The End of Lecture Phase...The Beginning of Christmas!

Well, we made it back to the marvelous mountains of North Carolina!  We arrived Saturday night, and have been busy baking, watching Christmas movies, going to my parents' church, getting my hair cut in Greensboro...and best of all...we went on the Polar Express Train! (It is a real, hour long train ride in Bryson City, NC) It was such a nice treat...Ava had a blast!  We drank Hot Chocolate, ate cookies, sang songs, and even Santa was there!  (Ava still believes in him despite my attempts to convince her otherwise.)

So we are having a really nice mini vacation!  I will head back up to TN this Sunday, and Ava will be staying here with my parents for a week.  (By the way, the post office called the other day and said they FOUND Ava's PASSPORT!  Haha! I really felt God saying to me that He would find it....I just didn't know when.  All the worrying I did was pointless!  (Does that sound familiar to you?)  From now on I want to try hard not to worry when our circumstances seem hopeless...and just trust my papa that He will work it out for good.  God has proven Himself trustworthy so many times to me, yet I still have a hard time trusting Him with every little area of my life. 

This lost passport event really helped me see how much Jesus is taking care of me and Ava.  So, I am going to choose to trust Him for the money we still need for Brazil as well.  I know He wants us to go on this trip...so I know He is going to cause the money to come in for us!  Please be praying about how our papa can use you to help bring His Kingdom to earth....and how he can use you in His marvelous plan for the people in Brazil....and everywhere!  Jesus is so passionate about us!  Even when we are so busy with this life that we think is so important....He is patiently waiting at your side for you to glance at Him, or whisper to Him, or say "I can't do this! You take over!"

I love you all so much...but Jesus is desperate for yo to spend time with Him!  I encourage you to do that tomorrow morning....take a break from presents and just BE with him!

Okay....back to what I was talking about....Ava is staying with my parents while I go on our "Stateside" outreach.  From December 27 to January 1 our Brazil team will be going to Kansas City to help at IHOP (International House of Prayer) with the "One Thing" conference they are hosting.  Then my parents will bring Ava to TN and we will fly out for Brazil on January 6th!

I am so excited!  Oh, I forgot to mention that I, along with my friend Dan, will be leading worship for our team and the churches we visit there!  HA!  Isn't that awesome!  I have been practicing guitar diligently, and now God is going to use me in worship! I love it!

Please keep praying for us.  We need about 3,000 dollars for the trip.  I still need to pack ALL of our things in one tiny camping back pack.  And we need Grace and Safety while we are there. 
If God asks you to give to us, you can mail your tax deductible donation to:
Brooke Elliott
YWAM Nashville
PO Box 78219
Nashville TN 37207

Love and Blessings,
Brooke and Ava

Dia setenta e nove (day 79)

Well friends...Ava and I only have 4 days left in our lecture phase here at YWAM! We will be coming home to NC for a week during Christmas...and then we will head back up to TN to begin our outreach phase.  We actually will start off the outreach by going down to "IHOP" in Kansas City.  We are going to help out there for a few days during their "One Thing" conference.  I am SO VERY excited!  Especially since we have a great friend who works there with IHOP (International House of Prayer). 

Our plane for Brazil will leave on January 6th.  Our team of 14 has been eagerly praying and searching God's heart for what He wills us to do in Brazil.  So far, I know that we will be going to Sao Paulo and Bel Horizonte.  We are hoping to go to Rio, but don't have a mission or church to help there yet.  So please be praying for that.  Also, please be praying for Ava and I.  Ava's passport is actually lost in the mail.  We have been trying to locate it now for a week, and have been unsuccessful.  I KNOW that God is loving and faithful, and will find it.  God has been so generous to me, and has had so much grace with me these past months.  He is never changing, and loves us so much!  I am using this experience to strengthen and build my faith in Jesus, and His great power and love. 
Ava and I also still need $3,665 to get to Brazil.  Please keep praying for us, and please keep praying about how you can support us financially.  When we are generous to the body of Christ, God is generous to us.  I have heard so many accounts of how God provides for His people...and I know that when God tells us to do something....He will provide the money.  "It's never about money...it's about obeying God's will." -Paul Hawkins   (our teacher this week). Paul has been in YWAM for 40 years, and is an unbelievably inspiring man.   He also encourages me when he says "You do the possible...and God will do the impossible!" 

