OGK.

This is a post about my favorite person in the world.

This girl is crazy. She is very loud, very outgoing, LOVES attention... the complete opposite of me. If we didn't have the same jaw structure, I wouldn't believe we were related. She is hilarious- constantly making me laugh. Although I was not particularly happy when I found out she had been conceived, I love her more than I could have ever imagined. I pray that I can walk so closely with Christ that I can tell Olivia to "follow me" as Paul said to the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:1), and that will lead her in the way of the Lord. She's going to be quite a handful for my dad in her teenage years... she already is! He always introduces me as the "easy child" because I never caused any trouble, and it's evident that she will. She has so much personality. I love you, Olivia Gail.

at the dinner table

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Because I'm bored in my 3 hour night class...

8.2.10
I finally got to contact my parents for the first time! I emailed them both and then decided to try and call. A man at the front desk at the lodge of our hotel let me use his cell phone for $5.00. I called Dad first because I knew he would have his phone with him, told him to call Mom to tell her I'd be calling her next. I'm so glad I finally got to talk to them! Dad and Matt Rob both emailed me back (so good to hear from my best friend!), and I got to facebook chat for a second with Scott and Nicole (Stridde is engaged!!!!!!!!). I feel so much better now that I've contacted home!

We woke up this morning to watch Annalise, Jack, Jesse, and Lindsay do the "half day adrenaline"- gorge swing, zip line, and flying fox or something like that. Then we went white water rafting which was a lot of fun. My arms will definitely be sore tomorrow along with my legs because we had to hike down to the river and then nearly 2 miles straight back up at the end (NO ONE WARNED ME ABOUT THIS!) When we were about 2/3 of the way to the top, I had stopped for a second and two guides came by and told us we were almost to the halfway point. This is really embarrassing, but I started crying because I didn't think I could make it more than double the distance we had already come. I was exhausted! Meghan and Lindsay were so sweet and walked slowly the rest of the way with me (the guide "Colgate" stayed with me and made me stop every few minutes to breathe- told you it was embarrassing!). Colgate felt really bad about making me cry!

After that we thankfully had sometime to relax before we went on the dinner cruise (aka booze cruise because we didn't actually get dinner, just had an open bar). Pierre cooked dinner for us when we got back to the "hotel" (a cabin type thing with one side open to the outside- just thick curtains to close at night to keep anyone/anything out!) and it was very good.

The past two days have been incredible. In a way I'm sad to leave this luxury and head to the rural area where we're going to be "roughing it" even more than we have been, but I am so excited to see what God is going to do because I know it's going to be BIG! I'm just fully trusting Him to get me through the rest of the trip because we aren't even halfway, and I'm almost ready to go home.

8.3.10

(this is a quick one!)

• drove from Vic Falls to Matopo Hills
• stopped for snack, gas, and at Pierre's
• trailer fell on Anna's shoulder
• Jesse's wallet got stolen
• great dinner by Norma
• talked about Spiritual Warfare
• trying/frustrating day
• have no idea what camp will look like

8.4.10

(morning)

2 Timothy 1:14

Proverbs 4:23

Psalm 141:3

Isaiah 52:12

Mark 13:33

1 Corinthians 16:13

Philippians 4:5-7

Mark 1:2-3

**Be alert**

**Guard your heart**

8.4.10

(night)

Today leaders from Matopo arrived at Morning Star. We went to two orphan feedings, but at the first one a widow had lost her child so everyone was at the funeral. At the second we were too early and had to get back so we only saw a few children. Then we went to climb the world's largest piece of exposed granite (or something like that) that was 4 miles long. The view at the top was beautiful. 
We also saw some farms that were "farmed God's way."

I no longer feel homesick and loved getting to know the new leaders. One guy, Andy, was telling me how he's never met his father and doesn't even know if he's alive. I also talked to a girl, Stha (spelling?), that told me of her first encounter with Christ and how he healed her from her physical suffering- nose bleeds, chest pain (she had been in the hospital for 2 months). It was really neat to hear their stories.

After dinner we had a bonfire and many people shared what they had learned today which was awesome to hear the things they had taken in about being a leader and putting on a Young Life club.

I've really been missing my Young Life girls and thinking about them a lot- how I can reach out to them and be a better leader to them when I get back.

"I'm not gonna question why You're so faithful, why You give me the blessings that You have"

I am blessed beyond belief with the relationships that God has placed in my life. I had some awesome conversations today with sweet, sweet friends and was just reminded of how truly blessed I am by the people in my life.

Nicole and I walked for a while tonight- the weather was beautiful, and so was the conversation we had. Gah, she is so wonderful- she encourages me constantly and speaks so much truth into my life.

I also talked to my best friend from middle school, Ashley, a little bit today. We don't talk nearly enough so it was so good to hear from her, and I cannot even wait to see her get married this winter.

(unacceptable that I can't find a picture of us together... probably a good thing to save us both the embarrassment, but I don't know why I can't find those awesome pictures we took to make our best friends shirts! I'll hunt them down)

Another great conversation was one I had with Matt. It had been a while since we had really talked, and even though it was kind of a tough conversation (mainly because I've sucked at being a good friend to him lately and had to own up to that), it was so good to catch up and be real with each other.

(hahaha sorry Matt, this is the only picture I have of the two of us)

I got a super sweet note from Chelcie on my car today. She's awesome, and I already miss living with her! Thank goodness we have a class together!

Jamie took me to lunch this week AND made me muffins. She's just trying to fatten me up... So thankful that she's on my team and we get to grow in our ministry together.

My family is also simply incredible, and I have loved spending lots of time with them since I've been home from Africa. Just being in their presence is so great.

(we may seem a little dysfunctional, but personally, I think we've learned to function quite well. we love the Lord and we love each other.)

I miss my friends that I went to Africa with and the African friends I made while I was there!