Running steady

Yeah, this was pretty much amazingly fun! Got to drive that beauty for at least an hour. Yes, I said drive.

 Well Hello Hello!

I bet y’all thought I’d fallen off the face of the planet or something but, nope, I’m still here.

Unfortunately the wi-fi is conspicuously absent- hence the, ahem, delay.

Last time I posted, the team and I were getting ready to hit the ground running at our first Summit of the travel year. Mind you, I’m not just saying that flippantly: I truly feel like I haven’t had much of a chance to think (much less stop) since we got here. But it’s okay, the first Summit is always the busiest and we’ll soon settle into a good routine.

My tag I wear every night. It's magnetized = "fancy"

“Here” is Emmanuel Baptist Church in Grenada, Mississippi. (Hey, it’s even fun to spell while typing!) It’s a large church, or so it seems to me, and the pastor here has been doing a wonderful job of preparing his flock for these days of renewal. Everyone (except this one grumpy old man that I shook hands with at worship...I hope he is enjoying it more now) has been so receptive and positive about everything God has been doing through the services. Good feedback is always so encouraging for us!

My host mom is one of our biggest supporters. She’s so sweet and has a wonderful heart for prayer that I appreciate so much. She’s also the most active 80 year old I have ever seen! The other day, she told me not to get in the shower until she had cleaned it first and 2 seconds later she was in there on her hands and knees scrubbing away. She’s very easy-going and just wants to serve us constantly. We, me and a teammate named Ashlee, try not to let her do too much but she’s sneaky.

This is our typical set-up in Base Camp

This is Mt. Eternity and Mountain Man Joe's tent

I spend most of my days at the church in this room right here. We usually have around 45 kids a night, ages 2^nd through 6^th grade. They’re a very energetic group and we did have a couple of kids that we thought would be tough nuts to crack, but I am pleased to say that today we didn't have to hand out any warnings! They were practically angels. I love getting to see changes like that in the tough ones; though I have my suspicions that a good bit of the obedience today was due to a good bit of grounding back at home. Good for them.

I’m sitting here trying to think of one thing to tell you about what I've been learning and how God’s been growing me. There are so many thoughts running around in my head that it’s hard to pin just one down. But I finally caught one and this is it:

Time. 

I’m a terrible manager of my time. God is helping me to see how wasteful of it I am. Usually it’s either sleep, facebook or chatting.

I used to tell people I was a quiet person but I’m beginning to wonder if that was just the crazy talking.

So, I’m working on giving my time to Jesus. Every day when I wake up I endeavor to go through my schedule and give each aspect of it to Him. I’m not so good at it yet, but I’m getting better and I would be so grateful for prayers in that direction.

Also, I am teaching a lesson on forgiveness tomorrow night and then one on prayer on Tuesday night. I’m a bit behind on preparation for both of these (there’s that time management issue again) so please pray that I’ll not feel rushed but I will trust God for the outcome and work on them with a joyful heart.

I miss y’all A TON! and I’m so thankful that you are continuing to read and support me with your prayers, encouraging texts and comments.

I’ll try to post again soon!

Love much,

Anna