I also want to give you all a heads up on something that God has laid on my heart to pray about.  When I was in Florida for the YWAM anniversary, Darlene Cunningham spoke briefly about "The Learning Center" in Kona, Hawaii.  She didn't say much about it, but I felt I should write down the email, and find out more about it.  I did email the woman in Kona, and have been in contact with her over the past few weeks.  "The Learning Center" is a new 1st through 12th grade school which will eventually be a model school to train teachers who will be going out to teach in other nations.  They are a brand new ministry, that I am praying about joining this summer.  I would be teaching the third grade in the school.  It would be a full time missionary position, and I would be raising full time support.  This project is exactly what has been on my heart since I began teaching.  It is a way to influence the education system by creating a new teaching environment in America.  The school wants to create new curriculum to promote, as well as launch ideas such as teaching missionary children via video conferencing.  The YWAM base in Kona has been producing revolutionary ideas in all realms of society, and I think it would be a fantastic place to be able to influence the world of education. 

Please be praying for me and Ava as God launches us out into His will for our lives.  It is an exciting time to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I love you all so much!
Brooke

Day 69!

Oi! (That's Hello is Portuguese)

Okay, I know it has been 19 days since I last wrote to you...but I know you will forgive me!
This era in time has almost come to an end...can you believe it?  We only have two weeks left in our lecture phase of DTS here at YWAM!  It really seems like yesterday that Ava and I were packing up to come here!  The past 3 weeks have been packed full of fun, learning, and a journey to know my Jesus like I never thought possible. 

My beautiful sister came to visit the week before Thanksgiving, and we had a spectacular time soaking in each others' presence!  :) I'm really going to miss her...we won't see her again until we get back from Brazil!  I really wouldn't be here if it weren't for her persistence in pushing me towards the me she always knew I was. 

I'm going to try to sum up the past 3 weeks in a few short paragraphs...

The week we got back from Florida, Ken Helser was our teacher.  A lot of you know Ken, and his incredible family...so I don't have to tell you what an intense week this was.  He taught on worship... well that was what he was assigned to, but we quickly learned that he really just teaches on whatever he wants to!  He is the funniest, most generous, and wise people I will ever get the pleasure of meeting.  I really hope to visit "The Farm" soon after I return to NC.  This week God challenged me in my obedience and persistence in pursuing Him.  How much do I REALLY want to see God's face?  How far will I go in my obedience to His voice?  I have found that there really is nothing greater than being near to Jesus....really near Him, to the point that whenever I want to see Him, I just ask, and He comes and whispers His radiant knowledge and secrets to me.  This relationship I have found is like nothing I have ever experienced...and the best part is that you can have it too!

The next week we focused on how to let more people know about God's great romance He wants to share, and we went out on the town with Jimmy Turner and Ben Naider.  They work in one of the local churches in Clarksville.  I personally grew in my faith to talk to strangers, and tell them how God really feels about them.  I absolutely LOVE meeting new people and giving them a personal message from Jesus.  It is the best adrenaline rush! :)

This past week we dove deeper in to the idea of the Kingdom of God, and how to seek it out and reveal it here on earth.  I had a major epiphany about what "seeking first the Kingdom of God" really means.  There is a great video on youtube that gave me insight to what it is like.  You will probably like it....here is the web address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrRtYzb-vwE


I hope that you all are doing so wonderful!  I hope to see some of you soon, when we come back to NC for Christmas.  I have so much more to share with you, and I promise I will log back on soon! 
Love you friends,
Brooke

Day 50!!!!!

