If Home Is Where The Heart Is,

My home must be in China.

The time in China was simply not enough. I feel like I could have stayed there forever cuddling with the precious children.

I loved the language, the music, the food, the people, and most of all the kids. My heart sure does ache from missing them. It was great to see God working through Maria's Big House Of Hope.

I promise a more detailed post will come later!

China Bound!

I have officially started my trip! Tonight I will spend the night in Orlando so I can be at the airport early. So much excietement!

This time tomorrow I will be with the rest of my team in Chicago. Hopefully I will be able to blog a couple times while away.

So thankful for this opportunity!

posted from Bloggeroid

Say What?

I graduate in 3 days. Yep. Pretty excited.

And I leave for China in 17 days.

It is pretty much a very busy month going on right now.

A few things I would like to mention:
-I am so over high school
-I love my church family
-Youth group is going to be the hardest part to leave behind
-I serve such a loving, caring, and constant God! The excitement of that will never get old!

"You are more beautiful than anything ever. Everyday you're the same; you never change, no never."

Almost To The Finish Line

I am now 33 days away from graduation. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Things at school are beginning to slow down and at the same time everything is getting crazy. There is still a lot of work to be done! Some exciting news though, I get to give a speech at graduation. I even joked with my dad and told him I was preachin'. I am very excited to be given this opportunity.

46 days until China and I am praising God that I have raised all the money I need! It has been unbelievable to watch God work everything out.

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20-Message. I an really seeing this in my own life.

God is good, all the time!

The Ultimate Provider

It has only been about three weeks since I presented my mission trip in Church. Already I have been overwhelmed by people's generous response.

So many people have partnered with me on this trip both in prayer and financially. For that, I am extremely grateful. I am so thankful for my church, family, and friends who are part of this journey with me.

God is continually showing me His hand in all of this as he provides every step of the way. I know that he will always provide for His people. Psalm 111:5 says, "He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever." I am finding this verse to be true everyday.

I received my passport in the mail today and everything else is falling into place.

Graduation is coming so fast! (54 days and counting!) I am so ready for the next stage of my life.

Again, I want to say how thankful I am for the people who are supporting me. It's people like you who are making this trip a reality.

Have a happy week!

Best Weekend Ever?

I definitely think it's up there.

On Friday and Saturday, the girls headed to Lakeland for The Revolve Tour. I can't believe this was my fifth time going to one of these conferences. But for all the other girls in the class, it was their first time, which made it a lot of fun. The music was amazing (Yay for Britt Nicole, Group 1 Crew and Hawk Nelson) the dramas were thought provoking, and the speakers had some incredible messages to share (Yay for Jenna Lucado, Chad Eastham and Jamie Grace) The theme of the conference was "Dream On". It is always a joy to hear about God's plan and dream for your life that is so much bigger than we could ever dream of by ourselves. I know I learned a lot and I am pretty sure the other girls took some stuff in as well.

It is pretty safe to say that the definite highlight of the weekend was when we got to meet Chad Eastham and Daniel Biro. My mom won a drawing for us to meet them backstage. It was sooo cool! The guys just sat and talked with us for a while and then we got to take pictures. We'll just say it was one of those experiences that will be talked about for a long time.

(Chad telling us to fake laugh, because it makes the best pictures. It worked)

(Daniel Biro from Hawk Nelson. I was a very very happy girl)

(Of course, Jenna Lucado, my favorite speaker, and so encouraging when you go to meet her)

On Sunday I was given the opportunity to share with my church family about my missions trip to China. I was overwhelmed by people's response of hugs and promises of prayer. God is once again showing me His dream for my life as he continues to provide for this trip. 87 days until I'm China bound!

Oh! and 5 days until adulthood and vacation. Just sayin', I'm a little bit excited.

China!

At 3:08 PM on Monday, March 7th, I received the email that changed my life. "On behalf of Show Hope I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for the new June 17-26, 2011 Student Show Hope Trip to China!"

I applied for this trip about 5 months ago after feeling God put a deep call on my heart to care for the orphans. 2 weeks ago I received an email about a new trip opening up because so many students had applied (I originally applied for August) and was asked if I would be willing to go in June. My answer was immediately "yes". And now here I am, accepted for this new trip.

Words cannot explain how excited I am to have been given this opportunity. I am looking forward to holding, loving, and showing hope to the precious orphans in China.

Already, I feel things are getting crazy as I am begining to prepare for this trip. Passport, prayer cards, support letters and fundraiser ideas, all this has been going on in my head the past couple of days. I'm reminded that God is in control of it all, and He will provide and work everything out.

Keep checking back as I post more details about this trip!

Maria's Big House of Hope.