of me. I can spend ample amount of time with the Lord with fewer distractions than during the school year. Now I cannot say that He’s received as much of my time as He should, however, when I have meet with Him through prayer, journaling, reading scripture and worship I have encountered His presence. I am so incredibly excited to see how He is going to work in my life this summer. I feel like He has great things in store!

“We must convert our spare time into another kind of time: time when we study the Bible; time when we turn our thoughts toward the throne of God in prayer; time when we pick up a good book, go for a walk, do some gardening, or visit someone in the hospital; time when we do what we have sinfully neglected because we were ‘too busy.’ ” -Josh Phillips

I am going to have a lot of spare time this summer, which I am really excited for! But I hope that I will use it wisely and not waste the days that God has given me.

my daddy treats me like a princess and i absolutely love it! if my father loves me this much, i can only imagine how much my Heavenly Father loves me:)