Hello my favorite friends, supporters, and blog followers!

Today is my fiftieth day at YWAM, and so much has happened since I last updated you all.  I have actually been camping in Orlando for the past two weeks, which is why I have seemed to have disappeared!  When I say camping..I mean CAMPING!  No running water...no toilets...raining for three days straight....CAMPING! It was exactly what I have been asking of God...to make me uncomfortable.  I want to surrender every part of my life...and that includes my health, safety, cleanliness, and comfortableness.  As Americans we take so much for granted!  Camping forces you to appreciate the simple luxuries we have as Americans.  It also forces you to see the beauty and creativity of God's earth. 

The past two weeks in Florida have been my favorite weeks...which is a very hard statement to make, considering the great life changing things that have happened in previous weeks.  However, our first week in Florida, our speaker was a local house church pastor named Andrew Lamb.  He not only taught on the Holy Spirit, but helped usher Him into our lives in an overwhelming way.  Most all of the other students were introduced and re-introduced to the Holy Spirit...my best friend! 

On day one of the week, I realized that I didn't really believe in God's ability to heal!  I have always thought people were over exaggerating or faking their healing.  But through Andrew's teaching I suddenly understood that God heals because HE LOVES US!  He doesn't want to suffer, and whenever He can, he heals us!  Sometimes He doesn't heal, and I will never make up a reason why He doesn't.  I don't want to create a theology based on what God doesn't do...instead I want to focus on how He loves us, and therefore can and will heal us.  Not only that, but the Holy Spirit is power, and when Jesus left us, He gave us the power of the Holy Spirit!  That may sound simple, but when you truly get that knowledge from your head to your heart, it is amazing! 

So, now I know that the Holy Spirit's power has nothing to do with me!  I can easily pray...and should pray for every person, in every situation...because God wants to change things through prayer!  I used to never pray for healing because I felt that I could not heal them...but it was never about whether I could do it!  It is about whether God can...and He can!  So I encourage you to pray for healing...and believe...and keep praying...and listen to God's voice. 

I am going to end this blog, without telling you what God did the next week we were in Florida...because I want you to come back and read it!  God has been speaking and doing incredible things in the hearts of those who are desperate for Him....be DESPERATE for Him!  I have never felt this hunger for the word...and this thirst to hear His voice...and such a longing to just be in His presence before.  I can't even explain it as well as I would like to...but something happens to you when you finally give up EVERY area of your life, and say to God..."You are ALL that matters...ever". 
I pray for you all to receive that kind of zeal and hunger and thirst. 
I love you all so much, and would not be here if not for your support and prayer. 
Please continue to pray for us!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be satisfied...for they will see God!"

Day 29

I have very big news!!! Ava and I found out where we will be going on outreach in January!!!

BRAZIL!

I am super excited, and know that this is the right place for us. At my parents' church this Sunday, I began praying for the nation of Brazil, and God placed a burden on my heart for them.  Please begin to join me in prayer for the women and children especially in Brazil.

I have so much more to tell you all...but have to retire to bed!

I love you all!

Day 24

Ciao!
Today was a beautiful Fall day, with red golden leaves blanketing the hills in front of the "Big House".  The maintenance crew trying desperately to rake them up....only scattering them in the wind.  Ava plays with her friend Luke everyday, who is the same age as her.  She is having so much fun, and learning just as much about love as I am.  I can actually hear God whispering to me His thoughts about me!  He is romancing me, becoming my father, and the director of my life, all at the same time.  I am dropping the suitcases of my plans, and boulders of my burdens left and right just to be in Christ's presence.  I just can't seem to find anything in life as important and phenominal, luxorious, and magnetic as His love.  I am only just beginning my journey in this incredible thing called life.  I have realized within the past few short weeks that my future has open ended possibilities with Jesus.  Now that I have finally stopped planning my life out the way I think should play out...God is free to orchestrate and compose a heartstopping melody of my life.  I am more than overwhelmed and excited about what mine and Ava's future holds!
I love you all!
But especially I love...Patrick, Caroline, Tiffany, Alexis, and Elissa tonight! :)

Day 20

Hola friends!
I hope this post finds you all doing wonderfully!  I just had a skype chat with my parents...so I am doing wonderfully too.  I hope you don't feel abandoned by me.  I have been swamped with homework this week.  We made it back to the YWAM base in Adams on Wednesday, and we all have been busily writing, printing, stuffing and stamping our very first newsletter.  In addition, we have a big Bible project due on Monday.  Thankfully I am almost done, and you should all be recieving your newsletters sometime in the next week! 
This morning a few of us students got up early to do some fundraising.  Somehow all the younger than me students put me in charge...so I rounded everyone up early and we set off to rake some leaves for donations.  We drove for miles, and what felt like hours...but we only found a handful of yards with enough leaves in it to merit us asking if we could rake them!  Most of the people were uber friendly, and it made the excursion delightful.  The weather was gorgeous, and we were all in great spirits!  We stopped midway to make egg salad sandwiches in the parking lot of an empty church...still not having raked any yards.  Just before our giving up point, we found success!  A very large yard with two elderly ladies said "Of course! We always need help raking leaves!"  Without expecting any payment, we got to work.  One hour, a pick up truck filled to the brim with bags of leaves, and thirty dollars later...we headed home.  The boys all rode on top of the bags of leaves in the pick up of course!  It was my most favorite Saturday morning in Adams yet! 
Tomorrow we are trying a different church...the Vinyard in Clarksville.  Please be praying that we find a church that we fit into while we are here...I really don't want to be a church hopper for the next 9 weeks! 
Love and Blessings,
Brooke

Day 16

Hey friends!
So this week we are staying in a church auditorium in Nashville....I feel like I am at a youth group lock in!  It is bringing back great memories!  :) We are also hearing Andrew Reese speak about Identity in Christ.  It is some amazingly deep thoughts.  (I will add some bullet points of what we are learning about in the near future).  The best part is that we are prophesying over and edifying each other as well.  It has been a time of learning and healing...and crying! 
In the past I felt so distant from God, but these past weeks I am feeling Him so much nearer to me!  It is so amazing how well I can hear His voice...and I am baffled as to why haven't heard Him like this before! 
I was reading over my journal from this summer, and can see the progression of God's presence in my life.  I really can't even put how amazing I am feeling into words.
I hope that you all are well, and I will pray that God speaks to you this week in an undeniable loving way.
Please continue to pray for Ava and I for strrength, and good health.

Day 14

Okay, so TODAY was actually the day marking two weeks since we have begun our journey here.  Friday's ministry team outreach was wonderful.  Ava and I sat at the playground on the Riverfront in Clarksville, and did our usual thing.  We played on the slide, met some kids, and climbed on the climbing tower.  However, THIS time was different.  This time I was making a conscious effort to love people and pray for them.  I immediately saw two girls playing in matching outfits...and noticed their mom sitting to the side studying what seemed to be a gigantic Biology textbook.  I casually sat beside her and made small talk.  Then I strolled back over to Ava and a smaller boy who was laughing, and chasing after her.  His mom looked very tired, and so I started encouraging her and making small talk with her too.  After about 20 minutes, I asked if I could pray for her.  She seemed surprised and even hesitant, but said okay.  After I prayed for her she began to tell me about her son and how he was her miracle baby.  I then ventured over to the other woman who was studying for her Biology class.   I asked her if I could pray for her...she actually acted like she hadn't heard me.  She seemed very hesitant, but then agreed anyway.  I finished and went back over to Ava....and she followed me over.  She opened up and began to tell me how she was struggling in her class, and pondering over whether she should actually even be pursuing her nursing degree...or if God had something else planned for her. 

In both cases, after I prayed with both of the women, it seemed to release something in the spirit.  They willingly shared part of their lives with me.  It was a more than fantastic experience, and I only wish I had been praying for ALL the moms at ALL the parks I have ever been to with Ava. 

Be encouraged in this story to be bold and pray for strangers you meet in your everyday lives!  This might not be a new concept to some of you, however when you experience it...it is rejuvenating and reminds you how great God really is!

Tomorrow we will be traveling in to Nashville to stay for 3 days.  We will actually be camping out in the church that Ava and I have been to for the last two Sundays.  Our speaker for the week will be coming there to teach us about our identity in Christ.

This is a picture of our second speaker, Troy Sherman.  He taught us amazing things about hearing God's voice.  He brought his wife and son too...which is who Ava is hugging in the second picture!

I miss you all, and hope that you are enjoying my blog as much as I am!  I might not have an entry for the next few days, but I'll catch up at the end of the week.  I love you all!

Day 12

It has been only two weeks since Ava and I began this journey of learning and love.  It is unbelievable and almost impossible the amount of transforming that Jesus has already begun in our lives.  It feels as if I am meeting Jesus for the first time.  I am learning who He really is...instead of who I think He is.

In just 5 minutes, Ava and I will go out with our team of people, to the riverbank in Clarskville.  There we will love people, tell them how God has loved us in our lives, and tell them how much God desires to love them.  I am really excited, and can't wait to see how this play all about God turns out today!

Talk to you all soon!

Skip to Day 9

One of my VI (Very Important) friends asked me to add onto my blog what I have been learning here at YWAM.  It was a very smart request.  So, here are some bullet points of truths that God has been revealing to me:

• I must begin studying the Bible in more depth, so that I will know what God is saying, and what His character is really like...not just what I think His character is like.
• I can always trust that what the Bible says is true, and that it is God speaking to me.
• There are many verses that I have created a meaning for that is not the correct meaning!
• I need to meditate on who God is, and how big and all-knowing, and creative He really is BEFORE I start praying meaningless words to Him.
• I need to think about what God wants me to pray before I begin praying.
• In the Bible, God doesn't talk about how majestic He is...He mostly talks about how creative He is...that He created us...that He is the father of Abraham...and of us!
• The very first thing God did was create...He didn't speak audibly...He created.
• The LEAST creative way for God to speak to us is audibly, but it is the most important way to us (for some reason).
• God wants to speak to us by giving us romantic experiences!  What an idea!
• So, we have actually been hearing God speak to us a lot more than we think!
• If I truly love God, then I will love what He loves.  He loves people and the Nations.
• God's name, "Yaweh" is actually pronounced without vowels....thus making it sound like a breathe in and a breathe out.  So every time we breathe in and out, we are saying God's holy name!

I pray that what I am learning creates insight and revelation to you all!

Days Five and Six

I definitely know that I know that I know I was meant to come to this DTS!  Friday afternoon we shared our testimonies in our small groups...which consists of me, four other young girls from my DTS class, Annie (who keeps Ava) and our leader Emily (A YWAM staffer who is in her mid 20's).  It was the coolest experience!  A lot of the girls are going through similar things that I have been through in my life, and are really looking forward to learning from me.  However, I was so humbled by what the young girls shared with me.  They are very respectful towards me, and treat me like I have wisdom!  That in itself is humbling!  I am learning about compassion and passionate love towards God from them already.  Our small group leader is such a cool person too, and hears very well from the Lord, as well as seeing things in the Spirit.  I am so excited just to be around her!  I am going to go to her church tomorrow....Grace Center, which is in Franklin TN....just south of Nashville.  I will let you all know how it goes! 

Day Four!

Tonight we watched a video entitled, "How Great is our God".  It was a speaker who talked about how small we are in comparison to the stars that God created.  He calls God the "Star-Breather", which I think is a fitting name for Him.  The speaker, Louie Giglio, shows images of the largest star in our universe, Canis Majoris, and compares Earth to a golf ball....Canis Majoris would then be the length of two Golden Gate Bridges.  It is a pretty astonishing thought that God created these vast creations.  God is so big...what can even matter in our tiny lives? But that is just it...we do matter!  We actually don't just matter...but God is chasing after us to be near us!  He loves us more than the magnificent stars He breathed out. 
Louie then goes on to talk about how we are formed in the womb, and how tiny our DNA is....which if you have had children you know even more what a miracle this event is!   Louie talks of the skin covering the eyes of a baby in the womb, and how a tiny "cutter" then slices through the skin to create our eyelids.  What a unique thought!  The left hook...the clincher....the happily ever after of the story is that God created a protein molecule in our body that is the "glue", hoplding all of our membranes together, in the shape of a cross! 
God is definitely great! 

Day Two and Three

Hi friends!
Well, I missed last nights post...so I am just going to combine the days.  And what amazing days they have been!  We had a very first speaker come yesterday.  His name is Art Collins.  He is one of the funniest people I have every met!  And we all know how much I love funny people.  He is teaching us about studying the Bible...which is one of my main goals I have while I am here...to form a habit of hungering for the word.  As he was going through the SYLLABUS, I was tearing up!  He is an amazing person, and I am so blessed to be under his tutelage.

I have also made friends with some of the girls in my DTS class, shared my story with Annie and Mike (Ava's sitter), received guidance from Allen (my school director), and am feeling like I am really making strong relationships that will be impossible to withdraw from.

Thank you for all of your prayers, for as God stretches me, and challenges me, I will need your support more than ever.  I love you all!

Day 1

My first day was successful, busy, and very memorable!  A load of logistic info was poured on, a heavy testimony of healing and raising people from the dead was delivered by our DTS director, and a welcoming caravan of staff famillies made me feel extremely loved.  Ava made heaps of new friends, including but not limited to, an adorable boy named Luke, and a feisty girl named Anja.  They were all three the same age, and instantly became the Three Muskateers! 
And now, after putting Ava to bed, I have homework consisting of writing first impressions of YWAM, How I knew God called me to YWAM, and a checklist of areas I want to grow in while I am here! 
Needless to say, I will be signing off now....
Love you all!

From Black Mountain to Adams, TN (Nashville)

Hello friends!  I am writing to you from the YWAM "Big House", which consists of a dining hall, kitchen, small living room spaces, and some family apartments upstairs.  Ava and I are currently residing in a fairly small room with bunk beds.  However, we are both sleeping on the bottom bunk, due to the fact that I am scared to crawl up to the top of that rickity thing...let alone sleep there! We are told that we will soon (not sure how soon) be moving to a more spacious room with our own bathroom.  The Big House has the most amazing character, but not as amazing as the characters in it!  I have met some very cool people...who will probably only get cooler and cooler...until they are ice cold!  I say this because I haven't even been in a single lengthy conversation yet, but already I can see great potential in their coolness.  :) Ava has made friends too...there is a chunky blonde one year old boy, a tiny gorgeous brunette four month old girl, and a spunky 4 year old girl in mis-matched clothing (just like the kids in good old Greensboro).  I think she likes the spunky girl the best! 

There are so many exciting things that have already happened...and that I want to share with you...but we will be waking at 6 am, and so I feel I must say good night.  I love you all, and I am really glad to be here.  Tennesse is a great state, and I do want to add that on the way here we at Uncle Pete's restaurant/gas station which is home to over 4 thousand different coffee mugs which line the top of the walls.  The owners gave a very hospitable tour! 


 

From Summer to Autumn.....From Greensboro to Black Mountain

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with thanksgiving and prayer, let your requests be made known to God." Phil 4:6 

This is the verse I just read off of a newsletter from a girl who just finished her YWAM DTS in Chile.  I have been trying very hard not to focus on the money I need in a couple days, but to focus on hearing God's voice, and learning about Him, and loving Him. 

The moment was bittersweet as we left our house in Greensboro, but the day outside was gorgeous.  The first day of Fall.  Fall is my favorite season.  The weather is perfect, as are the perfectly colored trees. 
It is so fitting that this transition of seasons also falls on our transition to another era in life. 

So, we made it to my parents' house, and will spend a couple days with them before we move on.  It is also a bittersweet time here as I say good bye for a while to my loving and supportive parents. 

Two days before the big move in!  I can't wait!  Love you all!

A Fabulous Farewell

Tonight was the second night in a row that I felt loved and blessed by my friends.  Last night, seven of our once ten member Bible Study, "Community Love", commenced our tradition of a farewell meal, and embarked on another road trip to Winston Salem. :) The 45 minute drive took us to a shabby, but characteristic park which seemed to be at an old YMCA.  There were college age guys just finishing a game of basketball, a few children with their teen parents on the playground, and a very algae green, unused pool.  The seven of us made our way to one of the three picnic tables, under no light.  We spread out a table cloth and unpacked an eclectic array of food; pizza slices, potato salad, banana bread, fruit, and a giant cookie cake (for Nate's birthday).  As the night grew darker, the boys at the table began to create a make shift lantern out of an IPHONE and a piece of tin foil.  It was actually very successful...thanks to the architect at the table. The conversation consisted of job news, babies, parties, old houses, moving...and then we began our ritual of showering the person leaving (me in this case)  with compliments.  I have been waiting many months for my turn! :) It was a very intimate and beautiful scene.  I love everyone in Community Love with a passion that they might never really grasp.  I had the priviledge of ending the session by playing a song I had written for the occasion, on my dusty guitar.  I actually just took it out of hibernation, and immediately wrote this song.  It went very well, and was compared to the likeness of an emo song...which made me smile.  We sadly cleaned up our picnic, and said our good byes, and headed back "home" to Greensboro. 

Tonight was just as sad a farewell to Ava's best, best friends from church.  We met them at a playground belonging to a Rec center, and the two girls (the famous Chloe and Singer-London) and Ava ran and squealed, and played like they have never ran and squealed and played before!  By dusk, they were grimy, dirty, sticky, and exhausted....well we hoped they were exhausted.  The girls were so sentimental and genuine as they said good bye to each other.  Their mom told me she would make sure that they wrote to us while we were away.  Ava has been so blessed to have friends like them, and looking back I should definitely have taken my sister's advice to make time to see them more often.  Hopefully we will see them again soon one day.  I would love to have Ava grow up with childhood friends, which I didn't get to do.  However, to quote the early 90's Michael W Smith song...." A friend's a friend forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them."

Hi friends! I have been so encouraged by so many people these past few weeks.  I only have 3 more days here in Greensboro, and then I will be heading up to the mountains before I go to Adams, TN.  That is where the actual YWAM school is.  It is about 45 minutes from Nashville.  We will be moving in on Saturday! I am so excited, but also sad to leave such amazing people here in the Boro.  I have actually been pleasantly surprised at how genuinly happy people have been for me and Ava.  I am so encouraged my every word my friends have spoken to me about how God is getting ready to bless us, and change us, and use us for His glory.  Transitions in life are such bittersweet times.  I know that what is ahead will be peaceful and surprising, but what I am leaving is years full of sweet memories of people who have blessed me, and challenged me, and shown me the many personalities of Jesus.  But there are also so many more wonderful personalities of His to meet!  So look out YWAM...here we come!

My awesome church

I want to thank all of you that prayed for me this morning as I spoke at church, and asked for support from my church family.  Boy, did I get support! I felt so loved and welcomed this morning...I felt as though people were really rooting for me!  It felt really good, and I want to especially thank those of you who were there this morning.  A couple of people handed me money right on the spot.  A lot of people took my card, and said that they would be praying, and following the blog.  I also got to spend time talking to a lot of people that I have never got to build relationships with.  It was a really great time of uplifting fellowship